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SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011 2011 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER

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2011

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AWARDS

Developing the

Future Being Productive High Time to Test 36

Logistics

Full Steam Ahead 60

Region Focus

Home on LaGrange 78

We Keep Northwest Indiana

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“A

SURE FOUNDATION INSPIRES CONFIDENCE, ENCOURAGES CREATIVE THINKING, AND ENABLES US ALL TO ACHIEVE WONDERFUL THINGS….”

THE AMERICAN GROUP

CONSTRUCTORS

FOUNDATION STONES OF

The business of The American Group of Constructors shall be evidenced by the following values: • Determination in our Commitment to Safety Allowing a TAG Employee to be placed in harm’s way is unacceptable. We will place the safety of our Employees before profit, before any project, and before any potential customer.

• Pride in our Workmanship The finished product of an American Group of Constructors project will be held to the strictest of standards, meeting or exceeding all of the expectations of our Customer.

• Trust in our Relationships Our Customers, Vendors, and Employees must know that we fulfill our commitments, meet our schedules, and make honesty our watchword.

• Care in our Stewardship We will preserve and grow those things placed in our trust. We will be good stewards regarding: the well-being of our Employees; the state of our finances; the natural environment in which we work and live; and the knowledge which we can share regarding our fields of expertise.

Phone 877-937-1508 • Fax 219-937-1512 • www.tagconstructors.com

Publisher’s Desk Success Stories

219.226.0300 • 317.632.1410 www.buildingindiananews.com www.buildingindianablog.com

CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS 1330 Arrowhead Court Crown Point, IN 46307 Publisher/Editor Andrea M. Pearman andrea@buildingindiananews.com

The best thing about this year’s Indiana Companies to Watch awards – besides the fact that Diversified Marketing Strategies was one of the winners, of course! – was getting to meet many of the 42 other winners and hear their success stories.

The breadth of the winning companies was astounding. From restaurants to brewing to health care to lasers to pool covers and much more, they made it clear that the only limits on what can be accomplished in Indiana are imagination and drive. And that serves as an inspiration to current and future Hoosier entrepreneurs.

Or at least it should – but we have to keep telling these stories, especially now, when it’s all too easy to let bad economic news drown out noteworthy accomplishments. During the awards event, Penny Lewandowski, Director of Entrepreneurship at the Edward Lowe Foundation, which developed the Companies to Watch program, challenged winners and attendees alike to do just that. Commit, she said, to telling three stories about successful businesses in Indiana.

I think that’s a great idea. I know I’ve always encouraged our readers to share success stories with Building indiana, but by no means should you stop there. Tell those success stories at meetings, over dinners, on the links – anywhere you have a chance to spread good news. Not only may you hear a good story in return, but you may find a new business opportunity as well.

And if you’re in need of success stories, start with our blog, www. buildingindianablog.com, Facebook page and Twitter, @BuildingIndiana where we bring you daily news and updates on jobs and economic developments around the state. Every single day, someone is growing, adding jobs and moving forward, creating great stories for us – and you – to tell.

Vice President, Business Development Chrischelle Schmidt chrischelle@buildingindiananews.com Director, Business Development Leigh Ann Flora leighann@buildingindiananews.com Director of Advertising Liza Hilliard liza@buildingindiananews.com Senior Writer David Wellman dave@buildingindiananews.com Creative Director Rebekah Hendricks rebekah@buildingindiananews.com Special Projects Coordinator Jen Labriola jen@buildingindiananews.com Director of Events Kristin Jurczak kristin@buildingindiananews.com Director of Creative Media Sumer Rex sumer@buildingindiananews.com Director of Marketing Melissa Garcia melissa@buildingindiananews.com Director of Communications Tiffany Bley tiffany@buildingindiananews.com Accounting Lindsey Andershock la@buildingindiananews.com InDIAnAPOlIS OffICE Business Development Manager Lee Ann Richardson leeann@buildingindiananews.com 888.226.0330 WARSAW OffICE Business Development Manager Julie Monteith julie@buildingindiananews.com 888.226.0330

Kind Regards,

Building Indiana news is published by Diversified Marketing Strategies

Andrea M. Pearman Publisher

Visit us at 3dms.com

2006 Communicator Awards’ Award of Distinction 2009 Communicator Awards’ Award of Excellence 2011 Communicator Awards’ Award of Distinction

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2009 Davey Awards Silver Award

2008 Hermes Gold Award 2009 Hermes Gold Award 2010 Hermes Gold Award 2011 Hermes Gold Award

2006 Marcom Gold Award Winner 2007 Marcom Gold Award Winner 2008 Marcom Gold Award Winner 2010 Marcom Gold Award Winner

Andrea M. Pearman 2009 Small Business Journalist of the Year

2006 APEX Award for Publication Excellence

2009 nichee Magazine Award

2008 APEX Award for Publication Excellence

2009 Silver Award 2010 Gold Award

Subscriptions: Standard rates: $24.95/year Single copy price: $6.95 Copyright ©2011 Building Indiana News is published six times a year. Address correspondence to: 1330 Arrowhead Court, Crown Point, IN 46307. Publisher reserves the right to accept or reject any editorial or advertising matter. Publisher assumes no responsibility for return of unsolicited manuscripts or art. No part of this publication may be reprinted or otherwise duplicated without the written permission of the publisher. For general reprint information, contact Building Indiana News at andrea@buildingindiananews.com. All opinions and views are solely those of the participants or editors and are not necessarily the views of magazine sponsors.

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SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011

EVERY ISSUE

04 Publisher’s Desk 08 Contributors 09 Business Buzz 24 People News 81 Location Finder: Legal & Insurance Professionals Directory 81 Real Estate Marketplace

EXPERT ADVICE

28 STATE Of THE InDUSTRY A Capital Error

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30 RUlE Of lAW Legal Moves 32 SAfETY zOnE Acronym Nirvana 34 THE BOTTOM lInE Changing the Model 26 PHOTO fEATURE • Firms Celebrate Statewide Award • IRMCA Honors Top Concrete Projects

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42 COVER STORY Developing the Future 48 fACTS & STATS Economic Development Statistics 57 OnSITE Down by the River 72 COMPAnY SPOTlIGHT Envirotest Titling & Registration

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36 BEInG PRODUCTIVE High Time to Test

68 WElCOME CEnTER Fields of Green

54 REAl ESTATE Wanted: Calm Seas

70 MARkETInG Gift Solutions

56 COnSTRUCTIOn Managing the Job

74 REGIOn fOCUS nORTHWEST Building Possibilities

60 lOGISTICS Full Steam Ahead 62 WORkER’S COMP Back to Health

DEPARTMENTS

40 SMAll BUSInESS SPOTlIGHT Changing of the Guard

DEPARTMENTS

FEATURES

38 MASS PRODUCTIOn Building Health

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76 REGIOn fOCUS CEnTRAl Tech Take Two

64 YOUR WEll-BEInG Getting Control

78 REGIOn fOCUS nORTHEAST Home on LaGrange

66 lIfElOnG lEARnInG Western Win

82 THE lAST WORD Sprinklers Aren’t All Wet www.buildingindiananews.com

www.buildingindiananews.com

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Contributors GEORGE F. BROWN George F. Brown, Jr. is the CEO and cofounder of Blue Canyon Partners, Inc., a Chicago-based strategy consulting firm.

He is also the co-author of “CoDestiny: Overcome Your Growth Challenges by Helping Your Customers Overcome Theirs,” published by

Greenleaf Book Group Press of Austin, TX. ROBERT HITE Robert Hite is National Labor Relations Manager for Scheck Industries. He has more than 43 years of experience, including working as a capital construction Project Manager for over 20

years in the refining, power, petrochemical, steel, food and pulp & paper industries.

