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Uphill battle ahead: State poses tough test for new enviro leader

By the time Jesse Kharbanda earned a Rhodes scholarship to study at Oxford, the University of Chicago student already knew he wanted to advocate environmental policies in the developing world, someday. Eight years later, some might say Kharbanda has landed in the developing world, all right-Indiana, insofar as it’s considered the backwater of environmental stewardship. One might recall the state’s 49thplace ranking in a 2007 review of “greenest” states by Forbes magazine. Only West Virginia-a national leader in illiteracy-scored worse….

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BEHIND THE NEWS: Steak n Shake showdown sure to escalate from here

Investors Sardar Biglari and Philip Cooley didn’t exactly hit it off with The Steak n Shake Co.’s top brass when they met in August to discuss the company’s future. Company Chairman Alan Gilman and Chief Financial Officer Jeff Blade “refused to disclose basic information” and “rebuffed disclosure of even niggling details like the number of employees at headquarters,” according to Biglari’s account of the meeting, which he included in a Jan. 23 letter to company shareholders. “We are suspect of…

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Law firms making green push: Environmental teams provide marketing boost

The next generation of environmental law is coming to a firm near you. Many law firms have existing practices that counsel clients on the complexities of complying with air and water permits or cleaning up contaminated properties. But now that the corporate sector is embracing “green” initiatives quicker than Al Gore accumulates carbon credits, environmental law is becoming as sexy as, say, intellectual property. Two of the city’s largest firms-Ice Miller LLP and Baker & Daniels LLP-recently unveiled so-called “green”…

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VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: The right time for climate change may finally be here

While the world’s political climate is heating up, its economic climate is cooling down. Meanwhile, the real climate is finally getting the attention it really deserves, as the “tipping point” has been reached. Green is everywhere these days. New York Times For homes that no longer grow in value. If the personal consumption rates in China rose to the levels of the United States, annual oil consumption in the world would go up more than 100 percent! Oil consumption in…

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Local Girl Scouts take lead in national consolidation: Larger councils to mean more opportunities for girls

Last year’s merger of five area Girl Scout councils into one central Indiana organization has gone so well that it’s being used as a model for others to follow. Local staffers are being flown around the country-at national Girl Scouts’ expense-to coach other councils on how to achieve the same results. The local merger was the first in a national drive to consolidate far-flung and often uneven Girl Scout councils, reducing their numbers by almost a third. With the local…

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VIEWPOINT: Cookie-cutter schools: a fatally flawed idea

What would happen if Congress passed a law requiring every U.S. statehouse to use the exact same building design? And that every city hall, every fire station and library must be built from a canned design? Imagine being told that, from now on, every house in the state would have the exact same design, so homeowners could spend less on design costs. It sounds crazy to think one design fits all, but that’s exactly what lawmakers are considering for educational…

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Technology park could boost area’s biomedical efforts: First phase of Purdue project, featuring accelerator building for up to 25 startups, should be finished this year

The park is expected to be a major amenity for the area’s growing biomedical economic development efforts. Purdue Research Foundation paid $2.5 million in June to purchase a half-interest in 78 acres at AmeriPlex industrial park. The university ultimately anticipates filling it with as many as 75 businesses and 1,500 jobs. AmeriPlex owner Holladay Properties, a South Bend developer of industrial parks, owns the other half of the site. Dubbed Purdue Accelerator Park at AmeriPlex-Indianapolis, the project is intended to…

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RETURN ON TECHNOLOGY: Is technostress threatening your employees?

As I watched someone write an actual paper check in a checkout line one day, I saw one reason why a lot of companies have turnover problems. I pay for almost everything with cash or with plastic. Both are very fast, so when somebody is methodically writing out a check, it gives me just enough time to stew over how slow he is. When I use my card, I can swipe it with a practiced flick, tap a few keys,…

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BEHIND THE NEWS: Pending IPOs bode well for tech startups of tomorrow

Initial public offerings often are bonanzas for company management and other insiders. In the case of Aprimo Inc. and ExactTarget Inc. -two Indianapolis software firms on deck to go public-a throng of local business and technology leaders who provided early financial backing would see a rich payoff as well. Filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission show the companies snared as investors a who’s who of Indianapolis business, from former venture capitalist Bob Compton to financial adviser David Knall and…

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Public offerings rise in ’07: Three Indiana companies hit turbulence after IPOs

The market for initial public offerings in Indiana was on the upswing last year, as the number of companies to go public tripled, from one in 2006 to three in 2007. Locally based HHGregg Inc., Kokomobased Haynes International Inc. and LaPorte-based LaPorte Bancorp. Inc. became publicly traded. The fact that three more companies in Indiana became public doesn’t represent a trend. But four others that have filed IPO registration statements with the Securities and Exchange Commission bolster the belief that…

