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Cleanliness is being undervalued EYE ON THE PIE Morton Marcus:

This column has been too glum recently. That is the result of observing what happens in the General Assembly where the many good things done (for example: a stiffer open alcohol container bill) are outweighed by the silliness (daylight-saving time). Let’s take a rest and praise some people who are doing something noble and important. A coalition of clergy, civic groups and labor unions are trying to get higher wages and benefits for janitors in the Indianapolis area. Currently, most…

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New CEO’s ‘crash diet’ tones up ailing bank: After cutting its expenses, Old National plans to grow in central Indiana markets

Now it’s time for Old National to block and tackle. “Bob Jones has set forth a plan that makes good, sound fundamental sense. Now it becomes about execution,” said Joe Stieven, equity analyst with St. Louis-based Stifel Nicolaus & Co. Inc. “Execution in banking is actually no different than in football. Your line has to do a lot of the work, and a lot of that work appears mundane and boring.” Formerly the CEO of Cleveland-based KeyCorp’s McDonald Investments Inc.,…

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An unemployment riddle defies logical explanation ECONOMIC ANALYSIS Patrick Barkey:

You may not believe it, but the data tell us it is true. Indiana is leading the Midwest in job growth. In fact, through the last 14 months, the state’s employers have kept up with the national economy in net job creation, while Illinois, Ohio, and Michigan have seen their job totals remain stubbornly stagnant. But just as we are getting out the party hats to celebrate, along comes news of an entirely different tone on unemployment rates. The process…

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Sales, new spec space in the cards at Intech: Intech One and Two likely to fetch top dollar, draw national interest, investment broker says

Two years ago, Lauth Property Group Inc.’s Intech Park was arguably the most prominent sign of central Indiana’s soft office market. The northwest-side park’s largest buildings, Intech One and Two, had entire floors vacant and awaiting completion. Acterna LLC was pulling out of its 140,000-square-foot building, a retreat symbolic of the technology bust’s effect on the larger suburban office market. Today, helped by a robust investment market and Intech’s recent state designation as a certified technology park, Lauth hopes the…

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Hilbert defeated on life policies: Conseco had purchased $87.5M in coverage in ’98

Seven years ago, Conseco Inc. purchased $87.5 million in life insurance coverage for company founder Stephen Hilbert and his wife, a move that seemed to assure vast wealth would pass on to the Hilbert family after their deaths. But in a new ruling, Chicago bankruptcy Judge Carol Doyle said Conseco’s obligation to provide coverage terminated when the company filed for Chapter 11 protection in December 2002. As a result, she ruled, Hilbert family trusts, which had filed millions of dollars…

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Charter service center works to broaden its reach: Collaborative programs a focus for organization

No charter school is an island-at least not from Kevin Teasley’s perspective. In fact, the independence at the very core of the charter movement creates demand for the kind of assistance his Charter School Service Center offers. “The fact that we have our own charter school makes us more helpful to others,” said Teasley, CEO of Indianapolis-based Greater Educational Opportunities Foundation. “We know what they need. Or at least we think we do.” GEO Foundation, which operates 21st Century Charter…

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Experts see improving market: Higher occupancy rates, more construction projects mean good news for landlords, developers

IBJ: Is your sector of the construction or real estate industry better or worse off than a year ago and why? BURK: Overall, I think the Indianapolis office market is better off than it was a year ago. The occupancy rate for the 29-million-plus square feet of multitenant office properties in the market increased by about 2 percent last year, to 82.5 percent. There was positive net absorption of about 600,000 square feet, most of which occurred in the suburbs….

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Health builders thinking small: Local hospital development in for change

Just north of Indianapolis, Clarian Health Partners plans to open a 170-bed hospital this December, a suburban complement to the 76-bed hospital it opened last December in Avon. To the south, St. Francis Hospital and Health Centers unveiled a heart center in March, counterbalancing the two stand-alone heart hospitals that sprang up on the north side a few years ago. These projects offer a snapshot of how health care development has progressed over the past few years in central Indiana….

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ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: Going behind the numbers to understand price indexes

The joke about economists is that we talk about money but we don’t have any. And when it comes to having power and wealth, the status of those who compile the economic statistics we all consume is usually several notches below even that of the lowly economist. Most are employed by government agencies, after all. And the last time I checked, I didn’t see anyone from the Forbes 100 list on a public payroll. But the numbers these anonymous statisticians…

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Criminal inquiry targets ex-exec: Brightpoint’s risk manager part of AIG grand jury probe

Brightpoint Inc.’s former director of risk management is a target of a federal grand jury criminal investigation into a 1999 deal regulators say allowed the Plainfield company to conceal more than $11 million in losses. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Indianapolis filed papers in a Manhattan federal court April 12 identifying Timothy Harcharik, Brightpoint’s director of risk management from 1997 until his dismissal in 2002, as one of the targets of the nearly complete securities-fraud probe. On the other side…

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VIEWPOINT: We need Social Security as a safety net