MATT GLAROS Matt Glaros is a Broker and Consultant with Employer Benefit Systems Inc. of Dyer. He has helped hundreds of Indiana busi-

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nesses manage their health insurance costs, as well as develop costeffective and efficient wellness plans. Glaros sits on the boards of Legacy Foundation and Campagna Academy, and is Chairman of Emerge South Shore.

MARK JAEGER Mark Jaeger is a Safety Coordinator for DLZ Corporation. With more than 20 years of environmental and project safety experience, he coordinates safety for the Industrial offices, all of Michigan, Illinois, and Northwest Indiana.

He is a member of the Association for Iron & Steel Technology and Northwest Indiana Business Roundtable.

DR. SHAUN KONDAMURI Dr. Shaun Kondamuri has been practicing Interventional Pain Management on a full-time basis for 15 years and has been Managing Director of Midwest Interventional Spine Specialists since its inception in 1996. He serves as medical director of the Pain Center of St. Mary Medical Center and St. Catherine Hospital.

DEWEY PEARMAN Dewey Pearman serves as the Executive Director for the Construction Advancement Foundation. He holds a Masters Degree in Economics from Indiana State University. The Foundation promotes the union construction

industry of northwest Indiana by helping to enhance its efficiency and competitiveness via labor relations and government management, education, training, safety and workforce development.

MARK RIFFEY Mark Riffey is Business Development Manger for Ryan Fire Protection. Riffey is a former Indiana Chief Deputy State Fire Marshal and has worked extensively to promote fire safety.

He is involved in the Indiana Sub-Contractors Association and the Metropolitan Indianapolis Construction Coalition for Safety.

RACHEL SAVIEO Rachel Savieo is the Communications Coordinator for INFINITY Employer Health Solutions, a Community Health Network product. She previously served as Community Health Network’s wellness program manager.

Prior to that Rachel was an Account Manager at WebMD Health Services.

KEVIN STEELE Kevin Steele is a partner in Burke Costanza & Carberry LLP’s Litigation Services Practice Group.

A graduate of University of Notre Dame and Indiana University Maurer School of Law, Steele practices in foreclosure and real estate disputes in addition to Construction Law and Commercial Litigation.

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BUSINESS BUZZ

DMS Among 43 Companies Honored as 2011 Indiana Companies to Watch

D

iversified Marketing Strategies, Inc. (DMS), publisher of Building indiana, was recognized at a Gala reception at the Indiana Roof Ballroom in Indianapolis on August 25 as one of Indiana’s Companies to Watch. They were joined by 42 other companies throughout the state being recognized as 2011’s class of Indiana Companies to Watch.

“Diversified Marketing is thrilled to be an Indiana Companies to Watch awardee,” said Andrea Pearman, President and CEO, DMS. “We’re so honored and humbled to be joining a class with such outstanding companies that have made so many positive contributions to Indiana’s business community and economy,” she added.

The accolade recognizes the state’s privately held businesses that employ six to 150 full-time employees and have $750,000 to $100 million in annual revenue or capital. The award is presented by the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, its Small Business Developwww.buildingindiananews.com

ment Center network, Purdue University and the Edward Lowe Foundation. Indiana Companies to Watch celebrates highperforming, second-stage companies in the state. Known for their performance in the marketplace, innovative products, unique processes or philanthropic actions, these companies represent a wide range of industries from all corners of Indiana.

The companies being honored this year “are the single most important feature of our business landscape in Indiana,” said Gov. Mitch Daniels in a video address to the recipients. “One of our central goals has been to increase the rate at which risktaking entrepreneurs choose to plant their flag in Indiana.” This year’s winners project to have combined revenues in excess of $600 million and to create more than 550 new jobs this year. The revenue projections represent an increase of more than $100 million, or 33 percent, from 2010.

Of the 184 companies who have been recognized since the Companies to Watch awards began, just two have failed, noted

Jeff Heinzmann, State Director of the Indiana Small Business Development Center network. “Among the rest, there has been one IPO, numerous acquisitions and too many expansions to mention.” Five of those past winners were singled out for “Spotlight” awards during the ceremonies for their continued success: Lee and Ryan Environment Consulting, Inc.; Livin’ Lite Recreational Vehicles, Inc.; MainGate, Inc.; Micropulse, Inc.; and Polaris Laboratories, LLC. “Spotlight award winners are shining examples of the growth and ongoing impact that Companies to Watch recipients have in their communities and beyond,” said Mitch Roob, Secretary of Commerce and COO of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation. “These five companies deserve our congratulations and our thanks for exemplifying the many strengths of Hoosier businesses.”

For more photos from the event and a complete list of winners, see page 26.

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BUSINESS BUZZ

Northwest 500 Jobs Coming to Portage from Michigan Fronius USA, LLC, the fourth-largest solar inverter producer in the world, will relocate its North American headquarters to Portage from Michigan, creating up to 512 new jobs by 2016.

The Austrian company will invest more than $26.64 million to lease and equip 400,000 square feet of space in the Ameriplex at the Port business park to assemble and manufacture its products for the North American market. Through this new facility, Fronius plans to develop its current manufacturing capacities to meet the global demand for solar electronic inverters and welding technology.

Infinity certified athletic trainer discusses employee safety issues with FexEx employees.

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It’s a model that works. Community Health Network was named as one of the Healthiest Employers of Indiana in both 2009 and 2010. You can rely on our expertise to improve the health of your employees as well. For more information, contact Infinity for a personalized assessment at 877-445-2584 or visit us at eCommunity.com/infinity.

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Fronius’ relocation marked the 1,000th new business establishment or expansion the Indiana Economic Development Corporation has completed since its inception in 2005.

Fronius, which currently employs more than 4,200 worldwide, has already started hiring human resource and finance associates. It plans to expand its procurement and production workforce to coincide with the completion of facility improvements next summer.

The Indiana Economic Development Corporation offered Fronius up to $4.25 million in performance-based tax credits based on the company’s job creation plans.

Dairy Plans CNG Fueling Station, Trucks Renewable Dairy Fuels, an affiliate of Indiana milk producer Fair Oaks Dairy, has contracted with Clean Energy Fuels (Seal Beach, CA) to build and operate a new compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling station to power a fleet of 42 CNG milk-hauling trucks that the dairy farm plans to deploy later this year.

The trucks will transport milk to processing plants owned by Kroger Co. in Indianapolis, Murfreesboro, TN, and Winchester, KY. Set to open in the fall of 2011, the Fair Oaks Station off I-65 in Fair Oaks, IN will also be open to the public. A second CNG station is planned for late 2011 in Southern Indiana adjacent to the Kentucky border along I-65.

Renewable Dairy Fuels also plans to produce biomethane from dairy cattle waste and pipe the biogas directly to the Fair Oaks Station for onsite conversion to CNG fuel.

Completion of a conditioning facility for the biogas is anticipated within 12 to 18 months.

The trucks will replace diesel-powered models, and are projected to use more than 1.5 million diesel gallon equivalents of CNG per year.

Hospital Designated Breast Imaging Center of Excellence Methodist Hospitals (Gary) has been designated a Breast Imaging Center of Excellence by the American College of Radiology (ACR).

By awarding facilities the status of a Breast Imaging Center of Excellence, the ACR recognizes breast imaging centers that have earned accreditation in mammography, stereotactic breast biopsy, and breast ultrasound (including ultrasound-guided breast biopsy).

The ACR is a national professional organization serving more than 34,000 diagnostic/interventional radiologists, radiation www.buildingindiananews.com

oncologists, nuclear medicine physicians, and medical physicists with programs focusing on the practice of medical imaging and radiation oncology and the delivery of comprehensive health care services.

Service Dealer Wins Award BUSINESS BUZZ

Magiera Diesel Injection (MDI) was recently awarded Indiana’s Service Dealer of The Year by Diesel Injection Service Company (Louisville, KY). This award acknowledges outstanding performance in sales, service, and leadership in the diesel service industry.

