DEC. 27, 2024-JAN. 2, 2025
IBJ's The Book—an annual publication packed with industry lists, year-in-review stories and IBJ's honorees for 2024—arrives with this week's print issue of IBJ. Online, you'll find our 2024 newsmakers, led by Newsmaker of the Year Caitlin Clark, who led the Indiana Fever and WNBA to unprecedented popularity. The year's biggest stories included economic development news, campaign results and more.
Front PageBack to Top
2024 Newsmaker of the Year: Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark
Every team in the WNBA had higher attendance figures for games in which they played the Fever than they did for non-Fever games.
Read More2024 Newsmaker: U.S. Sen. Todd Young
Two years after U.S. Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., co-authored the CHIPS and Science Act, Indiana is reaping big rewards.
Read More2024 Newsmaker: Mali and Alan Bacon
The husband-and-wife team founded GangGang, a cultural development and social justice organization that supports Black artists and the creative economy, in 2020. GangGang has since been part of some of the city’s biggest cultural events.
Read More2024 Newsmaker: Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett
In April, Hogsett made a surprise announcement that the city would pursue a Major League Soccer team and said he was talking with representatives of a yet-to-be-named ownership group about the possibility.
Read More2024 Newsmakers: Lauren Roberts, Caroline Ellert and an anonymous accuser
Mayor Joe Hogsett’s administration and the Indianapolis City-County Council launched investigations and new reporting and training programs this year after three women accused a mayor’s adviser of sexual harassment.
Read More2024 Newsmaker: One America’s Scott Davison
USA Swimming’s decision to host its 2024 Olympic Trials in Indianapolis can be traced back to Scott Davison, CEO of Indianapolis-based OneAmerica Financial Partners Inc.
Read More2024 Newsmaker: Lilly CEO David Ricks
Ricks—IBJ’s newsmaker of the year in 2023—returns to the newsmaker list in 2024 after a year that included a stock price that skyrocketed to an all-time high of $972 and announcements about big new investments in Lebanon and Ireland.
Read More2024 Newsmakers: Gov.-elect Mike Braun and Lt. Gov.-elect Micah Beckwith
The cornerstone of Braun’s campaign was his promise to use his business experience to lead Indiana. And on election night, he doubled down on campaign promises to cut government spending and pass a balanced budget.
Read More2024 Newsmaker: Pacers Sports & Entertainment’s Mel Raines
Raines took the reins four months after the Indiana Pacers and the city hosted the 2024 NBA All-Star Game, an event Raines had helmed since 2017.
Read MoreTop StoriesBack to Top
2024 Year in Review: Data centers flock to Indiana, draw scrutiny from consumer group
A string of Big Tech companies announced plans this year for large-scale data centers around the state, prompting pushback from a consumer advocacy group that is concerned about the amount of electricity these facilities will consume.
Read More2024 Year in Review: Central Indiana basks in eclipse totality
Cities across central and southern Indiana, including the entire metro Indianapolis area, were in the path of totality for the April 8 solar eclipse, creating a once-in-a-lifetime tourism opportunity for cities along the route.
Read More2024 Year in Review: Entertainment festivals see mixed results
Indianapolis added one homegrown music festival in 2024, while three others were put on hold because of financial challenges in the concert industry.
Read More2024 Year in Review: Coffee shops, pizza spots among new area eateries
The ripple effects of Starbucks closing a Monument Circle location in October 2022 continued to resonate in 2024, when multiple coffee companies opened in new downtown locations.
Read More2024 Year in Review: Big tourism year draws hundreds of thousands to area
In addition to its slate of annual conventions like National FFA, FDIC International, Gen Con and the Performance Racing Industry—which each bring in 30,000 or more people—the city played host to numerous one-time events, including the 2024 NBA All-Star weekend, the three-night Taylor Swift The Eras Tour stop, and the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials.
Read More2024 Year in Review: City sees key development projects start or advance
More than $8.5 billion in development is underway across downtown, with more coming as projects in their earliest stages wind their way through the planning process.
Read More2024 Year in Review: State doubles down on LEAP District investment
The Indiana Economic Development Corp. inched closer to its vision for its LEAP Research and Innovation District in Lebanon this year with more than $100 million in additional state funding, steps to secure water for the site and additional private investment.
Read More2024 Year in Review: IU Health rolls out Indy Health District as construction continues
Officials say the hospital, with three 16-story patient towers, should receive its top beam—or be “topped out”—next spring.
Read More2024 Year in Review: Fishers’ $170M event center opens with country show
Country music band Turnpike Troubadours, along with bluegrass-influenced band Trampled by Turtles and singer Tyler Halverson, opened the arena Nov. 22 at the Yard at Fishers District, east of Interstate 69, between East 106th and East 116th streets and southeast of Ikea.
Read More2024 Year in Review: Lilly’s total investment at LEAP climbs to $13.5B
Lilly said the expansion is expected to add 400 full-time jobs for highly skilled workers, including engineers, scientists, operations personnel and lab technicians.
Read More2024 Year in Review: High-tech plants drive IEDC’s record-breaking year
Two major announcements were Eli Lilly and Co.’s additional $9.8 billion investment into its LEAP Research and Innovation District campus and SK Hynix’s $3.87 billion semiconductor packaging facility at the Purdue Research Park in West Lafayette.
Read More2024 Year in Review: Newfields finds new CEO in Field Museum executive
Le Monte Booker, chief financial officer of Chicago’s Field Museum, was announced in August as successor to Colette Pierce Burnette in the role of Newfields CEO and president.
Read More2024 Year in Review: Indy implements downtown tax
The economic enhancement district is projected to raise $4.65 million a year in taxes to pay for downtown-focused improvements and programs and fund the operating costs of a low-barrier homeless shelter planned on the southeast side of downtown.
Read More2024 Year in Review: I-69 opens fully from Indianapolis to Evansville
The final portion of the 150-mile project was completed with the opening of a newly built interchange linking I-69 and I-465.
Read More2024 Year in Review: Outdoor drinking zones approved across Indiana
It took only a year after the Indiana Legislature passed a bill allowing designated outdoor refreshment areas, or DORAs, for communities around the state to jump on the bandwagon.
Read More2024 Year in Review: Wins by Braun, Rokita, Banks cap off big GOP year
Braun and running mate Micah Beckwith won handily—54% to 41%—over Democrat Jennifer McCormick, who had previously been elected state superintendent of public instruction as a Republican.
Read More