Articles

Patrick Industries closes Adorn acquisition

Patrick Industries Inc. has completed its purchase of Adorn LLC, another Elkhart maker of recreational vehicle and manufactured house components. The price was not disclosed. Publicly-traded Patrick generated $348 million in revenue last year and Adorn, $240 million. Patrick said the acquisition will add synergies in logistics, personnel, purchasing and other functions.

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Spanish auto parts maker to open Muncie plant

Miasa Automotive LLC, which makes transmission parts, plans to open its first U.S. plant in Muncie. The Spanish company will hire 12 workers to make gearbox components. The company received nearly $90,000 in tax credits and other incentives from the state and Delaware County, according to Indiana Economic Development Corp.

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ExactTarget, ChaCha, Quadraspec win Mira awards

This year’s TechPoint Mira Award winners included Indianapolis-based ExactTarget, ChaCha, of Carmel, and West Lafayette life science company Quadraspec Inc. The awards are given out annually by the not-for-profit to promote Indiana technology-based companies. This year’s winners, announced Friday, include: -Information Technology Company: ExactTarget, Indianapolis -Information Technology Gazelle Company: ChaCha, Carmel -Health & Life Sciences […]

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Banks lose patience with iffy borrowers:

The dreaded bank workout department isn’t what it used to be for marginal borrowers, say two Indianapolis veterans who have watched the industry for decades. Until a couple of years ago, banks still were willing to help struggling companies through tough patches by restructuring loans and offering guidance in finding their way out of the woods. Now, banks are much quicker to cut off borrowers, said Dave Hamernik, a partner in Hamernik LLC. Hamernik, one of the region’s most seasoned…

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Gigerich firm makes spate of hires after staff exodus:

Carmel-based consulting firm Ginovus LLC-which lost five professionals on May 11 to a new economic development practice started by the Indianapolis law firm Bingham McHale-has bounced back by hiring three people. Richard Rowley, legislative director under former Gov. Joe Kernan, joined as special counsel. Rowley will continue practicing law at Sommer Barnard, the Indianapolis law firm that hosts Ginovus. Jill Beckman was hired as director of operations. Beckman’s background is in accounting, most recently at Butler Uni versity. Denise Settlemyre…

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Indiana not alone in combating mortgage foreclosures

Twenty-one states, including Indiana, are pushing ahead with consumer-protection laws and bond sales to try to minimize the impact of the deepest housing downturn since the Great Depression, according to Bloomberg. Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels signed a bill designed to offer consulting to homeowners who are in default or in danger of doing so. A […]

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European demand drives Hurco results up

Hurco Cos. Inc. today reported profit of $4.7 million for its second fiscal quarter ended April 30 compared to $3.9 million a year earlier. Revenue increased 15 percent, to $42.5 million. The Indianapolis-based maker of interactive computer controls, software and machine tools attributed the upswing partly to rising demand, mostly in Europe.

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Educational attainment could have cost Marion jobs

An $800 million factory now churning out engines for Chrysler, Hyundai and Mitsubishi might have landed in Marion instead of Dundee, Mich., had Marion been able muster more college-educated workers, according to The Chronicle-Tribune of Marion. A Marion economic development official pointed out that the Global Engine Manufacturing Alliance plant, which employs 530, demands at […]

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Indianapolis Museum of Art receives $10 million donation

Shopping mall developer Melvin Simon and wife, Bren Simon, have given the Indianapolis Museum of Art $10 million to endow the director and CEO position, the IMA announced today. The donation will be added to IMA’s endowment of $367 million, but interest proceeds will fund salary and professional development expenses for the museum’s head. Though […]

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Six clergy arrested at Market Tower protest

Six Midwest clergy were arrested today at Market Tower downtown for protesting what they said was resistance from an Indianapolis company to increasing compensation for janitors. The group, called Indianapolis Clergy Committee, led by the Rev. Darren Cushman-Wood, pastor of Speedway United Methodist Church, said Executive Management Services would not take part in a process […]

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Cochran to head IUPUI business school

Philip Cochran has been named to replace Roger Schmenner as head of Indiana University’s business school at IUPUI. Schmenner, who led the program for nine years, will remain on the faculty and help IUPUI Chancellor Charles Bantz with special projects. As associate dean for the school, Cochran, a professor of business management and philanthropic studies, […]

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Furniture maker sees drop in profit, revenue

West Lafayette-based Chromcraft Revington Inc. posted a loss of $1.2 million in the first quarter, compared with profit of $1.1 million in the year-ago period. Revenue in the three months declined 26 percent, to $33.8 million. The maker of residential and commercial furniture attributed the decline to a soft retail market, pressure from import markets […]

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Bulldozers unloaded at Getrag site near Tipton

While Gov. Mitch Daniels is cautioning that German transmission maker Getrag Corporate Group hasn’t signed a contract with Chrysler, construction equipment is arriving at land Getrag owns near U.S. 31 and State Road 28 north of Indianapolis. Two bulldozers and a front-end loader arrived yesterday, according to the Kokomo Tribune. Getrag bought 145 acres earlier […]

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New French Lick casino nips Aztar profit, owner says

Tropicana Entertainment says profit at its Casino Aztar in downtown Evansville was hurt in the quarter ended March 31 by the opening of the new casino in the southern Indiana community of French Lick. Profit fell 16 percent, to $9.3 million, on a 9.5 percent drop in gambling revenue, according to The Evansville Courier & […]

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British metal treatment firm to launch Greenwood operation

Keronite International, a British firm that changes aluminum and magnesium surfaces into high-wear ceramics, will locate a site in Greenwood, bringing 25 jobs and $1.5 million in investments, Gov. Mitch Daniels announced today during his trade mission to Europe. The company’s first U.S. operation will focus on motorsports with a possibility of expanding to broader […]

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Buffett amasses substantial WellPoint stake

Warren Buffett likes WellPoint. Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. this week revealed it has amassed nearly 980,000 shares in WellPoint Inc., the Indianapolis-based health benefits firm, according to Reuters. Berkshire’s stake is worth about $82 million. Shares of companies often rise after Berkshire discloses investment in them. Buffett, the second-richest man in America, looks for stable, […]

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Dozens protest at WellPoint annual meeting

Nearly 60 people protested outside the Monument Circle offices of WellPoint Inc. this morning, calling for the government to replace insurers as providers of health benefits. Inside, where WellPoint shareholders gathered for their annual meeting, outgoing CEO Larry C. Glasscock showed a video titled “Why We’re Here.” He said the Indianapolis health insurer aims “to […]

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Babicz to make guitars in Fort Wayne

Babicz Guitars USA Inc. is expanding into Fort Wayne from its headquarters in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. The company, which has made acoustic and electric guitars for musicians including members of Pink Floyd and The E Street Band, said today that it will assemble and distribute instruments from an Urban Enterprise Zone downtown. It will invest $839,000 […]

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