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Networks help practices extend their reach:

Outside of Indiana, the local law firm of Bose McKinney & Evans LLP has a nominal presence in Washington, D.C., and Raleigh, N.C. Yet, the midsize practice with roughly 130 lawyers in Indianapolis is handling an immigration issue for a fellow firm in India and is encouraged about prospects in Argentina, Colombia and Puerto Rico. Global gigs typically are reserved for larger rivals with an international scope. But scores of firms that want to expand their reach, without the risk…

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United Way tries to make the grade with literacy program: Education initiatives showing early success

Last summer, the United Way of Central Indiana decided it needed to go to school. The not-for-profit concluded that to achieve its goal of building stronger communities, it needed to supplement its human-service initiatives with a comprehensive focus on early childhood development and elementary education. “Our board decided we needed to elevate what we’re doing with schools and focus on root causes of why students don’t succeed,” said Ellen Annala, CEO of United Way. “If we don’t invest now when…

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Commentary: It’s all about managing diversity

“Diversity” is a word that gets thrown around a lot these days. The pair of words “diversity management” might be more to the point. Diversity really is a fact of life. In terms of humankind, the world is made up of different kinds of people. And those differences go way beyond race, gender and ethnicity. People come from different backgrounds, believe in different religions, and have different sexual preferences, for example. Some are physically handicapped or mentally impaired. Our differences…

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Big NCAA swim event might land in city

The NCAA is considering bringing its men’s and women’s Division I, II and III championships together for one big festival
of swimming, and the IUPUI Natatorium is a leading candidate to be the permanent site of the annual event.

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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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Butler’s pharmacy addition just what the doctor ordered: New $14M building will help college meet increasing demand for graduates

Mary Andritz, dean of Butler University’s College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, bursts into laughter when asked how long her department’s been short on space. “I’ve only been here for two years, but I think it’s been for some considerable amount of time,” she guessed. “Probably for 10 years.” Lilly Endowment Inc., however, is filling the prescription in the form of a grant to fund a 40,000-square-foot addition under construction and scheduled to open by the fall 2009 semester. The…

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Ivy Tech ex-president repays $20,000 following audit of expenses

Retired Ivy Tech Community College President Gerald Lamkin has repaid nearly $20,000 after a review of the college foundation’s
expense-reimbursement policy uncovered bills that had been paid for him without proper documentation. College and foundation
officials call the accounting lapse and Lamkin’s inability to produce receipts for all the submitted expenses an “innocent
oversight” and have implemented a revised policy with tighter controls.

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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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Commentary: Smart policies can lengthen lives

Over the last 20 years, life expectancy for residents of the United States as a whole has increased steadily. However, recent studies by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services have shown that not all Americans are enjoying longer, healthier lives. The implications of these studies are particularly ominous for Hoosiers. The disparities in life expectancy are most pronounced between richer and poorer Americans, reflecting the pronounced growth of income inequality the last two decades. In 1980, the most…

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EYE ON THE PIE: Home cooking not always good for us

The conversation between my neighbors, Paula and Paul Plain, interrupts the enjoyment I get from sitting on the deck in the dark of the night. They generally agree on whatever subject they discuss, but their voices nonetheless displace nature’s quiet. Thus, I find myself an unwilling participant in their nocturnal conversations. Last week, they were discussing the idea that young adult Hoosiers should be encouraged to remain in Indiana. “I’m so glad,” Paula crooned, “that 80 percent of central Indiana’s…

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Officials turn up call for 2-year degrees: State putting emphasis on higher education options

State and local leaders are turning up the amp on the importance of higher education, but they’re also trying to tune students into the message that being college-educated doesn’t have to mean spending four years at a university. In recent weeks, both Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard and Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels have loudly proclaimed the state’s need for more workers with twoyear degrees. While government officials have long said the state needs a more educated work force to attract business,…

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IPIC’s BioWorksU virtual effort wins acclaim:

A new Web site developed locally and designed to attract youngsters to careers in the life sciences sector now shares something in common with the wildly popular Club Penguin site. The Indianapolis Private Industry Council, with assistance from locally based Creative Street Media Group, created BioWorksU.com. And while more educational and likely more appealing to a larger age group than Club Penguin, the two were among recent Webby Awards finalists. Called the “Oscars of the Internet” by The New York…

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NOTIONS: This Father’s Day, leave some advice in writing

Father’s Day is Sunday. It also will be my dad’s 75th birthday. I’ve not decided what to give him. I do know what gift he’s giving us. Last year, my dad bought a laptop computer. One day, he sat down and began writing to his grandkids. “This is a long letter to you about one life, lived so far from 1933 to 2008, to acquaint you with what that life was like for the person who lived it,” he began….

