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BEHIND THE NEWS: Hilbert’s next act: Jumping into private equity game

Stephen Hilbert suffered another legal defeat last week. But don’t bet the founder and ex-CEO of Conseco Inc. is sitting around feeling sorry for himself. In fact, this fall Hilbert, 59, is quietly launching a major new business, one that will get him back into the acquisition game, a field he savored during his two decades atop Conseco. Details are sketchy, because Hilbert isn’t talking. But here’s what a little snooping turned up: Attorneys in July filed papers with the…

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ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: We need to push harder to foster a tech economy

You have to give the folks at Techpoint, the advocacy group for technology-oriented business in Indiana, plenty of credit for stamina. For eight years, these f o r wa r d – l o o k i n g folks have been carefully measuring the state’s progress in what was once called the high-tech economy. And for each of those eight years, the message has been depressingly consistent: We remain at the back of the pack. That’s not for lack…

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Database puts 800 technology researchers in reach: Indiana Information Network hopes to link businesses with industry expertise through extensive online portal

A Web-based melting pot of intellectual resources intended to aid technology transfer to the market boasts 800 researchers in 40 fields that businesses can tap for help. Indiana Innovation Network is an offshoot of Access Technology Across Indiana, or ATAIN, which was formed about 12 years ago as an alliance of universities, research institutions and businesses statewide. The alliance, led by John Schneider, assistant vice president for industry research at Purdue, helps research facilities commercialize their technology. IIN, founded by…

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State revamps I-Light expansion project: Funding restored, but network limited to universities

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels has given high-speed Internet project I-Light the green light, but with a twist from its original intent. He agreed this month to support the final stages of funding for the project, which began in 1999 and connected supercomputers at Indiana University, Purdue University and IUPUI. The aim was to expand Indiana’s digital infrastructure by connecting 15 cities via a fiber-optic network. Under his directive, though, only universities and related research parks can tap into the network,…

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GERALD BEPKO Commentary: Another reason I’m proud to be a Hoosier

Ashley Crouse was an attractive, talented, 21-year-old junior at Indiana University’s flagship campus in Bloomington who was filled with passion for good causes. On April 12, in one of those events that shake our beliefs to the core, she lost her life in an auto accident. At the time of her death, Ashley was a leader of IU students in efforts to raise funds for the Riley Hospital for Children through a dance marathon. These efforts began in 1991 when…

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Being inventive to infinity: Entrepreneurial spirit still strong after 125 years of health care

Today, the entrepreneurial spirit of the Daughters, who are Roman Catholic, lives on. They have a rich legacy to celebrate as they approach the 125th anniversary of the founding of the hospital that was the forerunner of St. Vincent Hospital Indianapolis. “To do all that, these four Daughters of Charity had to pass the baton, the values and spirit along over many, many generations,” said Dr. Malcolm Herring, a vascular surgeon at St. Vincent Hospital and physician liaison to mission…

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RETURN ON TECHNOLOGY: Will vicious bloggers be downfall of business?

A Forbes magazine cover story has set the techie world ablaze with indignation (www.forbes.com). Forbes, perhaps most famous for its list of the world’s wealthiest people, in its Nov. 14 issue ran a piece by Daniel Lyons portraying Internet blogs as nothing short of terrorist weapons targeting American businesses. In “Attack of the Blogs,” Lyons lists people and companies that were humiliated, brought low, had their share values demolished, or were otherwise savaged by vindictive bloggers. For the uninitiated, “blog”…

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HVAC specialists see rise in energy-saving interest: Anticipated price spikes spur demand for revamps

Many plant managers consider it a lost cause to combat thermostat wars, factoring it in as a normal cost of doing business. Or they just don’t think about it all. Even before hurricanes Katrina and Rita caused natural gas prices to soar, an energy price problem was already in full swing. Engineering, construction and energy management firms were already addressing concerns from clients over how to combat rising energy bills. While soaring prices are expected to wreak havoc on residential…

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ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: How we all pay the price for things that seem free

There’s no such thing as a free lunch, goes the familiar cliché about economics. That old phrase is meant to impart the simple idea that anything that consumes resources imposes a cost, which is certainly true. But a little tweak of the wording produces a much more powerful insight. That’s to say-to an economist’s way of thinking, at least-nothing should be free. Those dour sentiments doubtless explain why economists don’t get invited to many parties. Free goods abound in our…

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Dan Wendorff PC Eye Care: Optometrist has vision for growth Not content with status quo, doctor-turned-businessman sets his sights on expansion

Not content with status quo, doctor-turned-businessman sets his sights on expansion When Dan Wendorff was a kid, he thought he wanted to be a pharmacist like his father. But, “I was always interested in the eyes and excelled in physics and sciences,” so when a high school friend suggested optometry, it stuck, said Wendorff, owner of Dan Wendorff Eye Care. His practice leases space and provides eye care services at two area offices of LensCrafters, an Ohio-based franchise. Wendorff, a…

