Articles

Guide accelerates Anderson plant closing-to today

Guide Corp. has told its employees that its Anderson car taillight plant will close today, ahead of a June 2007 target announced in October. The action was caused by General Motors’ shifting production to alternative, lower-cost producers, the Pendleton company said in a statement published on The Herald Bulletin‘s Web site. About 265 hourly workers are affected […]

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Ford sues Navistar over engine prices, warranty

Diesel engines made at a Navistar International Corp. plant on Indianapolis’ east side are at the center of a lawsuit Ford Motor Co. has filed against Navistar in Michigan. Ford claims Illinois-based Navistar isn’t adequately sharing warranty costs for the engines, which are used in its lucrative Super Duty F-Series pickup trucks, according to Chicago […]

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Indiana a likely contender for Toyota plants

Toyota Motor Corp. probably will look closely at Indiana as it adds assembly plants to meet its rising sales, according to Kim Hill, associate director of the not-for-profit Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich. Now ramping up its Tundra pickup truck plant in San Antonio, the Japanese automaker is thought to be considering sites […]

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Anti-clotting prospect most important for Lilly, report says

A drug Eli Lilly and Co. is developing to prevent blood clots is the most important in Lilly’s pipeline, according to a report on TheStreet.com this morning. Prasugrel, which aims to prevent heart attacks and strokes, faces important clinical trials this year, and could yield several billion dollars in sales. However, its impact on the […]

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Symmetry paid $10M for British aerospace products co.

Warsaw orthopedic equipment maker Symmetry Medical Inc. paid $10 million for U.K.-based Whedon Ltd. and its subsidiary, Clamonta Ltd. The deal was announced Jan. 9 but the price was not disclosed at the time. Symmetry disclosed the price in a Securities and Exchange filing late yesterday. The company, which forges parts for airplane engines, is […]

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Hat World closes on Hat Shack deal

Hat World, the Indianapolis subsidiary of Nashville, Tenn.-based Genesco Inc., has closed its acquisition of Hat Shack Inc. for $16.6 million. Marietta, Ga.-based Hat Shack operates 49 retail hat stores, mostly in the Southeast. Genesco bought Hat World Corp. in 2004 for $177.4 million. Hat World was one of Indianapolis’ top entrepreneurship success stories, having […]

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Shelbyville too close to Honda for some suppliers

Several auto-parts suppliers have avoided locating plants in Shelby County because they don’t want to compete against Honda Motor Co. for workers, Shelby County economic development chief Dan Theobald told The Shelbyville News. The Japanese auto maker is building a $550 million assembly plant in adjoining Decatur County. However, Shelby County, which is southeast of […]

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Toyota lobby is stronger, GM official complains

Outspoken General Motors Corp. Vice Chairman Robert Lutz told reporters yesterday that it is being out-muscled in Washington, D.C., by Toyota lobbyists. Toyota, the nation’s third-largest automaker behind GM and Ford Motor Co., is treated well because its sales are rising and it has a growing number of factories in many states, Lutz said in a The New […]

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Ford to close east side steering component plant

Ford Motor Co. said Thursday it was unable to find a buyer for its east-side Indianapolis steering-systems plant and thus will close it by the end of next year, The Associated Press reported. The plant employs more than 1,500 workers. Ford spokeswoman Della DePietro told AP the plant was too large to attract buyers. The automaker […]

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Lilly says Zyprexa settlement cost $495 million

Eli Lilly and Co. revealed in a regulatory filing today that the recent settlement of a Zyprexa class-action lawsuit cost $495 million, according to Bloomberg. The Indianapolis pharmaceutical company announced Jan. 4 that it had reached the agreement on 18,000 claims, leaving 1,200 remaining to resolve. The plaintiffs claimed the drug caused them to gain […]

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Champps to be sold to private equity group

Champps Entertainment Inc., which operates two of its casual dining eateries in Indianapolis, has agreed to be bought by Kinderhook Industries LLC for $75 million. Kinderhook Industries is a New York-based private-equity firm. Champps plans to reinvest the sale proceeds in another business. There are about 65 Champps restaurants in 22 states.

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Lilly to invest in Indy, cut Lafayette work force

Eli Lilly and Co. said today it will invest “significant resources” in biotechnology manufacturing in Indianapolis and offer voluntary buyouts to 250 workers in Lafayette as part of a shake-up of global manufacturing operations. The Indianapolis drug maker said it will expand Indianapolis operations in order to turn active ingredients made at an expanded site […]

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Interactive Intelligence opens regional office in Virginia

Interactive Intelligence opens regional office in Virginia Interactive Intelligence, the Indianapolis-based business software developer, has opened an office in Herndon, Va., to oversee service, sales support and education in the Eastern United States. The office is half hour’s drive west of Washington, D.C., where Interactive counts the military and several government agencies as customers.

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Profit dips for Fortune Industries

Fortune Industries Inc.’s first-quarter profit fell 14 percent, to $726,000, from the year-ago quarter. The Indianapolis-based holding company for wireless technology and human resources companies attributed the drop to an increase in interest expense and stock dividends. Revenue in the period ended Nov. 30 grew 12 percent, to $40.7 million.

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Call center with at least 250 jobs could open in Marion

An affiliate of IBM wants to spend $2.5 million to open a customer service center in a former school in Marion. The center, which would be part of Gov. Mitch Daniels’ privatization of the collection and management of data for the Family and Social Services Administration, would answer questions about Medicaid, welfare and other FSSA […]

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Madison contract manufacturer to lay off 112

Armor Metal Group plans to lay off 112 workers at its plant at Madison in southern Indiana, according to a filing the company made with the state. The layoff will be carried out by March, the filing said. Officials for the Mason, Ohio-based company were not immediately for comment. Armor Metal’s Web site said 160 […]

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Northwest, Delta discussing merger, report says

Northwest Airlines Corp. and Delta Air Lines Inc. have engaged in talks about merging after they emerge from bankruptcy protection, according to The Wall Street Journal. Northwest is the largest carrier at Indianapolis International Airport, carrying approximately 22 percent of all passengers. Earlier today, US Airways Inc. said it boosted its offer for Delta to […]

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Paragon buys two local medical firms

Pierceton-based Paragon Medical Inc., which makes orthopedic surgical products, has acquired OMC Precision Products Ltd. and Tutela Medicus Inc., reports the Journal Gazette in Fort Wayne. The purchase price for the two Indianapolis-based firms was not disclosed. OMC makes spinal implants and Tutela is a product development firm for the medical device industry. The 70 […]

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Royal Spa owner irate about attorney general statement

An owner of Royal Spa Corp. is upset about a release the Indiana Attorney General’s Office issued today saying the Indianapolis company agreed to give consumers two written copies of their right to cancel orders when selling at fairs and other events. Bob Dapper, who owns the company with Rick Bartlett, said he was surprised […]

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Morgan County firm pines to make ethanol from wood

An ethanol company in Morgan County is investigating using sawdust and other wood waste instead of corn to make ethanol. Heartland Renewable Fuels LLC hopes Purdue University can help it learn to make the fuel from green hardwood cellulose, according to the Reporter-Times of Martinsville. The company believes competition for sawdust would be less intense […]

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