Elwood rock store expands inventory
Spencer Lapidary expands offerings to include stained glass and silver.
Small Business
Articles
Bartering booms during recession
In a recession, cash is a commodity few small businesses can spare. That’s why more businesses are trading goods and services without exchanging cash.
This year’s Indy Jazz Fest to focus on music purists
Indy Jazz Fest’s new promoters are taking a bold step with an already-risky venture. They’re turning
the 10-year-old event into one for jazz purists.
Region’s expertise in hybrid cars goes beyond high-profile players
Bright Automotive and EnerDel are well known for their development of components for hybrid cars, but the region has several
other players poised to be big players in the sector. In fact, few realize that North America’s largest producer
of electric motors for hybrid vehicles is based northeast of Indianapolis, in Pendleton.
Neighborino LLC rolls out software for homeowners associations
Upstart software company rolls out software that enables homeowners’ associations to create community
Web sites without technical assistance.
Art-gallery operators opening new spaces on Mass Ave
The launch of two new gallery ventures come on the heels of the closing of one of the
city’s most well-established fine contemporary art spaces, Ruschman Gallery.
Two businesses open at Flagship Enterprise Center
The Anderson-based Flagship Enterprise Center is on a roll. In the last two months, the small-business incubator
and growth-stage accelerator signed up two new clients: software developers Soveryn Inc. and Coeus Technology.
Venture firms recapitalize Advanced Physical Therapy LLC
Locally based venture capital firms Cardinal Equity Partners and Centerfield Capital Partners have joined with Chicago-based
bank Harris NA to recapitalize the state’s largest independent physical therapy provider.
Barrington Jewels sparkles despite economic downturn
The recession has put the squeeze on many retailers, but fine jewelry is an exception, at least at Barrington
Jewels. Owners Goel and Mitra Ahdoot are seeing their business flourish.
Real estate firm launches in rough waters
Business partners Dan Adams and Bob Harton left a real estate franchise to start an agency of their own.
Economy pushes executives into small firms
In the recession, folks with former big-company careers
are increasingly taking jobs with small businesses. For some downsized executives, it’s about the desperate need for
a paycheck. Others, who felt impotent and pigeonholed in corporations, discover they prefer the challenge of entrepreneurship.
MARKETING: Why Discount Tire gets my vote, again and again
There are plenty of “low-tech” companies exploring ways to build social media into their marketing strategies
with outstanding results.
Fishers biz grows from dog-walking to full-service pet care
Cristi Melson started Purrs & Gurrs 2-1/2 years ago with an idea and some fliers she distributed door to door. She
didn’t have a formal business plan then and still doesn’t.
Dodson Group hit crisis mode after trusted CFO suspected of theft
At first, small-business owner Jim Dodson figured the problem must be a technical glitch. During a routine analysis of
aging unpaid invoices last September, one of his employees couldn’t tie the latest figures to the company’s ledger.
Accounts receivable for his company,
the Dodson Group, had been overstated by $2.7 million—double their true value. And $422,539 was missing from the firm’s
coffers.
INpact Medical Device Network matches start-ups with service providers
Industry groups in the life sciences, medical and information technology realms have helped lure companies to the region
and foster upstarts. Funding is almost always an issue, but it’s not the only barrier. Getting medical
devices to market often requires product design, development and marketing resources that aren’t
always apparent to upstarts.
Handmade chocolates shop opens location in Chase Tower
Best Chocolate in Town is expanding beyond its original store on Massachusetts Ave.
Summer program turns teens into entrepreneurs
Eighteen students from Indianapolis’ Haughville neighborhood sold their wares— ranging from caps and sunglasses
to purses
to home-baked cookies—as part of a summer business-education program
for low-income youth.
Tenants trickling in to Purdue’s technology center
For a city feverishly growing its technology and life sciences sectors, it seemed a bit anticlimactic last January when
Purdue University dedicated its new technology center with only one tenant. But the lone tenant in the $12.8
million complex, FlamencoNets, a high-tech telecommunications firm, is about to get some company.
Local company acquires monster truck series
The Promotion Co Inc., an Indianapolis-based event promoter, said today that it has acquired the Monster Nationals series
of monster-truck shows from Image Promotions Inc. in Chardon, Ohio.