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Health care fix may wait for ’08: But other federal bills important to small business are making headway

That’s not what many NFIB members wanted to hear. “I’ve been a member of [the advocacy group] since 1985, and since 1985 the top issue has been health care that is affordable for businesses and employees,” said Barbara Quandt of Indianapolis-based Quality Environmental Professionals Inc. The firm’s health insurance costs increased by 33 percent in 2007, and Quandt said company leaders are “quaking” with dread over what will happen in 2008. QEPI covers 75 percent of insurance costs for its…

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PROFILE: Lumasis.com: Finding its niche Focus on small business pays off for Web design firm

Lumasis.comFinding its niche Focus on small business pays off for Web design firm When Zionsville native Jamie Brown graduated from Purdue in 1995, most consumers were still in the dark about the possibilities the Internet could offer. Having been immersed in the Web while studying electrical engineering technology at Purdue, Brown linked up with a local Internet provider and started his first company, Computer Specialists. In 1997, the business morphed into Lumasis, a full-service Web site design and hosting company…

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BRIAN WILLIAMS: Indiana needs to get energy-wise

As the 14th-mostpopulous state in the union, Indiana generates a gross state product that is 16th-largest of the 50 states. Unfortunately, despite significant investments in equipment and processes by manufacturers and public-policy efforts to encourage the attraction and growth of knowledgeand technology-focused industries, our economy remains energy-inefficient. In 2003, Indiana was the country’s sixthlargest consumer of energy per capita, according to the Indiana Energy Report. Ninety-seven percent of Indiana’s electricity is generated by coal. Indiana is the fifthlargest emitter of…

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MICKEY MAURER: No gala, but a glorious grand opening

In 2006, the Indiana Economic Development Corp. closed almost 200 transactions. Many recipients of the IEDC largess marked the opening of their job-creation activities with hightech galas featuring products rolling down gangways accompanied by the applause of dignitaries and well-wishers. Recognizing that attendance at these ceremonies was not an efficient use of time, the IEDC adopted the mantra, “We don’t cut ribbons, we just cut deals.” With rare exception, ribbon-cutting was left to the politicians. Last month, I participated in…

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LESSONS LEARNED ALBERT RENE TREVINO Owner, Rene’s Bakery:

LESSONS LEARNED ALBERT RENE TREVINO Owner, Rene’s Bakery As most entrepreneurs can attest, the process of running a small business includes facing plenty of challenges. But viewing those potential obstacles as opportunities has helped Albert Rene Trevino build Rene’s Bakery Inc. into a growing enterprise with a solid reputation. One of his biggest trials was getting the doors to his Broad Ripple shop open. Trevino had just parted ways with a former employer in 2004 when he stopped by the…

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Small biz tax bills rising, too: Extra expense narrows margins

Area homeowners weren’t the only ones to get a shock when they opened their 2007 tax bills. Some small-business owners also saw their bills skyrocket-putting a strain on entrepreneurs who often operate on razor-thin margins. “It’s catastrophic for some businesses,” said Kevin Hughes, state director for the National Federation of Independent Business’s Indiana chapter. Mike Hutson, owner of Westfield Lighting Co., certainly feels the pain. The bill on his commercial property-several acres and a 22,500-square-foot building-increased from $42,000 in 2006…

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An update on three women-owned startups: Innovative ideas lead to business expansion

Invoke In addition to the yoga and pilates classes offered at Invoke, owner Amy Peddycord has added clothing from Lululemon, a popular Canadian apparel brand. She also has established a relationship with Santa Monica, Calif.-based Yoga Works, which has 14 studios throughout California and New York. Yoga Works will lead a teacher training program at Invoke in 2008. Peddycord says hiring an office manager in 2006 was the best thing she’s done. “Nicole [Schoville] quickly grew into the role and…

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Software startup Vyante measures online chatter: Two-man firm lands $200,000 in grants, readies for product launch through beta tests with corporations

To make money on new software, sometimes you have to give it away. Thanks to that counterintuitive approach, tiny local IT startup Vyante Inc. has persuaded companies like Eli Lilly and Co., Roche Diagnostics, Dow Agro-Sciences and 5MetaCom to test the beta version of its new software, which tracks and measures the impact of their brands online. Vyante hopes eventually to convert the companies into paying customers. “We’ve persisted against the odds,” said Vyante Senior Technologist Benjamin Ranck. “It was…

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RETURN ON TECHNOLOGY: Cell phone technology still socially backward

I’m standing in the Convention Center downtown, looking down sourly at my cell phone. The designers of the phone have failed me, and I want to know why. It was the IUPUI graduation last May, and the hallways were filled with thousands of people in fancy dress and black robes. I was trying to contact just one of those thousands, but I didn’t know his cell number. I knew he was there, and probably within a hundred yards, but without…

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STARTUP GAZELLE WEB & CONSULTING LLC: Entrepreneur offers to help entrepreneurs

