Factory orders sink for first time since June
Factory orders declined 0.9 percent in October, the Commerce Department reported Friday. It was the first setback since June and the biggest decline since a 1.8-percent fall in May.
Manufacturing
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Think car sales benefit battery-maker EnerDel
Indianapolis-based EnerDel is the main battery supplier for Think’s two-seat City.
Abandoned United Airlines repair base now bustling
Seven years ago, United Airlines abandoned the 1.7-million-square-foot aircraft repair base that once employed 3,000 people. Today, the mall-sized complex is humming and is essentially fully occupied.
Local GM stamping plant layoffs to begin next month
It’s official: General Motors will begin shutting down its Indianapolis metal-stamping plant Jan. 28, with an initial wave of layoffs that will cost 75 workers their jobs.
Local coatings company plans expansion, 50 hires
Locally based KECO Engineered Coatings Inc. has acquired a second location in Indianapolis where it plans to invest $1 million and hire 50 employees by 2013, the company announced Thursday morning.
Exports fueling Indiana business growth
Firms are taking matters into their own hands to open trade relationships overseas, developing export policies they hope will benefit themselves and their communities.
Electronics maker buying former GM factory in Anderson
Northwind Electronics LLC will invest $954,000 to buy, renovate and equip a former General Motors factory in Anderson—creating as many as 100 jobs in the next two years, state economic development officials said Tuesday afternoon.
Anderson loses out on Bright Automotive tech center
Upstart hybrid vehicle maker plans to locate tech center in Rochester Hills, Mich. About 200 jobs and an $11 million investment were at stake.
Organic food company with big plans cutting jobs
Really Cool Foods, which started operations in eastern Indiana two years ago with plans for hiring 1,000 workers, now has about 200 after a round of layoffs this week.
$26.8M military deal revs local Rolls-Royce operation
Rolls-Royce Corp.’s Indianapolis operations continue to cash in on military contracts, scoring a $26.8 million deal to provide 12 spare engines for the Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft.
Brightpoint takes over s2f after big growth plans fizzle
Minority-owned logistics firm s2f Worldwide, started a year ago with high-profile investors and tax incentives in tow, has been acquired by Brightpoint Inc. The deal closed about three weeks ago, said former s2f CEO Randall Lewis.
Raidious aims to feed online marketing beast
Upstart firm helps its clients meet onerous content demands of social media, other online marketing channels.
SKARBECK: GM’s return to market not your usual IPO
This unusual taxpayer-owned IPO did create some interesting conflicts.
Celebrity TV ads tout Allison Transmission
A Chevrolet campaign could make the Speedway-based manufacturer more of a household name.
Electric car maker starts production at Elkhart plant
Think North America has started work on two-seat electric cars at its northern Indiana facility and expects the first ones to be finished in the coming days.
October durable goods orders drop 3.3 percent
The setback was the sharpest decline since demand fell 8 percent in January 2009. The unexpectedly sharp decrease raises questions about the strength of manufacturing.
Chrysler to invest $843 million in Kokomo plants
The investment was announced just ahead of appearances Tuesday by President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden at a Chrysler transmission plant.
Duke Energy exploring other uses for electric-vehicle batteries
The utility, which has about 780,000 customers in Indiana, is teaming with Japanese firm Itochu Corp. to test applications for used electric vehicle batteries. The pilot project builds on Indiana’s clean-tech initiative, Energy Systems Network.
Rolls-Royce lands $20M maintenance contract
Rolls-Royce Corp.’s local operation won a $20.3 million contract extension to provide maintenance services for the helicopter engines it makes for the U.S. military, the Department of Defense said Monday.
Auto industry bailout pulls Kokomo back from brink
Kokomo's fortunes have been entwined with the auto industry since 1894, when Elwood Haynes invented one of the first automobiles in the United States there. Since the 1930s, when then-Delco (later Delphi) located there, followed by General Motors and Chrysler, the auto industry has been the town's bread and butter.