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Pepper, others commended for their safety programs: Area contractors turn to technology to track job-site performance

Hand-held computer devices are becoming as common as hardhats and heavy equipment on the job sites of Pepper Construction Company of Indiana Inc. The Chicago-based contractor’s Indianapolis location began using the hightech gadgetry about 18 months ago to track job-site safety and tie the results to bonus amounts awarded to supervisors. While the company has tracked safety performance for years via written reports, the new system lets everyone from executives to subcontractors view the information almost immediately after it’s loaded…

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BULLS & BEARS: Sage investor: Time to buy commodities has passed

In February, I mentioned the Legg Mason Value Trust, managed by Bill Miller, as the fund with the longest-running winning streak vs. the S&P 500. The streak runs 16 years. A couple of weeks ago, Miller put out his quarterly market letter. I’m beginning to think I’m profound because I agree with his thinking. Below is a paraphrased summary of what he wrote: The Financial Times” headline on April 10 read, “Commodity Prices Set to Soar.” Then Miller thought back…

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ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: Improving state’s economy requires a team approach

More than 50 years ago, the famous economist Joseph Schumpeter told a simple story that perfectly captured the essence of market capitalism. It’s a turn-of-the-century tale of a railroad being built in a part of the country where none had existed. The new investment rapidly upsets the order of everything-once ideally situated towns are left high and dry, while others move up in stature as they exploit newfound advantages. It’s messy and it’s painful, but the result is for the…

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Cherrymasters’ luck might turn next year: Proponents argue that state regulators could electronically monitor slots in taverns around Indiana

In past years, legislators have proved unwilling to expand gambling outside Indiana’s riverboat casinos. But Indiana Licensed Beverage Association Executive Director Brad Klopfenstein, who has been leading the push to legalize electronic “cherrymaster” machines, thinks his luck could soon turn. “The legislators we’ve talked to, they don’t seem to have the steadfast ‘no, no, no’ attitude they used to have,” Klopfenstein said. “We’re hoping we’ll get a bill filed and it’ll get a fair hearing next year.” And new technology…

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Daniels seeks to copy key-clusters strategy: Industry initiatives would mimic BioCrossroads plan

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, BioCrossroads has been vindicated. Gov. Mitch Daniels hopes to see a series of similar industry initiatives sprout around key clusters in Indiana’s economy. He envisions parallel initiatives for manufacturing, transportation and logistics and a series of other crucial business sectors. “We’d love some company,” said BioCrossroads CEO David Johnson. As outlined in Daniels’ “Accelerating Growth” economic development plan released last month, the initiatives would be based on proven Indiana strengths and identifiable…

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INVESTING: Dow keeps climbing, but land mines abound

The theme I’ve been concentrating on-the Dow Jones industrial average’s climb toward a new all-time high at the same time large numbers of stocks are weakening-is playing out in dramatic fashion. The Dow is only 150 points away from a new high, and it may well reach it. What’s working is obvious now (energy, metals, industrials), and I say, ‘Stay with them until they break down.’ But there is a growing portion of the market that is giving people fits,…

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RETURN ON TECHNOLOGY: Does your Web site need an SEO to boost it up?

Every time I see the term “SEO,” I cringe a little. It stands for “searchengine optimization,” a supposed service offered by many “SEO companies.” Such companies claim to be able to boost your Web site up the pages of major search engines so customers can find you. To a limited extent, they can help. Most Web sites are so poorly designed that they almost defy search engines to look through them, a process known in the trade as “crawling.” The…

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CD-burning kiosks debut: Four years of work on the line for local media-technology company

As the after-work rush of customers came into a south-side Karma music store on a recent Wednesday, some wandered up to a new kiosk and gave it a whirl. It was the public’s first look at CD-burning technology, developed by local entrepreneurs, that allows customers to pick songs and immediately burn a CD mix before leaving the store. If consumers like the kiosks, backers hope to sell video games, movies and even concert tickets through the terminals, which could be…

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Daniels’ economic development plan calls for pricey tools: Three incentive funds would cost more than $100M

Indiana’s days of economic development on the cheap may soon be finished. Three major new business-incentive funds are on the Indiana Economic Development Corp.’s wish list, each bearing a significant price tag. The General Assembly will decide next year whether to provide the more than $100 million IEDC requests to form them. Plans for the three funds are tucked into Gov. Mitch Daniels’ comprehensive new state economic development plan, “Accelerating Growth,” released April 25. It aims to bring Hoosiers’ lagging…

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NOTIONS: Readers weigh in on the quest for ‘something more’

Two weeks ago, I asked readers whether they’d witnessed what I have: More and more folks wanting “something more” from life and work. And if so, why? And why now? And how might “something more” manifest itself? Many responded-so many that I’ll share this week some of the “whethers” and “whys” and next week some of the “hows.” I heard from several readers who’ve dealt with this issue professionally. An Indianapolis placement consultant said, “I talk to people every day,…

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Biz incubator out of room: IU Emerging Tech Center needs $20M or more for expansion

