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Pension changes fill state’s VC coffer: Indiana Investment Fund has $155 million to pour into Hoosier companies

The diversification of the state’s two enormous public pension funds into private equity is transforming Indiana’s venture capital sector. And their $155 million Indiana Investment Fund is the largest factor in the equation. If it’s successful, the Indiana Public Employees’ Retirement Fund and the Indiana State Teachers’ Retirement Fund will save Hoosiers untold millions of dollars and help launch a host of new high-tech companies. If it’s not, taxpayers will one day have to foot the bill. Indiana State Budget…

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Embarking on a new Venture: New leader planning progressive changes at center, not a total revamping

The new leader of the Indiana Venture Center is beginning to put his stamp on the not-for-profit that mentors promising startups. James Eifert, 64, is the former president of Terre Haute-based Rose-Hulman Ventures who took charge of the center in December following the July resignation of Steve Beck. Beck left to become co-managing director of IVC Equity Partners, a new local seed-capital fund. Chief items on Eifert’s to-do list are broadening the donor base, revamping the Venture Center’s proprietary network…

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Indiana turns up schmoozing efforts

Economic development officials say networking is the first step in a process that, when successful, leads to industrial plant
expansions and company headquarters relocations. Travel, food, gifts and entertainment, they argue, are a necessary cost of
attracting jobs to Indiana.

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Local companies get Taiwanese perspective: Butler University program brings 23 interns to Indy

The java stands Hubbard & Cravens Coffee Co. opened a year ago within Clarian Health Partners’ three downtown hospitals are brewing a rich aroma of results. Yet executives of the locally based coffee retailer and wholesaler know sales could be sweeter. “The hospitals are so huge that we don’t capture even a third of what we could,” said Marcie Hubbard, director of store operations. “So the question is, how do you reach everybody in that entire hospital?” The 23 Taiwanese…

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VIEWPOINT: Cultivate your young talent for success

When was the last time you gave someone a break? I don’t mean the last time you stopped your car to let a convention attendee safely cross the street. Think back to the last time you made a difference in someone’s career-a young person’s career. The truth is, you probably manage at least one younger employee who is eager for a break, a promotion or a little more autonomy. Maybe you tried to give your up-and-comer a project to run…

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Competition drives hospital chief: Lennen labors to grow hospital, county to stay ahead of Indianapolis peers

Competitive. That’s how Shelbyville community leaders describe Tony Lennen. Indeed. Any CEO of the city’s Major Hospital needs to be. Shelby County residents can, in just 20 to 45 minutes, drive up Interstate 74 or Interstate 65 to any of Indianapolis’ large hospitals, many of which boast massive marketing budgets and stables of specialists. But in nearly 14 years at the helm of Major Hospital, Lennen has found creative ways to boost profits, enhance technology, woo specialists and even-through aggressive…

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STATEHOUSE DISPATCH: Action will focus on three bills in dash to the finish

This week will see the final round of action by the House on Senate bills and the Senate on House bills, and then the real work of the Legislature begins. Legislation that has passed both chambers in different forms may be reshaped in a manner acceptable to both, and legislation that has passed only one chamber remains eligible for inclusion in related bills and final passage by both the House and Senate. Few people gave much credence to this year’s…

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MICKEY MAURER Commentary: He’s homeless but willing to work

For the last two years, I looked forward every morning to the walk west on Washington Street on the way to the Indiana Economic Development offices across the street from the Statehouse. The exercise was invigorating, and inevitably I encountered friends with whom I enjoyed brief conversations. It was fun to breathe in the sights and smells of a great city coming to life. At Illinois Street I marked the progress of the Conrad Hotel, a Kite development that aspires…

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High-tech 21st Century funding in doubt

The first version of the $25.6 billion state budget, passed by the Democratic majority in the Indiana House of Representatives
Feb. 22, didn’t include any money for the Indiana 21st Century Research and Technology Fund, which provides financial assistance
to promising high-tech startups.