Located in Crown Point, Magiera Diesel Injection is Northwest Indiana’s only factory authorized diesel fuel injection facility. They specialize in diesel performance repairs on pickups and midrange trucks, welders, air compressors, and heavy equipment.

RDA Grants Creating Jobs in NWI New jobs are being created and business is being generated for Northwest Indiana firms thanks to Regional Development Authority (RDA)-funded projects in Gary, Hammond, Whiting, Portage and elsewhere.

“We are putting people to work now, and in doing so we are also laying the foundation for future economic growth,” said RDA Chairman Leigh Morris. “When these projects are completed, especially the expansion of the runway at Gary Chicago International Airport, you will really see the region’s economic engine rev up.”

The RDA has provided $30 million to the airport as part of a $150 million project to lengthen its main runway. The most recent phase of construction, involving the relocation of railroad tracks and the construction of three bridges, broke ground in May.

Electric Company Lands Mill Job EMCOR Hyre Electric has been awarded a contract to upgrade the electrical systems for ArcelorMittal’s Indiana Harbor’s facility in East Chicago.

The company will be responsible for upgrading all of the electrical systems for Indiana Harbor’s 84-inch Hotstrip Mill, which is being retrofitted in order to expand its coiling capabilities. The upgrade will make the Indiana Harbor facility the only steel mill in the country capable of producing heavy-gauge steel for water and oil pipelines.

The scope of work includes rewiring and replacing the coilers, as well as installing switchgear and transformers for the hydraulic building and new controllers for hundreds of the facility’s run-out table motors.

NWI Group Among EPA Grant Awardees The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded a $607,000 grant to the Save the Dunes Conservation Fund Inc. and a $276,156 grant to the University of Notre Dame under the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI). These investments are among 70 totaling nearly $30 million that EPA is awarding under the GLRI in 2011.

The University will use the funding to assess the live bait trade for bighead carp, silver carp, grass carp, black carp and other invasive species. Save the Dunes will use the money for work with the City of Valparaiso to retrofit the Thorgren detention basin in the Salt Creek watershed. This project will prevent phosphorus and sediment from reaching Lake Michigan.

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construction attorneys construction industry group

building plans for success • • • •

Claims Litigation Mechanics Liens Arbitration/Mediation Labor & Employment Counseling Representing general contractors, design-builders and subcontractors in construction matters.

For more information contact: Randolph E. Ruff l 312.558.1228 Tina M. Bengs l 219.242.8664 www.ogletreedeakins.com 11

BUSINESS BUZZ

Company Receives Accolades, Expands Pro Pump Inc., a pump repair, and maintenance facility based in Gary has received multiple awards during its 13th year of business. In June, Pro Pump earned a spot in the Top 500 largest Hispanic Businesses in the United States ranked by Hispanic Business Magazine. The publication also ranked Pro Pump number 14 in the Top 100 Fastest-Growing Hispanic Businesses in the United States.

Pro Pump is currently expanding sales coverage to promote their nationally-ranked services in the Northwest Indiana and the Chicagoland area, and has also hired a new sales associate to help with the expanding customer base.

Credit Union Makes Donation Allegius Credit Union has donated $10,000 to Opportunity Enterprises, which will be used to purchase picnic tables for the agency’s newest property, OE Lakeside.

OE is a non-profit organization based in Valparaiso that is to enriching the lives of individuals with disabilities. OE serves 1,100 adults and children with disabilities in Porter County and throughout Northwest Indiana

Amex Construction Now Subsidiary of NOOTER Amex Construction (Hammond) has become a subsidiary of the NOOTER Corporation (St. Louis, MO). The Nooter Corporation has subsidiaries throughout the United States involved in

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providing engineering and construction services to a broad range of industrial clientele. Amex Construction, now Amex Nooter LLC., has been based out of Hammond since 1979 and remains an aggressive unionized mechanical contractor providing services for the chemical, food processing, power, refining, and steel industries.

For daily news from Northeast Indiana and around the state, visit our blog at www.buildingindianablog.com and follow us on Twitter at @BuildingIndiana.

Northeast Michigan Company Relocating Production to Elkhart County Spartan Motors, Inc., a manufacturer of specialty chassis and vehicles, will be relocating its recreational vehicle chassis manufacturing operations to Wakarusa from Michigan and creating up to 60 new jobs by the second half of 2012. The company plans to invest an estimated $1.8 million on machinery, equipment, tooling and facilities.

In 2009, Spartan Motors acquired more than 550,000 square feet of manufacturing capacity in Elkhart County. Operations consist of four manufacturing and 15 sub-assembly,

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support and paint plants. The company will continue to employ its existing workforce of nearly 600 associates at these locations.

The Indiana Economic Development Corporation offered Spartan Motors up to $450,000 in performance-based tax credits and up to $75,000 in training grants based on its job creation plans.

Solar Usage Now, a division of Our Country Home Enterprises, is expanding its northeast Indiana operations, creating up to 35 new jobs by 2014.

The company, a designer, assembler and distributor of solar thermal hot water and space heating systems, will invest $620,000 to lease and equip a 22,500-square-foot manufacturing, storage and office facility in Hamilton, moving its operations from nearby Harlan where it was co-located with Our Country Home Enterprises.

The company was established in 2005 and has since partnered with Australian solar supplier Rotex to produce SUN Equinox thermal water and heating systems. Solar Usage Now’s products are sold to military bases, schools, hospitals and hotels in Germany, Australia and the United States.

The Indiana Economic Development Corporation has offered the company up to $200,000 in performance-based tax credits and up to $25,000 in training grants based on the company’s job-creation plans.

BUSINESS BUZZ

Solar Company Expanding in Northeast Indiana

Tackling the Unexpected • CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT Based on solid understanding of execution and management.

• PROFESSIONAL SERVICES Success is measured by client satisfaction.

Leadership Initiative Launched in Fort Wayne The Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership, through its Vision 2020 program, has announced a new strategic collaboration with Leadership Fort Wayne, Inc. The two organizations will work together to develop sustained regional leadership throughout Northeast Indiana.

Collaborative regional leadership has been identified as a key need for achieving success in improving the regional economy in addition to the five focus areas of Vision 2020: 21st Century Talent, Competitive Business Climate, Entrepreneurship, Infrastructure and Quality of Life.

The goal of the Regional Leadership Experience is to build a public will for change around Vision 2020 and further develop collaborative regional leadership focused on improving economic vitality in the region.

• MAINTENANCE SERVICES Provides experienced manpower and equipment.

Northeast Indiana Company Grows Peg Perego, a distributor and manufacturer of infant care products and juvenile toys, is investing $4 million in new equipment over the next four years in its Fort Wayne plant.

The investment of molds, tooling and other manufacturing equipment for the plant will bring a projected 13 new jobs to the city.

The company’s current employment at the facility is 67.

Whitley County Company Adds Jobs Columbia City-based software development company SubdivisionINFO.com is launching its proprietary Web solution for home - continued on pg 14 www.buildingindiananews.com

219-662-2380 • Fax: 219-662-2354 10769 BROADWAY #333 • CROWN POINT, IN 46307 w w w. a c m s g r o u p. c o m 13

BUSINESS BUZZ

buyers in new markets in 2011. The company anticipates adding three employees immediately and up to 25 to 30 employees by 2013 to support its expansion.

The Whitley County Council recently approved a multiphase, CEDIT-based Revolving Loan Fund award to support the company’s software development.

SubdivisionINFO.com provides a one-stop-shop for information on subdivisions within targeted regional markets. Initial test markets include Dallas, TX and Columbus, OH. The site is accessed by home buyers, home sellers, developers, builders, and home-related and audio-video retailers.

lish a new manufacturing center in Grabill, creating up to 400 new jobs by 2014.

