The executive director of the Horizon Convention Center in downtown Muncie estimates the center has lost half a dozen conventions since the historic Roberts Hotel across the street closed a year ago. Joann McKinney said in The Star Press that the loss of the city’s last downtown hotel left convention-goers no place convenient to rest, […]
Improved sales through specialty retailers and dealers helped lift third-quarter profit for Escalade Inc., the Evansville sporting good maker reported today. The $3.1 million in earnings for the quarter ended Oct. 6 was a 4.6-percent increase from a year earlier. The improvement came despite what Escalade described as eroding sales of soccer and hockey game […]
Cummins Inc. snagged a couple of ratings upgrades today from investment firms that follow the Columbus-based diesel engine maker. Citigroup recommends holding the stock rather than selling and Credit Suisse rated Cummins “outperform” instead of “neutral.” The changes follow a dip in Cummins’ stock price yesterday after its third-quarter earnings missed analyst expectations. The shares […]
Barry-Wehmiller Design Group Inc., a St. Louis company focusing on manufacturing automation and engineering consulting, has opened an engineering consulting office in Indianapolis. The location, the 10th for Barry-Wehmiller, will serve Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Kentucky, and will be staffed with 30 professionals. The region had been served from its offices in Chicago, St. Louis […]
Ball State University has created a position to oversee its Building Better Communities economic-development outreach efforts. Frank Sabatine, dean of the School of Extended Education, has been appointed to the new position of associate vice president of economic development and community engagement. Before joining Ball State, Sabatine was liaison to the Community College of Indiana […]
Simon Property Group CEO David Simon has been named chairman, the Indianapolis-based shopping mall giant announced today. He will remain CEO. Former co-chairmen Melvin Simon and Herbert Simon, who founded the former Melvin Simon & Associates Inc. in 1960, have become chairmen emeriti effective today, and will focus on the company’s international expansion, the announcement […]
An investor that holds 5.7 percent of Emmis Communications Corp. said today that the stock has performed so poorly that the board should allow the company to be taken private. New York-based Arnhold and S. Bleichroeder Advisers LLC made the request to directors Peter Lund and Susan Bayh, the wife of U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh, […]
Economic recovery in Brazil helped drive third-quarter sales for Indianapolis-based Dow AgroSciences to $788 million, a 19-percent increase from the same period last year, its parent, Midland, Mich.-based Dow Chemical Co. Inc., reported yesterday. In Brazil, more sugar cane acres and a good season for growing corn sparked strong demand for Dow AgroSciences’ commodity herbicides. […]
Share prices of Indianapolis-based Celadon Group Inc. fell 15 percent this morning after it reported late yesterday that soft demand for its services caused profit to plunge in its first fiscal quarter. The stock fell to $8.16 from its close yesterday of $9.65, then bounced back to $8.35. The long-haul trucking service reported that it […]
Cummins Inc.’s stock price slid this morning after the Columbus diesel engine maker reported earnings that fell short of analysts’ expectations. Shares dipped to $119 from yesterday’s close of $133, but have rebounded slightly to trade near $121, a 9-percent decline from yesterday. Earlier this morning, Cummins reported that third-quarter profit was up 7.6 percent […]
It isn’t often managers of manufacturing plants earn an affectionate editorial in the local newspaper when they move on to their next job, but that’s what Steve Brock received from the Chronicle-Tribune in Marion this morning. Brock, who managed General Motors Corp.’s stamping plant in the city between Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, not only helped […]
The European Union Commission has approved using genetically altered corn developed by Indianapolis-based Dow AgroSciences LLC and DuPont for use in animal feeds, and for human consumption and other uses. However, the corn, which resists insects and the Roundup herbicide, still cannot be raised in the EU. Dow AgroSciences is the agricultural arm of Dow […]
Chrysler workers at two Kokomo plants overwhelmingly rebuffed a tentative United Auto Workers contract during voting yesterday, according to a Reuters report. At the casting plant, 79 percent voted against the four-year pact. At a transmission plant, 72 percent voted No. All told, 2,855 opposed against the contract at the plants, while only 1,053 supported […]
A federal appeals court has ruled against Indianapolis-based shopping mall giant Simon Property Group in a case revolving around whether dormancy fees can be charged on gift cards. The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan on Oct. 19 sided with the state of Connecticut in its ban on the practice, according to Bloomberg. If […]
Arcadia HealthCare, the Detroit-area company that announced Oct. 10 it will move its headquarters to Indianapolis, has named two high-level executives. New Executive Vice President and General Counsel Michelle Molin was a partner at the law firm Ice Miller. Steve Zeller has been promoted to Executive Vice President of Services from BestCare Travel Staffing LLC, […]
Two former executives of Chicago-based Ubiquity Brands, which owns Jays Foods Inc. and Select Snacks Co., say they were fired without cause when the company recently restructured. Ubiquity sold another unit to ConAgra Foods Inc. in September; Jays and Select Snacks have filed for bankruptcy protection. William McManaman, the company’s former chief financial officer, and […]
Ball State University‘s contract with President Jo Ann Gora has been extended to June 2012 from August 2009, when it was set to expire, following a unanimous vote by university trustees. The action was taken during a meeting last month, according to The Star Press of Muncie. Gora arrived at the campus in 2004. The […]
Nothing But Noodles, a Scottsdale, Ariz., restaurant chain, has been acquired by Noodles & Co. of Aurora, Colo., in a move that affects at least two Indianapolis locations. As a result of the merger, a Nothing But Noodles at 3625 E. 96th Street has been closed because of its close proximity to a Noodles & […]
First Internet Bancorp said today that third-quarter profit shot up 63 percent, largely because of its acquisition of Landmark Financial Corp. Indianapolis-based First Internet said it earned $664,325 in the period ended Sept. 30. The online bank closed its $12 million purchase of Landmark on Jan 1. Landmark was the parent of Landmark Savings Bank […]
After making a reputation rating highbrow restaurants in New York, the Zagat Survey now will help WellPoint Inc.’s health insurance customers rate their doctors. In January, WellPoint and Zagat will launch an online survey tool that will allow patients to share their physician experiences with other WellPoint customers. The tool will allow consumers to review […]
