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TOM HARTON Commentary: Where business, disaster meet

We don’t do weather. Business newspapers don’t ask reporters to stand in bitter cold to demonstrate that it’s uncomfortable. We don’t warn our readers about the dangers of a storm by assigning a reporter to stand in the middle of one. When the wind and rain send things crashing down around us, we become consumers of news just like everyone else. Last week, we broke our rule. No, we didn’t brave the elements, but what happened in New Orleans and…

BEHIND THE NEWS: Noble Roman’s pays up to sever ties with vulture

The pizza-andsub business is tough enough without also having to worry about your largest creditor stabbing you in the back. I n d i a n a p o l i s – based franchiser Noble Roman’s Inc. has rid itself of that looming threat by paying $8.3 million to buy out nearly all the interests of a vulture investment firm that may have been scheming to control the company. The deal settles a lawsuit Noble Roman’s filed in March…

VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: Making public speaking a better cultural experience

Unless I’m just too persnickety, public speaking as a means to influence and inform seems to be in a state of decline these days-a diminishing art form if you please. My credentials for this assessment are not infallible, but they do go back well over four decades-more than 30 years as one of the team members responsible for programs of the Economic Club of Indianapolis and 14 years helping to fine tune the pulpit skills of United Methodist clergy across…

Economic developer for hire: Miller’s brain trust spreads advice from town to country

It’s about soybeans and high hopes. Clinton County has only 34,148 residents, nearly half of them living in the county seat of Frankfort. Most of the labor force works in either farming or auto-parts manufacturing. Neither is generally considered the field of the future. Enter economic development consultant Thomas P. Miller & Associates. Since Clinton County is the state’s fifth-largest soybean producer, TPMA counseled a strategy based on what it already does well. Starting next year, federal regulators will require…

IPS seeks property swap: School district will trade prime Mass Ave land if deal is right

But an unusual component of the soon-to-be-released request for proposals by Indianapolis Public Schools, the property’s owner, has many wondering if anyone has what it will take to win the coveted piece of real estate. What it’ll take is the offering of a replacement facility where IPS can move its central transportation facility and other school district operations. “That’s the general concept,” said SteveYoung, chief of facilities management for IPS. “We’re not looking to sell it. We would have to…

BULLS & BEARS: Conflict of interest arises when valuing companies

When two companies engage in an acquisition, within the proxy documents delivered to shareholders a “fairness opinion” is routinely provided. The fairness opinion is an analysis of the transaction typically conducted by an investment bank. Corporate boards hire these “third-party” advisers to satisfy their fiduciary duty to shareholders and to protect against legal challenges over a decision to do a deal. These opinions may be delivered by investment banking firms who have no other role in the deal. But they…

Bomar Industries: Metal fabricator builds on expertise Bomar Industries’ owners started without a business plan, but succeeded anyway

Bomar Industries’ owners started without a business plan, but succeeded anyway Brothers Bob and Mark Buchanan have parlayed their passion for drag racing and metal bending into a $3 million enterprise with only growth on the horizon. The brothers started Bomar Industries like a lot of entrepreneurs-with no business plan and their own money and equipment. The Buchanans already had lathes, mills, welders and other supplies for their work on dragsters and other hobby projects. Bob, 50, was an engineer…

Flexibility important for balancing careers, kids: Local partners say developing support system, staying organized helps at work and at home

Managing partner and mother of two Pat McCrory wishes she had invented the simple, no-frills storage shelves and baskets that Pottery Barn Kids sells that make her life easier and more organized at home. For McCrory, a partner at the Indianapolis law firm of Harrison & Moberly, being organized is a vital part of balancing her work schedule and responsibilities as a mother of a 5-yearold son and 2-year-old daughter. But as a female partner, McCrory isn’t exactly among familiar…

GERALD BEPKO Commentary: FFA is important to our future

What major, national, student-oriented not-for-profit organization with deep roots in Kansas City moved its headquarters to Indianapolis in the last decade and now has made commitments to bring a huge number of visitors to Indianapolis each year into the future? If you think the answer is the NCAA, you would be half right. The complete answer is that there are two such organizations: the NCAA and FFA. Both the NCAA and FFA brought economic benefits along with their headquarters. Through…

ROUGH ROAD AHEAD?: Chrysler foundry’s closing a warning sign for other plants

Chrysler foundry’s closing a warning sign for other plants The closing of DaimlerChrysler Corp.’s foundry west of downtown at the end of this month signals more than the end of nearly 900 jobs there. “There’s a fundamental change occurring in the automotive industry right now,” said Matthew Will, director of the University of Indianapolis’ graduate business program and associate dean in the School of Business. “Unless local manufacturers in this sector don’t reposition, I would certainly expect to see more job…

