Big changes at Emmis?:
Big changes at Emmis? Analysts say sale of TV stations positions Jeff Smulyan to take media company private in leveraged buyout. PAGE4
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BULLS & BEARS: Past pandemics didn’t deflate stock market
The fear du jour is the Avian Flu and the potential for the mother of all global pandemics. In November 2004, the World Health Organization said an influenza pandemic was “inevitable,” and in May of this year scientists predicted it could strike as much as 20 percent of the world’s population! Recently, news media have shown pictures from Asia of crates of dead birds and reported new predictions, ranging from 5 million to 150 million human deaths. Hundreds of millions…
Lee, Willis prosper outside limelight: Former WRTV co-anchors run growing public relations firm
News defined the careers of Clyde Lee and Diane Willis for a combined five decades. And it was the nation’s biggest news event of the last decade-9/11-that served as an ominous backdrop for the duo’s first entrepreneurial venture. “We incorporated in August 2001, and less than a month later, 9/11 hit, and we thought, ‘Oh my,'” Lee recalled. But more than four years later, Lee/Willis Communications is still standing-and prospering. The fiscal swoon that followed 9/11 caused many companies to…
State changes malpractice tact: Insurance department using more outside legal help
The Indiana Department of Insurance has boosted the outside help it uses to defend its medical malpractice Patients’ Compensation Fund after seeing a record payout this summer. A staff shortage, concern voiced by providers and a ruling that could lead to huge damage sums all spurred the move, said Amy Strati, who oversees the fund as the Insurance Department’s chief counsel. “The provider community has clearly said to us, ‘We want you using experienced [medical malpractice] attorneys on the complex…
Art school to compete with Herron, U of I: For-profit Art Insitutue has designs on new programs
The city’s newest art school has existing programs here sharpening their colored pencils and preparing for a showdown at the easel to attract new students. The Art Institute of Indianapolis earlier this month launched a marketing campaign seeking students for its first classes, which start Jan. 9. The for-profit school at the Pyramids is owned by a Pittsburgh firm. It plans to offer a two-year degree in graphic design and four-year degrees in graphic design, interior design and interactive media…
COLD PROSPECT?: New stadium may not overcome climate, lack of corporate clout as city vies for Super Bowl
Did NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue do a snow job on Indiana legislators? Tagliabue dangled visions of Indianapolis’ hosting a Super Bowl when he made the case for a $625 million stadium before Indiana lawmakers earlier this year. Now construction is under way, and local officials are watching 2006 host city Detroit to see if it can warm skeptics to the idea of playing the Super Bowl in a cold-weather city. But some observers of the big game doubt Indianapolis has…
CHRIS KATTERJOHN Commentary: LaSalle economist holds court
Now that President Bush has named both his candidates for Supreme Court vacancies and one has been confirmed, we can expect news soon of an appointment that is more important to businesspeople and markets. That would be the replacement for Alan Greenspan, chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, who retires Jan. 31. Greenspan has been in his seat 18 years and has presided over a period of strong economic growth, low inflation and interest rates, and a tremendous stock market….
BEHIND THE NEWS: Exec tries to rewrite baseball legacy, but boo-birds abound
Emmis Communications Corp. CEO Jeff Smulyan ended up black and blue the last time he owned a baseball team. This time around, he’s taking blows even before he finds out whether he gets the team. Smulyan wants both Emmis shareholders and residents of the Washington, D.C., region to be excited about his group’s bid to buy the Washington Nationals from Major League Baseball for at least $450 million. But already leading an anti-Smulyan charge is Washington Post columnist Thomas Boswell,…
Pathway to growth: Production firm’s storytelling attracts national attention
Despite a wall lined with Emmy Awards and a client list including ESPN and VH1, Pathway Productions founder Michael Husain is as eager to talk about corporate work and Web site development as his firm’s latest Peyton Manning documentary or his work showcased in this year’s Heartland Film Festival. “The new media side of our business, and that includes Web site development, grew 100 percent in each of the last two years,” Husain said. “So you can see why we’re…
Tenacious spirit pays off for top real estate agent: With $45 million in 2005 home sales, Bif Ward just doesn’t give up when it comes to serving clients
Bif Ward has racked up some impressive numbers during her 26 years in residential real estate, and many think that’s because she caters exclusively to A-list clientele with pricey properties to buy and sell. But Ward is smart enough to know that brokering only for corporate bigwigs and local celebrities would get her nowhere fast, especially in a town where the average home price is just over $162,000. “All these expensive listings-if that’s all I did, I’d be broke,” said…
ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: Economy likely to purr on despite hurricane mayhem
Did your company miss its earnings targets last period? Or did your household spend a little too much on your last vacation? Or maybe you’ve just added a few extra pounds on your waistline recently. Then you should do what just about everyone else is doing-blame it on Katrina. It seems as if every disappointing result in the economy is being blamed on the big storms that have rolled in from the Gulf of Mexico in the last six weeks….