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VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: It’s high time for us to seek alternative energy sources

The Ghawar oil field is the jewel of the Saudi treasure chest. Sometimes called “The King” because of its oil production, this field has yielded more than 55 billion barrels of oil since the early 1950s-more than half of all Saudi oil exports. Today, it still produces about 5 million barrels of oil each day, or about 6 percent of the world’s daily supply of petroleum. But all’s not well at Ghawar. In August, The New York Times Magazine featured…

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There’s more to logistics than forklifts and sweat: Colleges offer degrees for white-collar jobs in the field

It’s not sexy, but it’s where the jobs are. Ivy Tech Community College will offer an associate’s degree in logistics management, the latest effort in Indiana aimed at cultivating a work force for the transportation-distribution-logistics sector, known as TDL. Meanwhile, the University of Indianapolis is preparing a concentration in supply chain management that will have key applications in logistics careers. Experts say the educational push is sorely needed, yet it’s still a challenge to get young people interested in the…

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PLAN OF ATTACK: Anderson’s leaders are working to exorcise the ghosts of GM

Four miles and decades of history separate the Anderson exits along Interstate 69 northeast of Indianapolis. Empty General Motors Corp. plants-as much a thing of the past as single-class basketball-cast ominous shadows at Exit 26, once Anderson’s front door. To the west, closer to Indianapolis, is Exit 22 and the trappings of the future: millions of dollars in new infrastructure, a new business park, and the state’s largest business incubator-tools Anderson officials think they need to turn this rust-belt poster…

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Doctor group spreads its reach across state: American Health Network sees big growth in 2005

American Health Network started 2005 with no presence in the cancer-fighting field of oncology. Now the Indianapolis-based doctor network boasts the largest medical oncology practice in the state, said Dr. Ben Park, its president and CEO. Within the past several months, Park has watched his network add oncology practices with 32 locations across the state, 10 family physicians in Muncie, and a $4 million Fishers Medical Arts Building, built in partnership with Indianapolisbased OrthoIndy. He expects to see more growth….

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Startups offered a fast track: Motorsports-themed incubator gets green light in Brownsburg

Hendricks County officials hope a new business incubator there revs the engines of local entrepreneurs. The motorsports-themed facility, to be known as Fast-Start, got the green light after a year-long feasibility study concluded the project was a logical fit for a community that already houses Prudhomme Racing, John Force Racing and Bill Simpson’s Impact Racing. “It would help achieve some of our goals in Brownsburg,” said Jeanette Baker, town council president and treasurer of the Hendricks County Economic Development Partnership,…

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Walker Information receives award:

Maybe Walker Information should send Al Gore a thank you note. The local company walked away from the Cisco Growing with Technology Awards in San Jose with a runner-up plaque. The company helps clients improve customer loyalty. That used to mean picking up the phone and asking people what a company could do to improve. Today it means hitting the send button on an email. In 2000, Walker created proprietary technology known as The Walker Smart-Loyalty System. The program allows…

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RETURN ON TECHNOLOGY: Trends can be more illuminating than fresh data

Sanford Kahn, a business trends analyst, (www.businessspeaker.biz/ ) once wrote that it is a myth that information is power, and I agree with him. If it were true, the public library would rule the world. Google would run a galactic empire. Instead, in the halls of the real power structure in the world’s most powerful nation, our government suffered one of history’s biggest forehead-slappers after its intelligence organization confused rhetoric with reality over weapons of mass destruction. In this case,…

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VIEWPOINT: Sorting out Social Security stats

There is an unfortunate misunderstanding going around about the Social Security trust fund. These are facts: First, the U.S. bonds that constitute its assets pay the same rate of interest as regular U.S. bonds. Second, the bonds held by Social Securi ty are not marketable, which means they can be cashed any time at par or face value. Other U.S. bonds are subject to the market if cashed before maturity. Third, the surplus is not there by accident; it was…

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Emerging Tech, Johnson centers team up: Partnership links incubator’s startups with entrepreneurship students

Now as executive director of Indiana University’s Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation, he has high hopes for his latest effort to introduce students to the real world of business. The Johnson Center, based in Bloomington, opened an office earlier this month at the Indiana University Emerging Technologies Center in downtown Indianapolis. The space gives MBA students the opportunity to provide consulting services to the 22 startups at the incubator. Unlike BSU seniors in the “spine-sweating” course who present an…

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Public broadcasters seek big bucks to feed Big Bird: WFYI capital campaign has ambitious $15.3M goal

Public broadcasters usually aren’t shy about asking for money. Indeed, their telethon-style fund-raising drives likely are as recognizable to audiences as Big Bird and Garrison Keillor. But when it comes to big money, they haven’t had much practice. Until now. For more than a year, Indianapolis broadcaster WFYI quietly has been lining up support for its largest-ever capital campaign-a $15.3 million effort to upgrade equipment, expand its Meridian Street building, and more than double the not-for-profit’s endowment. Station leaders were…

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