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BEHIND THE NEWS: Finish Line’s stock surge salves investors’ wounds

Finish Line Inc. always has been a volatile stock. Jump in at the right time and make a bundle. Pick the wrong time and take a bath. To be sure, investors who had the foresight to invest during Finish Line’s darkest days early this year-when it seemed inevitable that the company would have to close on the $1.5 billion acquisition of Tennessee-based Genesco Inc.-fall in the former category. Since hitting an all-time low of $1.48 a share Jan. 10, the…

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More firms adding diversity coordinators: Law practices, others see benefit to encouraging diverse workplace

Brita Horvath celebrated her first year on the job late last month as Baker & Daniels LLP’s diversity and pro bono coordinator. Even in a part-time capacity, paying someone to tackle diversity issues within the workplace would have been unthinkable 30 years ago, recalls Greg Utken, a firm partner who co-chairs its diversity committee. “When I got out [of law school] in 1974, the firm I was with had no women and no people of color; it was white male,”…

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ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: Social-responsibility movement has a dark side

Identifying corporate villainy is a delightful pastime that virtually all of us have reveled in at some point or another. There are only two problems with this form of entertainment. A description of the first comes simply stated to us from the Gospel of John as “he who is without sin cast the first stone.” The second problem is a general lack of intellectual rigor in the debate. The heavily funded attacks on corporate America come primarily from organizations with…

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Michigan’s pain, Indiana’s gain

Detroit keeps turning out bad news, what with General Motors, Ford and Chrysler losing market share and Volkswagenâ??s
announcement last fall that it would abandon the city and move its U.S. headquarters to Virginia.

Now Volkswagen is days away from unveiling…

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Executive pay is ‘flat’

Indianapolis-area executives are struggling to keep their compensation at last yearâ??s levels â?? which were
no
improvement over 2006.

Thatâ??s the observation of compensation specialist Debi Muelller, a partner in the human relations firm HR

Dimensions.

â??At best, itâ??s flat,â?? says Mueller…

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Need something? They’ll trade you: Industry consolidation is remaking bartering terrain

Marketing firm owner Lorraine Ball knows how to promote a business-a valuable commodity among cashstrapped entrepreneurs looking to bolster their bottom lines. So it’s little wonder that she is able to trade her expertise for services she needs, whether it’s help with an online video or time with a personal trainer. Ball is among a growing group of small-business owners embracing the age-old barter system, methaphorically scratching one another’s backs to save on cash and credit. Although Ball prefers to…

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EYE ON THE PIE: It’s not just the economy, stupid

No doubt, the Daniels administration will trumpet the fact that Indiana was the ninth-fastestgrowing state in the first quarter of this year. That’s right; personal income in the Hoosier state grew at an annual rate of 5.1 percent, while the nation advanced 4.6 percent. But, as noted by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, which generates these data, Indiana was among the fastergrowing states because of dramatic increases in the prices of corn and soybeans. North Dakota came in first,…

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INVESTING: Why Anheuser-Busch bid resonates in Indianapolis

One of our sister Midwestern cities is locked in a fight for its corporate identity. A n h e u s e r- B u s c h , maker and distributor of Budweiser brand beers-and the corporate icon of St. Louis-is engaged in a $46.3 billion takeover battle for its survival as a U.S.-based company. The would-be acquirer is Belgium-based InBev, the second-largest brewer by volume in the world. London-based SABMiller, who in 2002 bought Miller Brewing in Milwaukee,…

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Commentary: Wishing Nat City a speedy recovery

On June 19, The New York Times business section led with an article titled, “Regional Banks are Rocked.” The accompanying graphic indicated that National City Bank lost 86 percent of its market value since the beginning of this year. No wonder. The news has not been good. On June 10, Peter Raskind, chairman and CEO of National City, acknowledged publicly that on Feb. 5, the bank had been placed under a memorandum of understanding by the comptroller of the currency….