Pacers’ new game plan: polish team persona: NBA squads must comply with tough conduct rules
Almost a year removed from the infamous brawl in Detroit, the Indiana Pacers are ready to put their best foot forward. And they’re getting a hand-or more like a foot in the backside-from NBA Commissioner David Stern. Stern on Sept. 28 handed down new league dress code and conduct rules aimed at brightening the image of players and making them more accessible to fans, community groups and media outlets. The rules-which require players to wear sport coats, collared shirts and…
GERALD BEPKO Commentary: This is no time to fear traveling
Last month my wife, Jean, and I had the pleasure of joining another Indiana University Alumni Travelers voyage superbly planned by Alumni Travel Director Joan Curts and Gohagen Travel. In company with an agreeable and stimulating group of IU and Boston University alumni, we visited the Cotswolds in England, near where we had lived 27 years earlier when on sabbatical leave at Oxford. Tourism seems alive and well in the United Kingdom, but there is concern that current tourist volume…
INVESTING: Free markets, low taxes power economic engine
The Empire of the Rising Sun has been seeing a lot more sun lately. The Japanese stock market, as measured by the Nikkei Index, bottomed out only a few percentage points higher than the Dow Jones industrial average in March 2003. Since then, our Dow has rebounded 42 percent, but the Nikkei is up 78 percent! While Japan has been a democracy more than 50 years, the culture has not been as individualized as here. There is a socialist flavor…
Herron-Morton planning grows beyond art campus: Foundation hopes to redevelop 3 nearby buildings
Members of Herron-Morton Place Foundation Inc. are ecstatic that city planners chose their proposal to rehabilitate three vacant buildings as part of a larger redevelopment of the former Herron School of Art campus. The dilapidated structures, known as the Foundry buildings, are a block east of the campus. Under the foundation’s plan, they will be transformed into retail shops and should benefit from the foot traffic generated by the revitalization of the Herron property on 16th Street. But now comes…
Speaking of health care: Local experts weigh in on rising costs, the uninsured and whether our current system needs an overhaul Public health priorities, executive salaries and the “gold rush” of health care construction were among the topics tackled Sept
Public health priorities, executive salaries and the “gold rush” of health care construction were among the topics tackled Sept. 21 in the latest installment of Indianapolis Business Journal’s Power Breakfast Series. IBJ reporter Tom Murphy moderated the panel discussion, attended by some of the area’s foremost health care experts. Following is an edited transcript of the often-spirited discussion, which included a brief interruption by protestors seeking medical insurance coverage for janitorial staff who clean Anthem Inc. buildings. IBJ: Can you…
Coalition targets disparities in minority health care: Group enlists CEOs to help it develop plan of action
Black people are nearly twice as likely to have diabetes than white people, less likely to engage in leisure activity and, on average, die five years earlier. Those statistics from the Centers for Disease Control provide motivation for a local consortium that wants to improve health care for minorities. Known as the CEO Health Disparities Roundtable, the year-old group has moved from setting objectives to developing a plan of action. The plan is aimed at reducing health care disparities among…
Atlas tenderloin tradition lives on: Family pays homage to ‘sticker lady’ at Carmel deli
But her connection to the grocery runs deeper. Her mother, Debbie Davis, was an Atlas institution, earning her “sticker lady” nickname from children who received the treats she kept in a toy treasure chest at her register. Debbie died in June 2004 at age 52, following a prolonged battle with breast cancer. In her memory, husband Mike Davis created the “Debbie’s Make You Smile Fund” to benefit the Indiana University Cancer Center. It is supported by the sale of the…
VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: Building a proper nest egg takes investment strategy
Retirement planning means far more than simply accumulating a nest egg for the years when you’re no longer working. It involves developing a long-term investment strategy that helps you meet this critical goal without losing sight of your more immediate financial concerns, such as paying your mort gage or sending a child to college. Where will nest egg come from? Many retirement planning experts agree that you will need about 75 percent of your pre-retirement income to maintain your current…
Are you prepared for DISASTER?: Despite warnings, many businesses fail to plan for the worst
Are you prepared for Despite warnings, many businesses fail to plan for the worst Frank Hancock didn’t have a disasterrecovery plan when a tornado tore past his east-side printing company two years ago, causing $5 million in damage. Severe wind gusts from the Sept. 20, 2003, storm shredded Sport Graphics Inc.’s 5-month-old warehouse and manufacturing facility and tore 13 1,800-pound air-conditioning units from the roof, dumping them on the parking lot below. One was never recovered. Amid the mayhem that…