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VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: Remember the consumer in ‘consumer-driven’ plans

While many businesses have made the phrase “consumerdirected health care” a standard part of benefits conversations, too many have failed to do the one thing that will make this approach successful: treat employees like consumers. Instead, employers have “communicat ed” this new benefit trend the same old way, with jargon-laced handouts, uninformative brochures and dry presentations. No wonder all employees aren’t embracing consumer-directed health care. Researchers wouldn’t be surprised by employees’ slow adoption. Studies show that employees typically are more…

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RETURN ON TECHNOLOGY: No, WiFi isn’t killing you … or even making you sick

The other morning I woke up feeling like the bottom of a garbage collector’s shoe. It must have been due to my wireless signal. Maybe I’m “allergic” to my WiFi, like some people in Santa Fe, N.M., say they are. Television station KOB had the story May 20. And yep, there are just three letters in the call sign. The station goes back to 1948. Apparently, so do the sensibilities of some of the residents of Santa Fe. A group…

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INVESTING: Betting against the crowd is a good way to invest

It’s time for a gut check on sentiment. In the stock market, sentiment is a contrary indicator, meaning that if everyone thinks the same thing (such as oil is going to $200 a barrel soon), your safer bet is to go the other way. Wall Street history is loaded with juicy examples of this theory at work. One of my favorites is Time magazine’s making Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, Man of the Year in 1999, right before the…

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Officials turn up call for 2-year degrees: State putting emphasis on higher education options

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,…

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IPIC’s BioWorksU virtual effort wins acclaim:

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…

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Indy Racing League enters talks for new TV deal: Negotiations start this month with ABC/ESPN, but deal may be shopped to other networks to gauge interest

After the checkered flag dropped on this year’s Indianapolis 500, the green flag fell on negotiations for a new television contract between the Indy Racing League and ABC/ESPN. The current deal doesn’t expire until the end of next season, but the contract calls for the parties to discuss an extension starting this month. Sources close to both sides said ABC/ESPN pays the IRL about $10 million annually, but getting that kind of guaranteed cash beyond 2009 could be difficult. Still,…

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NOTIONS: This Father’s Day, leave some advice in writing

Father’s Day is Sunday. It also will be my dad’s 75th birthday. I’ve not decided what to give him. I do know what gift he’s giving us. Last year, my dad bought a laptop computer. One day, he sat down and began writing to his grandkids. “This is a long letter to you about one life, lived so far from 1933 to 2008, to acquaint you with what that life was like for the person who lived it,” he began….

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Commentary: The ‘Oracle of Omaha’-live! “Only know-nothings diversify.” -Warren Buffett, May 3, 2008

Last September, I instructed my retirement plan to purchase two of the very expensive Berkshire Hathaway (A) shares so I could attend the annual meeting of shareholders and participate in the numerous peripheral activities. Actually, I could have purchased just one share of the B stock for much less and still have been entitled to four credentials. Warren Buffett, one of the richest men in the world, and his partner, Charlie Munger, are retail hucksters. They have created the perception…

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NBA revenue-sharing plan could save Pacers: Team could get more than $6 million annually

The Indiana Pacers got an assist recently from other National Basketball Association owners that could push the team out of the red. In April, the league’s board of governors approved a 63-percent increase in the amount of revenue shared among teams after a letter signed by Pacers co-owner Herb Simon and seven other small-market teams urged the change. The revenue challenges faced by smallmarket teams can no longer be ignored, said the letter signed by Simon in late 2006. Though…

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Move over ‘Super 70’-this one is really big: Department of Transportation hoping for summer launch of study to add truck lanes to 800 miles of I-70

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…

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Electronic record system results from frustration: Doctor, partner hawking technology they developed

For Dr. Tim Story, frustration was the mother of invention. The Carmel internist didn’t like the cost or complexity of the electronic medical record systems he had seen. So he created his own. And now he’s trying to sell it to other doctors. “I wanted an EMR that I could use, that I could understand,” said Story, 55, who also chairs the largest group of physicians at Clarian North Medical Center. Story is by no means alone. Hundreds of doctors…

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VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: One man’s trash is a gold mine for privacy violations

National pharmacy chains such as CVS and Walgreens are not the only ones to experience “dumpster-diving” by investigative reporters. These drugstores were merely the first to be featured in media reports about customers’ personal information being disposed of without being destroyed first, a violation of state and federal privacy laws. Diving in Local reporters have since rummaged through the trash of mortgage brokers, title insurance companies, fitness centers, banks, law firms, hospitals and government organizations. While searching through the trash,…

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Downtown firm specializes in unusual loans: Equities First Holdings sees growing demand for stock loans as tight credit markets make borrowing tougher

With a cadre of six flat-screen monitors blanketing one side of his desk, Equities First Holdings LLC’s Al Christy Jr. keeps a close eye on the performance of several stocks he’s holding as collateral. No, he’s not some sort of loan shark. He’s what’s known as a stock lender. The unusual premise is that market investors in need of prompt funding transfer shares to Christy who, in turn, lends his clients up to 80 percent of the stock’s value, although…

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Optimedia grows beyond Simon: Media buying company finds local audience for proprietary measurement tools

Optimedia came to Indianapolis 10 years ago primarily to handle media buying and placement for Simon Property Group Inc., which is a client of its sister company, ad agency Publicis. Simon is still Optimedia’s largest client, but the shopping mall developer that once represented all the firm’s business now accounts for less than half. The firm’s shifting client mix wasn’t forced by a drop in business from Simon. In fact, just the opposite is true, said Jay Schemanske, who heads…

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Commentary: Earl Harris was a classic mentor

They say you should live such a long life that, when you die, you will have no friends left to attend your funeral. Last month, Earl Harris passed away at the age of 90 and he went one better. At his request, he had no funeral at all. The only mark of his passing was a short obituary in The Indianapolis Star undoubtedly paid for by his family as per Starowner Gannett Co.’s policy. Permit me to add a little…

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Land banking: Banks grab top sites for branches, often years before they build

Many of central Indiana’s banks are filling their own safe-deposit boxes, but they’re not stuffing them with jewelry, legal documents or blackmail material. They’re banking parcels of land. The sites often are in fast-growing suburbs or redevelopment areas that hold potential for new brickand-mortar bank branches, sometimes several years down the road. Competition can be fierce for the prime sites, and other financial institutions aren’t the only nemesis for banks: Walgreens and CVS also are fighting over the best ground,…

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SPORTS: Making the case for a U.S. Open at Crooked Stick

Preparations are well under way for the U.S. Senior Open at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel. Traffic and parking plans have been determined. They’ve identified the main entrance and the location of merchandise, media and corporate hospitality tents. Speaking of the last item, they’re already approaching a sellout, but tents might be added if demand persists. Tickets have been printed and have gone on sale. The money necessary to put on such an event is being raised. They’ve even…

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Firm helps clients blog easier: Compendium sees huge market in making business Web sites more interactive

The number of blogs operating on the Internet outnumbers the inhabitants of California, New York, Texas and Florida combined. With a market like that, it’s no wonder Chris Baggott and Ali Sales are so excited about the potential of Compendium Blogware, an upstart firm the two formed in January 2007. Baggott is best known for founding, along with co-owner Scott Dorsey, fastgrowing local e-mail marketing firm ExactTarget Inc. in 2000. The company brought in $48 million in revenue last year….

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