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VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: Starting from scratch best hope for health care system

A person’s DNA may someday determine how doctors diagnose illness and prescribe affordable treatment. That same genetic makeup also might help doctors determine whether a person suffering from cancer might be predisposed to respond or not respond to chemotherapy or another type of innovative or experimental treatment. That future picture of health care delivery, however, is missing a key piece. It doesn’t address what those advancements might mean for health insurance and other related questions about medical coverage. Our current…

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Former rocker rolling along in pizza business: Puccini’s founder has 13 locations and counting

For much of his adult life, Don Main was a rocker rather than a restaurateur. But fate-along with a pressing need to find a more profitable line of work-drove him to seek his fortune in a kitchen rather than onstage. Main, president and co-owner of Puccini’s Smiling Teeth, began his peculiar career change back in 1990, after a decadeand-a-half stint as a professional-but not very well-paid-musician. At age 36, the bassist and lead vocalist for the band The Late Show…

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Commentary: We’re all in danger of motion sickness

(Author’s note: I submitted this column Oct. 14, with full knowledge that the world may have come to an end by the time it is published.) It’s swing time. Candidates for office, state and federal, are swinging and slinging mud at one another. In a last-ditch effort to scare voters, Sarah Palin accused Barack Obama of hanging out with Bill Ayers, co-founder of the Weathermen, a militant group of the 1970s. In reality, by the time Ayers met Obama, his…

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ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: We shouldn’t let market mayhem obscure progress

Amid all this joyless market watching, this much is clear: The financial markets and the economy are going to get worse before they get better. But market watching is never a healthy sport, especially since it tends to make us lose track of the real economy at times like these. Over the past couple of weeks, the real economy has shown a bit of resilience. And here in Indiana, really great news has been lost in the wake of the…

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More small businesses allowed to jump in pools: Law lets employers join together for cheaper rates

Small businesses in Indiana stung by rising health care costs now can band together to broker better deals from insurance providers. The rule from the Indiana Department of Insurance took effect in late August and is the final piece of a 2007 health care expansion state lawmakers financed with a 44-cent increase in the cigarette tax. The pooling program is open to businesses with two to 50 employees and is meant to give them strength in numbers so, in essence,…

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Recession takes its toll on charities

Area not-for-profits are beginning to feel the sting of the year-old credit crunch, which has escalated into a full-blown
financial crisis that’s battered investors and likely pushed the nation into recession.

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Bumpy road ahead for truck-driving schools?: Slowing freight and federal standards could hurt prospects and raise costs

With a driver shortage as bad as the freight industry says, one might think operating a truck-driving school would be a license to print money. But proposed federal rules to toughen training standards and, lately, a fishtailing economy could bring a shakeout among schools. There are even rumblings that a few big carriers that contract with driving schools are poised to eliminate tuition reimbursement as they sweat out the economic downturn. “We’re going to start losing schools,” predicted John Priest,…

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ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: We may be in a recession, but don’t expect calamity

It will be some months before we know for sure, but I would wager today that the United States is in a recession. Our unemployment rate is at right about the 50-year average, productivity is up, and living standards never have been higher. Even so, the economy likely has been pushed into recession because uncertainty about credit will dramatically slow hiring and production the next few months. Demand for goods also will be affected. This is financial-market mayhem spreading to…

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EYE ON THE PIE: No numbers equal bad decisions

“Geez Morton, lighten up,” was one of the e-mails that came in this week. I find it difficult to do that while our state and national economies are under such stress. Another correspondent wanted an answer to that persistent question, “Are we better off than we were a year ago? Four years ago?” Here is a small part of that answer: At this writing, there are 5.5 million more jobs in the country than four years ago, an increase averaging…

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Nervous banks cut off some borrowers, tighten reins on others

Local companies that rely on credit have seen their borrowing power shrink and in some cases disappear as a deep freeze
in the nation’s credit markets drives fears of a broad economic slowdown. A handful of businesses, including
a Greenwood security firm and an Indianapolis contractor, already have shut down after credit dried up,
and others are on the ropes as troubled banks seek to limit their loan exposure.

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BEHIND THE NEWS: Firms with debt in check starting to reap rewards

Managing the balance sheet. The very phrase is s l e e p – i n d u c i n g . But in times like these, doing it well is what separates the winners from the losers. In the winners’ column is Simon Property Group Inc., which finds itself on the offensive as competitors, including Chicago-based General Growth Properties Inc., lean back on their heels. In the losers’ column is Emmis Communications Corp., which is saddled with more…

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INVESTING: Advocates did bad job selling rescue package

The word bailout is being used more than the folks at Merriam-Webster ever could have imagined. Yet, bailout is the wrong term to characterize the rescue plan the Federal Reserve and the Treasury presented to Congress. Our leaders have done a poor job explaining why. At present, the U.S. financial system is in cardiac arrest, and this plan is the defibrillator designed to jolt the system back to life. The crux of the problem is that banks and other financial…

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EDITORIAL: Signs of hope as many retreat: Some shrug off economic fears

Signs of hope as many retreat Some shrug off economic fears The front page of this week’s IBJ tells of companies that are in dire straits-or out of business-after banks, jittery about a financial collapse, called their loans or canceled their credit line. Stories like these put a local face on the economic crisis that has gripped the American psyche in the last two weeks unlike anything since the terrorist attacks of 9/11. Anyone who didn’t realize credit’s vital role…

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Turmoil thrashes regional banks: As economy weakens, big local players fight to keep capital, customers’ confidence

A rush of government-aided acquisitions has bestowed a too-big-to-fail halo over the likes of JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America and Citigroup. But what about the formidable regional banks that operate more than half the bank branches in the Indianapolis area? How stable are banks like National City, Huntington, Fifth Third, Key, M&I and Regions? Their shares have endured a rough ride on Wall Street, but there’s little evidence the ups and downs reflect the true health of the institutions….

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VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: Avoid a royalty mess by reviewing your patent license

The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Quanta Computer v. LG Electronics left LG stuck in “a royalty mess” that should inspire local businesses to review their patent licenses. More specifically, the decision raises important questions about the extent to which-and the cir cumstances under which-patent owners can collect royalties from more than one party in the distribution chain. Although the case arose out of the IT industry, its lessons could significantly impact Indiana life sciences companies. Collecting downstream In…

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Greenwood company hits it out of the park: Big League Tours tripled its revenue this year

While most Major League Baseball fans are focused on this year’s playoffs, local entrepreneur Glenn Dunlap is already thinking about next year. Dunlap formed Greenwood-based Big League Tours in 2006, offering group trips to big-league baseball games and other related attractions. One such trip took swings through games at Fenway Park in Boston, Yankee Stadium in New York, and the baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. Other trips hit fabled ballparks in Chicago, St. Louis, Milwaukee and San Francisco….

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Reasons not to retire

Plenty of people plan to work until at least age 67, when eligibility for full Social Security benefits
kicks in, a new study shows. And itâ??s not just for the money.

Many say remaining in the workplace will help them…

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Cheering up the real estate crowd

Imagine being asked to speak to a crowd hit by the biggest downturn in its industry in decades, and motivate
them to get back out there and keep selling. Or try to sell.

Thatâ??s what Dan Lappin faces when he speaks…

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Bloodbath on Wall Street

Thereâ??s no time like an election to make politicians nervous about taking a stand on a controversial issue,
and this afternoonâ??s House vote on the $700 billion bailout plan is no exception.

Many Republicans and some Democrats, leery about facing voters…

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