The Columbia Club, the tradition-rich enclave where the city’s business elite have gathered and cut deals for more than a
century, is facing declining membership, the departure of its longtime general manager, and looming financial challenges–including
a $5.5 million loan that comes due this summer.
Beckman Coulter Inc. announced this afternoon that it will shutter a centrifuge development and manufacturing facility in Palo Alto, Calif., and move its operations to Indianapolis. The Palo Alto facility employs 220 people. Beckman Coulter, based in Fullerton, Calif., said the move will cut costs and improve its ability to recruit and retain skilled […]
Sexier industry sectors like life sciences or motorsports get all the press. But to remain robust, the Indianapolis Private Industry Council believes, the area economy needs diversification. The 23-year-old work-force-training not-for-profit believes the nine-county area also should target three tried-and-true industries: finance and insurance; retail, hospitality and restaurants; and construction. IPIC, whose $9 million annual budget comes from public and private grants, plans to spend $200,000 during the first quarter studying the three sectors, which collectively employ 270,000 people in…
In January, Mark Miles returned to Indianapolis after more than a decade at the helm of the Association of Tennis Professionals to become CEO of the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership. Twelve months later, the CICP looks much different than it did under his predecessor David Goodrich. And it could soon change even more. A former Eli Lilly and Co. executive and aide to Dan Quayle, Miles, 53, has been one of the key players in the potential consolidation of the…
It was a banner economic development year for Gov. Mitch Daniels, topped by the blockbuster Honda auto plant deal. Thanks in part to a second trip to Japan, Daniels landed a $550 million plant for Greensburg in June. Slated to begin production in 2008, the plant is expected to employ more than 2,000 people. Two months earlier, Daniels unveiled “Accelerating Growth,” his economic development plan for the state. Its ambitious goal is to boost Hoosiers’ per-capita income to the national…
For the nine years she’s owned the Lightning Food Mart in New Albany, Tammy Wolford has depended on the Hoosier Lottery to attract customers. So if Indiana leases its lottery to a private operator, it could directly affect Wolford’s bottom line. “I am not for it,” she said. “I really feel if that happens, eventually it will come down to the retailers who will be losing.” Gas station and convenience store owners like Wolford fear a private lottery operator might…
To make the hefty payments to the state Gov. Mitch Daniels demands and still turn a profit, a private operator taking over
the Hoosier Lottery would need to boost revenue by hundreds of millions of dollars a year.
Gov. Mitch Daniels proposed the Hoosier Lottery lease to fund incentives for higher education. Just how much will $1 billion buy? Daniels wants to put $600 million in a permanent endowment to finance Hoosier Hope Scholarships aimed at retaining the state’s top high school graduates. Endowment proceeds, Daniels said, will pay for 1,700 scholarships annually in perpetuity. The program will hand out $5,000 annual scholarships for four-year colleges and $2,500 annual scholarships for two-year degrees. The payouts would be considered…
Legislators in the upcoming session of the Indiana General Assembly are gearing up for a gunfight with high-caliber business
implications. On one side are employees who prefer to pack heat during their commute. On the other are executives who see
guns as a liability nightmare–even if they’re locked in cars parked outside.
It might seem as though the low cost of labor overseas has shifted the entire U.S. textile industry to Asia, never to return. Indianapolis-based leotard-maker Motionwear Inc. proves otherwise. The 120-employee company was acquired this month by the Italian sportswear firm FILA for an undisclosed sum and, as a result, it’s poised to expand locally. Tom Wilson started the company in his attic in 1988 because his daughter Erin, an aspiring dancer, couldn’t find performance apparel she liked in retail…
The merger of four of central Indiana’s biggest business development organizations might achieve only modest cost savings,
or even be more expensive than the status quo, a confidential financial analysis obtained by IBJ shows.
Navigating the intersection between creed and commerce can betricky. Fearing lawsuits, many companies prefer to avoid it whenever
possible. But others unabashedly intertwine religion and business.
It’s the definition of an issue ripe for bipartisan compromise. Gov. Frank O’Bannon, a Democrat, proposed the state should underwrite full-day kindergarten in public schools. His successor and fellow Democrat, Joe Kernan, supported the idea. And now Gov. Mitch Daniels, a Republican, has taken up the early-education cause. “It’s almost universally acknowledged to be a good idea,” said Indiana Legislative Insight Publisher Ed Feigenbaum. “It’s simply a matter of, ‘Where do we come up with the funding?'” According to the…
High-tech leaders eager for money for venture capital investments have set their sights on a new potential source: Indiana’s $308 million Public Deposit Insurance Fund. It’s an idea sure to draw adamant opposition. Take Indiana Bankers Association CEO Jim Cousins’ reaction: “Over my dead body,” he said. “That fund exists to insure deposits. Any deviation from that, we will fight like banshees to oppose.” Formed in 1937, in the wake of the Great Depression, the PDIF insures deposits of public…
In his 2007 legislative preview for the Indiana Chamber of Commerce, State Rep. Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, opened with a joke: After a politician’s death, he found himself standing before the pearly gates. St. Peter offered the politician a choice of heaven or hell, prefaced by a brief preview of each. During his visit to hell, the politician was surprised to discover all his friends there. What’s more, it was a terrific place to be-the most fun and raucous party he’d…
Since the inception of the state’s Venture Capital Investment Tax Credit in late 2003, investors have claimed only about one-third of the $37.5 million in credits available, according to an IBJ analysis of the program.
With $325 million in unclaimed property on hand, Indiana Attorney General Steve Carter has a simple request: Check the Internet to see if any of it is yours. To make the process as easy as possible, Carter is searching for a vendor to upgrade and host its clearinghouse Web site www.IndianaUnclaimed.com. The attorney general’s goal is to reunite Hoosiers with their cash-and in the process reduce a significant problem for businesses that need to get unclaimed property off their books….
BioCrossroads, the life sciences initiative responsible for raising the $73 million Indiana Future Fund and the $6 million Indiana Seed Fund, is in early discussions on a new capital-formation effort. The focus this time around: biotech services businesses. “This is very much a work in progress,” said BioCrossroads CEO David Johnson. “But we believe and acknowledge this is an area that needs our attention and our active involvement.” Next year, Johnson hopes to focus at least $25 million to $30…
About 1,300 senior citizens recently received correspondence from the Indiana University School of Medicine. The letters detailed changes in federal law allowing them to make tax-free charitable gifts from their individual retirement accounts in 2006 and 2007 only. Thanks to IU’s October mail campaign to alumni, former faculty and staff, the School of Medicine already has attracted seven six-figure contributions. And it’s received inquiries from many more potential donors. Some want to establish scholarships for students. Others want to underwrite…
The numbers are daunting. According to Gov. Mitch Daniels’ economic development plan “Accelerating Growth,” Indiana ranks 35th out of 50 states for the proportion of its population with at least an associate’s degree. Worse, it ranks 47th for bachelor’s degrees. A full million Hoosiers “lack the basic skills necessary for 21st century employment,” according to the plan. That’s about a sixth of the state’s population. High-tech leaders are increasingly focused on reversing the trend. They know the availability of a…
