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Banks enroll to help educators: As Indiana falls behind, financial literacy programs blossom

Their answer: a need. As in, one cannot exist without food, shelter and a $175 pair of sneakers. While the marketing folks at Nike would smile at the association, it makes personal finance experts like Avery cringe. They say it’s another example of an alarming level of financial ignorance that has allowed nationwide consumer debt to zoom past $2 trillion. And the pain is especially acute in Indiana. “You don’t have to look far beyond the bankruptcy and foreclosure statistics…

VIEWPOINT: What kids learn outside the classroom

Like many discoveries, my first “aha” moment about the importance of parents’ involvement in their children’s school success occurred when I was investigating something else. In 1999, shortly after I arrived in Indianapolis to work at Conner Prairie, I set out to learn how kids rated their school visits to the museum. I located a fourth-grade teacher who would let me and museum researcher Jane Hetrick talk to students. She happened to be the teacher of an “Inquiry” class, Washington…

Crown Hill nearing new deal: About 70 acres expected to sell for $5.2M

An announcement on new development for 70 acres of woodlands held by Crown Hill Cemetery and Funeral Home may come within weeks, bringing to a close a controversial land deal that some environmental and neighborhood groups hoped to stall. Crown Hill leadership is talking with three developers that have submitted competing proposals for mixed-use projects, cemetery President Keith Norwalk said. He declined to name the developers or provide details on their proposals but called an announcement “fairly imminent.” The price…

As CD rates reach 5-year-high, banks get more interest: Many savings institutions advertise investment option aggressively, offer specials to attract new customers

Money managers are dusting off their low-risk investment options for consumers who are finding certificates of deposit attractive again. The run-up on CDs corresponds with rising interest rates that are meant to cool inflation by making the cost of borrowing more expensive. The federal funds rate-the interest banks charge one another on overnight loans-is the highest it’s been since early 2001. While that’s not so good for home buyers, it does benefit investors searching for short-term savings returns. Interest rates…

FUNNY BUSINESS: ‘Restart Your Engines’-we have refrigerator magnets

I’m not sensing a lot of enthusiasm for the state’s new tourism slogan, “Restart Your Engines.” Wait. What am I saying? What I sense is some outright hostility because the state paid $85,000 for this clunker, then was so tone deaf as to unveil it right after the income tax deadline, setting off a wave of “Your tax dollars at work” jokes in newspapers, blogs and coffee shops. So here we are in May, at the start of another tourist…

ATA reorg a bonanza for lawyers, financial firms: Court still must decide whether to approve $21 million in fees and expenses sought in case so far

Lawyers and other professionals have asked for more than $21 million in fees and expenses for their work on ATA Holdings Corp.’s reorganization, in what appears to be the most expensive case ever in U.S. District Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Indiana. But fees and expenses might rise to $33 million after a handful of remaining professional firms file their claims by the end of this month, said James Carr, a veteran Baker & Daniels attorney who quarterbacked…

ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: Improving state’s economy requires a team approach

More than 50 years ago, the famous economist Joseph Schumpeter told a simple story that perfectly captured the essence of market capitalism. It’s a turn-of-the-century tale of a railroad being built in a part of the country where none had existed. The new investment rapidly upsets the order of everything-once ideally situated towns are left high and dry, while others move up in stature as they exploit newfound advantages. It’s messy and it’s painful, but the result is for the…

Battle of the brands: Planners go back to drawing board after city slogan nixed

They thought they had a winner with The New Midwest. They even had the logo-a stylized “I”-all figured out. And a color palette. But then they hit a bump in the road. When Mark Miles became CEO of the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership in January, he joined the big group and said the slogan was a dud. At the least, he said, participants should run it by focus groups. They only had to run it by two before they realized…

SPORTS: Fixture on local sports scene continues 42-year run

Since he nearly died a couple of months back, now is probably a good time to write something about my friend, Bill York. After all, I’d at least like for him to be able to read it. York is one of those behind-the-scenes folks who gives Indiana a good name. To the local and national sports media, he personifies Hoosier Hospitality. For years, York has directed the media room operations at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Conseco Fieldhouse (Market Square Arena…

Cherrymasters’ luck might turn next year: Proponents argue that state regulators could electronically monitor slots in taverns around Indiana

In past years, legislators have proved unwilling to expand gambling outside Indiana’s riverboat casinos. But Indiana Licensed Beverage Association Executive Director Brad Klopfenstein, who has been leading the push to legalize electronic “cherrymaster” machines, thinks his luck could soon turn. “The legislators we’ve talked to, they don’t seem to have the steadfast ‘no, no, no’ attitude they used to have,” Klopfenstein said. “We’re hoping we’ll get a bill filed and it’ll get a fair hearing next year.” And new technology…

Purchase offer expected for Winona Hospital: Three interested parties check out empty facility

Vacant Winona Memorial Hospital could attract a written purchase offer as soon as this summer, and at least three potential buyers are already researching a deal. Among the property’s attributes are a layout that’s well-suited for health care uses, said Gus Miller, a principal with NAI Olympia Partners, an Indianapolis real estate firm listing the site for $8 million. But the layout, with ceiling heights of only 8 feet, also limits the former hospital’s appeal to businesses outside health care….