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SBDC network gets new chief

After about seven months without a leader, the Indiana Small Business Development Center network has found one in Jeff Heinzmann. An attorney by training, the 39-year-old is charged with getting the statewide system of 11 regional centers on track in their efforts to help entrepreneurs get started and grow. Despite their connection, the Indiana centers for the most part have operated independently, and some-like the central Indiana office serving Marion and the surrounding counties-have struggled for stability. Heinzmann aims to…

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MICKEY MAURER Commentary: The power of a single ‘thank you’

One of the most enjoyable aspects of my job as president of the Indiana Economic Development Corp. and secretary of commerce was the opportunity to represent our governor and the state of Indiana on goodnews occasions. On April 26, 2005, I bestowed official state certification on Intech Park, a business incubator that had qualified under the Indiana Certified Technology Park Program. Certified tech parks enjoy the advantage of being allowed to capture and invest in the development of their park…

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Auto-job slide accelerating

Indiana’s automotive manufacturing employment for the last decade peaked at 142,000 in 1999. Since then, the sector has shed
20,300 jobs-a staggering one-seventh of its total. Another 5,220 are slated to be cut soon. And there’s no end in sight.

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Oxford BioSignals poised to add up to 120 jobs: Indiana’s life sciences market, $2.7 million in incentives attract medical startup

How does aviation technology conceived at Oxford University and developed with the help of Rolls-Royce end up being tested at Methodist Hospital and commercialized in Carmel? Oxford BioSignals Medical CEO Frank Cheng knows the answer. Even better, he can explain why his startup is poised to add 120 jobs over the next few years. “At this point, I don’t see anything we can’t do right here in Indiana,” he said. Formed in 2000, Oxford BioSignals began its life when research…

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Commentary Noblesville gets traction under mayor:

When it comes to the battle of the ‘burbs-at least those north of Indianapolis-Carmel seems to get all the glory. Not that it’s undeserved, considering the progress and growth that have taken place under Mayor Jim Brainard. But lest you haven’t noticed, Carmel’s rival to the northeast-Noblesville-has fired up its afterburners in the last few years and is making major strides on the development front. Some of the credit should go to that city’s first-term mayor, John Ditslear, who was…

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Rivals tangle over impact of new hospitals: Health care providers disagree on how head-to-head competition will affect costs

Once joined at the hip, the two main health care providers in Tippecanoe County-Arnett Health System and Greater Lafayette Health Services-have become fierce rivals. Each is building a new hospital and will compete to provide services for the 154,000 county residents, and tens of thousands more in surrounding counties. Lafayette-based Arnett, a multi-specialty medical practice, has 140 doctors at a dozen area locations, plus eight facilities in other parts of the state. Greater Lafayette Health Services, part of Mishawaka-based Sisters…

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MICKEY MAURER Commentary: Hoosiers, wake up to the world

Don’t rest the chopsticks on your food. Don’t blow your nose during the meal and never pour the soy sauce on your rice. These and other tidbits of Japanese dining etiquette had to be digested before our first trade mission to Japan in 2005. That 74-person mission, led by Gov. Mitch Daniels, was the largest delegation of Indiana business leaders and state and local officials ever on foreign shores. Indiana is the No. 1 manufacturing state in the union. More…

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NOTIONS: Must we pay the painful price of Hoosier incivility?

One of the most effective advertisements I ever created never had to be published. The mere fear it instilled via private showings to Connecticut state legislators was enough to undo the havoc they were threatening to wreak. At the time, lawmakers were contemplating what they called a “business services tax,” a tax that would be imposed on the services one division of a corporation provided to another, so long as both operated within the state. For example, if an Aetna…

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Tax break would reward patent producers: Indiana legislators view bill as way to attract young, innovative high-tech companies and solo entrepreneurs

A bill weaving its way through the Indiana General Assembly could give the state an edge in attracting and growing the type of high-tech ventures several states covet. Indiana House Bill 1461, introduced by Rep. Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, advanced to the Senate after sailing through the House of Representatives on Feb. 26 by a vote of 95-3. The legislation that was referred to the Senate’s Economic Development and Technology Committee would provide a tax incentive that would shield income from…

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EYE ON THE PIE: Unsolicited advice for IU’s next president

Congratulations, Dr. McRobbie, on being selected as Indiana University’s next president. I’ve read that you are committed to helping IU become more active in the state’s economic development. I’ve heard that from every IU president since I arrived in 1970. To be successful, it will take major changes. It is not sufficient to appoint a committee of administrators who then request each part of the university to submit a list of its “economic development activities” for ultimate inclusion in a…

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New NFIB boss knows politics: State chapter to devote more time to campaigns

Kevin Hughes cut his teeth in the political world. Now he’s taking a bite out of small business, as the new state director for the National Federation of Independent Business. Hughes, 30, has never owned his own business, but he worked for six years at the Ohio State Legislature as a legislative aide and for the Senate Republicans there. He also worked on several campaigns. In 2004, Hughes took a job as the Midwest regional political director for NFIB in…

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