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Progress with entrepreneurship

Compendium Blogwareâ??s announcement today that it raised $1.6 million in private funding is another brick in
the wall as the Indianapolis area and the state continue their push to build a culture of entrepreneurship.

Investors are showing more interest…

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The next 100 years

Thereâ??s nothing like travel to change oneâ??s perspective on the world.

Graham Toft, perhaps the stateâ??s most experienced economic development expert, has traveled a lot in the past
couple of years, consulting to state governments worried about rebounding from their doldrums.

The…

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The daily lunch special? Life sciences information: Law firm, Indiana Health Industry Forum bringing industry players together for monthly presentations

The phrase “Let’s do lunch” has taken on a new meaning over the past five years in the Indiana life sciences community. Since 2003, a who’s who of the biotechnology, medical device, pharmaceutical and other fields have gathered at the downtown law offices of Barnes & Thornburg LLP to meet and eat at the Life Sciences Lunch Series. A collaborative effort of the law firm and the Indiana Health Industry Forum, the monthly event provides a networking and education platform…

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EYE ON THE PIE: Idea may be worth more than a few laughs

After many years, my good friend the Rev. Bob arrived in Indiana. He’s been busy tending his flock at St. Lucifer’s in Kansas. After some traditional words of greeting and invocation, the Rev. Bob tore right into me. “How come you never write about positive ideas for helping Indiana get out of its economic doldrums? All you do is elaborate on the well-known truth that the Hoosier economy is a long-term mess.” “What would you suggest?” I asked. “Something no…

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Local tree-care firms respond to rash of storms: Forestry specialists and arborists work 14-hour days to keep up with sky-high demand in central Indiana

If there’s a silver lining to high winds and torrential rain, it can be found in the bank accounts of companies called upon to clean up the mess. For the dozens of tree cutting, trimming and hauling firms that fill up seven pages in the local Yellow Pages, the storms of late spring came at just the right time. “We didn’t get one call for three weeks prior to the storms hitting,” said Russell Goodman, owner of locally based All…

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Flagship rises over post-GM town: Incubator has helped preserve automotive talent base, foster diverse businesses

ANDERSON – Along Interstate 69, in a new industrial building with side-windows covered in paper to foil prying eyes, Altair Nanotechnologies is perfecting a ceramic oxide battery with three times the power of a conventional lithium battery. Up the road, Comfort Motion Technologies has written software to make a car’s power seat jiggle ever so subtly, to keep one’s back, butt and thighs comfortable on long drives. And everybody is keeping an eye on Pete Bitar, whose green laser device…

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EYE ON THE PIE: Data can work for both candidates

Last night I had a stressful dream. Instead of being the well-integrated personality that I am, in my dream I am twins. One twin is an adviser on economic matters for Gov. Mitch Daniels and the other serves in the same capacity for challenger Jill Long Each twin plows through economic data. He spins statistics that make the favored candidate’s arguments look good. The twin for Mitch argues how well Indiana’s economy is performing; the twin working for Jill makes…

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Depending on a three-legged stool

Economic development experts have long contended that business investment and good jobs gravitate to places
where business, government and higher education are on the ball and get along together.

If one of the three legs doesnâ??t carry its weight, the other…

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INVESTING: Betting against the crowd is a good way to invest

It’s time for a gut check on sentiment. In the stock market, sentiment is a contrary indicator, meaning that if everyone thinks the same thing (such as oil is going to $200 a barrel soon), your safer bet is to go the other way. Wall Street history is loaded with juicy examples of this theory at work. One of my favorites is Time magazine’s making Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, Man of the Year in 1999, right before the…

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Making companies say, ‘I do’

Lots of Indiana towns will do almost anything to get a factory or warehouse. That often means skipping pointed
questions about corporate citizenship for fear of losing the project.

A Lebanon city council member isn’t looking the other way, though.

Dick Robertson…

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Etiquette for high gas prices

It seems like more people are driving below the speed limit now that gas has become expensive.

Particularly on interstates, it isnâ??t uncommon to come upon congestion only to realize that somebody, for
no apparent reason, is puttering along and holding…

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