Mayor Bart Peterson’s plan to permanently settle Indianapolis’ massive liability for unfunded police and firefighter pensions will not be completed before he leaves office. Peterson, who approved a local income-tax hike this summer in part to underwrite nearly $500 million in pension bonds, told IBJ in an interview that Mayor-elect Greg Ballard will decide whether […]
ExactTarget Inc. will need to reveal much more about its $86-million initial public offering before analysts and investors can accurately assess the value proposition, one expert said today. The Indianapolis-based e-mail marketing firm hasn’t disclosed details including the number of shares available and the price per share; that information probably won’t be forthcoming until February, […]
As legislators prepare to overhaul the state’s property-tax system, Marion County’s future hangs in the balance. Indianapolis
residents–particularly in the city’s older, urban core–already pay far higher taxes than their suburban counterparts. And
arguably get less bang for their buck. Changes on the table could make Marion County an even tougher sell.
State regulators want more firepower to fight mortgage crimes. But a month before the General Assembly convenes, real estate
interests are uneasy, fearing lawmakers may go overboard.
An individual who does not yet want to be identified has reached an agreement to buy the Carmel mansion that once belonged to Conseco Inc. co-founder Steve Hilbert. This morning Judy Koehler, managing broker for Carpenter Realtors’ Fishers office, confirmed to IBJ that Carpenter Sales Associate Linda Genrich is representing the buyer in the transaction. […]
For a preview of how Indiana’s 2008 gubernatorial election will play out, look no further than the emerging tussle over entrepreneur
Scott Jones’ $4 million in awards from the state’s 21st Century Research & Technology Fund.
Students complained about Greg Ballard when he taught college business courses. The man they called “the Colonel” had strict
rules and high expectations. Frustrated, undergraduates sometimes tried to go over his head. His boss, Indiana Business College
administrator Marc Konesco, encountered them in his office. But students never got far. Konesco refused to overrule the Colonel’s
decisions. “I always said, ‘That’s his classroom,'” recalled Konesco, the college’s vice president of marketing and enrollment.
“His style was one where the students…
The city of Indianapolis has signed a new contract with United Water Services, which has managed the city’s wastewater-treatment facilities and sewage-collection system since 1994. The new nine-year contract, which takes affect Jan. 1, includes an option for renewal in 2017 and 2023. United Water will earn $28.5 million in annual revenue for its services, […]
Seeking to increase its efficiency, Marion County government is enlisting a group of volunteer business experts. Their recommendations could lead to lower taxes and better service-just the sort of initiative incoming Mayor Greg Ballard says he wants to embrace. The new High Performance Government Team was approved last month by the City-County Council. Created on the recommendation of the Greater Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce, it is modeled on a similar effort in Fort Wayne, where Mayor Graham Richard, a Democrat,…
The afternoon after Greg Ballard’s shocking victory at the polls, the mood was sober at Marion County Republican headquarters.
Jubilation had given way to reality. Although mayor-elect Ballard described himself “as tired as a guy could get,” he has
no time for a break. And what the former U.S. Marine Corps lieutenant colonel will do is largely a mystery.
When large companies make innovations that don’t fit their business plan, the discovery often ends up gathering dust on a shelf. But entrepreneurs are eager to build new companies around these orphaned technologies. Four years ago, Jeffrey Alholm spotted just such an opportunity. Warsaw-based Biomet Inc. had tabled a promising anesthetic-dispensing device. So Alholm formed Symbios Medical Products LLC and cut a deal to secure its rights. Now, Symbios has a chance to commercialize the device widely, thanks to a…
Through persistence and sheer pluck, Rod Ratcliff has become a player in the gambling industry–one many businesses try to
break into, most without success. On Oct. 30, his Indianapolis-based company, Centaur Inc., closed a $1 billion financing
deal that will fund gambling projects in three states.
Sounding downright Greenspanian, economists at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business said this morning they are “cautiously optimistic” that 2008 will be a year of modest growth. The U.S. economy will grow 2.5 percent, less than the 3 percent they expected for 2007, they said during the business school’s annual breakfast meeting downtown. Indiana’s economy […]
Stephen Hilbert’s private equity firm is providing some of the $1 billion in financing that Indianapolis-based Centaur Inc. has assembled to fund “racino” projects in Anderson and near Pittsburgh. Centaur this afternoon said it had closed on the financing, which will fund the addition of 2,000 slot machines at Hoosier Park in Anderson. Included in […]
The art of the deal is to get more than you give up. If Gov. Mitch Daniels convinces the General Assembly to pass his property
tax plan intact, he’ll meet the definition of deal-maker, and then some.
Businesses are upset about the implications of Gov. Mitch Daniels’ plan to reform Indiana’s property tax system. And while they would certainly bear blows, executives may be discounting one of the proposal’s subtlest selling points: permanent tax stability. “I don’t know if it’s too high or too low. But I do know that it’s locked in stone. And businesses love predictability,” said Matt Will, associate dean of the University of Indianapolis School of Business and director of its Graduate Business…
City planners have long envisioned a high-tech corridor of life sciences research buildings and businesses extending northwest
of downtown to 16th Street. And the city is now spending $4 million on infrastructure and streetscape improvements toward
that end, as well as signage identifying the area as a life sciences hub.
Madison native Chris Naylor on Oct. 5 became Indiana’s securities commissioner. He was appointed by Indiana Secretary of State Todd Rokita to succeed O. Wayne Davis, who now is a semi-retired legal consultant. Naylor, former county prosecutor in two southern Indiana counties, sat down with IBJ to talk about his goals as the state’s top securities cop. The following is an edited version of that interview. IBJ: What’s your office’s focus? NAYLOR: There are two large areas: investor protection and…
Arcadia Resources Inc. CEO Marvin Richardson, an Anderson native and Purdue University pharmacy graduate, said Indianapolis was chosen for the company’s new headquarters because the city’s central location will create an advantage when it launches a new drug-packaging system. The system, called DailyMed, will help patients manage their prescription pills. The company plans to open a distribution center for DailyMed in the near future that eventually could employ 300 or more. Arcadia will move from the Detroit suburb of Southfield….
Shelbyville leaders and residents are grumbling about restrictions the Indiana Economic Development Corp. just slapped on
Intelliplex, their $22.8 million certified technology park.
