Small Business – Page 93 – Indianapolis Business Journal

Educating entrepreneurs: Women’s Business Center offers basics as well as individual counseling services

July 11, 2005

Joann Robinson was unhappy working in corporate America, so she started her own business, Balloons by Design, which delivers balloon bouquets and does on-site balloon decorations. The Indianapolis woman had been in business for about a year when she sought assistance in January from the new Central Indiana Women’s Business Center. Since then, with CIWBC help, Robinson has gone from having about 15 customers to about 50. Robinson is one of many women who have benefited from the services offered…

Growth in big supply at 3-year-old Milor: Entrepreneur taps experience to land big clients

July 4, 2005

Michelle Taylor’s first customer was a north-side hotel that ordered 3,000 janitorial gloves a month. She got up at 3 a.m., processed the order out of her garage, and delivered the gloves in her car. Less than three years later, Indianapolisbased Milor Supply Inc. delivers 36,000 gloves a month, plus janitorial equipment and supplies and safety equipment, to universities, city and state governments, hospitals and a host of other industries across the country. The 35-year-old black female entrepreneur has moved…

Director leaves small-biz agency: Disagreement over host sponsor helped sway decision

June 27, 2005

The head of the Central Indiana Small Business Development Center resigned this month following a rift over who might host the agency. Mary Jane Gonzalez, who came on board as executive director of the Central Indiana SBDC in July 2003, left to become director of business development at Mezzetta Construction Inc. Gonzalez’s departure leaves the Central Indiana SBDC, where budding entrepreneurs can seek advice without paying high consulting fees, without a leader for the third time in roughly three years….

Taking the pulse of life sciences: Experts weigh in on whether Indiana is keeping up in the economic development race

June 27, 2005

IBJ: Is Indiana gaining ground against other states in the race to grow as a life sciences hub? What are some specific benchmarks that underscore your opinion? JOHNSON: Indiana is gaining ground, but Indiana already starts on really very substantial ground. There are a lot of outside validations of that and I think it’s important for this audience to hear a couple of them because there is nothing like having people on the outside pay attention to what we’re doing…

ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: Until Indiana diversifies, economy will struggle

June 20, 2005

Sure, General Motors Corp. is in trouble, and quite a few Indiana communities are directly in harm’s way. The headlines say it all. Plant closings-above and beyond those already planned-are on the way. GM bonds are rated as junk. Its market share is at an historic low. And it’s discounting just about everything on the lot. For a company that has been the No. 1 automaker in the world for four generations, its recent stumbles have to be humbling. Pressed…

Jester Promotions LLC: Keeping promotions on the cutting edge Advertising specialty firm also always on the lookout for inexpensive merchandise

June 20, 2005

Advertising specialty firm also always on the lookout for inexpensive merchandise Back in days of old, jesters were the eyes and ears of the power brokers. “They knew everything the king knew,” said Rick Atkins, co-founder of Jester Promotions LLC, a specialty advertising company. That’s the know-how Atkins said he brings to the table: up-to-the-minute knowledge about the latest trends in promotional activities and where his clients can get the best price for their items. He toyed with naming the…

Long commute for former Lt. Gov.: Kathy Davis to lead South Bend tech firm

June 6, 2005

Her days as lieutenant governor are finished, but it didn’t take Kathy Davis long to find a new management role. She’s accepted a job leading South Bend-based telecommunications connectivity provider Global Access Point. “After we lost [the election] and I knew I’d be looking for a job, I thought it would be ideal if I could find some entrepreneur who was very technical and needed some help on the management side,” Davis said. “Then I was fortunate that opportunity came…

HSAs picking up steam: Enrollment tops 1 million; biz tax breaks proposed

May 30, 2005

Earlier this year, employees of Indianapolis-based N.K. Hurst Co. became part of the growing fraternity of workers in the United States who are eligible for health savings accounts as part of their benefits package. As of March, the membership in HSAs numbered more than 1 million people, twice as many as the estimated 438,000 in September, according to a study by America’s Health Insurance Plans. The Washington, D.C.-based trade association for insurers said enrollment numbers are growing because more companies…

Busy session for insurance forces: Compact passage highlights plethora of industry-related legislation considered by the General Assembly

May 30, 2005

State lawmakers also killed a bill that offers “mandate lite” health coverage and kept the topic of vicious dogs at bay during the 2005 legislative session. Insurance lobbyists and regulators say they just wrapped up one of the busiest sessions in recent memory. Topics ran a wide gamut and crowded committee calendars. Last year, five industry-supported bills made it through the General Assembly, according to Dan Tollefson, corporate counsel for the state Department of Insurance. This year, 15 did, and…

Tech fund set for overhaul: State shifts focus to commercial results; founders fear changes to peer-review process

May 30, 2005

Indiana’s showcase program for new technology development is about to be redesigned. Version 2.0 of the 21st Century Research and Technology Fund will direct more money to entrepreneurs. It will concentrate on projects whose commercial prospects are clear. And as it distributes $75 million of taxpayers’ money over the next two years, it will expect a return on its investments. “The goal is, if a company does well, to get a return for the state,” said Michael S. Maurer, president…