The company, which makes composite bathroom fixtures, automotive parts and shipping containers, plans to invest more than $4.5 million to lease and equip the former Meridian Automotive building as its newest manufacturing facility. The building had been idle since 2009.

The Indiana Economic Development Corporation offered the Muscatine, Iowa-based company up to $2 million in performance-based tax credits and up to $50,000 in training grants based on its job creation plans.

Company Moving to Larger Facility

Auto Parts Supplier to Grow in Warsaw

Vandor Corporation has relocated its Starmark Funeral Products operations to a larger production facility in Richmond.

The move provides Starmark the necessary space to expand into new product lines and to make the current assembly line even more efficient. The move also allows Vandor to expand its plastics injection molding operations. As part of the expansion, the company will add 15 jobs before the end of the year.

Vandor is filling the space vacated by Starmark with a new multi-shot plastics injection molding operation, which will create an additional 15 to 20 new positions.

New Manufacturer to Locate in Grabill R3 Composites Corporation, a manufacturer of metal and plastic molded components for a variety of industries, will estab-

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Winona PVD Coatings, LLC, a provider of bright finish coatings to the automotive wheel industry, plans to expand operations in Warsaw, creating up to 70 new jobs by 2012.

The company, which currently coats 240,000 wheels per year, will invest $9.16 million in process equipment over the next 12 months to increase production capabilities to 960,000 wheels per year.

Founded in 2007, Winona PVD employs approximately 35 full-time workers at its Warsaw headquarters, the first largescale, North American physical vapor deposition (PVD) coating facility for wheels. The company plans to hire the additional 70 employees, beginning later this year, to coincide with this expansion.

The Indiana Economic Development Corporation offered

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For daily news from Northeast Indiana and around the state, visit our blog at www.buildingindianablog.com and follow us on Twitter at @BuildingIndiana.

Central

America employee call centers, one in San Francisco for Roche’s pharmaceutical division and one in Indianapolis for diagnostics. It will also provide support to some Roche operations in Iceland and Singapore.

Sewer Modifications Save Indianapolis $740 Million In 2008 Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard directed a re-evaluation of the city’s 2006 Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) Consent Decree Program. His focus was better and more cost-effective, sustainable designs.

David Sherman, the Director of the Department of Public Works for the City of Indianapolis led the Mayor’s evaluation and negotiation efforts with the Environmental Protection Agency and the Indiana Department of Environmental Management. He was assisted by a Program Management team led by DLZ Indiana, LLC. MWH Global, R.W. Armstrong and Strategic Partners, LLC were also part of that team.

- continued on pg 16

IEDC: 11,000 Job Commitments at Mid-Year At the midway point in the year, the Indiana Economic Development Corporation announced that it had worked with 123 companies that have made decisions to expand or establish new business operations in Indiana for a total of more than 11,000 projected new jobs.

This compares with 200 decisions by companies to locate a projected 23,000 new jobs in the state, announced at year-end last year.

The new positions, which companies expect to hire over the next five years, pay an expected average hourly wage of $22.88, above the state’s current hourly wage of $18.71. Since January, the more than 120 companies anticipate investing $1.76 billion in their Indiana operations in the coming years. Meanwhile, the average amount of state performance-based tax incentives offered to companies on a per job basis is $8,622, below the 2010 year-end amount of $9,981.

Roche to Add 50 Jobs in Indy Roche Diagnostics’ site in Indianapolis has been selected to house its new North America Human Resources Shared Services Center.

The center will provide HR services for all of Roche’s North American diagnostics and pharmaceutical operations, representing in total about 23,000 employees.

To help support the new organization, Roche expects to add up to 50 new employees to its Indianapolis campus. Previously, the site only provided HR services to the approximately 4,200 employees in the U.S. diagnostics division who report into Indianapolis.

The new center will provide a wide range of HR services, such as payroll and benefits administration, and will support two North www.buildingindiananews.com

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BUSINESS BUZZ

the company up to $525,000 in performancebased tax credits based on the company’s job creation plans. The Warsaw City Council approved tax increment financing (TIF) bonds at the request of the Kosciusko County Economic Development Partnership.

BUSINESS BUZZ

That team developed a cost-saving approach which cut more than $740 million from the city’s 20-year consent decree costs; reduced overflow volumes by another 3.5 billion gallons through 2025; and incorporated “green” elements, all while meeting and exceeding the original requirements.

The new plan, approved last year, changed the way the largest of the projects, the Deep Rock Tunnel Connector, was to be built, as well as 13 other control measures in the consent decree. Overall, 14 of the original 31 control measures were changed. Examples include eliminating a 35 million gallon per day pump station, focusing on the re-use of tunnel spoils and avoiding environmental areas through deep tunneling rather shallow tunneling. The initiative also addressed pumping and treatment facilities at the treatment plants, which have high electrical and chemical consumption. They were addressed with tunnel storage facilities with a longer service life, lower O&M cost and lower carbon footprint. Existing facilities were identified for rehabilitation and modification in lieu of replacement, while overall plant projects were deemed unnecessary due to operational enhancements at the city’s two treatment plants.

registration includes: • Admission • 1.2 CEUs • Two days of educational seminars • All meals and snacks

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New Health Initiatives in Carmel and Fishers St. Vincent Health in Indianapolis is partnering with The Barrington in Carmel, a new senior living community and plans a new 40-bed hospital in nearby Fishers.

Under its alliance with The Barrington, a life care community expected to open in 2013, St. Vincent will provide residents with healthcare at set monthly payments. St.Vincent is home to the Center for Healthy Aging, which focuses on helping Indiana residents age well.

The 18-acre, 320,000-square-foot Barrington community will include 134 independent living, 56 assisted living, 26 dedicated memory support and 48 skilled nursing care residences.

About 200 skilled craftsmen and tradespeople will be employed during the construction. Upon completion, approximately 140 fulltime jobs, with a projected annual payroll and benefits exceeding $6 million, will be created.

These positions include industry-related professionals in areas of hospitality, healthcare, administration, food service and maintenance.

In Fishers, St.Vincent Health will expand the St.Vincent Medical Center Northeast to a 40-bed inpatient hospital. The expansion will include 30 medical/surgical beds, 10 medical observation beds and 10 labor-deliveryrecovery-postpartum rooms. Plans also call for spa-like amenities, indoor and outdoor dining, and 24-hour room service for patients and families. In addition, a fitness center will be incorporated for hospital associates.

The 110,000-square foot inpatient expansion is projected to create more than 200 new jobs for Fishers with the opportunity for more as the hospital continues to grow. Construction for the inpatient facility was set to begin in September and expected to be complete by December 2012.

Red Gold to Shift HQ to Elwood Red Gold (Orestes) will locate their new corporate office headquarters in Elwood within the next 12 months.

The company will invest $3.5 million to reconfigure the previous Oakland Elementary school into a modern corporate office to accommodate about 200 professional staff.

Red Gold is the largest privately held tomato manufacturer in the United States and has tomato operations in Elwood, Geneva, and Orestes. The company also boasts a millionsquare-foot distribution center in Orestes and operates a trucking fleet in Elwood.

16

www.buildingindiananews.com

Wishard to Rename Hospital, Health System after $40 Million Gift Sidney and Lois Eskenazi have contributed $40 million toward the new Wishard Hospital facilities in Indianapolis, one of the largest gifts ever made to a public hospital in the United States.

In recognition of the gift, the new hospital and the system name, currently Wishard Health Services, will be changed to honor the donors. The New Wishard project will immediately become Eskenazi Health. When it opens in December 2013, the new hospital will be the Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Hospital. The name of the health system will change to Eskenazi Health in 2014.

