Articles

Conseco socked with $750,000 fine

A $750,000 penalty has been levied against Conseco Inc. by the Iowa Insurance Division, but the reason for the fine is being kept confidential, according to The Des Moines Register. The Carmel insurer’s Conseco Life Insurance Co. unit and regulators settled issues related to how the unit priced some of its life insurance policies. Conseco […]

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Symmetry Medical buys instrument company

A Whitman, Mass., company that makes precision instruments for arthroscopic, laparoscopic, sinus and other minimally invasive surgeries has been bought by Warsaw-based Symmetry Medical Inc. for $7 million in cash. Symmetry said today it acquired TNCO Inc. to broaden its product line of implants and related instruments, and cases for the orthopedic device industry.

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Mad Money show rolls into IU tonight.

Jim Cramer and his popular CNBC show Mad Money will be filmed live at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business tonight at 6:00 p.m. Appearing with Cramer will be IU graduate Mark Cuban, who co-founded HDNet and owns the Dallas Mavericks.

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Comcast to take over local Insight cable operations.

Cable companies Comcast Corp. and Insight Communications Co. Inc. have agreed that Comcast will take over virtually all of the territory in Indiana now managed by Insight, the companies said this week. The transition, which will take place at an unspecified date late this year, includes Insight customers from Anderson to Bloomington to Lafayette. Insight […]

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Indiana gained jobs in February, economist contends

Dismal February job numbers widely reported across the state several days ago distort what actually happened, according to Morton Marcus, director emeritus of the Indiana Business Research Center at Indiana University. Rather than having 7,400 fewer jobs than in January—the worst performance behind only Ohio—employment actually increased. The rub comes in how government statisticians adjusted […]

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Minority firms receive 22 percent of airport contracts

Minority-owned companies have snagged 22 percent of the $749.1 million in contracts committed through 2006 for the midfield terminal project at Indianapolis International Airport, the airport authority said today. Minority companies received $167.5 million of the $749.1 million. Slightly more than half of the 189 minority companies that received the contracts are owned by women. […]

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Study raps Lilly for corporate gobbledygook

Eli Lilly and Co. was among 40 companies cited in a study by Clarity! Communications of Canada Inc. for describing executive pay in prose that’s all but indecipherable to the common person. As a result, the companies in the study violated new securities rules that prevent companies from using jargon to report how top executives […]

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WellPoint ties employee bonuses to patient health

Bonuses for WellPoint Inc.’s 42,000 employees now hinge at least in part on whether the company’s customers actually get healthier. The Indianapolis-based health benefits company announced this morning that it has linked every worker’s compensation to how well its patients do in 20 clinical areas. WellPoint claims it is the first company to launch such […]

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CTI Group gushed red ink in 2006

CTI Group Inc. lost $1.1 million last year as customers cut back on the data processing services it offers, and because the company received less revenue from enforcing its patents. The loss compared to a $523,134 profit in 2005. The downtown company, which also sells telecommunications software, said revenue declined to $12.8 million from $15.3 […]

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Dura to shutter Brownstown plant, lay off 114.

Dura Automotive Systems Inc. of Rochester Hills, Mich., said today that its Brownstown plant is among four it plans to close to improve efficiency. The Brownstown site, which employs 114 workers manufacturing spare tire carriers, winches and toolkits, is in southern Indiana, an hour’s drive from Bloomington. Other Dura plants slated for closing are in […]

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Stock probe results in Biomet execs retiring

An investigation into stock-option backdating at Biomet Inc. resulted in two executives retiring March 30. The executives are Gregory D. Hartman, senior vice president of finance and chief financial officer and treasurer, and Daniel P. Hann, executive vice president of administration and a director. In an investigation delving into the options granted between 1996 and […]

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Union merger in Anderson signals end of era

Two United Auto Workers locals that once represented upward of 20,000 General Motors workers in Anderson no longer are needed, and will merge into the UAW local that represents Anderson municipal workers and Madison County workers. Local 662, which in the 1960s boasted nearly 15,000 members at what became GM’s Delphi Corp. division, will be […]

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Manufacturing institute launched at Ivy Tech

Ivy Tech Community College and the Indianapolis Private Industry Council have started an Advanced Manufacturing Institute at Ivy Tech’s downtown campus to train manufacturing workers. The institute will work with trade groups specializing in welding, metalworking, ventilation and fluid power to train and retrain workers for the 2,300-plus manufacturing positions Ivy Tech and the council […]

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Yes, people are working today

Lots of people are taking the week off for spring break, but plenty of people are still toiling away at their jobs, local employers say. At F.C. Tucker Co.’s corporate office on the far northside, 20 to 25 percent of workers are out this week, said Stan Phariss, vice president of human relations for the […]

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Indianapolis TV stations sold in Tribune deal.

Tribune Co., the Chicago media company that owns Indianapolis Fox affiliate WXIN-TV Channel 59 and the local CW network affiliate, WTTV-TV Channel 4, said it has accepted an $8.2 billion acquisition offer from cross-town real estate magnate Sam Zell. The Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times are Tribune’s flagship properties. Zell said he would put Tribune’s […]

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TRW workers ratify ‘concessionary’ contract in Lafayette

A contract approved by a majority of 270 union members at the TRW Commercial Steering Systems plant in Lafayette on Saturday stipulates no raises in its first three years, followed by 1-percent and 1.25-percent raises in the two remaining years. United Auto Workers Local 531 President Ron Dubree Jr. called the contract “concessionary,” according to […]

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Business leaders try to resurrect Illiana Expressway

Members of the Northwest Indiana Forum, an economic development group, have held several closed-door meetings with members of the General Assembly to try to stir interest in proceeding with the project, according to the Post-Tribune of Merrillville. Gov. Mitch Daniels said late last month public opposition ran so high that he would drop the idea […]

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Oops! Greensburg short $3.6 million in development taxes

Human error is being blamed for a $3.6 million shortfall in tax-increment finances in Greensburg, the southeastern Indiana city where Honda Motor Co. is building a $550 million plant to assemble its Civic compact car. The Tax Increment Financing Board based its anticipated revenue on current assessed value of property in a TIF district where […]

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Waste station company wins court appeal

A Kalamazoo, Mich., company has won a battle in the Indiana Court of Appeals in Indianapolis to locate a solid waste transfer station and recycling facility near 86th Street and Zionsville Road. Judge Margret Robb sided with 600 Land Inc. in its attempt to gain zoning approval for the northwest-side project. The company needed a […]

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Super Heroes museum to open tomorrow

American Super Heroes Museum, which will feature Superman costumes and artifacts from movies and television episodes featuring Superman and Batman, will open at 20 W. Louisiana St. on Saturday. The museum features a collection of memorabilia by Fishers resident Dane Nash. Hours are 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 10 a.m. to […]

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