Final 4 lodging scarce: 7 months before event, brokers lock up rooms

Basketball fans hoping to catch the action at next spring’s NCAA men’s Final Four in Indianapolis are more likely to score decent tickets than they are a downtown hotel room, though neither will come cheap. As the event has moved from fan-centric to corporate, the demand and price for hotel rooms has reached new highs. And the hotel room supply for Final Fours held locally is likely to tighten as NCAA officials push for larger Final Four venues-such as the…

Proposed natural gas pipeline bogged down at IURC: Project would give customers access to lower-priced gas, blunting impact of Katrina and hike in delivery fee

A pipeline that would give residential and industrial customers access to cheaper wholesale natural gas from the West and Canada won’t be built this winter, when it could have blunted prices whipped skyward by Hurricane Katrina. The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission is still reviewing Citizens Gas & Coke Utility’s request to construct a nearly 20-mile pipeline that would connect its Greene County gas storage facility with the Midwest Gas Transmission System line in Sullivan County. That line ties into a…

Overcoming negativity can boost bottom line: Realistic optimism is a skill worth learning

Negativity is an increasing problem in the workplace, costing U.S. companies about $3 billion a year in lost productivity, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Whether it’s due to downsizing, budget cuts, lack of participation in decision-making, or co-workers who are simply pessimistic, negativism hurts everybody. Suzanne Metzger knows this firsthand. She said strong faith helped her weather a life-threatening setback-breast cancer. A major obstacle in her life was dealing with difficult people instead of holding her anger…

Basic utility vehicle rolling ahead-slowly: Assembly would happen in developing nations

A not-for-profit group developing vehicles for use in the Third World plans to open a “micro-factory” next month near 65th Street and Binford Boulevard. But the Institute for Affordable Transportation site won’t mass-produce its diminutive vehicles, powered by lawn tractor engines. Rather, the donated space will become a lab for working out methods to help those in developing countries assemble the so-called “basic utility vehicles.” The facility “is to basically prepare the way for this technology transfer package so it…

Hoosier Salon paints its role in broad strokes: 81-year-old organization hangs on to popularity

In the art world, the Hoosier Salon is a true Indiana original. Founded in 1925 by a group called the Daughters of Indiana, the Hoosier Salon blazed the trail for countless modern-day galleries and arts organizations seeking to spread the gospel of Indiana artists. Today, the organization finds itself in friendly competition with younger organizations for artists and patrons. It remains relevant, its leaders say, by constantly evolving while keeping the ideals that have given it prestige among generations of…

Formula freebies create controversy: Medical profession encounters gray area when it accepts samples

The free mouse pads and pens that popped up every time a baby formula salesman visited Indiana University Hospital annoyed Marsha Glass, a former lactation consultant there. However, the cases of baby formula-left not for newborn mothers but for nurses on her floor who had babies at home-prompted her to take action. Giving formula to nurses, she said, went way beyond the $75 limit set for such gifts by Clarian Health Partners, the hospital network that includes IU. Glass complained…

ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: Façade of confidence saves us from anarchy

You may not know this, but every banker and policymaker does. If every one of us got out of bed tomorrow morning, drove to our banks or financial institutions, and tried to withdraw our money, the system that seems so solid today would suffer a complete collapse. The same thing would happen to the electrical grid if every device that could draw power were switched on at once. In fact, if every one of us decided today to fill up…

SPORTS: City should be tour stop for men’s or women’s golf

That sellout crowds flocked to Carmel’s Crooked Stick Golf Club for the Solheim Cup should come as no surprise. This is an area with a big appetite for golf, whether playing or watching it. Yet it’s also a reminder that for all we have accomplished in spectator sports, professional golf remains the hole in our doughnut. Yes, we have had our on-and-off forays into the arena. A PGA Tour stop, the 500 Festival Open, took place on the old Speedway…

EYE ON THE PIE: Let’s build a new New Orleans

At the moment, rescue and relocation are the primary concerns along the Gulf Coast ravaged by Hurricane Katrina. In time, restoration will become the leading issue. Most property owners from Mobile to New Orleans will want their buildings repaired or replaced. They will seek to recreate the past instead of looking to the future. A more comprehensive approach is appropriate. Let’s consider the Gulf Coast as a region, centered on New Orleans, that stretches from Florida to Texas. This area…

Can ride sharing retain your distant workers?: Companies look to car- and van-pooling to counter high gas prices that may increase employee turnover

Most concerned about higher commuting costs are employers on the periphery of Indianapolis, where there is little or no bus transportation for workers who live in Marion County. “At some point, for an hourly worker, it becomes cost-prohibitive to drive to Plainfield for work,” said Kim Woodward, director of human resources for Brightpoint Inc. The wireless phone distributor has a warehouse in the Hendricks County town that employs 611, plus about 100 contract workers. “Public transportation is not readily available,”…