Wishard Memorial Hospital and Wishard Health Services will continue to operate under their current names, including through Wishard’s 10 community health centers, until the new hospital opens and the move is fully complete in 2014.

www.buildingindiananews.com

Sidney and Lois Eskenazi live in the Indianapolis area.

Sidney grew up in Indianapolis, attending Manual High School before graduating from Shortridge High School, and both he and Lois are Indiana University graduates. Sidney established a successful real estate development company, Sandor Development Company, in 1963 and has built it into one of the nation’s leaders, with more than 70 properties under management in 23 states. He continues to manage operations, along with his son, David, at the Indianapolis office of Sandor.

BUSINESS BUZZ

Just last year, Red Gold invested more than $20 million in high-tech food manufacturing equipment to keep pace with growing demand. The 2010 investment included a new highspeed canned tomato line and additional equipment to increase the entire Orestes plant’s output. Red Gold’s Elwood plant is currently midway through a major addition to its production and packaging equipment, including an additional state-of-theart high speed ketchup bottling line.

Since 2001, the company’s full-time employment has nearly doubled, and now exceeds 1,300 employees.

Ivy Tech to Train Energy Industry Workers Ivy Tech Community College and Indiana’s energy companies have partnered with Indiana Department of Workforce Development to form the Indiana Energy Consortium (IEC) with the goal of promoting career opportunities in the energy industry in Indiana and developing a home-grown, educated and skilled talent pool.

To support a projected near-term demand for a highly trained and educated workforce, Ivy Tech and the major energy companies have secured federal grants, arranged scholarships and designed accelerated training programs and degrees for students wanting to pursue energy careers.

Initially, Ivy Tech and IEC members obtained a $1 million Department of Labor grant in 2008 to provide scholarships for the Northwest, Central and Southwest Indiana regions of Ivy Tech as part of a pilot program to encourage new students to enter and complete the training.

- continued on pg 18

17

BUSINESS BUZZ

The Performance Companies, Inc.

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Consortium members include American Electric Power, Citizens Gas, Duke Energy, Indianapolis Power and Light, Miller Pipeline, NIPSCO, Vectren Corporation, Indiana Energy Association, Indiana Department of Workforce Development, Vincennes University, and Ivy Tech Community College.

Crystal Etching Company Expands in Indianapolis St. Regis USA, Inc., a manufacturer of hand-etched and handpainted glass and crystal products, will expand its Indianapolis facility and create up to 41 new jobs by 2014.

The company, which produces glass and crystal awards, beverageware, trophies and desk accessories, plans to invest more than $4.18 million to purchase and equip a 90,000-square-foot facility on the northeast side of the city. The company has already begun hiring new production associates for its planned expansion..

The city of Indianapolis granted property tax abatement at the request of Develop Indy, and the Indiana Economic Development Corporation offered up to $200,000 in performance-based tax credits and up to $35,000 in training grants based on the company’s job creation plans.

Plainfield Lands 400 Logistics Jobs Ozburn-Hessey Logistics, a third-party logistics (3PL) corporation, plans to expand their distribution center in Plainfield, creating up to 415 jobs by 2015.

The company, which operates 120 distribution centers with more than 32 million square feet globally, plans to invest up to $16.7 million to lease and equip an e-commerce fulfillment center.

Based in Tennessee, Ozburn-Hessey Logistics is one of the largest 3PLs in the world, providing supply chain management solutions including international and domestic transportation, warehousing, customs brokerage, freight forwarding, and import and export consulting services. The company also offers fulfillment, e-commerce fulfillment, service parts management, network optimization, cross-docking, and pool distribution.

The Indiana Economic Development Corporation has offered the company up to $2 million in performance-based tax credits based on the company’s job creation plans. The town of Plainfield approved additional property tax abatement at the request of the Hendricks County Economic Development Partnership.

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18

National franchise Massage Envy plans to triple its Indiana presence with nine new locations opening over the next year. The Arizonabased chain has nearly 700 locations nationwide.

Six of the planned Massage Envy centers are expected to open within the next six months. Locations include Keystone at the Crossing, Southport, Greenwood, Fishers and two in Fort Wayne.

Additional locations are pending in Lafayette, Bloomington and Plainfield.

Tech Company to Grow Indianapolis Headquarters GuideSoft, an information technology consulting firm, will expand operations in Indianapolis, creating up to 200 new jobs by 2015. www.buildingindiananews.com

The company will invest more than $1.9 million to lease and equip additional office space at its corporate headquarters and service center on the city’s northeast side.

Founded in 1994, the company operates in more than 30 states, employing more than 600 associates.

The Indiana Economic Development Corporation has offered the company up to $2.7 million in performance-based tax credits and up to $25,000 in training grants based on its job-creation plans.

based on the company’s job creation plans. The city of Carmel approved additional property tax abatement.

Blackford County Goes to the Dogs

Manufacturer Consolidates in Southern Indiana

BUSINESS BUZZ

Naturally Recycled Proteins, LLC, a manufacturer of protein additives for pet foods, is building a new plant in Montpelier that will create up to 68 new jobs by 2014.

The company, which developed a patented process utilizing natural enzymes to produce a high-protein, easily-digested feed supplement, will invest $15 million in two new facilities totaling 55,500 square feet that will be built on approximately 20 acres at the Montpelier Industrial Park.

The company began construction of their new facility in late July and planned to begin hiring new administrative, manufacturing, maintenance and driver positions in January.

The company also operates two similar facilities in Nebraska and Iowa.

The Indiana Economic Development Corporation offered Naturally Recycled Proteins up to $475,000 in performance-based tax credits based on its job creation plans.

For daily news from Central Indiana and around the state, visit our blog at www.buildingindianablog.com and follow us on Twitter at @BuildingIndiana.

South Parts manufacturer NetShape Technologies will consolidate part of its op- continued on pg 20

IT Consulting Firm Adding Jobs in Hamilton County Allegient, LLC, an information technology consulting firm, is expanding its operations in Carmel, adding up to 42 highly skilled positions by 2016.

The company, which was recognized as a 2011 “Company to Watch” award recipient, will invest $1.65 million to expand its existing location and add new computer hardware and IT equipment.

Allegient currently employs 115 employees, including 59 full-time Indiana employees. The new hires will include directors, business development managers, solution architects, project managers, business analysts and technical developers.

The Indiana Economic Development Corporation has offered Allegient, LLC up to $850,000 in performance-based tax credits www.buildingindiananews.com

EMCOR Hyre Electric Co. will form a signature “Human Pink Hard Hat Ribbon” in conjunction with its client, Porter Health System, on October 21, 2011 as part of the EMCOR Group Inc. national breast cancer awareness intitiative.

2655 Garfield Avenue, Highland, IN T 219.923.6100 www.emcorhyre.com

19

BUSINESS BUZZ

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erations in Campbellsburg, creating up to 63 new jobs by 2014. The company will invest $7.8 million to expand and equip its southern Indiana facility to accommodate additional CNC press lines resulting from the consolidation of work from Illinois.

NetShape Technologies engineers precision powder metal and metal-injected molded components for industrial applications including off-highway equipment, power generation and control, automotive, heavy truck, defense and medical devices.

The company has more than 600 employees in three operating facilities in the Midwestern United States and one in China. The company began in Campbellsburg in 1976 and is headquartered in Sellersburg.

The Indiana Economic Development Corporation offered NetShape up to $360,000 in performance-based tax credits based on the company’s job creation plans. The town council of Campbellsburg has granted property tax abatement for the expansion and will consider additional property tax abatement in the future at the request of the company and the Washington County Economic Growth Partnership.

Egg Supplier Hatches New Growth Egg supplier Prime Foods Inc.(Boonville) will add three new egg-cooking machines to its operation in order to accommodate demand from new customers. The 30-foot-long machines, imported from Denmark, can peel and cook about 40,000 eggs an hour.

