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Reform push casts cloud over booming Sallie Mae:

Shares of Sallie Mae, one of Hamilton County’s biggest employers, have fallen more than 25 percent over the past year as investors fret that Congress will overhaul the student-loan industry, halving interest rates and bringing the company’s boom times to an end. Momentum for an industry overhaul has been building since Democrats gained control of Congress in November. Concerns peaked in February when President Bush submitted a budget proposal that included cuts in industry subsidies. Changes under consideration could whack…

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Commentary: It’s time to split Indiana in two

A couple of years ago, during the daylight-saving time debate, a caller into my radio show suggested Indiana be divided into two time zones, one Eastern, one Central, with U.S. 31 as the dividing line. The caller suggested that, this way, people who wanted to be in the Eastern time zone could live in the eastern half of the state and those who wanted to be on Central time could live in the western half. I told the caller he…

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University takes advantage of new design-build law: IU finishes its first building under construction process

What do the Pyramids, the Great Wall of China and the Taj Mahal have in common? Each project was both designed and built by the same people. Basically, they were among the first design-build projects in history. What seemed like a good idea hundreds and thousands of years ago has been slower to take hold in modern times. These days, most construction projects are still completed by separate entities-one that draws up the plans and another that brings those plans…

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Mass-transit movement focuses on education: Passenger projections, search for director delay effort

Efforts to secure a mass-transit system for central Indiana are moving ahead. But not rapidly. Several mass-transit bills are pending in the General Assembly-including one requiring the Indiana Department of Transportation to study building a rail system from Indianapolis to Muncie, and another encouraging development of mass-transit systems across the state. But neither is likely to result in immediate funding for a system serving Indianapolis commuters. Local mass-transit advocates still are a long way from winning over lawmakers and others…

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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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Ratio building go-to reputation: Convention Center expansion latest notch in firm’s belt

As the Final Four approaches, it seems fitting to relive in basketball terms how Ratio Architects Inc. came off the bench in dramatic fashion to save a high-profile downtown project after the star had fouled out. The Indianapolis-based architectural firm played that role in 2004 after sketches from the original out-of-town architect designing the downtown headquarters of Simon Property Group Inc. failed to impress corporate executives. Ratio had one week to deliver, and did. But while the firm’s portfolio is…

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VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: Our biggest management challenge: communication

When I was promoted to president and chief operating officer of our firm a couple of years ago, I was not totally aware that directing a staff in a service business has special requirements you can’t appreciate until you are actually in the role. I assumed that I would go on working Fortunately, my company has a board of directors that includes Tim Baldwin, a management professor at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business. His counsel has been invaluable in…

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VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY Heed the warning signs when picking financial advisor: Mark Maddox

For many investors, picking a financial advisor is like Forrest Gump picking chocolates: you never know what you’re going to get. It doesn’t need to be this way. Although there is no sure-fire formula for picking a good advisor, an investor can greatly increase the chances of a good selection by focusing on the following important issues. There is no substitute for experience. Look for an advisor with at least 10 years experience advising investors, and 15 to 20 years…

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VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: Here’s another tax break you may have overlooked

Financial advisors counsel clients on income, estate and gift taxes among other things. But they often neglect residential property taxes. That could well be a mistake. Property taxes are a significant cost of owning real estate – typically 1 percent to 1.5 percent of market value. So, they must be considered in making financial decisions. They can also be a significant cash-flow consideration for someone in retirement who has a lot of illiquid wealth-not just for your primary residence, but…

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ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: Ideas needed for fixing health care financing

It’s been 15 years since third-party presidential candidate Ross Perot briefly captured the nation’s attention with his crisp, witty promises to “look under the hood” to fix the problems in Washington. Since that time, some problems have gotten worse, some have gotten better. But in this era of political polarization and legislative gridlock, the idea of a new face coming to town to actually fix some of the problems we face today is as appealing as ever. What would such…

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FUNNY BUSINESS: Indiana’s rural counties fall short of ‘progressive’

I notice that my home county, LaGrange, did not make Progressive Farmer magazine’s 2007 list of Top 10 Rural Counties in America. Then again, “progressive” is not a word that leaps to mind for a county that is about 40-percent Amish. Actually, none of Indiana’s 92 counties made the Top 10. According to the magazine, the best rural places to live in America are (in reverse order): 10. Polk County, N.C.; 9. Amador County, Calif.; 8. Garfield County, Okla.; 7….

