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Scott Olson

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Executive lunches feed search for new biotech ideas: Local group of CEOs from venture-funded life sciences firms gather monthly to share experiences, advice

Each month, leaders of some of the city’s most promising life sciences companies gather to share lunch, but they are more interested in getting an extra dollop of advice that might contain the ingredients for a thriving company. These 14 chief executives sharing their experiences with one another represent the city’s roster of life sciences firms that have received outside financing from venture capitalists. That means the fledgling enterprises are high-risk investments with the potential for above-average returns. And with…

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Getting to know you: Companies are using sites like MySpace to learn much more about job candidates

In today’s Internet age, companies are going well beyond reading résumés and contacting references to check out job candidates. More and more would-be employers are turning to the Web to conduct background checks on prospects. MySpace and Facebook are two hugely popular social networking sites where college and high school students often post risqué photographs and provocative content about drinking, recreational drug use, sexual exploits and other personal conduct. But what some job seekers might mistakenly consider relatively private information…

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Father-son team caters to wealthy clientele: Goelzer a local fixture in portfolio management

Reeling in 45-inch northern pike during annual fishing excursions to the upper regions of Canada is one type of bonding experience Don and Greg Goelzer cherish. But the camaraderie the father and son share really is rooted in the 25 years they have spent working side by side at Goelzer Investment Management Inc., the downtown advisory firm Don founded in 1969. In the quarter-century since son Greg arrived fresh from college, the two have helped grow the firm’s client base…

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Will merger weaken regulatory oversight?: Local securities experts disagree on potential impact of NASD, NYSE combination

A merger of the two biggest regulators that police the nation’s 5,100 investment brokerages is drawing mixed reactions from the securities industry. NASD, formerly known as the National Association of Securities Dealers, and NYSE Group Inc., parent of the New York Stock Exchange subsidiaries, want to complete the merger by June 30. Supporters hail the alliance as a costcutting measure that will eliminate overlapping regulation and establish a uniform set of rules by placing oversight responsibility in a single, yet-to-be-named…

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Business shoved aside: Readers say city should focus on crime, education in 2007

The brutal murders of seven family members, including three children shot dead in their east-side Indianapolis home, cast a dark cloud over the city last summer. Yet the June slayings only served as a harbinger of a wave of violence that later claimed 15 lives in a 10-day span. The crime spree rattled city leaders so severely that Mayor Bart Peterson declared an emergency normally reserved for a natural disaster. 2006 no doubt ranked among the most deadly years in…

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Beginning lawyers may see salary boost: Experts think big-city pay raises will trickle down here

Starting salaries for young lawyers at the city’s largest law firms could be on the cusp of hitting six figures. First-year associates at several top-tier Indianapolis practices currently earn $90,000 a year. But a wage war playing out among firms on both coasts, and in Chicago, might prompt those here to raise the ante as well. “It’s just a matter of who blinks first,” said Mike McConnell, a former legal consultant who chairs the state’s Education Employment Relations Board. “It…

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Strap maker hits right chord with guitar players: Action Custom Straps’ products catch on thanks to attention from musicians like Jimmy Buffett, Keith Urban

The guitar straps Terry Misner creates for musicians worldwide are the canvas for his artwork. In his specialty, though, the tapestry is really soft leather he uses to combine comfort and custom designs for performers such as Jimmy Buffett and Keith Urban. “It’s like sewing silk rather than sewing canvas,” he said. “You can rip through canvas in a hurry, but what would you rather feel?” The 56-year-old Misner operates Action Custom Straps with wife, Dena, and daughter Nikki O’Neal….

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Carving a niche outside Louisville: Hoosier Bat Co. finds success with Major Leaguers, amateur baseball players

A three-piece wooden bat David Cook developed in 1989 became popular among professional baseball players, but ended up nearly devastating his upstart manufacturing company. Major League Baseball banned the bat just a year later after what Cook contends was a fierce lobbying effort from his largest rival, Louisville Slugger. The bat-made of ash, hickory and maple-is fused by finger jointing and remains in use at the amateur levels. The durability of the bat rivals that of an aluminum model, Cook…

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Little Crow Foods happy to fly solo: Family-owned maker of CoCo Wheats cereal has avoided industry consolidation

The northern Indiana city of Warsaw is best known as home to three of the largest prosthetic makers in the world. But the smaller Little Crow Foods might be just as influential. Now in its fourth generation of family ownership, the company is responsible for bringing the American public the iconic CoCo Wheats cereal and a handful of other food products that followed. “When we have companies that have been as successful and around as long as Little Crow, I…

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Showing WAL MART some love: New statewide group supports oft-criticized retailer

Several Hoosiers are at the forefront of a fledgling effort to deflect a growing barrage of criticism lobbed at retail giant Wal-Mart Stores by organized labor and worker’s rights advocates. The Indiana chapter of the Working Families for Wal-Mart formed earlier this month and includes in its membership local elected officials such as City-County Councilor Ron Gibson and State Rep. Vanessa Summers, D-Indianapolis. The national not-for-profit, which launched a year ago, is backed by the Arkansas-based retailer and also boasts…

