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ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: Our love-hate relationship with globalization boom

Our generation didn’t invent globalization, but we’ve certainly moved it to a new level. Even here in the isolated Midwest, it’s hard to find a product, a job or a community that hasn’t been affected by the high degree of connectivity among customers, businesses, and buyers and sellers of all kinds around the globe. We’ve enjoyed a cornucopia of incredible new products-from cell phones to flat-screen televisions to microprocessor-laden automobiles-that have had many or all of their principal parts made…

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VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: Patent trolls drawing attention of courts, government

Almost $3.5 billion: That, according to a recent IP Law 360 estimate, is the amount of judgments and settlements in intellectual property disputes in 2006. Equally remarkable, that amount was “markedly” down from the comparable figure for 2005. A recent article by Bloomberg News stated that juries awarded $1 billion in patent infringement damages in 2006. With that kind of money changing hands, it is not surprising that companies, known critically as “patent trolls,” have been formed to acquire patent…

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New funding has Semafore set for trials: Local pharmaceutical company to test cancer drug on humans

Hours before the underdog Florida Gators were crowned college football champions, Joseph Garlich wore a blue shirt to support the team as it prepared to upset the Ohio State University Buckeyes. Garlich, who spent two years as a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Florida’s School of Pharmacy, is equally optimistic his biotech firm is on the verge of achieving a milestone of its own. The northwest-side Semafore Pharmaceuticals Inc. should launch within a few weeks human trials of its…

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VIEWPOINT: What we could learn from Fort Wayne

To be competitive in a global economy, city leaders must embrace change and look for innovative ways to attract jobs and private investment. In Fort Wayne, we are working to save energy and improve air and water quality to build a better city. We must decrease our dependence on imported oil for many reasons, including national security, cost of living and the need to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. Energy and environmental concerns are directly related to economic development and quality of…

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VIEWPOINT: Let’s improve the health of working poor

On a cold and rainy day and wearing only a thin jacket, Maria walked eight miles to get help. She was pregnant and seeking prenatal care. Her husband had deserted her. The pervasiveness of unemployed and working-poor families presents a growing challenge. Most are underinsured or have no health insurance at all. That means our charity-care system is stretched to the maximum. One north-side center that provides care for the uninsured and underinsured has seen a 15-percent increase in patients…

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Aviation school adds five degree programs: Embry-Riddle considered closing local campus

One of the nation’s most prominent aviation schools is giving Indianapolis another chance. After withstanding a plunge in enrollment, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University is adding five degree programs at its center here, with most of them aimed at careers outside the turbulent commercial aviation sector. It also plans to expand beyond its local student base of mostly working adults to court recent high school grads. Though in Indianapolis for 13 years, Embry-Riddle has had all the profile here of a stealth…

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College targets dropouts with new program: Ivy Tech offers high school failures chance to get degree, pursue higher education

Ivy Tech Community College this month launched a pilot program that allows high school dropouts to earn their diplomas while simultaneously working toward a certificate or associate’s degree in college. Intended to improve the state’s labor pool, and as a lifeline to dropouts facing a dismal life in the earnings underclass, it will first be rolled out in Bloomington, Lafayette and Terre Haute. The Indianapolis campus also will offer the program aimed at those 19 or older, although a date…

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VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: Congress, IRS taking aim at college tax practices

Congress and the IRS have taken a number of significant steps recently to increase their scrutiny of colleges, universities and related organizations. What’s the next step? The IRS has already tipped its hand and indicated that it intends to design and initiate unrelated business income tax-or UBIT-inquiries directed toward colleges during 2007 and 2008. This upcoming year will likely usher in a new tax climate focused upon enforcement initiatives and public transparency. The Pension Protection Act of 2006 included several…

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Fortville firm’s helmet pads protect U.S. troops

Fortville-based Genesis Manufacturing makes helmet pads for U.S. troops through Colorado-based Skydex Technologies, which
won a contract this fall with the U.S. Air Force for 120,000 helmet pad kits. Most of the helmets have wound up in Iraq, where
the military has discovered soldiers need something more than Kevlar-lined helmets to survive roadside mines and exploding
Toyotas.

