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EYE ON THE PIE Morton Marcus: Stats born of self-interest not worth the trouble

When I arrived at Indiana University in 1970, we had many copies of a 1966 projection of Indiana county populations sitting in file cabinets. Most state and local agencies also had these projections sitting about. Some used them for doorstoppers. After all, they were thick with details for age and sex in each county going out about 30 years, to a distant point in the 1990s. Once the 1970 census was released, Bob Calhoun of the State Board of Health…

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Biofuel plans have suppliers stoked

Indiana’s plan to become the Middle East of biofuels could be a boon well beyond the rural towns that will welcome more than a dozen refineries . Firms that make and supply parts and expertise needed to build the $1.8 billion in ethanol and biodiesel plants–and related infrastructure–are gearing up.

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Making the right move: For companies planning a relocation, months of preparation are often in order

CORPORATE RELOCATION Making the right move For companies planning a relocation, months of preparation are often in order Employees of Aprimo Inc. are settling into their new digs at Parkwood Crossing after the fastgrowing marketing-softwaremaker moved its headquarters early last month. While the building may be different, the surroundings are quite familiar. The company remains in the same office complex, albeit across College Avenue from its previous space. But don’t tell Dani Hughes, Aprimo’s human resources representative who coordinated the…

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Racing toward a new type of learning center: Decatur, Panther team up on educational facility

Mention a career in motorsports to most youngsters and they imagine whizzing around the track like NASCAR’s Tony Stewart or Sam Hornish Jr., points leader of the Indianapolis Racing League. But a partnership between Indianapolisbased Panther Racing LLC and Decatur Township Schools wants to introduce students to more practical professions within the sport by providing the resources in a hands-on learning environment. The result is the Panther Education Center, set to open next fall near the racing team’s headquarters at…

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BRIAN WILLIAMS Commentary: The heat will hurt more next winter

Geopolitical instability and increasing worldwide demand for fossil fuels have caused high energy prices. Indiana tax policies in support of the creation of ethanol and biodiesel production facilities are part of an effort to help wean our transportation infrastructure from fossil fuels. While ethanol may be a poor alternative to fossil fuels, Hoosier entrepreneurs’ and policymakers’ efforts in this area reflect a broad awareness that we need a sensible, comprehensive energy policy. A corollary to $3-per-gallon gas is increasing home-heating…

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TOM HARTON Commentary: Still trying to get it right

We’re about to pave a small neighborhood park so that patrons of a bar in a government building will have a place to stash their cars while they drink. What better time than now to revisit a couple of previous columns about urban design? (More on the playground later.) Back in May, I wrote about local entrepreneur Tom Battista’s work to restore commercial life to the 800 block of Massachusetts Avenue and what’s left of the 900 block. The 900…

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BEHIND THE NEWS:

In the 1980s, Jim Massey was one of Indianapolis’ top bankers. Now, he finds himself in bankruptcy court, the latest former Conseco Inc. director to fall victim to the company’s hardball loan-collection tactics. The Carmel-based insurer last month filed an involuntary bankruptcy petition for Massey, 71, the former president of Merchants National Bank. “It is just another forum to try to bring an expeditious conclusion to the problem,” said Reed Oslan, a partner with the Chicago law firm Kirkland &…

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Six sites named ‘Shovel Ready’: State program designed to speed permit process for fast-track developers

State officials have added another arrow to their quiver of economic-development incentives meant to attract companies to Indiana. A new pilot program, known as Shovel Ready, certifies land that can be rapidly developed. The aim is to make the properties more attractive to companies by cutting the time it takes to navigate the permitting process. “The ability to expedite a company’s development will make us more competitive than perhaps we have been in the past,” said Chris Pfaff, director of…

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INVESTING: Lessons to draw from the new slide in transport stocks

One of the staples of a bear market is the futile attempt investors make to rationalize why they are staying invested. (This happens, of course, until it is far too late to do anything about remaining in the market). After the June 14 market low, one of the common rationalizations I heard was that the Dow Jones Transportation Index was nearing an all-time high. But like visions of a dying man wandering in the desert, it turned out be another…

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CHRIS KATTERJOHN Commentary: Orange County casino a losing bet?

I’m starting to get a bad feeling about the Orange County casino project. Truth be told, I’ve had the bad feeling for a long time, and now it’s getting worse. The latest blip on the radar in what has been a challenged project from the get-go is the contentious legal battle that has surfaced between the two partners: Bob Lauth of Lauth Property Group and Bloomington billionaire Bill Cook. I guess that’s not that unusual. Ed Feigenbaum, publisher of Indiana…

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Moving lessons from classrooms to boardrooms: MBA students get firsthand experience with startups

No matter how many bold and italicized words scholars cram into textbooks, nothing compares to students rolling up their sleeves and testing a theory themselves. For years, Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business has offered its Bloomington MBA candidates real-world experience through so-called “academies” focused on specific industries. Now Kelley Indianapolis’ evening MBA program is set to launch a scaled-back version for its students. This fall, it will offer three such “enterprise” programs, including one with an entrepreneurial emphasis. The…

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Mass transit’s catch? Paying for it

The idea of rapid transit is popular locally, but there’s no consensus on how to finance it. For construction alone, it would cost at least $546 million for suburban express bus service up to $1.4 billion for an "automated guideway" system similar to a monorail. And that's for only one corridor.

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TOM HARTON Commentary: Driving the distance for the basics

I recently called my doctor’s office hoping he could squeeze me in to diagnose a minor, but annoying, health problem. His nurse informed me I wouldn’t be able to get an appointment for at least three days. She suggested I go to an immediate-care facility if I needed attention right away. I was surprised the doctor couldn’t see me, but I appreciated the nurse’s candor. She knew better than to cheerfully suggest an appointment days in the future, by which…

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Is it back to the future for Indianapolis transit?: Cars killed vast ‘interurban’ system decades ago, but 21st century congestion could spur its revival in some form

A century ago, central Indiana had an electric rail network that dwarfed even the most ambitious rapid-transit schemes of today’s urban planners. The “interurban” was a vast system that would easily cost tens of billions of dollars to duplicate. By 1920, hundreds of miles of track radiated from Indianapolis. Some crossed state lines, to Dayton, Ohio, and the Chicago area. Today, all that’s left of the electric railroads are tree-covered rail beds or the crumbling piers of bridges, such as…

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Concierge helps famous, fashionable: Conrad job gets exciting during big events

It looked like a photo shoot for GQ or Elle. Guests wore denim that probably won’t show up in American stores until next year, if even then. Other guests checking into the Conrad Indianapolis for the July 2 U.S. Grand Prix wore sparkling diamonds and designer apparel. They carried Coach handbags of all shapes and sizes, setting them on the concierge desk as they awaited delivery of their luggage. Without fail, Lynna Mills would peek around the bags and cordially…

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NOTIONS: Hailing the hare in the land of the tepid tortoise

I was going to play smart aleck this week. I was going to write in hick dialect. I was going to lambaste us Hoosiers over our stubborn adherence to the status quo, our penchant to take things slow, our preference for partisanship, our pooh-poohing of progress and our bull-headed gumption to go it alone in a global economy. Then news broke that Indiana has the highest high school dropout rate in America. So I figured that for two reasons, I’d…

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