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STATEHOUSE DISPATCH: Daniels needs Dem. votes to pass budget measure

Lawmakers were treated Jan. 18 to what Hoosiers have quickly become accustomed to seeing from the new governor: a well-conceived strategy perfectly executed. Gov. Mitch Daniels, a Republican, delivered a compelling State of the State address, reminding the audience at the Statehouse-and in living rooms in all 92 counties-of the marching orders they gave him in November. He detailed the daunting but not insurmountable short-term problems Indiana faces, and outlined how bright he believes the future can be in just…

Retail shop owner launches fashion magazine: High-end audience drawing myriad advertisers; model could be used to launch other publications nationwide

Mark Koplow doesn’t wait for his customers to come to him. And instead of relying solely on mainstream media channels to carry his company’s message, he has created his own. Koplow, who owns Raleigh Limited, a high-end men’s clothing store at Keystone at the Crossing, two years ago began publishing a targeted, free magazine aimed at the same clientele his store serves. Raleigh Limited Magazine is published twice a year and mailed to 15,000 homes and businesses on the store’s…

Indiana IPOs break out of recent slump: Kite Realty, Republic Airways, Adesa among 5 state firms to test public waters

Hoosier-based companies registered five initial public offerings last year, a robust number considering not a single Indiana business went public in 2003. The uptick could signal the state’s economy, as well as the nation’s, is on the mend. Nationally, 233 companies raised $43 billion collectively to go public on the major U.S. stock exchanges in 2004, a 195-percent increase in the number of IPOs over 2003. And the performance could be even stronger this year, said Richard Peterson, a market…

ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: Understanding factors in public-sector job growth

There is nothing like a war and a recession to increase the size of government payrolls. Yet the hiring behavior of the public sector in the last four years has been unusual, when compared with previous recessions. The data tell us much of the growth in recent years has come from state and local governments. But they do not tell us why. There has been much stronger job growth in the public sector than in the private sector in the…

SPORTS: Only one team wins it all, so enjoy the journey

Oh, the agony, the anger, the apoplexy and the “Apocalypse Now” reaction to the Indianapolis Colts’ sorry defeat at New England. It called into mind a quote from Mike Tice, the embattled coach of the Minnesota Vikings, following his team’s playoffs demise. “The NFL is so sudden,” he said. Is it ever. Suddenly, it seemed, the Colts were everybody’s darlings. Suddenly, the Colts were everybody’s dogs. All in the time and space of a snowy, late January afternoon in Massachusetts….

VIEWPOINT: We stand on the shoulders of black business giants

In a recent conversation with a family member regarding the lack of African-American businesses in the high technology, life sciences and larger manufacturing arenas, I began to wonder, “What are the barriers that prevent African-Americans from entering business? Are conditions worse now than in the past when we seemed to have greater representation in these areas?” Some will say it is the lack of access to capital. Some will point to the continued aura of racism and prejudice, while still…

NCAA Women’s Final Four brings new opportunity: Demographics will decide who benefits from event

The $20 million economic impact forecasted for this year’s NCAA women’s basketball Final Four is about $10 million below the men’s event. That doesn’t mean it isn’t an important opportunity for Indianapolis, which will host the event for the first time in April. “This is an important audience for Indianapolis to be in front of,” said Susan Williams, Indiana Sports Corp. board member and co-chairwoman of the local organizing committee for the women’s Final Four. “It’s a different audience than…

INVESTING: Bouncing oil prices frustrate, but energy stocks won’t

Oil. It’s not behaving well lately. There was the preelection run-up to near $56 a barrel; then it seemed like prices would settle down for a few months at least. We had a little bit of warm weather to spur some selling, then, boom! The temperature dipped and, as if cold weather in January were a surprise, oil headed back near $50. I noted last month that it would probably be stuck in a trading range of $40 to $55,…

NOTIONS:

The other night, former presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton appeared on my TV. They said the tsunami had been devastating. They said people need help. They asked me to send money. “No one can change what happened,” Bush said. “But we can all Slow tsunami wreaks havoc in Indiana change what happens next,” Clinton said. I went to lunch with my editor. After the waiter announced the specials, he pointed to a tent card on the table. It…

Standard Life deal on hold: Firm still trying to sell life insurance business

Standard Management Corp. ended a difficult 2004 the same way it started the year: trying to seal a deal to sell its life insurance business. The Indianapolis holding company announced in November a plan to sell Standard Life Insurance Company of Indiana to “an unaffiliated third-party buyer.” That marked the third time in 2004 that Standard entered into such an agreement, according to SEC filings. Company shares jumped 27 percent to close at $3.55 the day of the Nov. 22…

Stadium’s pathway not clear: CIB must make land deals with Comfort Inn, Hurst Co.