When the $4 million expansion is completed in February, the Boonesville facility will be the largest hard-cooked egg facility in the world.

In addition to the new machines, the expansion also includes the addition of 20,000 square feet of refrigerated warehouse space. All together, the facility will be expanded by 80,000 square feet. Prime Foods supplies eggs to customers in 24 states.

Plastics Company Expands in Evansville Berry Plastics Corporation has chosen Evansville, home of the company’s world headquarters, as the site for 120 new customer service, finance and general administration positions over the next three years. The positions are a result of continuing company growth as well as the consolidation of office locations in Rolling Meadows, IL and Minneapolis, MN. Berry, which employs more than 2,250 associates in Indiana and more than 15,000 worldwide, will invest $600,000 to consolidate its Rolling Meadows customer service department, and add finance and general and administrative positions from Minnesota at its southwestern Indiana headquarters.

The Indiana Economic Development Corporation offered Berry Plastics up to $900,000 in performance-based tax credits and up to $200,000 in training grants based on its job creation plans.

Automotive Lighting Maker to Establish Warrick County Facility 2037 Marina Cove Drive Hixson, TN 37343 P:423.847.8855 F: 423.847.8865 DouglasFoundry.com DF Douglas Foundry a subsidiary of Northland Components Inc.

20

North American Lighting, Inc., a manufacturer of automotive lighting and components, has broken ground on a new injection mold manufacturing facility in Elberfeld which will create up to 42 new jobs by 2014.

The company, an independent supplier of headlights, fog lamps, taillights and brake lights, will invest nearly $16.4 million to conwww.buildingindiananews.com

Data Company Adds Jobs The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane (NSWC Crane) has awarded new military contracts to Indianapolis-based Phoenix Data Corporation, in a move that will result in 20 new hires at Phoenix by the end of 2011.

A woman-owned technology and document management firm, Phoenix Data Corporation will provide NSWC Crane with engineers and computer programmers to scan, index and electronically archive classified naval documents. Phoenix received three additional partnering agreements with major defense contractors to provide NSWC Crane with engineering services, systems programming, IT support and technical personnel for

electronic warfare for Crane.

Phoenix anticipates that an existing contract with the state’s Family and Social Services Administration to process applications and documentation for the Eligibility Modernization Project could double the volume of documents it currently processes as FSSA rolls out that system to the remainder of Indiana’s 92 counties.

Cummins Plans Second HQ Expansion Cummins Inc. has announced its second major headquarters expansion in eight months, creating up to 600 new jobs by 2014.

Cummins’ latest expansion, an investment of $18 million, includes the construction of a 130,000-square-foot office building that will connect to the company’s corporate campus in downtown Columbus.

The announcement is the third expansion project in southern Indiana announced by Cummins in the past year. Once the new building is filled, most likely in the first half of 2013, Cummins will employ nearly 3,000 professionals in a two-block area of downtown Columbus, three times its local presence in 2008.

Cummins reported its most profitable year in company history in 2010, largely on the strength of significant growth in large international markets such as China, India and Brazil.

The company is the largest independent maker of diesel engines in the world. More than 60 percent of its sales are generated outside of the United States. Cummins, which currently - continued on pg 22

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BUSINESS BUZZ

struct a 34,000 square-foot facility where it will make injection molds for use at its manufacturing facilities across the Midwest and Southern United States. The facility will be located in the North Warrick Industrial Park.

North American Lighting’s Warrick County site will be its first in Indiana. The company plans to begin hiring engineers, machinists and tool makers later this year as operations commence at the new facility. The facility is expected to be completed by March 2012.

The Indiana Economic Development Corporation offered North American Lighting up to $600,000 in performance-based tax credits and up to $35,000 in training grants based on the company’s job creation plans. Warrick County has approved additional incentives.

BUSINESS BUZZ

employs more than 6,000 workers in Indiana, plans to continue hiring engineering, human resources, information technology, marketing and administrative staff for its headquarters.

The Indiana Economic Development Corporation will support the city of Columbus’ application to establish a Certified Technology Park (CTP) designation in the downtown area that encompasses the Cummins campus. The IEDC will also consider a request to amend the boundary of the city’s existing tech park as part of the project. The city of Columbus will provide $1 million for local education purposes, and at the request of the Columbus Economic Development Board, will also provide $12 million in additional local support for project construction costs.

Bed Repair Company to Centralize in Dearborn County Bed Techs, Inc., a remanufacturer of hospital beds, will expand operations in Dearborn County and create up to 55 new jobs by 2013.

Bed Techs, which reconditions Hill-Rom hospital beds and bed parts, will invest approximately $7.2 million to consolidate its Aurora and nearby Milan operations under one roof in Dearborn County.

The company, which will continue to employ its 50 current associates at the new facility, has already begun hiring and planned to hire 25 associates by the end of the year.

The Indiana Economic Development Corporation offered Bed Techs up to $255,000 in performance-based tax credits and up to $150,000 in training grants based on the company’s job creation plans. The Lawrenceburg Regional Economic Development Grant Fund awarded a grant to Bed Techs to aid in its expansion efforts with the help of the Dearborn County Economic Development Initiative.

GM Pumps Another $32 Million into Bedford Plant General Motors Powertrain plants in Ohio and Indiana that make transmissions for Buick and Chevrolet models with eAssist fuel-saving technology will get the bulk of a new $129 million investment from GM. The money is part of $2 billion being invested in 17 facilities in eight states over the next 18 months and will create or retain 4,000 jobs.

The Bedford facility, which earlier this year was named for a $49 million investment, is receiving $32 million for enhancements to the die-cast case and torque converter on the sixspeed transmission assembled in Toledo.

750 New Jobs for Jeffersonville Connextions, Inc., a technology and business services partner to the health care industry, has announced the addition of 750 jobs in Jeffersonville as a result of new business growth within its health care customer base.

The positions will be located at the existing Jeffersonville solution center and range from licensed and non-licensed health agent roles, to coaches, managers, technologists and more.

More than one-third of the positions will be year-round employment, and the remaining will be seasonal with strong opportunities for the top performers to remain on board year-round.

In response to the urgent need for more licensed insurance agents, Connextions is offering a free College of Insurance training at their Jeffersonville Solution Center to help interested Indiana and Kentucky residents become ready for state insurance exams that will enable them to become certified to sell health insurance.

Participants in the program are not required to work for Connextions, but qualified candidates who obtain their licenses will be extended offers to join the Connextions team.

Logistics Firm Bringing Jobs to Decatur County One Solution Logistics of Indiana, Inc., a division of Midwest Express Group, will expand its operations at Honda’s Greensburg plant, creating up to 191 jobs by 2012.

The company, which is the sole supplier of parts to Honda’s plant in Greensburg, will be hiring production associates, yard drivers, team leaders and managerial support staff to meet the production demands of Honda’s recently announced second shift at the plant.

The company was formed in June 2007 to support the manufacturing of automobiles at 22

www.buildingindiananews.com

the Honda Manufacturing facility in Greensburg.

The Indiana Economic Development Corporation offered the One Solution Logistics up to $125,000 in training grants based on the its creation plans.

Alliance Resource Partners (Tulsa, OK) has announced plans to develop a second coal mine in Gibson County. The Gibson South mine will be an underground mining complex utilizing four continuous mining units to access approximately 48.4 million tons of medium-sulfur coal from the Indiana No. 5 coal seam.

The new Gibson South mine will be located near the company’s current Gibson mining complex outside the city of Princeton. Initial production is currently expected to begin by the third quarter of 2014 and it is anticipated that at full capacity the Gibson South complex will employ approximately 310 miners and produce up to 3.3 million tons of coal annually.

Total capital expenditures to develop the Gibson South mining complex are currently estimated in a range of $200 to $210 million.

