Nestle has gotten the green light from the city of Anderson to build a 50-foot-tall rabbit near the companyâ??s
new Nesquik plant along I-69.
The steel and fiberglass rabbit will look like the smiling cartoon logo thatâ??s been on…
Medical-device maker Suros Surgical Systems was one of the fastest-growing companies in Indianapolis history. Just six years after forming it in 2000, founders sold it for $248 million. Is it any wonder they want to work together again? In late July, former Suros Chairman Jim Baumgardt and former Vice President of Sales Jeff Hanthorn joined locally based NICO Corp., the startup launched early this year by former Suros CEO Jim Pearson and Joseph Mark, one of Suros’ founders. The mission…
Wireless-device distributor Brightpoint Inc. is moving its headquarters from Plainfield to northwest Indianapolis, near
where it was founded almost 20 years ago. The company, which has about 65 headquarters employees and about
1,000 workers in Indiana, plans to share a new building with software developer Interactive Intelligence
Inc. and engineering firm Woolpert Inc. along Interstate 465 north of West 71st Street.
Federal regulators specializing in chronic-disease prevention are attempting to investigate a west-side food additives manufacturing plant. But Sensient Flavors is fighting in federal court in Indianapolis to prevent their inspection. On July 14, Sensient sued the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, part of the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Sensient Flavors is an Indianapolisbased subsidiary of Sensient Technologies Corp., a publicly traded Milwaukee firm that makes artificial colors, flavors and fragrances used in a variety of…
Should the next U.S. president be concerned about uneven job growth? Or should he just let the market determine which states prosper and which struggle? There is no explicit national job policy to bring employment to slow-growing areas. Neither Sen. Barack Obama nor Sen. John McCain has ventured to discuss the issue. Job growth is left to the states, with each competing against the others in an expensive battle of subsidies. From 2002 to 2007, the number of U.S. jobs…
Competition for jobs and investment has become so fierce that companies with a good growth plan are firmly
in the driverâ??s seat.
A local example is Bowen Engineering Corp., which is asking for $290,000 in incentives from Indianapolis to
move its…
In late May, Darrell Bowman launched Lounge Hats LLC, an Indianapolis-based company that makes fabric covers that fit over
beach or pool-side chaise lounges to make one thing clear: This seat is taken. Bowman withdrew $20,000 from personal savings
and added another $50,000 from an investor, his friend Mike Oswalt, to start the company. He runs Lounge Hats out of his garage,
hiring a Chinese company to sew the hats and contracting with a local printer to finish them off.
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…
Thereâ??s nothing like travel to change oneâ??s perspective on the world.
Graham Toft, perhaps the stateâ??s most experienced economic development expert, has traveled a lot in the past
couple of years, consulting to state governments worried about rebounding from their doldrums.
The…
I’m sure you’ve noticed by now that the stock market is having a few problems. Your statements are getting a little harder to open, and it’s a little more difficult to stay interested in potential investments. I hear from some people, though, who haven’t lost all of their money yet, and they want to know what and when they should buy. My answer is the same as it has been since late September: nothing and not yet. But at this…
Ten years ago, Bob McAfee bought SaniServ, an 80-year-old Mooresville institution that pioneered the making of softserve ice cream machines for restaurants. Despite the manufacturer’s longevity, a handful of competitors-one of them much larger and two roughly the same size-had cut into market share, causing SaniServ’s annual revenue to stall at about $10 million. Determined to improve upon the figure, but unsure how to go about it, McAfee turned to the Butler Business Accelerator. The 2-year-old consultancy on the Butler…
Locally based Powerway Inc. is scrambling to shrink its work force and remake its business plan after the firm’s most lucrative
customer–the ailing automaker Chrysler LLC–said it will no longer use Powerway software or mandate its use among the company’s
hundreds of suppliers. Powerway laid off 14 employees and slashed salaries for many who remain after it learned of Chrysler’s
plans on June 6.
While many manufacturing companies are implementing Six Sigma for continuous process improvement, it may not be the most practical solution for every company. Smaller manufacturers can benefit from applying many of the tools found in the Six Sigma methodology, but on a more manageable scale for daily process improvement. While far from a complete list, the following six practical tools may be used by smaller companies who are motivated to continually streamline production and improve productivity: Key performance indicators Most…
In 2000, gasoline cost 99 cents a gallon, you could barely give recyclable plastic away and the idea of manufacturers “going green” was a pioneering thought. Allegiant Global started that same year as Heritage Interactive Services, with one client and little market awareness of what industrial recycling and reuse initiatives meant. Heritage Interactive was started by principals of locally based Heritage Environmental Services, which was-and still is-involved in more traditional waste-disposal services. When one of Heritage Environmental’s clients, Michigan-based Lear…
An advocacy group formed a year ago to boost the visibility and growth of the state’s advanced manufacturing and logistics industries has received a major lift from Purdue University. Conexus Indiana and Purdue earlier this month announced the formation of a partnership in which the university will lend its academic and research talents to the organization. The key goals include linking manufacturers with new suppliers, exploring emerging markets and supporting startups launched from university or privatesector research. “Conexus is very…
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,…
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…
Please, Chairman, forgive me, for I have sinned and I herewith repent. Please Chairman Bernanke, hear my prayers. Please give me only one more housing bubble and I will forever honor you with the restraint you desire. I have succumbed to the seven deadly sins of investing and I herewith vow never again to do so, so long as you let interest rates continue to fall. I have been weak in seven ways: Hubris. Yes, it is true. I believed…
Mitch Roob oversees a state agency with a $6.5 billion budget and thousands of employees who deliver a range of services to
more than a million Hoosiers. And he’d be lost without his BlackBerry. He is just one of the many Indianapolis professionals
who use enhanced mobile devices, or smartphones, to keep tabs on their work and increase their productivity away from the
office.
Imagine driving the car down an interstate highway devoid of tractor trailers. It could dramatically improve traffic flow and safety, but it would sever supply chains and bring manufacturing to a halt-to say nothing of the state’s logistics industry. But how about putting those trucks in their own lanes, separated from cars and light trucks? What seemed merely a fanciful concept for Interstate 70 when highway planners tossed it out about a year ago is gaining momentum. The Indiana Department…
