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Scott Olson

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The challenge of change: Switching hotel flags can be hard work, but operators say new brands pay off

As general manager of the new Hilton Indianapolis North, Mark Deinhart has a lot on his plate these days. But the hefty portions include more than his duties supervising the hotel’s revamped restaurant as part of a $5 million renovation. The former Omni North Hotel on Shadeland Avenue near Interstate 69 converted to the Hilton brand after Norwalk, Conn.-based HEI Hospitality bought it last August. The flag change came with the renovation on the side, making the switch to a…

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Startup hopes to find niche with golf travel packages: Former players emphasize ability to customize trips

Two men with a gift for golf hope their success at the game will give them an edge as they tee off on a new business venture. Brian Pearce, 26, and Nate Stout, 23, have launched ReadyGolf Getaways, an upstart venture that puts together customized travel packages to courses throughout the country. Pearce and Stout plan to capture a market they think is underserved. While duffers can search the Internet with ease to locate myriad travel packages to golfing destinations…

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State tourism effort set for new format: Lawmakers create separate department; supporters think changes could lead to less bureaucracy, more funds

After years of languishing in the Department of Commerce, lawmakers passed legislation late last month creating a separate Department of Tourism and Community Development that will report to Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman starting July 1. The commerce department already has been dissolved, effective Feb. 1, and the state’s economic development programs have been handed to the new Indiana Economic Development Corp. Tourism supporters are hopeful that by removing a layer of bureaucracy, the department can capture more funding. “It was…

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Council launches new HR initiative: Target is small companies that have no administrator

Small-business owners who need help wading through myriad human resources issues now have another source to consider-the Indianapolis Private Industry Council Inc. The 23-year-old IPIC, better known for overseeing the seven WorkOne career centers in Marion County, has leapt into the HR arena by partnering with a handful of professionals who have agreed to honor the agency’s low-cost pledge. Sixty thousand people walk through the doors of the centers each year looking for work. But many of their potential employers-many…

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School moratorium concerns industry: State officials studying whether too much money is being spent on non-educational construction projects

Designers of educational facilities are expressing concern over the future of school construction in Indiana as state officials mull guidelines that could bring changes to the process. Upon taking office in January, Gov. Mitch Daniels temporarily halted new school-construction borrowing to give the Department of Local Government Finance time to develop guidelines to ensure taxpayer money is spent wisely. The 120-day moratorium is a result of Daniels’ theory that school corporations spend too much money on projects unrelated to instruction….

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McIntosh goes to bat for players at hearings: Former politician represents 3 stars grilled about steroids

Hoosiers who saw some of baseball’s biggest stars testify before a congressional committee about steroids may have caught a glimpse of former U.S. Rep. David McIntosh. The Republican Muncie native served Indiana’s second district in the House of Representatives from 1995 until 2001, and he ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2000. He is currently a partner at the Washington, D.C., office of international law firm Mayer Brown Rowe & Maw LLP. Commuting from Indiana to the nation’s capital, McIntosh’s legal…

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National lobbyist meets with gov: Small-business advocate says health care is still the toughest issue for owners

The National Federation of Independent Business is the nation’s largest small-business advocacy group, representing 600,000 members in all 50 states. Its voice in Washington, D.C., is Dan Danner, an Ohio native and Purdue University graduate, who is the organization’s lead lobbyist. During a recent visit to the NFIB’s Indiana office, Danner sat down with IBJ to address issues critical to the state’s smallbusiness owners. IBJ: As chief lobbyist for the NFIB, how do you get the organization’s message to federal…

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Supreme Court drug case could restrict development: Lilly, other firms want research exemption confirmed

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments April 20 in a case that Eli Lilly and Co. and other pharmaceutical corporations say could restrict the development of new drugs. The dispute stems from a June 2003 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C. The panel affirmed a district court’s finding that Merck KGaA in Germany infringed upon four of New Jersey-based Integra LifeSciences Holdings Corp.’s licensed patents. At issue is whether pharmaceutical companies…

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IP center at IUPUI gets off to quick start: Facility lands first grant, hopes to sell naming rights

Legal scholar Kenneth Crews is a man of many hats who toils at 12-hour workdays as the upstart Center for Intellectual Property and Innovation on the campus of IUPUI begins to gain momentum. The center, whose mission is to produce attorneys fluent in the burgeoning IP practice area, was launched in May under the auspices of the Indiana University School of Law in Indianapolis. The goal is to raise at least $1.5 million to jump-start a program that would grant…

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File-sharing issue hits crescendo: Supreme Court set to hear sides in heated copyright-law debate

By 1984, when the U.S. Supreme Court thwarted an attempt to prohibit consumers of Sony Betamax from recording television programs, music lovers already were accomplished at taping their favorite bands. A blank Maxell cassette, a tape deck, a turntable and a copy of, say, your buddy’s new R.E.M. “Reckoning” album provided the essential tools to copy the tunes without actually spending $7.99 on the record. Fast-forward two decades and the debate over whether technological advances have made it too easy…