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Holiday outlook bright for retail: Online sales, gift cards expected to bring cheer

Retailers are optimistic they won’t find a piece of coal in their stockings this winter. Veteran jeweler Greg Bires has labored in retail long enough to recognize when a robust holiday shopping season is starting to take shape. Fortunately for the owner of the downtown Windsor Jewelers, this should be another strong year, experts predict. “So far, things have been pretty positive,” Bires said. “It’s been a long time, but I’ve seen years when you knew things were going to…

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Butler mounts unusual campaign: Students, not buildings, major emphasis of effort

Butler University President Bobby Fong’s collection of baseball memorabilia sparks almost as much enthusiasm from him as the capital campaign the college publicly unveiled last month. The major difference of course is that the autographed bats and balls displayed in his office are far less valuable than the $125 million the college wants to raise by 2010. More than half the amount already has been procured from alumni and past donors during a silent phase that launched in late 2003….

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Taking apart PCs, rebuilding lives: Workforce Inc. recycling program helps ex-prisoners prepare for employment

Timothy Smith spent 22 years behind bars for committing a violent crime he’d rather not talk about. The Indianapolis native released from prison just two months ago cannot stop praising the transitional program meant to help him and other former inmates find jobs and rebuild their lives. “This place has been a godsend for me,” Smith said. “Coming out of prison, you don’t have much of a job history. It gives you something to look forward to.” Smith, who entered…

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Lights, camera, Internet-More Web sites using video: Vodcast clips catching on as a way for organizations to deliver their message in a new, more exciting way

The terms for emerging Internet technology are enough to make the less savvy long for the days when e-mail seemed cutting-edge. The communication tool, especially among teens, has given way to instant messaging, of course. So it’s no wonder colleges and companies alike are starting to shun standard e- mail and Web-page marketing efforts in favor of video-on-demand clips, known as vodcasts. “The computer was meant to be watched; it wasn’t meant to be read,” said Jon DiGregory, who founded…

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Techpoint’s new leader sees room to grow: Indiana making progress, but could do better, he says

Techpoint, a locally based technology trade group that represents the interests of about 330 members statewide, is undergoing a transition in leadership. Jim Jay, 37, has been named interim CEO following the resignation of Cameron Carter, who has led the organization since 2003. Directors should begin a formal search for a permanent replacement the first of the year. Whether Jay lands the top job remains to be seen. But in the meantime, the Butler University graduate with an entrepreneurial spirit…

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Bridge project not too far for Zionsville firm: Timber-frame specialist has big role in rebuilding Parke County landmark

The Bridgeton Grist Mill in southern Parke County sat so close to a covered bridge that was destroyed by arson last year that firefighters hosed down the historic structure to keep it from burning, too. The mill, which has churned out flour since 1863, predated by five years the wooden trestle considered one of the most scenic of the 31 covered bridges in the western Indiana county. But a replicated bridge finished in early October resembles the original so closely…

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New law encourages workers to save more: Pension Protection Act lifts retirement account limits, steers people into 401(k)s

A major provision of the Pension Protection Act signed into law by President Bush last month encourages companies to register workers for retirement plans without requiring them to “opt in.” Putting the onus on employees to decline enrollment is a savings caveat financial planners favor. “Anytime you leave it up to somebody to do something on their own, you increase the odds that it’s not going to happen,” said Grace Worley, president of Indianapolisbased Worley Financial Group. “If they’re [enrolled]…

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Is it ever too late to build a nest egg?: Even those 55 and older with little savings should still put together a retirement plan, financial planners say

Many Americans are woefully unprepared for retirement, according to a recent study from the Employee Benefit Research Institute. The Washington, D.C.-based organization’s latest Retirement Confidence Survey shows 44 percent of Americans age 55 and older have saved less than $100,000. Moreover, only 13 percent have saved at least $250,000, while 30 percent either didn’t know or declined to answer the question. The statistics are hardly surprising to financial planners on the front lines of the battle to convince Americans they…

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Ivy Tech to host SBDC: State hopes partnership will end instability, help local center shine as consultant

The Central Indiana Small Business Development Center hasn’t exactly been a pillar of stability that budding entrepreneurs seeking its advice could emulate. The entity, part of a statewide network of 11 such centers that counsel fledgling businesses, has struggled to find a permanent home-and a capable director-for five years. But state officials, eager to end the strife, have stepped in to lead a reorganization they hope will return the center to prominence within the local small-business community. For starters, Ivy…

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Fewer businesses splurging for employee relocation costs: Perk is more prevalent, though, when attempting to attract high-level executives

Paying closing costs on a home or, better yet, asking that a potential employer purchase the house itself are among the brashest requests she’s fielded. Yet the owner of Quiring Associates Inc. expressed some surprise when the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota arranged to move her daughter, a recent Purdue University graduate embarking on her first job no less. “They brought a huge van down to pick up her things,” Quiring said. “They actually wanted her to know how serious they…

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