Money manager launches own firm: Former SBK-Brooks exec opens Liger Securities

If David B. Girton isn’t already regarded as an innovator in the local investment brokerage community, he should be now. The 45-year-old Indianapolis native is in the process of launching Liger Securities Corp., the only locally owned black investment firm in the city. But 10 years ago, he accomplished a similar first, when he opened the local office of Cleveland-based SBK-Brooks Investment Corp., then the only black-operated brokerage here. Make no mistake, though, Girton’s credentials far outweigh his designation as…

EYE ON THE PIE: Writers require clarity or risk calamity

Last night, I had a dream. I was standing on the ledge of a tall building. People down below were shouting, “Jump!” They were angry because they thought I misrepresented the various and diverse meal-delivery programs in Indiana in my column last week. One woman was yelling, “You’re trying to take away my job!” “No,” I tried to explain. I was just saying that such programs should be coordinated better and that no oversight agency exists to monitor not-for-profit agencies….

Pafco journey out of rehabilitation hits pause: High-risk auto insurer awaits purchase by NY company

A potential savior for Pafco General Insurance Co. has pulled back from a plan to buy and revitalize the company, casting doubt over the high-risk auto insurer’s future. New York-based ICM Insurance Co. withdrew an application for a license to do business in Indiana earlier this year and gave no reason for its decision to the state Department of Insurance. “We’re certainly hopeful there could be a positive outcome, but unfortunately up to this point, there hasn’t been a dramatically…

Daniels seeks to copy key-clusters strategy: Industry initiatives would mimic BioCrossroads plan

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, BioCrossroads has been vindicated. Gov. Mitch Daniels hopes to see a series of similar industry initiatives sprout around key clusters in Indiana’s economy. He envisions parallel initiatives for manufacturing, transportation and logistics and a series of other crucial business sectors. “We’d love some company,” said BioCrossroads CEO David Johnson. As outlined in Daniels’ “Accelerating Growth” economic development plan released last month, the initiatives would be based on proven Indiana strengths and identifiable…

VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: Investors often end up being their own worst enemies

In recent years, an increasing number of researchers, particularly in the field of psychology, have come to believe that investors undermine their investment and financial goals through such emotionally biased-even irrational-behaviors as overconfidence, a herd mentality, bias toward recent market results, and an excessive aversion to risk. Eliminating such biases is difficult, but investors can mitigate their impact by following several time-tested investing and financial planning principles. Think long term Invest for the long term. Investing in riskier assets, such…

Selling change at Lilly: Company overhauls strategy its thousands of sales reps use to tout drugs to doctors

Eli Lilly and Co. is rolling out a new approach to selling drugs, one that aims to build deeper relationships with doctors while cutting the number of sales reps knocking on their office door. The reorganization project, dubbed “sales force of the future,” is just what the doctor ordered, according to Lilly executives. They say physicians want fewer sales calls and a deeper knowledge base from those who still stop by. “Doctors want that primarily because they’re treating patients and…

Smaller banks seeking relief: Legislation takes on costly regulatory costs

German American Bancorp in Jasper has spent more than $1 million the past two years complying with the stringent accounting provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The cost alone is reason enough for the community bank’s president and CEO, Mark Schroeder, to support a measure exempting smaller public companies such as his from Section 404 of the act. He even traveled to Washington, D.C., May 3 to testify in front of the U.S. House of Representatives Small Business Committee. “Ultimately, this…

INVESTING: Dow keeps climbing, but land mines abound

The theme I’ve been concentrating on-the Dow Jones industrial average’s climb toward a new all-time high at the same time large numbers of stocks are weakening-is playing out in dramatic fashion. The Dow is only 150 points away from a new high, and it may well reach it. What’s working is obvious now (energy, metals, industrials), and I say, ‘Stay with them until they break down.’ But there is a growing portion of the market that is giving people fits,…

NOTIONS Bruce Hetrick: Readers share insights on the elusive ‘one thing’

In the movie “City Slickers,” Billy Crystal plays a fellow in midlife crisis. He escapes to a guest ranch, where he meets Jack Palance as a wisdom-dishing cowboy. On horseback one day, Palance asks, “Do you know what the secret of life is?” “No, what?” Crystal asks. Palance holds up his gloved index finger and says, “This.” Crystal says, “Your finger?” Palance says, “One thing. Just one thing. You stick to that and everything else don’t mean #*@%.” Crystal says,…