The proposed use of personal savings accounts for Social Security tax investment fundamentally changes what Social Security was meant to provide. It was meant to be a minimum guaranteed platform of financial security in old age. If everyone could and would save a material amount of their lifetime earnings, investing in a disciplined diversified manner, we wouldn’t need Social Security. But the reality is, that’s never going to happen. The poor, non-earners and the profligate simply aren’t up to the…

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Navigating a painful journey: St. Vincent Pediatric Hospice helps families cope

Erin Sammons knew nothing about St. Vincent Pediatric Hospice when she gave birth to her son, Hart, last November. She just knew that Hart had a chromosome disorder, and doctors expected his life to last only minutes or maybe days. The hospice offered help, so she took it. Hart lived for almost a month, and Sammons said the hospice staff walked her family through every step of that journey. “It was a tragedy, and my heart breaks every day ……

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Wellness provider expands: Summex Health planning bigger HQ on NW side

A leading provider of wellness programs for large companies will triple its office space in June to meet demand from employers eager to save on soaring health care costs. Indianapolis-based Summex Health Management Inc. and its 55 employees will vacate 10,000 square feet of office space in The Morley Group building on the northwest side and take up residence in roomier digs in nearby Woodland Corporate Park. The Duke Realty Corp. property provides Summex nearly 30,000 square feet, or the…

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Hendricks Regional Health out to make name for itself: Hospital on promotional push in fast-growing county Growth spurs advertising

When the former Hendricks Community Hospital underwent a name change in 2003, executives embarked on an ambitious advertising campaign to promote the new moniker. Two years later, the modified Hendricks Regional Health has yet to abandon its marketing blitz, although the message has changed. The hospital is wrapping up a year-long promotional push, mainly to alert newcomers to fast-growing Hendricks County of the center’s existence, and will launch a follow-up campaign in the summer. Its efforts to muster additional name…

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Health leader likes hands-on approach: Monroe brings vast background of medical service to state commissioner’s role

Dr. Judith Monroe’s appointment as commissioner of the Indiana State Department of Health returns her to the early days of a practice steeped in public health. This time, though, the Carmel resident won’t be treating patients living in tree houses. That’s right, tree houses. The 52-year-old Dayton, Ohio, native began her medical career in Morgan County, Tenn., in the heart of Appalachia on the eastern edge of the Cumberland Plateau. Through a National Health Service Corps program, Monroe spent four…

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The challenge of change: Switching hotel flags can be hard work, but operators say new brands pay off

As general manager of the new Hilton Indianapolis North, Mark Deinhart has a lot on his plate these days. But the hefty portions include more than his duties supervising the hotel’s revamped restaurant as part of a $5 million renovation. The former Omni North Hotel on Shadeland Avenue near Interstate 69 converted to the Hilton brand after Norwalk, Conn.-based HEI Hospitality bought it last August. The flag change came with the renovation on the side, making the switch to a…

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Wishard aims to even it up: Health system could break deficit string

About half the bills Wishard Health Services used to send out came back sans payment thanks to an error. Now that happens only 4 percent of the time, a change that saves millions, according to Wishard number-crunchers. Improvements such as these might spur a multimillion-dollar turnaround in Wishard’s ledger this year, said Matt Gutwein, the leader of Marion County’s safetynet hospital. Wishard will attempt to break even by the end of 2005, a far cry from the $77 million deficit…

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Y&L moving HQ to school: Ad firm to leave Massachusetts Avenue for renovated IPS building in Lockerbie

Advertising agency Young & Laramore is putting its highprofile Massachusetts Avenue building up for sale as it prepares to buy and occupy a former school building in Lockerbie Square. Y&L is listing its 17,000-square-foot building at 409 Massachusetts Ave. for $1.6 million, said Paul Knapp, the firm’s CEO. The building includes 4,000 square feet of storage space in the basement, leaving about 13,000 square feet as usable office space, Knapp said. The agency is leaving its headquarters behind after 15…

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Locals seek $10M to lift Lampoon: Laikin seeks to ‘re-energize’ money-losing L.A. company

National Lampoon Inc.’s in the comedy business. Yet in recent years, anyone who perused the L.A.-based company’s financial statements would be more apt to grimace than crack a smile. A group of Indianapolis businessmen who own most of the stock think they can stem the company’s heavy losses and in the process breathe new life into a comedy brand best known for the 1978 classic “Animal House” and the 1980s “Vacation” films. Here’s the catch: They need more money to…

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Conseco Insurance Group plans sales rebound: Insurer boosts product line, agent recruitment

Conseco Insurance Group just closed the book on a disappointing 2004 but its leaders already have a jump on several initiatives to prevent a repeat in 2005. The Conseco Inc. subsidiary launched two new life insurance products earlier this year and is aiming for a 25-percent increase in new business in 2005, according to Brad Corbin, the insurance group’s new executive vice president of sales. The insurer also has started burning some phone lines to boost the independent sales force…

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