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Interns line up for Children’s Museum spots: Popular program doesn’t pay, but students get fun, valuable experience

Since arriving at The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, Tiffany Wedekind has rubbed shoulders with comic book characters, connected schoolteachers to learning activities, and made plans to travel abroad to help gather ancient Egyptian artifacts. She is not a seasoned veteran of the museum field, but a 22-year-old intern who will graduate from Marian College in December. What’s more, Wedekind is not alone. She is among at least 22 college students who will share similar experiences there this summer. Exposing interns…

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Local mental health centers caught in funding limbo: Federal effort to shift costs to states on hold, but not-for-profits’ budgets for next year must be completed now

At Indianapolis-based Adult and Child Mental Health Center Inc., Executive Director Bob Dunbar has developed a contingency plan as he works on the agency’s $25 million budget for next year. He has two versions of a spending plan for the center, which provides mental health services for 4,200 children and adults a year. One includes moderate cuts tied to state funding changes, and the other deals with massive cuts pushed by the federal government. In the worst-case scenario, as much…

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Construction behemoth Skanska sees potential in Indy: U.S. division of Swedish-based company sets sights on health care, education, pharmaceutical building sectors

New Jersey-based Skanska USA Building Inc., a division of the $23 billion Swedish construction powerhouse Skanska AB, arrived in Indianapolis in April. Named last year as the top green contractor in the nation by Engineering News-Record magazine, Skanska USA is recognized in particular for its projects in the health care, higher education and pharmaceutical sectors. Its largest project, however, is the $998 million Meadowlands football stadium under construction in New Jersey. Locally, Terry Parrott, 50, is in charge of operations….

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NOTIONS: High above Sedona, grateful for trust

Just after dawn a few weeks ago, my wife, Cherí, drove me to the Indianapolis airport. At the Hertz lot, I kissed her goodbye and went inside to rent a minivan. In the parking lot, I wiped the morning dew off the windshield, popped Harlan Coben’s latest pageturner into the CD player, and cranked up the volume. Stopping only twice for combined food/gas/bio breaks, I drove 700 miles through the rich farmland of Indiana and Ohio, across a corner of…

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Ring maker remakes industry with big buyout: Herff Jones’ purchase of American Achievement to narrow roster of rivals to two; deal may be worth $700M

Herff Jones Inc.’s latest acquisition is a whopper that will remake the competitive dynamics of its niche industry-the sale of high school rings, yearbooks and other products that help mark educational milestones. The Indianapolis-based company this month agreed to buy American Achievement Group Holding Corp., a deal that would reduce the roster of Herff’s major competitors from three to two. Herff has $511 million in annual revenue, while American Achievement has $315 million. Terms were not disclosed, but Dow Jones’…

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Revival in nuclear energy puts engineers in demand: Purdue concerned about possible shortage in field

A renewed interest in nuclear energy coming at the same time aging workers are leaving the industry has created the elements for a shortage of nuclear engineers. Nuclear energy as an electricity source is enjoying a resurgence nearly 30 years after a reactor meltdown at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania severely tarnished the industry’s image. Escalating oil prices and stiffening environmental regulations on coal-based systems are helping to spawn the rebirth of nuclear technology. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in…

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EYE ON THE PIE: Hoosier wages not growing much

We’ve just come through an Indiana primary in which the competing campaigns kept emphasizing Hoosier jobs. It would have meant more if they had talked about Hoosier wages and salaries. But then, facts are harder to digest than rhetoric. Here are some facts you can chew on. At the start of this century (2000), the average wage (total wages and salaries divided by total number of full- and parttime jobs) in Indiana was $30,401, ranking 27th in the nation. By…

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