Rule changes to get scrutiny: State agencies now must consider economic impact

May 30, 2005

Indiana’s small-business owners will encounter a friendlier regulatory environment in July, when sweeping legislation takes effect requiring state agencies to consider the impact of their policies on small businesses before adopting them. House Enrolled Act 1822 should help ease the burden of what advocates consider unnecessary regulations on small businesses by requiring agencies that intend to change or adopt a rule to provide an economic-impact statement first. The statement must include a regulatory-flexibility analysis that evaluates alternative methods that could…

More than money: Inception puts emphasis on nurturing fledgling firms

May 2, 2005

If money can’t buy love, as the Beatles sang 40 years ago, neither can it make a startup company prosperous. While David Becker and David Doyle are no John Lennon or Paul McCartney, their wisdom certainly makes sense for locally based Inception LLC. That’s the consultancy, incubator and venture capital firm they founded in November 2000. “Entrepreneurs always think that, if they had money, they would be successful [right away],” Doyle said. “That’s not always the case. There are very…

Experts see improving market: Higher occupancy rates, more construction projects mean good news for landlords, developers

April 25, 2005

IBJ: Is your sector of the construction or real estate industry better or worse off than a year ago and why? BURK: Overall, I think the Indianapolis office market is better off than it was a year ago. The occupancy rate for the 29-million-plus square feet of multitenant office properties in the market increased by about 2 percent last year, to 82.5 percent. There was positive net absorption of about 600,000 square feet, most of which occurred in the suburbs….

New barter group begins: Rival files suit claiming execs stole trade secrets

April 25, 2005

A new association offering business owners an opportunity to barter their services among a network of company members has arrived in the city, but not without a legal challenge from a competitor. Tony Sandlin and David Treacy founded Barter Indiana Group after working on a contractual basis at rival Henry Street Trading Co. The two barter organizations and another in the city, the Californiabased franchise BXI Exchange Inc., coordinate the exchange of services among members without involving cash. If a…

Ergo Office Furniture LLC: Workers sit, ergo offices need furniture Retailer deals primarily in used desks and chairs

April 11, 2005

Businesses sometimes need office furniture immediately. That’s one of the reasons Ergo Office Furniture has thrived. Ergo, at 2525 N. Shadeland Ave., sells, rents or leases office furniture to its customers. Though the company does carry some new furniture, and can order whatever it doesn’t have, co-owner Mark S. Kemper said 70 percent of Ergo’s revenue is in used furniture. The advantage of selling used furniture is that it’s normally right there in the inventory. Brand-new furniture, in many cases,…

Appnuity LLC: IT firm targets small businesses, not-for-profits Web-hosted services one of the company’s fastest-growing areas

April 4, 2005

Appnuity founders David Eckel and Mark Castelli started their information technology business in 1999 specifically to serve this client base. They provide a wide array of personal-computer network solutions, Web site application development, Web-hosted services and structured cabling, which is determining the type of cabling needed to support current and future technology needs. The partners’ skills complement each other. Eckel, 33, who is president and CEO, has experience as a network technician and sales consultant. Castelli, 34, is Appnuity’s vice…

Council launches new HR initiative: Target is small companies that have no administrator

March 28, 2005

Small-business owners who need help wading through myriad human resources issues now have another source to consider-the Indianapolis Private Industry Council Inc. The 23-year-old IPIC, better known for overseeing the seven WorkOne career centers in Marion County, has leapt into the HR arena by partnering with a handful of professionals who have agreed to honor the agency’s low-cost pledge. Sixty thousand people walk through the doors of the centers each year looking for work. But many of their potential employers-many…

National lobbyist meets with gov: Small-business advocate says health care is still the toughest issue for owners

March 28, 2005

The National Federation of Independent Business is the nation’s largest small-business advocacy group, representing 600,000 members in all 50 states. Its voice in Washington, D.C., is Dan Danner, an Ohio native and Purdue University graduate, who is the organization’s lead lobbyist. During a recent visit to the NFIB’s Indiana office, Danner sat down with IBJ to address issues critical to the state’s smallbusiness owners. IBJ: As chief lobbyist for the NFIB, how do you get the organization’s message to federal…

Software-maker expands through public incentives: Exact Target must prepare for market’s consolidation

March 28, 2005

It made for a great photo-op. With the morning sun shining brilliantly through the windows, Exact Target showed off its brand new headquarters in the Guaranty Building on Monument Circle. It was the second day of spring. Bipartisan smiles were the first item on the agenda. Gov. Mitch Daniels, a Republican, was there to celebrate the fast-growing e-mail software-maker’s $1.14 million package of government incentives. So was Mayor Bart Peterson, a Democrat. Exact Target had earned its tax credits, abatements…

Advantis Medical Inc. finds niche making orthopedic supplies

March 14, 2005

Advantis Medical Inc. manufactures custom trays and cases for orthopedic surgical devices. That core product line brought Advantis some $5.2 million in revenue in 2004, double the amount of the previous year, said Advantis President Jim Spencer.

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