Hubert Humphrey once noted that “the moral test of government is how it treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; and those who are in the shadows of life, the sick, the needy and the handicapped.” Our population continues to age. The number of seniors in Indianapolis is on the threshold of doubling-from 95,500 in 2000 to 187,500 in 2040. Therefore, it is incumbent on us…
I was delighted to receive a new disc from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis containing the latest annual data on economic conditions in every county in the nation. Now I have a more detailed picture of how our state functions and is changing. For example, the daily flows of commuters between counties within and outside Indiana are essential to our economic health. By commuting, Hoosier workers find better jobs and firms get the best workers. Commuting is easier when…
AFTER HOURS LAURA WILSON Being prepared is more than a Scouting slogan Longtime Boy Scouts volunteer Laura Wilson learned firsthand the importance of the scouts’ motto-“Be prepared.” A vice president of com munications at the Indiana Bankers Association, Wilson accompanied her two sons on a camping trip last year to New Salem, Ill., where the scouts went on a nearly 20-mile hike on the Lincoln Pilgrimage trail from New Salem to Springfield. Later that night, she learned the hard way…
It’s been 15 months since Central Indiana Corporate Partnership CEO Mark Miles wrote in these pages that he felt like Rip Van Winkle when he returned to the city after being away for 15 years. Miles has done anything but sleep since he got back. Neither has the CICP board of directors. That group should be congratulated for making an outstanding choice of a new leader and for taking bold steps forward. This seems to have been a perfect match…
A recent article in Strategy+business magazine estimated that “the world’s urban infrastructure needs a $41 trillion makeover” between now and 2030. The article explained that $41 trillion is roughly equivalent to the “2006 market capitalization of all shares held in all stock markets in the world.” Some experts think that “new technology” will be the answer, and it may be when nanotechnology takes over the world. For now, however, the trend usually reinforces the trend, and we do the same…
After a stint in public accounting, Whetzel went to work for Fleming Packaging Co., a firm that duplicated and distributed videotapes. After taking some losses on a couple of projects, the owners of Fleming didn’t see the potential for video duplication and distribution, so Whetzel and business partner Charlie Seldon bought the company in 1991. Doing the deal wasn’t easy. “I borrowed from family, refinanced the house, and took everything out of savings,” he said. “I was dead broke and…
Less than two years after being driven out of Adesa Inc. as unceremoniously as a Buick down its auction lanes, James Hallett
is back behind the wheel of the nation’s No. 2 wholesale vehicle-auction company.
INDIANAPOLIS HAS: Seating for up to 73,000 and a retractable roof at Lucas Oil Stadium, set to open in 2008. The press box seats 200, but event space could be converted for additional media use. PRACTICE FACILITIES NFL WANTS: Comparable practice facilities for both Super Bowl teams, including a covered field with the same turf as the stadium, locker rooms for players and coaches, meeting rooms, and laundry service. INDIANAPOLIS HAS: The Colts’ 56th Street football complex. Bid organizers have…
Many Hoosier stocks are on a tear, posting year-to-date gains rivaling the numbers we saw in the frothy late 1990s, before the Internet bubble burst. But market analysts say the comparison stops there. The companies posting gains are old-line manufacturers like Cummins Inc., not dot-com startups built on hype. And the appreciation is built upon a solid foundation-rapid increases in profit. Indeed, New York-based Citigroup noted that corporate profits are up 115 percent since the last recession ended in the…
International Center pairs local hosts, visiting delegates to promote cultural understanding When a group of Iraqi editors and writers visited Indianapolis last summer as part of the U.S. State Department’s International Visitor Leadership Program, they learned about American journalism and Hoosier hospitality. Florence May, a member of the International Center of Indianapolis’ board and president of Simply Hospitality-an Indianapolis-based special-event planning company-hosted the group for dinner in her home. May grew up in a military family and has lived throughout…