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State’s financial institutions leader quietly blazes trail: Appointment of Rice puts a credit union leader in top spot for first time; bankers group withholds judgment

Rick Rice’s ascension to chairman of the Indiana Department of Financial Institutions typically would be the type of lowkey government appointment that invokes nary a murmur of opposition. Why would it when current affairs facing the sevenmember panel are as harmless as allowing state-chartered financial institutions to charge patrons who wish to skip a loan payment? Yet, Rice’s selection in late January as head of the DFI board has the credit union community gushing with pride, and the banking industry…

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STATEHOUSE DISPATCH: Will costs and priorities merge or crash?

In our first column of the session, introducing you to the assorted variables that would influence the policy outcomes of 2007, we cautioned you that the next few months would be focused upon money and priorities. Lawmakers and Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels had a number of pet initiatives they wanted to see enacted and funded. But, after ensuring that programs and entities that had been shortchanged in the past biennium would be compensated and after bumping up education spending a…

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PROFILE: ELIZABETH HAHN ELLIS: Love of sports, organization really ‘peying’ off Foundation director coordinates philanthropic moves for Colts quarterback Peyton Manning

PROFILE ELIZABETH HAHN ELLIS Love of sports, organization really ‘peying’ off Foundation director coordinates philanthropic moves for Colts quarterback Peyton Manning There’s hardly a Hoosier today who hasn’t heard of Peyton Manning and his amazing plays on the field. But quietly coordinating the philanthropic plays behind the scenes for Manning’s PeyBack Foundation is Indianapolis native Elizabeth Hahn Ellis. As executive director of the 7-year-old charitable foundation, Ellis, 36, deftly fields requests from not-forprofit organizations seeking grants, contributions from individuals and…

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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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IU turns donated beach property into lesson

Indiana University Kelley School of Business students will market and sell five lots along a strip of white sandy beach on
secluded Dog Island, Fla., as a class project that likely will span
several semesters. Whatever the students get for the land will be all profit.

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VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: Lab notebooks can prove an invention’s conception

In some countries, Europe, for example, an invention belongs to the first person to file a patent for it. In the United States, the conception determines ownership of an invention. In other words, an invention is “born” when the inventor first conceives it. What does this mean for scientists, inventors and businesses? That it’s incumbent upon them to prove that they came up with the idea first and therefore own the patented invention. If they can’t prove the date of…

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A whole new ballgame: More women stepping up to the plate in commercial real estate

Yogi Berra once said, “You give 100 percent in the first half of the game, and if that isn’t enough, in the second half you give what’s left.” Women are accepting his challenge with a chuckle, running onto the commercial real estate field and playing to win. They also are balancing home and family. Why not? The U.S. commercial real estate market is worth about $3.5 trillion, according to Real Capital Analytics, a New York research firm. Bridget Farren, founder…

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Gora seeking new ways to build Ball State’s reputation

Entering her third year as Ball State University’s president, Jo Ann Gora has earned a reputation in business and political
circles as a shrewd, aggressive ambassador for the 19,500-student university. And by all measures, she’s just gotten started.

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ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: Turnabout is fair play in evaluating education

Much has been made in recent years of the performance of our state’s secondary schools. In particular, the recent revisions made to high school graduation statistics, suggesting that as few as three out of four ninth-graders graduate with their class have sounded an alarm. People are saying something is wrong with K-12 education in Indiana, and they would appear to have plenty of ammunition to support their arguments. But turnabout is fair play in the business of evaluating education. Since…

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