STARTUP GAZELLE WEB & CONSULTING LLC Entrepreneur offers to help entrepreneurs Type of business: Consults with startup and growing companies Location: 885 Waveland Lane, Greenwood Phone: 450-7746 E-mail: lott.brandon@gmail.comWeb site: www.gazellewebandconsulting.comFounded: December 2006 Owner: Brandon Lott Owner’s background: Lott, 33, grew up in the south side of Indianapolis and graduated from Indiana University in 1998 with a health care degree. He went to New York in 2005 to work as an operations manager for retailer Alan Flusser Custom Shop, but…

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Entrepreneurs getting younger: Corporate downsizing gives rise to ‘e-generation’

From selling shark tooth necklaces to his neighbors during summer vacations in Florida to running an online auction site that benefits charities, he’s no stranger to the hard work that comes with starting a business. “I’m interested in new things and looking into new things,” said Gough, who is among a burgeoning group of young entrepreneurs not content to work for others. They’d rather strike out on their own. In fact, nearly 71 percent of the 1,474 youth who participated…

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Startup drug firm lands veteran help: Immune Works, a fledgling firm with a promising lung drug, attracts former Indiana Health Industry Forum leader Lange

A startup firm using Indiana University medical research to treat a fatal lung disease is raising money for clinical trials and has recruited a prominent life sciences veteran to lead the effort. Michael Klemsz, an associate professor at the IU School of Medicine, and Dr. David Wilkes, director of the school’s Center for Immunobiology, founded Immune Works LLC in January 2006 along with Ronald Meeusen. Meeusen, a former Dow-AgroSciences researcher and BioCrossroads executive, served as a part-time president and CEO…

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VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: For a healthier economy, we need healthier Hoosiers

Indiana needs a trip to the doctor-and a stern lecture when we get there. We’re among the nation’s unhealthiest states. More than one of every four Hoosiers is obese, and we rank among the 10 worst states for smoking and high cholesterol. The outcomes should come put more stress on the system and drive up prices and premiums for everyone. Gov. Daniels has signed a progressive bill that provides affordable health insurance with a medical savings account plan to Hoosiers…

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State beefs up incentives available to tech companies:

Companies receiving a Phase 1 SBIR match from the state need to apply for second-stage funding by July 20. Applications can be downloaded on the IEDC Web site. The proposal for funds should be no longer than 12 pages and include a commercialization plan describing how the product would be moved to market and any challenges that would need to be overcome. The proposal also should include a budget describing the funds required for The Indiana Economic Development Corp. has…

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Insurers hope new law boosts their speed to market: But some entrepreneurs fear dereg could burn them

Small businesses should be able to purchase new kinds of property, casualty and Worker’s Compensation insurance quicker than in the past under a new state law that delays regulatory oversight of new products. But some business owners say the law puts them at risk of buying insurance that includes surprise clauses — since regulators won’t be checking them in advance. The law rolls back regulations that slowed insurance sales in Indiana by effectively requiring insurers to clear new products with…

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PROFILE: Georgetown Chiropractic Clinic PC: Demand spurs chiropractor to grow clinic Massage, Pilates, yoga classes round out northwest-side practice

P RO F I L E Georgetown Chiropractic Clinic PC Demand spurs chiropractor to grow clinic Massage, Pilates, yoga classes round out northwest-side practice If life gives you a pain in the neck, chances are you’ve sought relief from a specialist at working out the kinks-like Georgetown Chiropractic Clinic PC. Chiropractic use has tripled in the last two decades, according to research published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. To accommodate some of that growth locally, Georgetown Chiropractic has doubled…

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Law firms team up to encourage minority participation: Bingham McHale forms alliance with Coleman Graham & Stevenson

A surge in the number of corporations seeking minority participation on contracts has prompted an alliance between two local law firms looking to capitalize on the trend. The June affiliation between Bingham McHale LLP, the city’s fifth-largest practice, and Coleman Graham & Stevenson LLC, a minority-owned upstart, resulted from mutual friendships within the two firms, said Toby McClamroch, Bingham McHale’s managing partner. “The marketplace is becoming more complex, and the business community is demanding and expecting a multicultural and diverse…

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New management brings youth, profit: Industry experience makes hotel more professional

After unwrapping gifts on Christmas Day 2005, Colleen Fanning got something else from her dad: an offer to run the small inn he bought in 2002. Bill Fanning spent more than two years tearing down, rebuilding and expanding the Brick Street Inn, a fixture on Main Street in Zionsville. But it struggled financially after reopening in the fall of 2004, and his patience was at an end. “He told me: ‘Either I’m going to sell the inn or you can…

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VIEWPOINT: When visionaries, bean counters collide

I am a dabbler. The upside of dabbling is that one gets involved in a number of diverse projects throughout one’s career. Some great successes, some galactic failures. Either way, the dabbler learns much about many things along the way. One of the lessons learned in a life of dabbling is the unlikely symbiosis between visionaries and bean counters. Like particles of matter and anti-matter in the universe, one cannot exist without the other. And yet, their uncontrolled collision can…

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