SEPTEMBER 5-11, 2011
This week, compare and contrast the economic development strategies of Indy’s mayoral candidates and find out why locally based Kite Realty Group can’t get any respect from investors, despite an improved balance sheet and bright future. Lou Harry lays out all of your options in IBJ’s exhaustive Arts & Entertainment Preview, and Bill Benner hopes the Colts can replicate the same serendipity this year that brought the Butler Bulldogs to Indianapolis for a championship game.
Front PageBack to Top
Marsh plans to spend $60M to build and remodel stores
The Fishers-based supermarket chain is shifting into expansion mode with a mission to construct up to 10 new stores and revamp or rebuild several more over the next three years.
Read MoreMayoral foes see different paths to boost business
Both candidates for Indianapolis mayor are touting a host of ways to improve the city’s business climate. Incumbent Greg Ballard champions improving the city’s amenities. Challenger Melina Kennedy focuses on recruiting entrepreneurs to the city.
Read MoreKite shares still grounded two years after plunge
Kite Realty Group Trust says leasing activity is up, debt maturities are under control, and new retail developments could boost operating income this year an impressive 17 percent. Yet shares in the locally based firm still fail to excite investors.
Read MoreTop StoriesBack to Top
Angie’s List hopes investors see beyond the losses
The company's IPO filing includes this sobering disclaimer: “We have incurred net losses since inception, and we expect to continue to incur net losses in the foreseeable future.”
Read MoreCharging stations to pave way for plug-in cars
By the end of this year, drivers of plug-in electric cars should be able to “gas up” using 76 charging stations at 38 locations statewide.
Read MoreEarly buyer of Web domains venturing into software
Chad Folkening’s latest venture, domain-management software called Domain Power, turns blank sites into a miniature business in a few minutes.
Read MoreButler center aims to make urban farming viable
Tim Carter, director of Butler University’s Center for Urban Ecology, is intent on making CUE a national leader in urban ecology by making the center’s research valuable on a broad scale.
Read MoreRefrigerant company fights EPA over rules
Jim Tieken, a former refrigeration repairman, invented an alternative to the coolant Freon when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency banned it in the mid-1990s. But his company might be unable to continue making that alternative, Hot Shot, because of cap-and-trade burdens, according to a letter Tieken sent the EPA in May.
Read MoreOpinionBack to Top
EDITORIAL: NBA lockout fuels old debate
The billions of dollars in public money spent subsidizing franchises across the country don’t buy mayors or governors a seat at the bargaining table when players and team owners wage war.
Read MoreMAURER: Find adventures right here at home
Frank and Katrina Basile only scratched the surface of the interesting sights available for us every day in Indianapolis. Like Dorothy said, “There’s no place like home.”
Read MoreHICKS: Lessons to glean from Keystone Towers demolition
The demolition of a vacant apartment building is common fare in American cities. It is part of the urban renewal that is much needed in many U.S. cities.
Read MoreKIM: Predicting market’s swings is both futile and expensive
Wouldn’t it be nice to be smart enough to sell at the top and nimble enough to buy back in at the bottom?
Read MoreRUSTHOVEN: Deconstructing wayward politicians
If we want fewer Phil Hinkle stories, then “not resigning” should not be an option.
Read MoreMERISOTIS: Step up the push to increase college graduation
Mounting national economic woes, a flattening in the numbers of Indiana college students, and record tuition costs here and in other states have combined to threaten our economic prosperity.
Read MoreGUY: Who can blame harassed teachers for losing heart?
An Indianapolis Public Schools teacher was overheard saying, “Why should I improve myself through advanced professional training when the state and its providers will fire me next year?”
Read MoreJob, income article revealed problem
Your [Aug. 29] story “Employment takes sudden tumble” should have been front-page news.
Read MoreIn BriefBack to Top
CIB approves refinancing Conseco, dome bonds
The move is expected to save $8 million to $9 million over the life of the bonds.
Read MoreIndyFringe audience grows
Thirty-eight percent of visitors to last month’s theater festival had never attended the event before.
Read MoreCar customizer Kenny Brown resurfaces in Chicago
Brown, who closed his local operation in 2005, has partnered with suburban-Chicago-based Heidts Automotive, which makes street rod and muscle car components.
Read MoreJack in the Box revives local expansion push
The burger chain has applied for zoning approval to build a restaurant near 16th and Meridian streets, just south of CVS drugstore. It would be one of 10 stores it plans to open here.
Read MoreDefender Direct rolls out HVAC business
The home-security and satellite installer is pushing into the construction trades.
Read MoreLawyer: Expect more hospital-doc lawsuits
With hospitals having scooped up hundreds of physicians in the past three years—putting nearly all of them under non-compete agreements—there are bound to be legal tussles when some of those physicians decide their new matches aren’t exactly made in heaven.
Read MorePROXY CORNER: Brightpoint Inc.
Indianapolis-based Brightpoint Inc. provides worldwide distribution and integrated logistics services to the wireless communications industry.
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