Milwaukee native Trevor Ocock figures his interest in transit dates to age 3. At least that’s what his mother tells him. But the transit bug overtook him at Franklin University in Columbus, Ohio, as he was earning a degree in business administration and human resources management. Soon, he was washing buses for Ohio State University’s transit line. Later, he drove an OSU bus-met lots of ladies that way-and eventually became its operations manager. “I have always liked to be around…
Few Hoosiers had heard of O’Reilly Auto Parts before the Missouri-based company built a massive distribution center in Hendricks County and bought the naming rights to Indianapolis Raceway Park last June. Now, the company, which was founded in 1957 and went public in 1993, figures to become a major retail presence here. Already, 14 stores have cropped up here among 35 that opened statewide. That makes 1,700 stores in 25 states for the company that reported revenue of $2.3 billion…
It’s an age-old strategy: A private equity firm buys a company, bolsters its performance, then pockets a tidy profit by taking it public or selling it outright. Los Angeles-based Freeman Spogli & Co., the majority owner of Hhgregg Inc. the past two years, last month revealed plans for a $170 million initial public offering for the consumer electronics retailer. You can be sure other private equity firms that have scooped up local companies in recent years have the same exit…
The diversification of the state’s two enormous public pension funds into private equity is transforming Indiana’s venture capital sector. And their $155 million Indiana Investment Fund is the largest factor in the equation. If it’s successful, the Indiana Public Employees’ Retirement Fund and the Indiana State Teachers’ Retirement Fund will save Hoosiers untold millions of dollars and help launch a host of new high-tech companies. If it’s not, taxpayers will one day have to foot the bill. Indiana State Budget…
The biggest acquisition in the 34-year history of ATA Airlines will steer it closer to its charter roots and further from a scheduled-service binge that led to bankruptcy three years ago. Analysts say the $315 million deal to buy Atlanta-based World Air Holdings will broaden the revenue base and bring economies of scale for ATA’s newly renamed parent, Global Aero Logistics. It also hands ATA a cargo business worth $100 million in 2005. The deal should give the Manhattan vulture…
The java stands Hubbard & Cravens Coffee Co. opened a year ago within Clarian Health Partners’ three downtown hospitals are brewing a rich aroma of results. Yet executives of the locally based coffee retailer and wholesaler know sales could be sweeter. “The hospitals are so huge that we don’t capture even a third of what we could,” said Marcie Hubbard, director of store operations. “So the question is, how do you reach everybody in that entire hospital?” The 23 Taiwanese…
Globalization, like all sweeping economic trends, provokes a widespread disquiet. Specifically, we fear that somehow, if it continues unchecked, people in the United States will lose their high-paying jobs and we will devolve into a lowwage service economy. As China gains, we lose. To borrow a phrase from Thomas Friedman, they’re frightened that the flattening of the world economy will flatten us. It is true that traditional manufacturing jobs are fewer now than before. And, lots of things are made…
What’s the news on Indiana employment? Odd as it might seem, that phrase is almost a contradiction in terms. For while we do receive very timely, detailed information on how many jobs are carried on Indiana employers’ payrolls each month, the practical challenges in keeping close tabs on the latest zigs and zags in the 3 million-strong Hoosier labor force make the interpretation of the fresh data difficult. Only after the data have sat on the shelf for half a…
The Indiana Commerce Connector, those 75 miles of concrete through the Indiana countryside, was announced with great fanfare at the start of the 2007 legislative session and recently disappeared with equal aplomb. Thanks to the efforts of state Rep. Terri Austin, chairwoman of the House Roads and Transportation Committee, and the other members of that committee, the citizens of Indiana had ample opportunity to express their opinions on Indiana’s transportation needs. While the governor’s specific proposals for the Indiana Commerce…
But extra helpings of your favorite fattening treats may be on their way. At its April 19 meeting, the Indiana State Fair Commission will consider whether to add up to five more days to the fair, starting in 2008. “You’d have another weekend where people can come out to partake in fair activities,” said Indiana State Fair Commission Chairman Kyle Hupfer. “My guess is you’d see some new folks come to the fair who wouldn’t otherwise come.” This year, fair…
