APRIL 4-10, 2011
This week, check out the latest installment of "Testing Reform," IBJ's special series on charter schools, which in this issue looks at the controversery over judging their performance. Also from our front page, read a behind-the-scenes look at the city's decision to grant big tax breaks to Rolls Royce Corp., fearing the manufacturer might pull thousands of jobs out of the area. And in Focus, learn how autoparts supplier Gestamp is trying to crash the casket-making industry dominated by Batesville's Hillenbrand Industries.
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Tax breaks for Rolls-Royce hinge on investment, not jobs
City officials’ fear that Rolls-Royce Corp. might pull thousands of jobs out of Indianapolis drove the negotiations that culminated last month with the company’s committing to move 2,500 of its local office employees to the south side of downtown.
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Call center orders boost Interactive Intelligence shares
Shares of the call center software firm Interactive Intelligence have nearly tripled, to around $38 from a 52-week low of $14, last August, thanks to a string of larger orders, and to its anticipation of the rise of “communications as a service,” or CaaS.
Read MoreTrucking industry upswing may draw investors to Allison IPO
Allison Transmission is not a household name like Google or General Motors, but it won’t lack an audience for its planned $750 million initial public offering.
Read MoreGas distributors oppose $2.7B Rockport gasification plant
Six gas-distribution companies have urged regulators to reject a state plan that would force residential natural-gas customers to effectively subsidize a $2.7 billion coal gasification project proposed for Rockport.
Read MoreCEO says transformation prepped Remy International for IPO
Remy’s transformation since 2007, when a $700 million debt load propelled it into bankruptcy court, could be fodder for business-school case studies of the 21st century.
Read MoreTask force coaxes homeless off downtown streets
An informal collaboration of social workers, police and prosecutors has had early success getting some of the most stubborn homeless people in Indianapolis from downtown streets to shelter or recovery programs.
Read MoreOrganic-food delivery service growing its operations
Indianapolis-based Green B.E.A.N. Delivery planted a seed here four years ago, and now the organic food-shipping service is cultivating its own 60-acre farm in Sheridan.
Read MoreFocusBack to Top
Manufacturer crosses over from auto parts to caskets
Gestamp Automocion makes metal components for the auto industry, employing 18,000 people worldwide. Now it is branching into the staid niche of casket manufacturing.
Read MoreIndiana manufacturing sector clawing its way back
Factories are adding jobs, but returning to pre-recession levels will be a long slog.
Read MoreHOLT: New York threatens to ballast Indiana exports
Regulations aimed at stopping invasive species are too stiff.
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EDITORIAL: Democrats need to share ideas to stay relevant
Indiana House Democrats congratulated each other for stopping anti-union legislation as they returned from self-imposed exile in Illinois on March 28, but they had no one but themselves to blame for the hiatus.
Read MoreMAURER: An opportunity to help the homeless
There is much work to be done. The Coalition for Homelessness Intervention and Prevention, an umbrella homeless advocacy organization, estimates that 4,500 to 7,500 individuals in Marion County experienced homelessness in 2010.
Read MoreMARCUS: The recovery is over … or maybe not
The recession in Indiana and the nation lasted only three quarters. But the Hoosier recovery took six quarters.
Read MoreKENNEDY: Death (penalty) and taxes aren’t certainties after all
Everyone, it seems, wants government to cost less—until someone suggests cuts to our particular sacred cows.
Read MoreFEIGENBAUM: Fallout from Democrats’ walkout will affect fall elections
Following five weeks in a chain hotel in Illinois, House Democrats marched back into the Statehouse—literally—on March 28, escorted by union leaders along Capitol Street and up the east steps in an event made for media. So who wins?
Read MoreHICKS: General Assembly puts foolishness on display
We need the remaining month of this Legislature to look a lot less like the last month.
Read MoreSKARBECK: Fed’s monetary policies drag down bond returns
Inflation is a sinister sort of tax that confiscates wealth. Bonds will lose value in an inflationary environment as interest rates rise.
Read MoreHealth Foundation ‘far above average’
As a grantee of The Health Foundation of Greater Indianapolis, I read [reporter Kathleen McLaughlin’s March 21] article with great interest.
Read MoreDrilling is energy key
The [March 28] energy article by [Bruce] Hetrick proposes a Hollywood piece of fiction as a modern-day parable of undeniable truth.
Read MoreIn BriefBack to Top
Captain Kidd’s cannon to land at Children’s Museum
The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis received a $1 million grant from the Eli Lilly and Co. Foundation to support expeditions by an Indiana University team to Captain Kidd’s ship in the Dominican Republic.
Read MoreCity sells North of South bonds, locks in 5.2-percent rate
The city of Indianapolis went to the bond market last month to sell $97 million in debt for the $155 million North of South hotel and retail project near the Eli Lilly and Co. campus.
Read MoreWellPoint gets vote of confidence
Health reform will make health insurance a less-profitable business, but WellPoint Inc. got a vote of confidence from bond analysts because health-reform rules have turned out milder than expected and WellPoint’s financial performance has been particularly strong as the economy recovers.
Read MoreZimmer goes on offensive against lawyers
The Warsaw-based maker of orthopedic implants has filed suit to stop a Detroit-area law firm from making allegedly false claims and using its trademarks on websites designed to attract plaintiffs to sue Zimmer over one of its knee-replacement implants called NexGen.
Read MoreFirm coordinator promoted to manager of diversity, pro bono
The Indianapolis law firm of Baker & Daniels LLP has promoted Brita A. Horvath to manager of diversity and pro bono.
Read MoreEner1 picks CEO for Indianapolis-based battery unit
Christopher Cowger joins Ener1 from California-based Advanced Micro Devices, where he was corporate vice president and general manager.
Read MoreMinority supplier group selects new leader
Directors of the Indiana Minority Supplier Development Council have appointed Carolyn E. Mosby the organization’s new CEO.
Read MoreMeridian Street buildings to get facelift
A not-for-profit is partnering with a locally based developer to renovate two vacant apartment buildings near Meridian and 38th streets into specialized affordable housing.
Read MoreMount Comfort Airport takes on new moniker
1,805-acre facility on the east side now will be known as the Indianapolis Regional Airport.
Read MorePROXY CORNER: ITT Educational Services Inc.
Carmel-based ITT Educational Services Inc. provides technology-oriented, post-secondary education, including associate’s, bachelor’s and master’s degrees as well as non-degree programs.
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