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INVESTING: Quality firms not always a good place to invest

Let’s play a game. I am going to write the name of a company, and I want you to say what immediately comes to your mind. I am not looking for your feelings about the stock price, but rather what you think about the company itself. As an example, let’s look at Wal-Mart. The stock has been a dog for 10 years and probably will keep dogging it for years to come. But the company is amazing in its ability…

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VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: Patent ruling a big victory for biotech, drug industries

Last Halloween a federal court in Virginia gave the biotech and pharmaceutical industries a big treat when it preliminarily halted the Patent and Trademark Office, or PTO, from implementing new rules governing certain aspects of patent prosecution. This ruling was significant because it prevented the PTO from imple menting new rules governing patent applications that many thought would weaken protection of important biological and chemical inventions. Several local life sciences businesses and entities with significant numbers of patent applications in…

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City emerging as drug distribution hub: Medco Health Solutions deal latest boon to growing subsector in Indiana’s life sciences development efforts

Thanks to a series of major economic development wins, Indianapolis is enjoying a pharmaceutical distribution business hot streak. Life sciences industry leaders hope to keep the sizzle burning in 2008 and beyond. “It’s not something we’re hoping we can do someday. It’s something we’re already doing now,” said BioCrossroads CEO David Johnson. “We’re simply trying to expand the footprint of what we’re doing.” Pharmaceutical logistics has become a big business. According to the Arlington, Va.-based Healthcare Distribution Management Association, U.S….

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Growing biomed firm rolls with the changes: Under string of owners, Seradyn develops niche producing immunoassays

Life sciences firm Seradyn Inc. on Georgetown Road has endured a revolving door of owners in the 30-some years since its inception. But what hasn’t changed is its dedication to developing immunoassays for medical purposes. Immunoassays are chemical tests used to detect or quantify a specific substance-the analyte-in a blood or body fluid sample. Seradyn develops and manufactures assays that use antibodies to measure drug concentrations in the bloodstream. In the past 10 years, Seradyn has developed 15 such products…

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RETURN ON TECHNOLOGY: Exploding mobile phone? Maybe you bought a fake

Has your cell phone exploded lately? A cell phone battery literally blows up, shattering the phone and spraying hot components like shrapnel. Detonating phones haven’t killed anyone that I could determine, but they’ve caused several trips to the hospital for lacerations, burns and broken eardrums. When it happens, manufacturers understandably scramble to find out why, and the answer today is often that the battery was actually a knockoff, a counterfeit that looks just like the real thing, but might be…

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Home team vs. the Internet

Itâ??s been a tough couple of years in Bloomington for Roberts Distributors, the well-known Indianapolis supply
house for cameras and other photography equipment. So tough that the Bloomington store is closing.

Bruce Pallman, the second generation running Roberts, said the location…

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Not-for-profits lack solid IT foundation, study says: NPower Indiana says most groups fail to meet basics

A new study suggests a large percentage of the region’s not-for-profits still struggle with inadequate technology that undermines productivity, invites security breaches and hinders their community outreach potential. NPower Indiana, a not-for-profit that provides low-cost technology consulting and services in central Indiana, studied 34 local not-for-profits under a grant from Verizon Foundation and Anthem Foundation. It found that 85 percent are “constrained by outdated PCs or operating systems, which can seriously affect their system’s stability, efficiency and ability to run…

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BEHIND THE NEWS: Tumult, ouster cast uncertainty over premier employer

Why did Sallie Mae cast off June McCormack last month, sending one of Indiana’s highest-profile female executives packing? After all, she’s just the sort of seasoned manager the student loan company seems to need as it grapples with some of the biggest challenges in its 25-year history as a public company. The company isn’t commenting, and McCormack said a nondisclosure agreement she signed on her way out the door limits what she can say. Yet what she does say is…

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Rash of deals saves Gazelle venture-capital fund

Back in 1999, investors in Gazelle TechVentures expected a sprint to spectacular profits. Instead, they got a marathon slog.
According to Gazelle Chairman and largest investor Scott Jones, it was like training for a race on a sunny day, then running
it through a blizzard.

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RETURN ON TECHNOLOGY: Beware: e-mail is bastion of many security lapses

Tell the truth-you’ve “Googled” yourself, haven’t you? All of us have, or at least we should. It’s interesting for me to do it for myself, because I’ve been an Internet denizen since before the Web was woven, when all most of us did was exchange e-mails. What chills me sometimes is how far back the Google results for my name can go, clear into the mid-1990s in some cases. The ‘Net never forgets anything. If you have doubts about that,…

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