City, Indy Chamber aim to raise $10M for rapid-loan fund for small businesses
Nearly $3 million has already been committed to the fund, including $1 million from Indianapolis-based Anthem Inc. and $1.5 million from the city of Indianapolis.
Small Business
Articles
Stay-home decrees crush small business, erasing millions of jobs
First came the order to close up. Then the laying off of staff. Now small-business owners across the U.S. are bleeding cash and wading through paperwork to get financial assistance.
IBJ Podcast: How can companies survive the economic calamity of COVID-19?
“It’s your job to survive and to make sure that when these social controls are lifted and everybody starts to come back out that you’re ready for business,” IU’s Phil Powell, an economist at the Kelley School of Business, tells host Mason King.
Q&A: Grocery/cafe offers food in a desert
In its ongoing effort to provide more food access to marginalized local neighborhoods, not-for-profit Flanner House of Indianapolis opened Cleo’s Bodega & Cafe last summer.
Social distancing shifts many small businesses into survival mode
Concerns about the spread of COVID-19 have put in peril thousands of businesses, from restaurants and hotels to airlines and manufacturers of consumer goods.
Local high-end restaurants adapting to in-house dining restrictions
Some are switching their menus to carryout-friendly fare and redeploying servers as delivery drivers.
Coronavirus forcing small businesses to rethink strategies
At some small businesses, the spread of the coronavirus is forcing owners to change the fundamental ways they work.
Filmmaker peddles Spanish wine in the United States
When Indianapolis outdoorsman and filmmaker Eddie Brochin was asked to lead adventure tours on a Mexican ranch in 2013, he had no idea it would lead him to import and distribute wine.
McCammon’s Irish Market acquires Brownsburg garden center
Greg and Lisa Frazee, who opened Frazee Gardens in 2008, will continue to own and operate Brownsburg Landscape Co., which they founded in 1987.
Many U.S. firms waiting for products to ship from China in coronavirus delay
Many U.S. small business owners are facing a shortage of products or components because suppliers, who closed for the weeks-long New Year holiday, remain shut due to the virus that has killed more than 1,100 people.
Hamilton County key to hemp supply chain
Hemp-processing companies are investing millions of dollars into refineries across Hamilton County to close a gap in the state’s CBD supply chain.
Startup’s solution to back pain gaining traction with auto industry
Comfort Motion Global has five patents on a software-based system that uses algorithms to make periodic micro adjustments to automobile seats.
Global scale-up accelerator expanding presence in Indy
Endeavor, which helps companies access talent and capital but takes no equity, is hunting for six to eight companies for its second Midwest cohort, an eight-month mentoring program which begins April 23. Endeavor officials want at least of those companies to come from central Indiana.
Carmel startup uses technology developed by NASA in 1960s
Ian Hamilton launched Atlas Energy Systems LLC in 2013, repurposing the space-race technology into thermionic energy converters.
New year brings changes for small businesses
Among other adjustments, there are higher minimum wages for many states, new federal overtime rules and new W-4 forms.
Got a big head? Fatheadz has you in its sights
Starting out in 2005 with just four sets of sunglass frames, the eyeglass company now offers five lines for men and women with more than 100 frame styles.
Holidays bring phishing scam surge aimed at small business
While cybercriminals strike at any time of the year, they’re particularly active during the holiday and income tax filing seasons when computer users expect to see more emails.
Salesforce analyst jumps into matchmaking fray with new dating site
Dating web sites are notorious for being clogged with questionable characters exhibiting bad online behavior. Aeyai Saengkeo is launching Good Apples Dating to address that problem.
Local children’s shoe store ready to call it quits after 58 years
The owner of longstanding local retailer Keen Children’s Shoes says she’s closing the store because it has become too difficult to compete in a changing retail landscape.
Self-funded firms take all the risk, all the rewards
Venture capital is supposed to be the lifeblood of fast-growing tech startups. But a handful of Indianapolis-area companies are defying that widely embraced mindset.