Campaign finance records through the first quarter of 2007 show Rudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor, has raised $176,950
in Indiana. That’s more than twice as much as one-time Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, his closest Republican rival.
During their first half-decade in operation, the state's casino slots machines grew their total sales to $22 billion,
according to Indiana Gaming Commission records. But in the last five years, slot sales grew just 18 percent, reaching $25.9
billion in 2006. That's what business textbooks call a maturing market.
The Indiana Economic Development Corp. spent the last six months preparing for the May 6-9 Biotechnology Industry Organization convention, the life sciences industry’s biggest annual event. Now that it’s finished, the hard part begins. “You build the relationship and you get the contacts,” said Indiana Secretary of Commerce Nathan Feltman. “But then you’ve got to aggressively follow up to get them here in Indiana.” More than 20,000 of the life sciences sector’s movers and shakers converged in Boston for the…
A longtime sales representative for one of the roofing industry’s largest manufacturers alleges his former employer defrauded Indiana public schools out of more than $1.5 million. Brennen Baker charges that the company, Beachwood, Ohio-based Tremco Inc., circumvented Indiana’s public bidding laws for school projects; overcharged for its services; and billed for materials, services and equipment it never delivered. Baker was a Tremco sales rep for southwest and central Indiana from 1991 until January 2004. Baker, who later founded the Fishers-based…
Interactive Intelligence Inc. has come full circle. On May 2, Marion County’s Metropolitan Development Commission was slated to review a 10-year property tax abatement for the communications software maker. If the incentive is approved, Interactive Intelligence plans to use it to hire 637 people at an average of $32.50 per hour. According to its filings with the city, the company also will build a $15 million, 154,000-square-foot building next door to its current headquarters near Interstate 465 and West 71st…
The Indiana Economic Development Corp. did OK in the just-completed legislative session. IEDC received $96 million it can
now dole
out as business grants. And lawmakers had authorized tax credits worth millions more for the commercialization of new…
The diversification of the state’s two enormous public pension funds into private equity is transforming Indiana’s venture capital sector. And their $155 million Indiana Investment Fund is the largest factor in the equation. If it’s successful, the Indiana Public Employees’ Retirement Fund and the Indiana State Teachers’ Retirement Fund will save Hoosiers untold millions of dollars and help launch a host of new high-tech companies. If it’s not, taxpayers will one day have to foot the bill. Indiana State Budget…
Taxes on Marion County commercial and industrial properties soon may go up sharply. The Indiana Department of Local Government
Finance, which oversees the state property tax system, has ordered a complete reassessment of the county's commercial
and industrial properties.
Thanks to the Indiana Department of Workforce Development’s increased collection efforts, the state has recouped millions
of dollars in unpaid unemployment insurance taxes since January 2006. But one in eight Hoosier businesses remains delinquent.
The Indiana Venture Center, an Indianapolis not-for-profit that mentors promising startup companies, today announced it is overhauling Indiana AngelNet, its proprietary network of wealthy angel investors. The Venture Center has hired David Doyle, a financial services veteran who managed Inception LLC. Inception is a private venture fund and consulting company that reviews deals and advises […]
In October, 2005, Scott Jones’ robot-driven Jeep Rubicon crashed at the start of its first major competition. But the setback didn’t deter the entrepreneur. Jones announced today that he has formed a Camel-based company, Precise Path Robotics Inc., to commercialize his automatic pilot technology for use mowing grass on golf courses. Eventually, the company’s computerized […]
Economic development officials say networking is the first step in a process that, when successful, leads to industrial plant
expansions and company headquarters relocations. Travel, food, gifts and entertainment, they argue, are a necessary cost of
attracting jobs to Indiana.
One night almost a decade ago, Kim Cassel woke up in a hotel room at 3 a.m. It was the latest of hundreds of hotels she’d slept in during her career as corporate vice president of a nationwide candy shop chain. Disoriented, she needed to check the phone book to remember she was in Boston. That’s when Cassel knew she had to open her own business. Within months, she had quit her job, returned to her hometown of Greenwood, leased…
But extra helpings of your favorite fattening treats may be on their way. At its April 19 meeting, the Indiana State Fair Commission will consider whether to add up to five more days to the fair, starting in 2008. “You’d have another weekend where people can come out to partake in fair activities,” said Indiana State Fair Commission Chairman Kyle Hupfer. “My guess is you’d see some new folks come to the fair who wouldn’t otherwise come.” This year, fair…
Indianapolis fought long and hard to earn a reputation as a safe place to live and conduct business. But police statistics
show that local security is eroding. Crime has risen to the highest levels seen during Mayor Bart Peterson’s administration.
Taliera Corp. plan to raise $60 million through an initial public offering was withdrawn March 27, but Taliera isn’t going
away. It’s simply trying a different approach. CEO J. Smoke Wallin said he and his team of eight beverage industry veterans
still believe their business plan is right.
Indianapolis hasn’t attempted to systematically catalog all its infrastructure needs since 1991. Back then, the Greater Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce collected a list of the most pressing local projects and presented it to Mayor Stephen Goldsmith. The price tag at that time: $1.1 billion. A lot has changed in the 16 years since the Chamber released its Getting Indianapolis Fit for Tomorrow report. Some problems it identified, such as the health risk of combined sewer overflows, have been partly addressed….
The first version of the $25.6 billion state budget, passed by the Democratic majority in the Indiana House of Representatives
Feb. 22, didn’t include any money for the Indiana 21st Century Research and Technology Fund, which provides financial assistance
to promising high-tech startups.
Leaders of Indianapolis’ mass transit movement don’t expect to benefit—at least not immediately—from Gov. Mitch Daniels’ giving up on his push to build the Indiana Commerce Connector toll road. “I never felt they were either/or projects, said City-County Councilor Joanne Sanders, a Democrat and vice president of the Central Indiana Regional Transportation Authority. “They both […]
The U.S. Department of Justice’s highprofile, three-year investigation into price fixing in Indiana’s concrete industry resulted in one of the largest antitrust fines in history: $29.2 million against Greenfield-based Irving Materials Inc. The investigation might not be over yet. The DOJ seemed to conclude its Indianapolis inquiry last month, finally closing the criminal case. But a recent filing in a pending civil suit against IMI and its four former top executives hints the probe is continuing elsewhere. This time, IMI…
