More than 60 business and not-for-profit executives have signed a letter telling lawmakers to back off proposals that would restrict or usurp power from city government in Indianapolis.
The letter—signed by leaders at Eli Lilly and Co., Elanco, OneAmerica, Anthem Inc., IU Health, Salesforce and Roche Diagnostics, among others—acknowledges that the city faces economic, housing and crime problems, but the executives say they believe local officials are the ones best equipped to tackle those challenges.
The Indy Chamber is in the early stages of a $6.1 million, five-year, online effort whose goal is easy to understand but tricky to achieve: Persuade people to move here.
The business-advocacy organization also said it re-elected board Chairman Dennis Murphy of IU Health and the rest of the board’s executive committee.
Indy Chamber executive Ian Nicolini has moved into the organization’s long-vacant role of chief operating officer, and Portia Bailey-Bernard has taken over Nicolini’s former position as the chamber’s economic development leader.
Indiana lenders had secured a total of $9.5 billion in Paycheck Protection Program loans for their borrowers as of Saturday, according to the Small Business Administration.
Host Mason King talks with the Black Chamber’s Larry Williams about why he thinks the city should be working more with his organization—and providing it funding. And King also talks with Angela Smith Jones, the deputy mayor of economic development, about the reasons the city is working with Indy Chamber.
The Indianapolis City-County Council voted unanimously Friday morning to provide Indy Chamber with $25 million that will enable the business-advocacy group to quickly offer forgivable loans to small businesses in Marion County backed by the federal Paycheck Protection Program.
For its first investment, Impact is partnering with Indy Chamber’s Business Ownership Initiative in its effort to deliver rapid release response loans of $1,000 to $25,000 to businesses in need.
Indy Chamber CEO Michael Huber talks about the programs, what kinds of companies need them most and how the experiences have changed the way he’s thinking about his organization and what its mission will be going forward.
Nearly $3 million has already been committed to the fund, including $1 million from Indianapolis-based Anthem Inc. and $1.5 million from the city of Indianapolis.
Pattern Indy Editor-in-Chief Polina Osherov sat down with IBJ to talk about the third season of St’artUp 317, a program by the magazine and Indy Chamber that pairs underused first-floor commercial spaces in commercial corridors with artists, creators and producers looking for retail space.
Indy Chamber Chief Policy Officer Mark Fisher injects a little fund into the organization's legislative updates in the form of hip-hop references.
The soaring Hispanic population can be a powerful engine for growth in the Indiana economy—potential that some of the state’s best-known businesses are embracing.
The staff members and consultants would help the district implement some of the chambers’ broad recommendations for hundreds of millions of dollars in cuts in the coming years, including possible school closures, reduced transportation, and staff reductions.
The business advocacy group is working with city officials and a consultant to develop a strategy for promoting Indianapolis’ musical assets—and then writing the next verse in a higher key and more robust tempo.
Records provided to IBJ give behind-the-scenes insight into the all-hands-on-deck effort to attract the $5 billion project to Indianapolis, including setting up secret meetings, weighing several possible sites, and discussing “creative” incentives such as building a charter school on the prospective campus.
The backing of the group could be instrumental in helping the school district pass the tax measure, which leaders say it needs to avoid drastic cuts.
The Indy Chamber said it has “identified dozens of recommendations that add up to hundreds of millions of dollars in potential savings” for Indianapolis Public Schools.
Median household incomes have dropped in a full third of Indianapolis ZIP codes since 2000. Inequality is growing across the city.
