OCTOBER 4-10, 2010
This week, see how the economy is affecting recent college graduates looking for jobs and read about what Southwest Airlines' purchase of rival Air Tran could mean for Indianapolis-based Republic Airways. In Focus, check out the transcript and videos from IBJ's Health Care Power Breakfast to see what our panel of experts have to say about the imact of reform. And in A&E, Lou Harry encounters the unusual at Main Street Organic Bistro in Brownsburg.
Front PageBack to Top
Republic’s big moves pay off, but rival airline’s deal poses threat
Republic Airways Holdings not only beat analysts’ second-quarter estimates this year, but also posted a profit. But just weeks after the new player in scheduled service announced those solid results, arch-enemy Southwest Airlines announced it was buying AirTran for $1 billion.
Read MoreFirms with jobs ask for the moon; governments here show restraint
Businesses have always held the upper hand in negotiating for incentives with local government, but the past couple of years have given rise to the most intensely competitive economic development environment since the early 1980s.
Read MoreCity halts apartment developer
The Near North Development Corp. asked the city in a Sept. 2 e-mail to compare the renderings for the Di Rimini apartment project at 733 N. Capital Ave. with what was actually taking shape. A week later, the Department of Code Enforcement issued a stop-work order for the project.
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Ex-manager accuses Butler Kia of keeping violent employee
A former sales manager at Butler Kia alleges a co-worker pulled a gun on employees—yet was kept on the job for several months afterward.
Read MoreNew grads struggle to put education to work
In May, only one-quarter of 2010 college graduates who applied for a job actually received one, compared with more than half in 2007. About as many college graduates of all ages also are plagued by underemployment, working jobs below their skill level—including Butler grad Tom Otero.
Read MoreState auto jobs creeping up again
Employment in Indiana’s auto industry has stabilized, and manufacturers even are hiring in small numbers. Hoosier automakers and parts suppliers added 10,000 workers this year through August, bringing total employment in the sector to 100,400.
Read MoreAngie’s List investors not ready to cash in yet
The 15-year-old company now has raised nearly $100 million in debt and equity financing and backing from individuals.
Read MoreLegal fight over Pan Am Plaza outpaces redevelopment
Plaintiffs are challenging the city’s 2007 decision to waive a hefty fee that otherwise would have been required to redevelop the crumbling site.
Read MoreHeightened competition puts mayors on hot seat
Elected officials are struggling to know how to respond to the weak economy and constituent demands for jobs.
Read MoreCultural Trail to hire first executive director
A new not-for-profit organization will try to raise more than $700,000 a year for the trail’s ongoing maintenance, and it will market the trail as a tourism and economic-development engine.
Read MoreFocusBack to Top
Health reform forces providers, insurers to lay aside rivalries
In this new age of health care, ushered in by President Obama’s signing in March of a sweeping health care reform law, health care players are encouraged to remove the gloves if they want to reap the benefits of reform.
Read MoreReform will boost health care costs, Indianapolis panel predicts
Rising costs aren't the only impact of reform, say panelists taking part in a Power Breakfast sponsored by Indianapolis Business Journal.
Read MoreRules mostly falling WellPoint’s way
Health insurers won fairly broad leeway under key rules suggested by state insurance commissioners that will govern what kinds of expenses count toward meeting a new federal threshold to spend at least 80 percent of premiums dollars on medical care.
Read MoreRehab hospital shakes up leadership
The CEO is on his way out and the board has been dissolved at Rehabilitation Hospital of Indiana, as its owners—Clarian Health and St. Vincent Health—work to pull the hospital closer to their own operations.
Read MoreOpinionBack to Top
EDITORIAL: East 10th Street project can be repeated
When people see what’s happening on and near East 10th Street—and they will, thanks to the Super Bowl connection—they’ll see what’s possible and, we hope, join similar efforts.
Read MoreMAURER: Is this really what you want to do?
To create a disciplined investment philosophy, I evolved from my experience, “The Ten Essential Principles of Entrepreneurship You Didn’t Learn in School. Over the course of 10 columns, I will feature each of these essential principles. This is the seventh installment.
Read MoreMARCUS: Some data are too exciting for bedtime
he U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis,” I began, “has just released quarterly personal-income data through the second quarter of 2010. They show Indiana in third place among the 50 states—third from the bottom—for income growth during April, May and June.
Read MoreHACKER: 2012 Super Bowl offers chance to give
It’s exciting to think that, in 16 months, thousands of people will arrive in Indianapolis from around the globe to be part of Super Bowl XLVI. And millions more will watch from their homes. Indianapolis truly will be in the spotlight in February 2012.
Read MoreHICKS: An inconvenient truth about teachers’ unions
From what I have seen and read, this documentary is destined to change radically our perception of schools, and those who stand in the way of fixing them.
Read MoreSKARBECK: Short sellers maligned, but play a useful role
True professional short sellers are typically intelligent, above-board investors who often alert the markets and investors to overvalued securities and, in some cases, to fraud.
Read MoreDuke Energy maintains trust
A [Sept. 27] IBJ article reported on a settlement Duke Energy and several customer groups have reached on costs associated with construction of the company’s clean-coal technology power plant in Edwardsport.
Read MoreIndiana missed stimulus opportunity
Kudos to Mary Dieter and IBJ for the investigative journalism that led to the [Sept. 27] publication of the disturbing disclosure that the Daniels administration failed to pursue up to $103 million in federal stimulus money that would benefit Hoosier small businesses and workers.
Read MoreIndiana Sports Corp. intimidates IBJ
Make no mistake about it, we are calling you out, in your own publication. Indiana Sports Corp. has about 30 staffers; we both run the event and run in the event. We want to go head-to-head with Team IBJ next year!
Read More‘Greener Welcome’ will be powerful
In just a few days, thousands of Lilly employees will descend upon Interstate 70. The purpose: a massive makeover we’re calling “A Greener Welcome.” It will naturalize 10 acres of vacant interchanges.
Read MoreIn BriefBack to Top
Designated driver service coming to Indianapolis
Leave it to a couple of recent college grads to make money off of driving home the liquored-up.
Read MoreTwo Indianapolis accounting firms among best-managed
BGBC Partners LLP and Katz Sapper & Miller LLP were recognized in the latest annual ranking compiled by Inside Public Accounting.
Read MoreBig Car bringing arts events to eight Indianapolis neighborhoods
The arts collective in Fountain Square is embarking on a series of neighborhood events that include storytelling, drawing and installations.
Read MoreFishers forming sister-city relationship with suburb of Chinese city
The area southwest of Shanghai is known as a tourist destination, as well as for its high-tech industrial development zones.
Read MoreMy Health Care Manager wins $1.25M to improve software
The Indianapolis-based firm that helps seniors and their care givers navigate the health care system won a nearly $1.2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health.
Read MoreLocal television ratings for Reds games soar
This August, ratings on Fox Sports Indiana for Cincinnati Reds games were up 144 percent over the same period a year ago. September ratings are up 196 percent.
Read MoreFour-year-old BlueLock makes first change in top executive ranks
The so-called cloud computing and managed IT services firm is part of Collina Ventures, a holding company created by local tech entrepreneurs Karen and Mark Hill.
Read MorePROXY CORNER: Celadon Group Inc.
Celadon Group Inc. is a trucking company that provides long-haul, full-truckload freight service through Canada, the United States and Mexico.
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