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In a race for robotics: Crash doesn’t quell Jones’ hope of building new industry

One day in the not-so-distant future, robot drones will drive the military’s supply vehicles through dangerous war zones. They’ll pilot tractors across farm fields and steer plows as they scrape snowy highways. Automatic cars will even whisk you to and from work. High-tech entrepreneur Scott Jones, 44, believes with a zealot’s fervor this all will happen. More than a gee-whiz observer, the man who helped invent voice mail hopes to establish a robotic vehicle business-and ultimately the robotic vehicle industry-in…

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CHRIS KATTERJOHN Commentary: LaSalle economist holds court

Now that President Bush has named both his candidates for Supreme Court vacancies and one has been confirmed, we can expect news soon of an appointment that is more important to businesspeople and markets. That would be the replacement for Alan Greenspan, chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, who retires Jan. 31. Greenspan has been in his seat 18 years and has presided over a period of strong economic growth, low inflation and interest rates, and a tremendous stock market….

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TOM HARTON Commentary: Luring people with bricks, mortar

A parking garage is about to rise on a vacant lot at 120 E. Washington St. It’s ironic that a block or so west of the site, a group of architects, city planners, real estate developers and leaders of the city’s arts movement meet on a regular basis to plot against such garages. The garage in the works isn’t just any garage. In its current design, which is yet to be approved, it’s only a garage. No ground-floor retail. Just…

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Backing home again: CID changes out-of-state course, invests $50M in Indiana

Indiana’s flagship venture capital firm has changed direction. Often criticized for not investing frequently enough within state lines, CID Equity Partners over the last five years has quietly put nearly $50 million to work in 10 Indiana companies. In the decade before, CID invested in just a half-dozen local deals. And after struggling to weather the 2001 recession, CID’s managers believe the wind is finally at their back. Three years ago, massive losses threatened to sink the firm. Since then,…

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ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: Economy likely to purr on despite hurricane mayhem

Did your company miss its earnings targets last period? Or did your household spend a little too much on your last vacation? Or maybe you’ve just added a few extra pounds on your waistline recently. Then you should do what just about everyone else is doing-blame it on Katrina. It seems as if every disappointing result in the economy is being blamed on the big storms that have rolled in from the Gulf of Mexico in the last six weeks….

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VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: Bubble won’t burst on commercial real estate investors

Winding down his remarkable tenure as chairman of the Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan seems to have chosen “real estate bubble” as one of the themes of his swan song. And with housing prices in some cities soaring, the rest of us as mere mortals can reasonably wonder how long it will be before the bubble bursts and what will be the fallout if and when that happens. Many private equity investors with holdings in commercial real estate are beginning to…

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INVESTING: Free markets, low taxes power economic engine

The Empire of the Rising Sun has been seeing a lot more sun lately. The Japanese stock market, as measured by the Nikkei Index, bottomed out only a few percentage points higher than the Dow Jones industrial average in March 2003. Since then, our Dow has rebounded 42 percent, but the Nikkei is up 78 percent! While Japan has been a democracy more than 50 years, the culture has not been as individualized as here. There is a socialist flavor…

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ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: Lack of fiscal discipline casts cloud over future

There’s been a resurgence of interest in the founding fathers of our country, judging from the best-seller lists. As some have written, not all those men we idolize today as founders of our great democracy were equally excited about the prospect of turning government over to the masses. In fact, some were downright terrified. They feared popularly elected governments would quickly go bankrupt spending their way to popularity. Now more than 200 years into the great democratic experiment, we’re hardly…

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Atlas tenderloin tradition lives on: Family pays homage to ‘sticker lady’ at Carmel deli

But her connection to the grocery runs deeper. Her mother, Debbie Davis, was an Atlas institution, earning her “sticker lady” nickname from children who received the treats she kept in a toy treasure chest at her register. Debbie died in June 2004 at age 52, following a prolonged battle with breast cancer. In her memory, husband Mike Davis created the “Debbie’s Make You Smile Fund” to benefit the Indiana University Cancer Center. It is supported by the sale of the…