It’s up to legislators to approve whether and how the city’s proposed $900 million Indiana Convention Center expansion and stadium complex would be funded, but a handful of property owners that have title to land in the planned stadium’s path will also play a role in determining the project’s fate. The Marion County Capital Improvement Board is working with owners of the few pieces of property it still needs for the construction project and associated parking lots. CIB owns about…

Outlook is good for entrepreneurs:

Could 2005 be the tipping point for Indiana to become the center for entrepreneurship in the world? That is a pretty bold statement, considering Indiana’s poor track record. As executive director for Entrepreneur’s Alliance of Indiana, I talk with many entrepreneurs that are excited about the direction Indiana is headed. We have in place a strong educational component with several universities ded icated to research and development and the incubation of new ideas. Geographically we have always had an advantage,…

NOTIONS: New Year’s resolution: It’s time for status quo to go

In the Jan. 3 issue of The New Yorker, writer Malcolm Gladwell reviews Pulitzer Prize-winner Jared Diamond’s new book, “Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed.” Diamond’s premise, says Gladwell, “stands in sharp contrast to the conventional explanations for a society’s collapse.” While conventional wisdom has it that “civilizations are destroyed by forces outside their control, by acts of God,” Gladwell writes, “the lesson of ‘Collapse’ is that societies, as often as not, aren’t murdered. They commit suicide: they…

Parking protest: Spurned operator questions airport contracting methods

The nation’s largest parking operator is complaining that Indianapolis International Airport canceled its joint-venture contract and handed the business to the local half of the venture without seeking competing proposals. Nashville, Tenn.-based Central Parking Corp. said that, given the chance, it would have offered the airport more to manage the Premier Business Class parking lot than its now-former partner, Global Parking System of Carmel, did. A counteroffer from Central came after the Indianapolis Airport A u t h o r…

BULLS & BEARS: Passive investors need to consider diversification

We think the argument for diversification rests with a decision to choose “passive” investing over “active” investing. So-called active investment management is found in mutual funds where managers are actively making decisions to buy or sell stocks and bonds. It also describes the investor who builds and manages a portfolio of individual securities. Passive management describes index investing. It amounts to an investor’s deciding he wants exposure to the markets but does not want to be bothered with selecting and…

Zipper’s future open to speculation:

The fate of “the Zipper Building,” a black-and-white office building at Washington Street and Virginia Avenue, is the subject of rampant speculation amid news a sale is pending. The three-story flatiron-style building at 117 E. Washington St. is owned by a locally based partnership and managed by Freihofer Commercial Real Estate. Firm owner Walter Freihofer confirmed the building is under contract, but would provide no details, including when the sale is expected to close. He also would not identify the…

TOM HARTON Commentary: City’s improvement doesn’t sink in

Dr. Pierre Tran, a former neuroscience researcher at Eli Lilly and Co., was lured from Indianapolis to a suburb of San Francisco recently by a small biotech firm and its ability to develop new drugs more quickly than pharmaceutical giants like Lilly. The region’s diversity and “food culture” also played a role, Tran told the San Francisco Business Times in a story about where the Bay Area finds all the brainpower it needs to fuel its tech culture. Tran went…

DeLaney law firm adds another family member: Veteran attorney joins wife, daughter in practice

Ed DeLaney has been a husband to Ann and a father to Kathleen for many years. But his role as a partner in their legal practice presents an opportunity to bond with them professionally. Ed left Barnes & Thornburg LLP in early 2004 after spending 30 years at what is now the largest law firm in the state. In 1973, when Ed arrived at what was then Barnes Hickam Pantzer & Boyd, the firm employed roughly 40 lawyers. Today, it…

SPORTS: Is there the will to heal college basketball’s ills?

I had a terrific lunch-time conversation with someone involved in college athletics, a person whose perspectives I admire because I know he hasn’t come to them easily. The jumping-off point for our discussion was the recent formation of the College Basketball Partnership, or CBP. It is a collection of coaches, administrators, broadcasters and NCAA staff, convened at the urging of NCAA President Myles Brand. Its task is to “address the challenges and opportunities” facing college basketball, especially at the Division…

INVESTING: Market’s first week dive doesn’t mean year-long slump

The first week of the new year was pretty lousy. All the major indexes are now in the hole for the year, with some industries down 5 percent or more. So is that it for 2005? Should we just pack up and come back again in 12 months? The media is jampacked with stories about how the first week’s performance determines the rest of the month’s outcome, which determines the rest of the year. And most experts had high hopes…