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Bankruptcy bill pushes debt repayment: Proposal could make it harder for individuals to escape debt, put limitations on corporate reorganizations

Upon seeking bankruptcy protection in late 2002, Conseco Inc. initiated a plan to shower key executives with millions of dollars in retention bonuses if they prevailed in reorganizing the company. The windfall for the six officers, totaling more than $9 million, is just one of many instances in which impoverished corporations have sought to recover from bankruptcy by dangling lucrative incentives to deter executives from fleeing. But in the aftermath of such scandals as Enron Corp. and WorldCom Inc. (now…

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Granting tax amnesty could pay dividends for Indiana: State estimates it could collect $100 million or more

Indiana scofflaws delinquent on their back taxes could come clean without the threat of penalties under a tax amnesty program that could generate an estimated $100 million or more for the cash-strapped state. The option of giving lawbreakers a grace period to pay their debts and have interest, penalties and fees waived has been easier for legislators to swallow given Indiana still is confronting a deficit in the $800 million range. Sen. Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville, chairman of the Tax and…

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Software firm on the rebound: Move to private status, restructuring help Made2Manage move into profitability

Made2Manage Systems Inc. is beginning to make strides, both in profitability and perception, since completing its metamorphosis from a public to private enterprise 18 months ago. The software maker that staged its initial public offering in 1997 posted a peak loss of $4.7 million four years later amid a soft economy. Its health improved the following year in 2002, when losses totaled $690,000. But by then, Made2Manage executives had concluded an investor-led acquisition would be the best elixir to nurse…

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I-Light network delayed by state: Daniels administration calls for further study of high-speed system

The completion of a state effort to expand Indiana’s digital infrastructure by connecting 15 cities via a fiber-optic network has been delayed as the new administration further studies the project. The initiative, known as I-Light, began in 1999 and connected supercomputers at Indiana University, Purdue University and IUPUI. By harnessing the technological power of the institutions into a grid, the universities surpassed the two-teraflop (trillions of operations per second) mark and increased their computation, storage and visualization ability. The $5.9…

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Bye-bye Big Apple, hello Indy: Young entrepreneurs opt to open firms here

Two Hoosier natives are back home in Indiana to start neighboring businesses on Fort Wayne Avenue, no less. The world travelers-separated in age by just a year-spent significant time in New York City but only met within the past six months. With similar stories to tell about why they chose to return to Indianapolis, and impressed with the city’s vibrant downtown that had blossomed while they were away, the two opted to take the plunge together. Both say they’re not…

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Supporters predict passage of waiver bill: Measure would allow uninsured to sign up for health care policies that exclude some pre-existing conditions

Indiana is one of only a few states in which individuals cannot agree to waive coverage for pre-existing conditions in order to get at least some type of health insurance. That could change this year, however. Dueling bills in front of the Legislature have passed out of the House and Senate and are being considered by the opposite chamber. Rep. Gerald Torr, R-Carmel, authored one of the measures and is confident some form of his legislation will pass. The object…

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Bill keeps mandate debate swirling: Biz community favors stripped-down option

Small-business owner Gail Piltz, who is paying 31 percent more this year than he did a year ago to insure himself and his four employees, has a somewhat radical philosophy regarding health care insurance. His suggestion: Everyone should be responsible for his or her own health care plan, just like they are with their automobile and homeowner’s insurance. That way, he said, people might abuse the system less and make coverage more affordable. Piltz’s proposition has failed to gain traction…

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Banks find niche with small loans: Three new arrivals affecting local lending community

The city’s small-business lending market is a bit more crowded now that three out-ofstate competitors have entered the fray. McLean, Va.-based Capital One Federal Savings Bank, Oakland, Calif.-based Innovative Bank and Providence, R.I.-based Charter One Bank are wasting no time letting fellow lenders know they’re serious about serving the small-business community. Capital One, Innovative and Charter One ranked second, third and fourth, respectively, in the number of U.S. Small Business Administration 7(a) loans they dispensed during December. The leader for…

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Carpenter moving forward as independent brokerage: Execs confident of success without GMAC affiliation Name has value

Armed with a stack of market research chock full of industry sales figures, Tom Prall says he’s certain Carpenter Realtors will carry on just fine without any outside assistance. Prall has led the south-side residential real estate agency the past 30 years and recently guided its divestiture from national franchise GMAC, a division of Detroitbased General Motors Corp. With the contentious split behind him, the former Marine first lieutenant, who served in South Vietnam, is poised to navigate Carpenter through…

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Mann seeks larger digs as growth strategy pays off: Busy developer eyes property for new headquarters

On Bash Street, off the beaten path from often-congested East 82nd Street, Mann Properties has quietly built a commercial real estate development business that is outgrowing its cozy quarters. The location in the developer’s secondoldest office park has served Mann well since the mid-1980s. But flanked on both sides by other companies, the space offers virtually no chance to expand, let alone any opportunity for increased visibility. So Managing Partner Brian Mann, 37, has brokered a deal to purchase 20…

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