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ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: Data thin on rural areas, and likely to get worse

There was a time in this country when cities had electricity and the countryside did not. This side-by-side existence of two lifestyles-one filled with leisure and convenience, another with endless drudgery and work-ultimately shamed the federal government to subsidize rural electrification and turn lights on in the country that had been burning in cities for several decades. That same situation exists today for broadband Internet, and its implications for economic development have already motivated many communities to pursue plans to…

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VIEWPOINT: 40 years after Civil Rights, opportunity calls

As the Civil Rights Act turns a middleage 40 this year, it’s time to celebrate accomplishments and consider the future. From a business and higher education perspective, we’ve witnessed a major turnaround. Many companies and institutions seek out minority businesses and students now. Those that are well-prepared can use the opportunity to succeed and make a big difference for our state and nation. Altruism and fairness may lie beneath some of the change, but it also just makes good economic…

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So far, VC deals scarce: BioCrossroads: Networking should spawn commitments

Almost two years ago, in October 2003, BioCrossroads debuted its $73 million Indiana Future Fund. In the time since, just three Indiana startups have received IFF-backed investments. But it’s not for BioCrossroads’ lack of trying. Both in public and behind the scenes, BioCrossroads is working diligently to put promising local life sciences prospects in front of venture capitalists. This year, BioCrossroads has already held two well-publicized Indiana Future Fund Entrepreneurial Forums: the first in April at Purdue University in West…

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BULLS & BEARS: Katrina crisis highlights need for self-sufficiency

No one really knows how Katrina is going to affect the economy. Some economists say it will be a whopper of a negative while some are convinced-and convincing-that she ultimately will be positive for GDP. But based on the fact the stock market, which is the great predicting machine, advanced a couple of percentage points in the week following the disaster, I’d have to go with the positive bet. The slow response and evacuation snafus were one problem, but the…

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ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: Many aren’t prepared for jobs of the future

To be illiterate in our society is more than an inconvenience, or an obstacle to making a living. It is also a badge of shame. That’s why we should all be concerned about the results of a January study that told us almost a million Indiana workers-one-third of the work force-failed to meet the minimum literacy standards for knowledge-based jobs. Many of us in the fields of research and policymaking have responded to this disturbing finding the same way we…

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INVESTING: Price controls are not the answer to fuel woes

The cries for rationing are getting louder. About 4 percent of America’s daily oil consumption was taken out by Hurricane Katrina. It will take months to get this supply back, and gas prices at the pump showed immediate reactions. Now with gas over $3 a gallon almost everywhere in the country, some politicians are telling the government to establish price controls and actually take control of the supply chain. The horrors we put ourselves through during the Nixon administration when…

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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…

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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…

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State unrolls insurer-friendly plan: New strategy aims to recruit, nurture insurance businesses; watchdogs wary of approach

The state of Indiana is aggressively courting the insurance industry to add high-paying jobs to the economy, a strategy that comes with a touch of controversy. The Indiana Economic Development Corp. announced late last month the appointment of Mike Chrysler as Indiana’s first-ever director of insurance initiatives. Chrysler then hit the ground driving. He’s already visited the Fort Wayne market and plans to reach several other corners of Indiana to let insurers know the state appreciates their business and wants…

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ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: Rising health care costs killing jobs and income

Most of us have been in a doctor’s office, and many of us have had conditions that require treatment. But few of us are likely to hear any information presented on the cost of different treatment options along with their benefits, especially if we are one of the 170 million people covered by employer- or governmentprovided health insurance. It is an amazing fact that nearly $3 trillion of health care goods and services are ordered off a menu that has…

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NOTIONS: The power of nature and the perils of human nature

Some colleagues and I drove south into Evansville last week just as the remnants of Hurricane Katrina blew in from the north. As we pulled into the parking lot of our destination, we watched workers battling wind and rain on the walk from their cars to the office. Twice, we saw sturdy umbrellas, held nearly horizontal against the oncoming gale, collapse upon their users. The drenched souls fumbled with the resulting maze of metal and fabric as they struggled across…

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