In its quest to develop high-tech startups, Indianapolis has established a healthy pipeline. But there’s a bottleneck that’s poised to become even more congested. Located at the head of the Central Canal, Indiana University’s Emerging Technologies Center is the city’s primary business incubator, chock-full of labs and equipment. Established in 2003, the 62,500-square-foot building is now crowded with 26 promising young firms. A handful have outgrown their space, and are on the cusp of “graduation.” IUETC CEO Mark Long reports…

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Special events pay off: Growth seen in career opportunities, event numbers

Special events aren’t just fun and games-they’re big business, generating careers and economic activity that are anything but frivolous. Special event spending in Indianapolis is nearly $3 billion a year, according to Bob Shultz, public relations director for the Indiana Convention & Visitors Association. Annual spending for special events worldwide is $500 billion, according to research conducted by the Chicago-based International Special Events Society. In Money Magazine’s annual “Best Jobs in America” survey, meeting and convention planners were ranked in…

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BRIAN WILLIAMS Commentary: Should we invest in ethanol or education?

During times of high gasoline prices, the investment made by the Daniels administration in six ethanol plants would seem prudent. The touted benefits of ethanol plants are that they create jobs in rural communities, support Indiana corn growers, improve air quality, and lower dependence on foreign oil. As an Indianapolis resident with little exposure to our farm economy, my first question was, “How do you make ethanol?” Ethanol is made by fermenting and distilling simple sugars like those found in…

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New funds target life sciences: MidPoint concentrates on agricultural technology; Heron aims at broader market

Two new locally based venture capital funds believe Indiana is ripe with opportunity for biotech deals. With $20 million under management, Heron Capital LLC is broadly focused on the whole Hoosier life sciences market. Attempting to raise $30 million, the Mid-Point Food & Ag Fund LP has a narrower concentration: high-technology related to farming and nutrition. “We’re very excited about our prospects,” said Heron Managing Director Greg Maurer. “We have a number of deals in the hopper, some of which…

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First-class parking: Airport freebie list includes former politicians, other VIPs

Scott Jones could probably afford to buy the 1,800-space parking garage at Indianapolis International Airport, as one who’s earned millions of dollars in patent income from voice mail technology he invented. But why buy the garage? The Indianapolis multimillionaire shows up on a list of nearly 400 politicians and other VIPs entitled to free parking at the airport, a review of airport records shows. Begun as a courtesy to a handful of elected officials decades ago, the free parking list…

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CHRIS KATTERJOHN Commentary: Textbook cases of entrepreneurism

You get an idea; you build a business; you sell it and make a bundle. So it was with the recent deals that took out IBJ’s No. 1 and No. 2 fastest-growing companies from 2005, Performance Assessment Network and Suros Surgical. We can bemoan the loss of headquarters, but let’s face it, these are the kinds of payoffs most entrepreneurs dream of. In just a little over five short years, PAN investors put up $7.5 million in capital and sold…

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Land drove Marsh sale: Sun Capital has backup in real estate if grocery biz fails

When Marsh Supermarkets Inc. put itself on the block in November, the company’s stock dove. When it cut future executive compensation $28 million a month later, the stock continued falling. When it terminated 25 executives and closed two groceries and six convenience stores, shares slipped yet again. Nothing, it seemed, could stop the downward spiral. Then a footnote appeared in the Fishersbased company’s fiscal third-quarter financial report Feb. 21. It said an appraisal showed the company’s real estate was worth…

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BioCrossroads seeks help teaching math and science: Education center to bolster students’ careers

Indiana life sciences initiative BioCrossroads wants to improve the science and math skills of Indiana’s elementary and high school students. To figure out how, it’s asking the public for ideas. BioCrossroads released a “request for interest in participation” in the creation of a new K-12 Indiana Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Education Resource Center. Patterned after the North Carolina Science, Mathematics and Technology Education Center, BioCrossroads’ STEM is meant to be a Web-based, largely virtual organization. It would coordinate math…

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IEDC hopes to establish regional venture capital funds: Counties may balk at spending tax money elsewhere

It is the kind of business stimulus program that few oppose on paper, but to get the idea off the drawing board, IEDC must convince counties to relinquish their parochialism and ingrained spending habits. That’s likely to be tricky. “One of the things we’re trying hard to do as a state is to break down county borders where you have infighting, wasted resources and missed opportunities,” said IEDC Executive Vice President and General Counsel Nathan Feltman. “We want to make…

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Cleveland tech firm going west: Parker Hannifin falls short of employment promises, plans to leave Intech Park

A Cleveland-based technology giant plans to move its Intech Park operation next month, leaving behind some attractive office space and a broken promise to create jobs. Parker Hannifin Corp. will consolidate its Indianapolis location into a California site, spokesman Jim Cartwright said. It should empty its 30,700-square-foot offices in the park’s Intech 10 building by the end of June. The move will have no impact on Parker Hannifin’s Tell City production facility, which employs about 100 people who make industrial…

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