Car Dealer Buys Arena Naming Rights Tri-State Ford Dealers has acquired the naming rights for the new Evansville arena, now known as the Ford Center. Under the naming rights agreement, Tri-State Ford Dealers will pay the city more than $4.2 million over a 10-year period.

www.buildingindiananews.com

Software Company Grows Next Wave Systems, LLC, a contract engineering and technology firm, will expand operations in Bloomington, creating up to 60 new jobs by 2014.

The company, which specializes in alternative energy software products and integrated defense security systems, will invest $330,000 to make facility and software improvements in Bloomington.

The Indiana Economic Development Corporation has offered Next Wave up to $500,000 in performance-based tax credits and up to $6,650 in training grants based on the company’s job creation plans. The city of Bloomington approved additional property tax abatement.

For daily news from Southern Indiana and around the state, visit our blog at www.buildingindianablog.com and follow us on Twitter at @BuildingIndiana.

23

BUSINESS BUZZ

Mining Company to Dig Second Hole

The Ford Center is expected to draw more than 300,000 people through the doors in its first year with a variety of family entertainment and sporting events, including serving as the home court for the University of Evansville men’s and women’s basketball teams as well as the home ice for the Evansville IceMen hockey team of the Central Hockey League (CHL).

The Ford Center is expected to create more than 300 parttime jobs in positions such as ushers, ticket sellers, ticket takers, concessions, and catering.

People News Finan to Economic Development Post The Rush County Economic Development Corporation has named Jim Finan to the position of Executive Director. Finan has previous experience with Ball State University, Star Financial Bank and Vectren.

Chamberlain Joins Real Estate Firm CB Richard Ellis | Bradley (South Bend) and Real Estate Management Corporation have announced the addition of Kyle Chamberlin to their commercial real estate services and property management team as Contract Administrator. Chamberlain brings legal experience from previous positions with Barnes & Thornburg LLP and the Office of the Elkhart County Prosecuting Attorney.

24

Farmers Bank Names CFO Chad Kozuch has been tapped as Chief Financial Officer for The Farmers Bank (Frankfort). Kozuch has several years of experience in the banking industry. He obtained a vast amount of experience with a financial institution for six years before his 15 year employment as a bank examiner with the Department of Financial Institutions.

Ross Voted to NAOHP Board Tim Ross, Regional Administrative Director of Occupational/ Employee Health, of WorkingWell, has been named to the Advisory Board of the National Association of Occupational Health Professionals (NAOHP). The Association’s 2,000 members voted Ross to

one of two at-large positions on the Board.

He will serve a two-year term.

Kirby Advanced at Salin Bank Genan Kirby has been named Vice President, Retail Wealth Management, at Salin Bank (Indianapolis).

With 25 years of banking and investment experience, she is responsible for Trust and Investment Business Development, Investments and Financial Services.

Jasper County EDO Grows The Jasper County Economic Development Organization (JCEDO) has welcomed Emily Gross to its staff as Economic Development Coordinator.

Her professional portfolio

www.buildingindiananews.com

involves work with research, comprehensive planning, design guidelines, and adaptive use development.

Community Foundation Promotes Otte Community Foundation of Northwest Indiana, Inc., has promoted David Otte to Vice President of Engineering and Support Services. Otte began his career with Community Healthcare System in 2004, serving as Construction Manager. The St. John resident brings more than 26 years of construction experience to the position.

Santoni to New Post at ITC Indiana Trust and Investment Management Company (Muncie) has promoted Rob Santoni to Investment Officer. With ITC since 2006, Santoni is a graduate of Butler University with a degree in finance.

He has experience as a credit analyst and is a native of Muncie.

He joined the company, which markets pancake and waffle flour to the foodservice industry, in 1992 and was named President and CEO in 2002.

INCPAS Selects Pletcher Matt Pletcher, President of Insight Accounting Group, PC (Goshen) has been elected to the Indiana CPA Society (INCPAS) Board of Directors. He joined INCPAS in 1980 and has been active in the Society’s leadership cabinet and advisory council. Pletcher began his professional career as a tax supervisor at Ernest & Whinney in South Bend.

Smith Appointed to Commission Erin Smith, co-owner of Spotlight Strategies (Indianapolis), has been appointed to the Indiana Commission of Women by Sen. David Long, President Pro Tempore of the Indiana Senate.

Nelson Aboard at NIPSCO Angie Nelson has joined Merrillvillebased NIPSCO as Manager of Public Affairs for La Porte, St. Joseph, and Elkhart counties. Nelson is also an Adjunct Professor at Ivy Tech.

Hofer Joins Midwest Mole Brent Hofer has joined Midwest Mole, Inc. (Indianapolis) as a Project Engineer and Estimator.

He has more than 10 years of experience in the construction industry. Brent most recently worked as Chief Estimator and Project manager for Tramco, Inc. Express Welcomes Borders Express Employment Professionals (Indy South) located in Greenwood has named Angie Borders as Employment Specialist. Before joining Express she was an HR Manager with an Indianapolisbased recycling company.

Schmidt Named VP Diversified Marketing Strategies has promoted Chrischelle Schmidt, Director of Marketing, to Vice President, Business Development. Schmidt, a Crown Point native, joined the firm in February of 2008 and has more than two decades of sales and project management experience.

McKeel Wins SBA Award The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has named Rick McKeel, President and CEO of New Carbon Company, Inc. (South Bend) as the 2011 SBA Indiana Small Business Person of the Year. www.buildingindiananews.com

25

Photo Feature Firms Celebrate Statewide Award Up-and-coming companies from all around the state were recognized in Indiana in August during the fourth annual Indiana Companies to Watch reception, dinner and awards ceremony. Presented by the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, the award honors high-performing second-stage Hoosier companies employing six to 150 people and with annual revenues between $750,000 and $100 million.

Representatives from the 43 winning companies gather on stage at the fouth annual Indiana Companies to Watch awards dinner.

Winners List • Allegient - Indianapolis

• Kem Krest Corporation - Elkhart

• AMD Lasers, LLC - Indianapolis

• Language Training Center, Inc.

• Automatic Pool Covers, Inc. - Fishers • Axia Technology Partners - Indianapolis • BlueSky Technology Partners - Noblesville • Bostech - Indianapolis • Bottom-Line Performance, Inc. - New Palestine • Ciocca’s, Inc. - Fort Wayne • DeKALB Molded Plastics - Butler

- Indianapolis • MaddenCo, Inc. - Evansville • Midwest Orthotic Services, LLC - South Bend • Miller Consulting Group, Inc. - Noblesville • MMY Consulting, Inc. - Indianapolis • One Click Ventures - Greenwood • OnSite Occupational Health & Safety, Inc. - Princeton

• Dicor Corporation, Inc. - Elkhart

• RapidView, LLC - Rochester

• Diversified Marketing Strategies

• Retro-Tech Systems, Inc. - Valparaiso

- Crown Point • DonLevy Laboratories - Crown Point • Fatheadz, Inc. - Brownsburg • FlashPoint, Inc. - Indianapolis • Formstack - Indianapolis • General Sheet Metal Works - South Bend • High Performance Alloys - Windfall

• Rivera Group, Inc. - Sellersburg • Royal United Mortgage - Indianapolis • Scorpion Protective Coatings, Inc. - Cloverdale • SportCrafters Inc. dba Spin Zone Cycling - Granger • STIMULUS Engineering - Loogootee • Stonegate Mortgage Corporation - Fishers

• Home Health Depot - Indianapolis

• Sun King Brewing Co. - Indianapolis

• In Touch Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

• Team Quality Services - Auburn

- Valparaiso • Indigo BioSystems, Inc. - Indianapolis • Indy Composite Works, Inc. - Indianapolis • Jackson Systems, LLC - Indianapolis

26

(l. to r.) Kurt Minko, Retro-Tech; Anne Van Keppel, Valparaiso University; Charlie McGill; and Jeff Jackson, Retro-Tech, at the VIP reception. Valparaiso-based Retro-Tech was among 2011’s Companies to Watch.

