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Crystal Food Services plans to team with several prominent restaurant chains for a nationwide expansion after severing ties
with Marsh Supermarkets Inc. early next year. The locally based catering and food-service company will report directly to
Florida-based Sun Capital Partners, which acquired Marsh in September.
Roby’s Plumbing and Heating Co. Inc. Plumber survived by staying flexible Firm entered new market, shifted business priorities Those “big box” home-supply stores make the world a scary place for independent companies such as Roby’s Plumbing and Heating Co. Inc. No way can businesses like Roby compete with the big boxes’ prices on pipes and other plumbing materials, owner Brad Roby said, but they can offer something the others don’t-service. “Home centers provide cheap products but poor service,” Roby said….
Two gas utilities serving central Indiana say they want to buy synthetic gas from a proposed coal gasification plant downstate to provide a hedge against price volatility. Citizens Gas & Coke Utility, which serves 266,000 Marion County customers, plans to buy up to 3 billion cubic feet of gas a year from Indiana Gasification LLC. The amount is equivalent to about 10 percent of Citizens’ annual demand for natural gas. Meanwhile, Evansville-based Vectren Energy Delivery of Indiana, which has 550,000…
In his 2007 legislative preview for the Indiana Chamber of Commerce, State Rep. Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, opened with a joke: After a politician’s death, he found himself standing before the pearly gates. St. Peter offered the politician a choice of heaven or hell, prefaced by a brief preview of each. During his visit to hell, the politician was surprised to discover all his friends there. What’s more, it was a terrific place to be-the most fun and raucous party he’d…
This is the best time of the year. Thanksgiving is over and the signs of Christmas have yet to bore us. All the truly crazy people have identified themselves by shopping on the days immediately following Thanksgiving. New and old ideas are blossoming for consideration by the Indiana General Assembly. Gov. Mitch Daniels has given us the Commerce Connector, a nifty addition to our highway road map. This would be a new outer loop around Indianapolis, serving Greenfield, Shelbyville, Franklin…
Talk about the straw that stirs the drink. That youngster gives maximum effort every second. And while it’s early, I’d stack Graves and his running mate, Michael Green, against any backcourt tandem in the country. Though they couldn’t come out and say it, the NCAA folks who now run the Preseason NIT had to be inwardly thrilled to watch Butler and Gonzaga University reach the championship game on the Madison Square Garden stage. Their rosters are filled with players who…
City leaders are sticking to their guns: They want a residential tower on the former Market Square Arena site downtown. And they want developers to start construction before they ask potential residents to buy. The idea is to eliminate the stumbling block that derailed previous redevelopment efforts, but observers say the requirement will make it difficult to line up financing-unless the city kicks in some money. Mayor Bart Peterson hasn’t ruled that out, but he remains resolute on one point:…
Pension and endowment funds across the country, including some in Indiana, are stepping up to the alternative-investment craps table holding a pair of dice. Should you care? Well, if you are a taxpayer, a pension beneficiary or a charitable contributor, your attention is required. The outcome of this massive reallocation of investment dollars may determine your future tax burden and the retirement security of millions of Americans. Fiduciaries are in the process of executing an enormous shift of money away…
They all have high-tech surveillance systems from Greenwood-based American Sentry Guard. The company specializes in building and distributing “intelligent video” systems capable of linking digital video with other computer-based information, such as sales transaction records. Clients include schools, banks, casinos, government agencies and small businesses. Founded in 1999 by father-son team Jack and Jeff Brummett, American Sentry has become one of the nation’s fastest-growing privately held companies. This year, Inc. magazine ranked the company 150th on its “Inc. 500” list,…
A 65-year-old, recently retired couple came into our office the other day seeking advice on portfolio allocation. The husband had a 401(k) rollover with $1 million in it and wanted to take out $50,000 a year for income. Within the first few minutes of the meeting each said, “We can’t afford to take much risk with this money because we won’t make any more, and it’s all we will ever have.” Followed by, “We can’t afford the risk of the…
Since the inception of the state’s Venture Capital Investment Tax Credit in late 2003, investors have claimed only about one-third of the $37.5 million in credits available, according to an IBJ analysis of the program.
Nov. 14 was a good day for Indianapolis. It was the day we learned the Diversity Leadership Academy of Greater Indianapolis is alive and well. Three years ago, I attended the academy in the inaugural year of a three-year program that was brought here by Atlanta-based American Institute for Managing Diversity. What facilitated its arrival in 2003 was a three-year sponsorship to the tune of more than a half-million dollars by Anthem, a local company that has been at the…
Conseco Inc. already has won an $80 million judgment against Stephen Hilbert, a ruling the U.S. Supreme Court let stand this fall. Through the threeyear legal battle, attorneys for the two sides lambasted one another. Bad blood abounds. You ain’t seen nothin’ yet. Next month, in addition to staging a sheriff’s sale of Hilbert’s $20 million Carmel mansion, once the site of the states’s most lavish parties, the company plans to call Hilbert to the stand and accuse him of…
Local theater leaders are sounding the alarm about a drop in coverage by The Indianapolis Star, saying the lack of ink is hurting attendance and the city’s ability to lure new productions to town.
A few weeks ago, I wrote about a potentially groundbreaking lawsuit stewing in the cauldron of a California federal court. There, the National Federation of the Blind has been allowed to go forward in its suit against Target Brands, which runs Target department stores, claiming that Target should have to make its Web site as easily accessible to the blind as its brick-and-mortar stores. I thought it would be an obscure case, but it’s been puffed up into something of…
The stiff competition facing Indianapolis’ bid for the 2011 Super Bowl just got stiffer. Besides Glendale, Ariz., and Dallas, New Orleans officials have told NFL officials and team owners they want to host the championship game again as part of the city’s recovery from Hurricane Katrina.
The state’s best-known car wash company has found a new formula for success it hopes will rival its popular multiwash books: monthly passes that practically guarantee a permanent shine. Indianapolis-based Mike’s Express Carwash already has enrolled more than 3,000 customers in a monthly membership program, launched in September, that allows unlimited washes in exchange for a monthly fee. Express wash passes are $39.99 per month, and “Works” passes are $69.99. “It’s truly for the person who always wants a clean…
While many large companies have decided to scale back holiday parties or give them up entirely in recent years, small businesses continue to spend merrily on the annual gatherings. “They’re doing well, making lots of money and want to celebrate with their employees,” said Kathy Ray, director of catering at the Indianapolis Marriott Downtown. Employees of small businesses are like families, so it makes sense that those companies would be less likely to eliminate or cut back on holiday get-togethers,…
The General Assembly is organizing itself. This is more difficult than getting fleas to join a union. But I am being disrespectful. My purpose this week is benign. I present for the consideration of our 150 legislators certain facts about Indiana and where it ranks nationally. The data are from the 2005 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Bureau of the Census. First, let’s consider sex. Of the 6.1 million Hoosiers, 50.9 percent are females, which leaves 49.1 percent…
In honor of the Indiana Pacers’ 40th anniversary season, let’s stroll down memory lane and gather some all-time picks: MVP: Reggie Miller First team: center Mel Daniels; forwards Roger Brown and George McGinnis; guards Reggie Miller and Vern Fleming Second team: center Rik Smits; forwards Billy Knight and Chuck Person; guards Mark Jackson and Don Buse Third team: center Jermaine O’Neal; forwards Dale Davis and Herb Williams; guards Freddie Lewis and Johnny Davis Best player that would have made the…
