To refine your search through our archives use our Advanced Search
Eli Lilly and Co. has picked an insurer it knows extremely well to cover future problems in the high-stakes world of product liability litigation–itself. The Indianapolis drugmaker opted for self-insurance after struggling to find coverage in what it terms a “very restrictive insurance market.”
The 156-year-old Terre Haute company that quietly churned out nothing but its trademark baking powder for more than a century is now serving notice to General Mills’ Bisquick and other well-known brands that the status quo is dead.
The sun is setting, the pavement damp, and dark clouds dance across the San Juan Mountains as we turn onto U.S. Highway 550 and drive north toward Durango. As if there weren’t enough beauty in this peak-filled paradise, Nature’s earlyevening sideshow features a fully arced double rainbow, quite the welcome sign to a late-summer vacation. I suppose you could write off a double rainbow as a mere meteorological phenomenon. I suppose I could, too. But it’s more fun to wonder…
CHRIS KATTERJOHN Commentary ‘Pop’ group: Cosby, White & Dungy Bill Cosby, Eugene White and Tony Dungy are a pop group of a different kind. They are out and about these days calling on men to be better fathers. Comedian Cosby was in Baltimore late last month urging fathers to help raise their kids. “This is a great evening because we’re calling on men to come claim their children,” Cosby said to the crowd. “And that’s part of being a man….
BEHIND THE NEWS First Internet’s acquisition is no run-of-the-mill bank Bank mergers happen all the time in Indiana, but this one is about as unique as they come. The buyer, Indianapolis-based First Internet Bancorp, was one of the nation’s first Web-only banks when it opened its doors in 1999. Today, it’s among the top five in that field, with assets topping $445 million. The seller is Indianapolis-based Landmark Financial Corp., parent of Landmark Savings Bank. Landmark Financial, with assets of…
If you ever want to satisfy your curiosity about recessions and business cycles, travel over to the Web site of the National Bureau of Economic Research. It has recorded and documented every downturn and uptick in the U.S. economy since 1857. And over that century and a half, the bureau has noticed certain regularities to the boom and bust of the economy around us. In the first stages of recovery from a recession, for example, it is quite common for…
Valerie Hollowell always has known she wanted to work with dolphins. After all, trips to Sea World were highlights of her childhood. But now that she's a senior marine mammal trainer, she knows the seemingly glamorous job she watched from the stands is more than wet suits and whistles.
A comic named Irwin Corey, who calls himself the Professor, once said, “If we don’t change direction soon, we’ll end up where we’re going.” You had better open up your statement and listen to the Professor, because where your stocks are going might not be where you want to end up. If you have a big position in a value stock, or value mutual fund, it’s time to make some changes. It’s time to increase your exposure to good, old…
The Indianapolis Colts are giving sponsors a chance to help design the interior of Lucas Oil Stadium. The newly announced sponsorship packages, which parcel out naming and design rights for 12 parts of the stadium, are expected to generate up to $10 million a year for the franchise.
“You will have 30 minutes.” Most project interviews begin with those five words. Design firms usually get 30 short minutes to persuade prospective clients to hire them for a project. Often, when all is said and done, both the designer and prospective client for the project, however, the guy sold his firm and retired to Florida. The interview certainly can make a difference, as it did in these three cases (although mostly for the wrong reasons). But most marketing experts…
Agrowing demand for new homes with basements featuring wide-open recreational spaces has created niche businesses even beyond home-theater specialists-like Suburban Steel of Indiana. Suburban Steel customizes structural steel for building projects, mostly residential, at its 20,000-square-foot workshop on Indianapolis’ far-southwest side. In a way, it might be considered the metalworking equivalent of a fast-food joint, where customers always “have it their way.” “A builder can call at 1 p.m. and we’ll have it for him the next day,” said Mark…
Mutual funds became truly dominant in the early 1980s when our government strengthened the 401(k) rules. Most 401(k) plans do not allow participants to buy individual stocks, or much of anything besides mutual funds. So these massive institutions are supported by legions of workers mechanically depositing small amounts every month. The gig has gotten even better for the fund providers over the last 25 years because 401(k) participants have developed habits of doing almost nothing with their money after they…
Electric customers would gain new payment options and more access to “green power,” and Indianapolis Power & Light would have more opportunities to profit, under a plan the utility filed Aug. 23 with state regulators.
Since 1821, when Alexander Ralston first began incorporating spaces for public art in his design of Indianapolis, the city has been able to maintain a strong tradition of public art. Today is a good time to evaluate what must be done now to sustain and enhance that 185-year tradition. Public art also bolsters an area’s economic value and makes it more appealing for investors. Outside businesses looking to relocate a branch or headquarters will look more favorably on a community…
Poor Pluto. One day it was spinning through the galaxy, meandering around the sun at a stately 248.54 Earth years per lap, rotating in the wrong direction as compared to the other planets, minding its own business, and then-Bam! It got downsized, reclassified as a planetelle or planetina or planette, whatever they’ve decided to call it. Reminds me of some businesses I know. One day everything’s A-OK, to use space parlance. Next thing you know, Pluto is putting all the…
Local officials have lured another sports-related company here and taken a huge step in assuring the NFL Scouting Combine stays in the city long term. National Football Scouting and sister company National Invitational Camp, which operates the Combine for NFL team owners, moved its headquarters in August from Tulsa, Okla., to Indianapolis. NFS and NIC moved into the Pan Am Plaza office building, across the street from the RCA Dome, where it has held the Combine since 1987. NFS also…
A new law signed last month by President Bush should open the valves to a fresh stream of charitable giving by allowing people to make tax-free donations from their IRAs for the first time. But philanthropy insiders say that, while the law gave, it also hath taken away. The Pension Protection Act encourages contributions from individual retirement accounts, but it crimps the use of popular donor-advised funds, which allow donors to maintain some control over how their contributions are spent….
If it weren’t for an article that appeared in The Wall Street Journal more than 20 years ago, John Thompson likely would have never come to Indianapolis and ultimately start his plumbing and electrical supply distributorships. Thompson, 52, launched Thompson Distribution Co. Inc. in 2001 after purchasing the old Mutual Pipe & Supply company in the 2200 block of North College Avenue. Two years later, he founded First Electric Supply Co. Inc. at the same location. Mutual brought in $1…
Interactive Intelligence Inc. has been on a wild ride since its initial public offering seven years ago. The communications software maker saw its shares shoot as high as $50 its first few months of trading, only to have them wallow below $5 for years after the tech bubble burst. But now the company is back in favor on Wall Street.
Well, here we go again. Another season of high hopes for your Indianapolis Colts or, as many consider them, “our” Indianapolis Colts. They feel we’re all in this together. That includes you, the folks you’ve assembled there on West 56th Street, and everybody here in the local universe who supports the product by buying tickets, leasing suites, purchasing gear, being a sponsor, providing copious coverage, or simply being a fan in front of the TV. Yes, at the end of…