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INVESTING: Recipe for 2007 success: Avoid overheated sectors

In a way, 2007 is starting off right where last year ended. Large-cap Chinese stocks (up about 25 percent since I mentioned them here in October) tore it up in the first day of trading. I don’t know how long these Chinese stocks can keep cranking, but I have a feeling that, by the end of this year, big-cap stocks in America will have outperformed most foreign markets, including China. Keeping an eye on expectations can be a great way…

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RETURN ON TECHNOLOGY: Don’t believe all the threats you hear about

Ah, a new year, and a new opportunity for all of us to be scared witless by some new threat. A recent article about cell phone viruses that I read in the magazine Scientific American got me thinking about terrorism, but not in the way you might imagine. What is it about panic and fear that we love so much? We seem to treasure those moments when we’re jumping at shadows. Movie producers have known this for years, and how…

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CICP’s chief launches raft of initiatives:

In January, Mark Miles returned to Indianapolis after more than a decade at the helm of the Association of Tennis Professionals to become CEO of the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership. Twelve months later, the CICP looks much different than it did under his predecessor David Goodrich. And it could soon change even more. A former Eli Lilly and Co. executive and aide to Dan Quayle, Miles, 53, has been one of the key players in the potential consolidation of the…

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Small talk with new SBDC chief: Central Indiana counseling office gets fresh start after years of uncertainty

Victoria Hall this year took over the Central Indiana Small Business Development Center, which counsels more than 500 Hoosier entrepreneurs annually. Hall, a former vice president for H&R Block Tax Services, oversees four employees, including three business counselors. She also teaches part-time at Ivy Tech Community College, which hosts the local SBDC. She earned her MBA from the Indiana Institute of Technology in Fort Wayne. One of 11 regional centers in Indiana, Central Indiana SBDC has been plagued in recent…

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RETURN ON TECHNOLOGY: 2006 has seen plenty of technological goofs

Happy holidays to you, and welcome to yet another yearly installment of, “Who’s Got the SNAFU?” the holiday game for those nervous about using technology for anything more complicated than opening cat food. We start comparatively close to home, in Valparaiso, where CNN reported that a modest little $122,000 home was erroneously valued in the county’s computer system at $400 million, which would have generated some $8 million in tax revenue. The $8 million figure was duly calculated into the…

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VIEWPOINT: Sustained momentum crucial for session

The 2007 Indiana General Assembly session will begin in January. As a result of last month’s election, the House of Representatives is now controlled by Democrats, and the Senate is in the hands of Republicans. Regardless of which political party controls which branch of the Legislature, Hoosiers expect collaboration and progress. Indiana has built tremendous momentum in economic development, but more work lies ahead. The momentum must continue into 2007 and beyond. Despite our progress, Indiana must continue to be…

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RETURN ON TECHNOLOGY: Web application is right gift for those who fear software

Got a businessperson on your list? We’re hard to buy for, so you have my sympathies. Most of us have specific preferences in software, handheld devices, cell phones and other toys we euphemistically call “tools.” Ties aren’t common in business settings anymore, cutting off yet another formerly fruitful buying channel. Few of us have any use for another desktop nameplate. And gift certificates are rather cold. Software is a particularly bad gift choice. Most of us dread getting new software…

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Hoosier Tire still racing: For nearly a half-century, Lakeville company has competed with the big boys

When the rubber meets the road, auto racing experts say there are few-if any-companies that outperform Lakeville-based Hoosier Racing Tire. Hoosier tires, industry sources said, are equal to their better-known brethren in racing-related sales and on-track performance. “This company has gone head-to-head with Goodyear on the biggest of all racing circuits,” said Dick Berggren, editor of Speedway Illustrated and a retired racer. “I can’t think of a business where the costs of entry are steeper or the level of technology…

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Does gender matter in politics?: Despite high-profile wins, politics still remains a male-dominated field

1992 was dubbed the “Year of the Woman,” when four women were elected to the U.S. Senate, but 2006 may be seen as the beginning of a new women’s political movement, says Marie Wilson, president of The White House Project, a Washington, D.C.-based group that’s working to advance women in political office. Indiana has made some strides, but 85 years after women won the hard-fought right to vote, the number of women in elected office at the national level hasn’t…

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Marketing firm targets tech types: Seven-figure deal shows DGS’ diversification is working

When DGS Marketing Engineers signed a blockbuster deal this September with one of the nation’s largest industrial chemical companies, owners of the ad agency knew making their micro-niche just a little broader was going to pay big dividends. The local marketing and advertising agency recently decided to step outside its super-specific niche of working with companies that make machine tools to target companies working in just about any technical field. “This is a specialized advertising field that goes beyond mere…

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Plant to be a real gas for price stability?: Utilities betting gasification will ease volatility

Two gas utilities serving central Indiana say they want to buy synthetic gas from a proposed coal gasification plant downstate to provide a hedge against price volatility. Citizens Gas & Coke Utility, which serves 266,000 Marion County customers, plans to buy up to 3 billion cubic feet of gas a year from Indiana Gasification LLC. The amount is equivalent to about 10 percent of Citizens’ annual demand for natural gas. Meanwhile, Evansville-based Vectren Energy Delivery of Indiana, which has 550,000…

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