Consumer spending softened in November and December in the district overseen by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. However, holiday sales “met expectations” of retailers in the upper Midwest, according to the Fed’s January Beige Book report on the economy. The Chicago region includes Iowa and most of Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin. Residential construction […]
Vacancy rates for industrial and office real estate declined in 2006, according to real estate brokerage Colliers Turley Martin Tucker’s annual “The State of Real Estate” report. The findings include: Industrial -Industrial vacancy rates have been declining since reaching a recent peak of 9.1 percent in 2002, ending 2006 at 6.5 percent. -5.5 million square […]
Only about 18 of the more than 30 ethanol plants proposed for Indiana are likely to be built, according to Jon Cavanaugh, a commodities marketer with Central States Enterprises in the northeast Indiana town of New Haven. That’s because there isn’t enough corn in Indiana or anywhere else in the country to satiate the booming […]
Conseco Inc. has put up for sale 49 undeveloped acres in Carmel once owned by former CEO Stephen Hilbert and his wife, Tomisue. The property at the southwest corner of 116th Street and Spring Mill Road was snagged by the Carmel financial services company in a legal settlement with its co-founder. It does not […]
The Indianapolis Metropolitan Development Commission this afternoon delayed a hearing on a developer’s request to rezone 70 acres in Crown Hill Cemetery to allow for three residential subdivisions and a retail strip center. The commission will take up Mann Properties LLC’s rezoning request at its February 21 meeting to give Indianapolis Museum of Art and […]
Steinway Musical Instruments Inc. has withdrawn its $40.5 million offer for the assets of The Woodwind & The Brasswind, a bankrupt South Bend maker of school band instruments. Steinway “has concluded that there will be a failure of certain conditions necessary to close the transaction,” the company said in a statement. It did not elaborate on […]
Indiana lodged a whopping $1.5 billion in catastrophic insurance claims—the most in the nation—in 2006, according to ISO, the New Jersey company that tracks losses. Indiana was clobbered by spring storms that broke windows and ripped skin from One Indiana Square, the downtown office tower. Hail also ruined roofs and siding across a broad swath […]
Indiana State University is considering merging its colleges of Nursing and Health and Human Performance to create a College of Nursing, Health and Human Services if funding and other issues can be resolved, according to The Tribune-Star of Terre Haute. The reorganized college would focus on health sciences, human services and nursing professions. Both colleges […]
Cook Medical, the Bloomington medical device company, has signed an agreement with Leman Cardiovascular of Switzerland to develop replacement venous valves through Leman’s U.S. subsidiary Hancock Jaffe Laboratories. The companies hope to be first to commercialize venous valves, which help control blood flow in veins, said Brian Bates, Cook vice president of business development. Valve […]
University of Evansville emeritus economist Ray Arensman believes the national economy could remain sturdy for as long as four more years. Speaking to the Evansville Rotary Club yesterday, Arensman said robust consumer spending and corporate earnings as well as high employment rates show the economy is solid, according to the Courier & Press. Factory capacity […]
Delaware County Airport is ripe for intense economic development instead of just continuing to rent land to farmers, President Dr. C. Kurt Alexander told commissioners Tuesday. The airport can look to Elkhart, Goshen and Fort Wayne for inspiration in turning airports into economic development tools, Alexander said. Michael Lynn has been hired to replace 91-year-old […]
Staff of the Indianapolis Department of Metropolitan Development is recommending approval of Mann Properties LLC’s request to rezone 70 wooded acres it plans to buy from Crown Hill Cemetery. Locally based Mann wants to build three residential subdivisions and a retail strip at the southeast corner of Michigan Road and 42nd Street. The staff recommendation […]
RNet Communications, an Internet service provider, has filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, according to the Reporter-Times. A fire on Aug. 27 destroyed the Martinsville-based company’s building and forced it to relocate.
BP Plc, the British oil giant, said today it will be more proactive in improving process safety at its five refineries, including its refinery in Whiting. An independent panel formed after a September 2005 explosion at BP’s Texas City, Texas, refinery concluded that management mistook improvements in rates of personal injuries as evidence of a […]
Kar Holdings II said today it plans to place its own senior managers at Adesa Inc., the Carmel-based car auction the private fund is buying for $3.7 billion. Chairman and CEO David Gartzke will be replaced by Brian Clingen. Clingen is an investor and board member of another auto auction Kar bought, Insurance Auto Auctions […]
Kar Holdings II said today it plans to place its own senior managers at Adesa Inc., the Carmel-based car auction the private fund bought in December for $3.7 billion. Chairman and CEO David Gartzke will be replaced by Brian Clingen. Clingen is an investor and board member of another auto auction Kar bought, Insurance Auto […]
The Hyatt Regency Indianapolis and National City Center will undergo a $14 million renovation that is set to begin next week. The bulk of the redesign—$11 million—will go toward adding 10,000 square feet of meeting space, an Italian/American restaurant, a Starbucks coffee shop and upgrading a lounge in the lobby of the downtown hotel. National […]
Guide Corp.’s abrupt decision Friday to close its tail light plant in Anderson immediately instead of in June sped a long-term trend in the city northeast of Indianapolis. For November, the latest month for which statistics are available from the U.S. Department of Labor, Madison County employment was 44,400 down from 50,100 in 1995. The […]
Eli Lilly and Co.’s decision last week to end construction on its $325 million insulin production plant near Washington, D.C., is a “clear blow” to the area’s attempts to launch a biotechnology industry, according to The Washington Examiner. Still, the newspaper reported, Prince William County, Va., will overcome the setback and attract international companies to […]
Imaging Office Systems has bought Frontline Imaging of Schaumburg, Ill., for an undisclosed price to digitize paper documents in the Chicago suburb. Imaging Office Systems, owned by Gary Gushard of Columbia City and headquartered in the northern Indiana community, maintains 125 of its 200 workers in the Indianapolis area. The company also sells scanners and […]
