Carmel resident Scott Drew has been indicted by a grand jury in Los Angeles for allegedly taking part in a scheme to secretly rehire workers of Ralphs Grocery Co. under false names and Social Security numbers. The 47-year old, now a vice president at Kroger Co., was an executive at Compton, Calif.-based Ralphs when he […]
Indiana auto parts plants will continue laying off workers and closing for at least another year, and the plants probably won’t bounce back when auto sales recover, projected for 2010, experts say. Rebecca Lindland, director of automotive research at Massachusetts-based Global Insight, said that when sales rebound, most of the increased production will emerge at […]
As stock prices of Wachovia Corp. and other big names in banking take massive hits, regional banks like Integra and Old National in Evansville are quietly racking up large gains. An analysis of the best-performing Indiana stocks since Sept. 1 reveals regional banks atop the list. Integra Bank Corp. has seen its shares soar nearly […]
Bloomington billionaire Bill Cook placed 68th on this year’s Forbes 400 list of the richest Americans, the same rank he held last year, retaining his spot as the wealthiest Indiana resident. However, Cook needed $500 million more to keep the placing. Last year, the 77-year-old had $4.5 billion; this year he hit $5 billion. Cook […]
A consortium of financiers led by Credit Suisse has turned down an attempt by Centaur LLC to build a $455 million harness race track near Pittsburgh, the company announced yesterday. Centaur said it has immediately begun seeking an investment bank to help it move ahead with the $445 million project, called Valley View Downs. “We […]
Two Indianapolis-area investment funds and several local individuals have bought a controlling stake in a startup company in a St. Louis suburb for more than $80 million. The company, Furminator Inc., sells combs for untangling undercoats of dogs and other animals. Equity investors include Hammond Kennedy Whitney & Co. and Cardinal Equity Partners, said Hammond […]
Dixie Chopper, a Coatesville company that makes what it claims are the fastest lawnmowers in the world, has hired a president who plans to triple production within three years. Gary A. Morgan, who stepped into the position yesterday, said he intends to boost the company’s share of the “zero-turn” mower market to 25 percent from […]
Andy Paine, one of Indianapolis’ top bankers until he retired a decade ago, traces the financial train wreck unfolding across the country to a perception hatched in the 1990s that home ownership was a right, not a privilege. The financial system won’t recover until that notion is reversed, Paine says. “We’re going to have to […]
Few Midwestern university cities have prospered as much as Bloomington in the past couple of decades, a recent Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago study shows. When it comes to growth in per-capital personal income, Bloomington has been surpassed only by Minneapolis, home to the University of Minnesota, and Ames, Iowa, where Iowa State University is […]
An investor pool formed to acquire farmland bought 1,108 of 1,222 acres auctioned near Frankfort on Thursday, according to Schrader Real Estate and Auction Co. Inc., the Columbia City firm that handled the sale. The average price for all of the land came to $5,171 per acre. That was slightly more than the $5,003 average […]
An Indianapolis startup company has acquired the intellectual assets of American Sentry Guard for what the new owner described as a fire-sale price. Armando Perez, who owns Integrated Security Solutions, said he bought the assets at auction late last month for less than $250,000 – half the price the assets would have brought had different […]
Nearly a year after Arcadia Resources Inc. moved its headquarters from Michigan to Indianapolis, the company has started work on an additional pharmacy operation nearby that is expected to employ 130 by the end of 2010. Arcadia, based at 9229 Delegates Row on the northeast side, said today it has finalized a lease on 7,000 […]
The Muncie bank that last week announced plans to buy Lincoln Bancorp anticipates slashing $8 million in expenses from the Plainfield institution. First Merchants Corp. disclosed the figure in a regulatory filing yesterday. The savings would amount to roughly one-third of the $25 million in expenses Lincoln reported last year. About 75 percent of the […]
Marketing Informatics LLC, an Indianapolis direct-marketing firm, has sold its printing unit to Indianapolis-based Printing Partners Inc. Marketing Informatics acquired the print operation, then called RPS Printing Inc., from Tom Bius three years ago. However, the print arm needed a big investment to bring capacity in line with Marketing Informatics’ needs, said founder and CEO […]
An area long considered one of the most promising sites in the state for economic development is finally getting traction. A year ago, the budding WestGate @ Crane Technology Park barely had opened its first building. Now the park, which is next to the secretive Naval Surface Warfare Center at Crane in southwestern Indiana, anticipates […]
Todd Lugar, a nephew of U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar, has been named president of Fundex Games Ltd., a Plainfield company that produces toys and games. Lugar, 47, most recently was a director at Indianapolis investment bank Periculum Capital Co. LLC. Prior to the Periculum post, Lugar operated the Lugar family business, Thomas L. Green & […]
An Indianapolis health care management business has acquired its third company since January and plans to grow to become the largest company in its industry. Financed by a Connecticut private equity firm, Health Systems International this week announced it had bought Bridgeway Medical LLC, a Montgomery, Ala., company that reviews and audits medical bills for […]
Delphi Electronics & Safety plans to invest $160 million in its Kokomo operations in the next few years, the city announced today. The investment will be channeled toward machinery and equipment, much of which will focus on hybrid and other next-generation automotive technology, said Kokomo development director Debra Cook. “It looks as if they’re planning […]
First Merchants Corp. announced today that it has signed a definitive agreement to buy Plainfield-based Lincoln Bancorp. The move thrusts the growing Muncie bank further into the state’s largest market and sheds light on the travails of the banking industry. First Merchants valued the acquisition at $74 million to $77 million, depending on its stock […]
The three Louisiana oil refineries operated by Calumet Specialty Products LLP weren’t damaged by Hurricane Gustav, the Indianapolis company said today. All three are near Shreveport, which is in the northwestern corner of Louisiana and 350 miles from the coast. “We’re not impacted at all,” said spokeswoman Liz Swaine. As is the case with most […]
