The Indiana Department of Environmental Management proposes a change in regulations that could reduce the time it takes to approve air permits for ethanol plants. The change would establish industry-specific control standards for emissions.
Technology advocate Techpoint is considering merging into the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership–a move that would leave CICP CEO Mark Miles atop all three of Indiana’s major business-development initiatives.
No bank wants to leave a customer steamed, especially when that customer is the mighty Lilly family. Great news for National City Bank of Indiana: It’s finally back on the family’s good side. Court papers filed in Marion Superior Court in recent months show the six nieces and nephews of heiress Ruth Lilly are increasingly satisfied with the bank’s handling of her financial affairs. Lilly, 91, is the sole surviving greatgrandchild of the pharmaceutical firm’s founder. The bank, part of…
Techpoint, a locally based technology trade group that represents the interests of about 330 members statewide, is undergoing a transition in leadership. Jim Jay, 37, has been named interim CEO following the resignation of Cameron Carter, who has led the organization since 2003. Directors should begin a formal search for a permanent replacement the first of the year. Whether Jay lands the top job remains to be seen. But in the meantime, the Butler University graduate with an entrepreneurial spirit…
The Bridgeton Grist Mill in southern Parke County sat so close to a covered bridge that was destroyed by arson last year that firefighters hosed down the historic structure to keep it from burning, too. The mill, which has churned out flour since 1863, predated by five years the wooden trestle considered one of the most scenic of the 31 covered bridges in the western Indiana county. But a replicated bridge finished in early October resembles the original so closely…
Former Lt. Gov. Kathy Davis is attempting to build a virtual version of Indiana for policymakers to wander. If successful, the new IT system could help shape Statehouse debate on a host of subjects.
Backers of a proposed $40 million Indianapolis chemical plant are eyeing a south-side parcel near White River, but neighbors worry fumes from the facility will drag down property values nearby. In the spring, local economic development groups trumpeted Indianapolisbased NaClor Inc.’s decision to build the plant here. In return for the 53 new jobs-making bleach and other chemicals used in soaps, detergents and water quality treatment-the state promised $2.8 million in tax cuts and training grants, and the city offered…
Hoosier workers and community leaders want Honda and Toyota jobs, but the vast majority of them don’t want their cars, at least not yet. At a time when employment by the Big Three automakers is plummeting throughout the state, 80.6 percent of Indiana vehicles registered by the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles are domestic. Hoosiers’ taste for domestic models is in stark contrast with the rest of the country. Nationwide, domestics account for just 51 percent of the market. “I…
Little known in this market less than a year ago, Lucas Oil Products is roaring into town with its first brick-and-mortar operation. Founder Forrest Lucas has set up a sister company, Lucas Cycles, to make fancy, fuel-injected motorcycles.
A 93-acre former drive-in south of the former Fort Benjamin Harrison has sat vacant since the theater closed in 1993. But now a Rochester, N.Y., developer has agreed to buy the property and envisions building retail space plus either a light-industrial business park or a medical campus. If it comes to pass, the large development could kick-start Lawrence’s efforts to revitalize struggling portions of Pendleton Pike. Norry Management Corp. has had the land under contract since spring and is preparing…
Anyone surprised that at age 62, Jim Cornelius would take on the bruising job of leading embattled drugmaker Bristol-Myers Squibb shouldn’t be. After all, the Zionsville businessman has surprised observers before. This is an executive who 12 years ago gave up one of the top jobs in corporate America-chief financial officer of Eli Lilly and Co.-to become chairman of Guidant Corp., then a much-maligned collection of medical-device firms that Lilly was spinning off into a stand-alone company. A risky move,…
“If we don’t take care of our customers, someone else will.” This unattributed quote sums up the challenge facing every business, and especially small companies in the service and retail sectors. It’s difficult for them to compete with their large counterparts on price-the neighborhood hardware store simply can’t sell as cheaply as Wal-Mart. But they can win on customer service by seizing critical moments where customers can walk away delighted or disappointed. Successful service encounters, where these “moments of truth”…
Indianapolis-area office furniture dealers are awash with business, following a robust national trend that has lifted the industry beyond its lows of a few years ago. As businesses have begun to move into bigger quarters since 2003, they’ve naturally ordered desks, chairs and filing cabinets to fill the bigger space, local dealers said. “The industry is closer to where it used to be, but I don’t think we’ll ever again see the kind of activity we had in the mid-…
Little more than six months after Theodore M. “Tim” Solso took the CEO reins at Columbus, Ind.-based Cummins Inc. from James Henderson in January 2000, Cummins was slammed by “the deepest and longest recession in the history of the company.” Those days are ancient history.
A disaster-recovery-software maker with major operations in Indianapolis is planning an initial public offering that could accelerate the company’s growth.
The 156-year-old Terre Haute company that quietly churned out nothing but its trademark baking powder for more than a century is now serving notice to General Mills’ Bisquick and other well-known brands that the status quo is dead.
Interactive Intelligence Inc. has been on a wild ride since its initial public offering seven years ago. The communications software maker saw its shares shoot as high as $50 its first few months of trading, only to have them wallow below $5 for years after the tech bubble burst. But now the company is back in favor on Wall Street.
A firm representing PepsiCo Inc. has been scouting sites on Indianapolis’ west side for a mammoth warehouse and distribution facility, and sources said the beverage giant is leaning toward a site near its Gatorade bottling plant. Local real estate brokers said Chris Clayton, a broker with the Cleveland office of Dallas-based Staubach Co., visited sites and put out a request for proposals for the project in early April, calling for 1 million square feet of industrial space with the possibility…
Bruce Hetrick is on vacation this week. In his absence, this column, which appeared on Sept. 1, 2003, is being reprinted. The Labor Days of my memory are happy-sad affairs. The weather is muggy. The family’s gathered at some park or pond, river or lake. Burgers sizzle on the grill. Frisbees fly through the air. And after supper, there’s touch football with dads and brothers, kids and cousins, until dusk drops her shadowy curtain on yet another summer. In my…
Twenty years ago, the only thing coming out of Red Gold Inc.’s small Orestes plant was diced tomatoes, tomato sauce and tomato puree. The processor now makes products that sell in all 50 states and 16 countries under its brand or private labels.