• The Basement Design + Motion, LLC - Indianapolis • Tippmann Engineering, Inc. - Fort Wayne • VF Garza El Popular - East Chicago

(l. to r.) Marcus Chandler, Partner, Carnes & Thornburg; Vic Lechtenberg, Vice-Provost for Engagement, Purdue University; Andrea M. Pearman, President and CEO, Diversified Marketing Strategies; Jeff Heinzmann, Indiana Small Business Development Center. www.buildingindiananews.com

IRMCA Honors Top Concrete Projects The Indiana Ready Mixed Concrete Association (IRMCA) presented the 2010 Outstanding Concrete Achievement Awards for projects in the State of Indiana earlier this year in Indianapolis. Ozinga Ready Mix Concrete, Inc., was honored at the awards for four projects. IRMCA presents these awards to recognize extensive application or imaginative use of concrete; and to honor the accomplishments of project owners, architects, engineers, contractors, owners and ready mixed concrete producers.

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POUNDS In the category of Concrete Infrastructure Projects – Parking Lots over 500 cubic yards, the winner was the East Port Centre Drive in Valparaiso. The project team included Grand Corporation, Design Collaborative, Inc., C & S Concrete Construction, Inc., and Ozinga Ready Mix Concrete, Inc.

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In the category of Concrete Infrastructure Projects - Other, the winner was the New Buffalo Roller Compacted Concrete Project located in New Buffalo, Michigan. The project team included Rieth-Riley Construction Co., Inc., Vulcan Materials, and Ozinga Ready Mix Concrete, Inc. (For details, see pages 73-74 of the May/June issue of Building Indiana, available at www.buildingindiananews.com.)

In the category of Concrete Infrastructure Projects - Flowable Fill, the winner was the BP Products North America Operations Canadian Crude located in Whiting. The project team included Fluor Enterprises, Inc., Foster Wheeler USA Corporation, Jacobs Field Services of North America, Inc. Regional Contractors Alliance LLC, The American Group of Constructors (TAG), Baker Concrete Construction and Ozinga Ready Mix Concrete, Inc.

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In the category of Concrete Residential Projects – Patterned/Decorative, the winner was the Longview Residence in Hanna, Indiana. The project team included Albert Haverstock, John Murro, Jim Guth, Stone Homes, Flanders Concrete Construction and Ozinga Ready Mix Concrete, Inc. www.buildingindiananews.com

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27

STATE OF THE INDUSTRY

A Capital

Error A new law that passed under the radar during the last session of the Assembly will lead to taxpayers paying more for capital projects.

By Dewey Pearman, Executive Director, Construction Advancement Foundation

T

he Indiana General Assembly has a longstanding tradition of protecting the interests of local property tax payers. This practice has been ratcheted up substantially in recent years with the passage of such legislation as property tax caps and the requirements for passage of referendums on many capital projects at the local level. The Legislature’s desire to protect property owners from escalating property taxes makes the passage of a new law – which almost certainly will raise the cost of capital projects and supply purchases by local government – perplexing.

One of the underpinnings of Indiana’s public bid law has long been the need to ensure that local property tax payers do not pay more for capital projects than necessary. That is the spirit and the intent of the law’s requirement that contracts for public work projects be awarded to the lowest responsible and responsive bidder.

However, in the last few hours of the 2011 session of the Indiana General Assembly, a small provision was quietly 28

slipped into the 146-page House Enrolled Act 1004. That provision substantially changes Indiana’s public bid law in a way that guarantees taxpayers will be forced to pay more for many capital projects and opens the door for unfair competitive advantages to be created between bidders.

The new law gives “local Indiana businesses,” as defined by the law, the ability to claim a price preference of between one

The new law will create a great deal of ambiguity and uncertainty in the bid process. and five percent, depending on the size of the project. Under this law, if the lowest responsive/responsible bidder is not a “local Indiana business” and there is a “local Indiana business” that has submitted a bid and has claimed the price preference, then the contract may be awarded to the higher-priced bidder. A “local Indiana Business” refers to any of the following: • A business whose principal place of

business is located in an affected county.

• A business that pays majority of its payroll (in dollar volume) to residents of affected counties.

• A business that employs residents of affected counties as a majority of its employees.

• A business that makes significant capital investments in the affected counties as defined in rules adopted by the political subdivision.

• A business that has substantial positive economic impact on the affected counties as defined by criteria in rules and adopted by the political subdivision.

An “affected county” refers to a county in which the political subdivision awarding the contract is located, or is adjacent to that county.

While the first three of these criteria are pretty straightforward and objective in nature, the last two are more subjective. This opens the door for contracts to be awarded on a basis other than what’s www.buildingindiananews.com

in the best interest of taxpayers – cronyism, political favors, campaign contributions, etc.

The criteria adopted by the local agency can be tailored and interpreted so as to favor certain bidders over others.

The new law will create a great deal of ambiguity and uncertainty in the bid process.

Such conditions almost always results in taxpayers paying more for capital projects. This uncertainty is created in the key language of the law: (d) Notwithstanding provisions of this chapter that require the award of a contract to the lowest responsive and responsible bidder or the lowest responsive and responsible quarter, but subject to subsection (e), a contract shall be awarded to the lowest responsive and responsible local Indiana business that claims the preference provided by this section.

This law is likely to have the secondary effect of limiting competition by reducing the number of bidders on a project. (e) Notwithstanding subsection (d), a contract shall be awarded to the lowest responsive and responsible bidder or quarter, regardless of the preference provided in this section, if the lowest responsive and responsible bidder or quarter is a local Indiana business.

Under this language if contractor A is a local Indiana business and files the required paperwork to claim the preference, and contractor B is a local Indiana business but does not file for the preference, and contactor C is a non-local Indiana business, the contract could be awarded to contractor A even though his bid to perform the work is higher than either contractor B or C. This law is likely to have the secondary effect of limiting competition by reducing the number of bidders on a project. Contractors who feel they can not be competitive because of the price preferences available to their competitors may choose not to bid on the project.

Reducing the number of bidders on a project often has the affect of higher bid prices among the remaining bidders.

For the sake of Indiana taxpayers this is a law that should be repealed in the next legislative session. www.buildingindiananews.com

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29

RULE OF LAW

Legal

Moves

Several important changes have been made in Indiana employment laws recently that companies should be aware of.

By Kevin E. Steele, Burke Costanza & Carberry LLP

W

ith the year winding down, it is an opportune time to look back at some of the labor and employment law changes impacting Indiana businesses and look ahead for potential changes to come. Despite the legislative walkout in the Indiana House that stymied lawmaking for an extended period, several Indiana statutes were changed that impact Indiana businesses.

CCWA Amendments The Indiana Common Construction Wage Act (“CCWA�) was amended effective July 1, 2011. The CCWA committees determine the scale of wages to be paid to workers on public construction projects 30

covered by the act. Previously, any public construction project where the cost was expected to exceed $150,000 was subject to the CCWA. However, due to an error in the amendment, there is no dollar-value threshold for public projects awarded between July 1 and December 31, 2011.

This means that the CCWA will apply to most public construction projects awarded until the end of 2011 and the public agency responsible will need to submit the project to a CCWA committee for determination of a wage scale for the job.

Thereafter, the dollar-value threshold for application of the CCWA rises to $250,000 on January 1, 2012 and to $350,000 on January 1, 2013.

Previously, a determination of the

scale of wages for a covered construction project applied only to the project under consideration and only for contracts awarded within twelve months of the adoption of the wage scale. As amended, the CCWA scale of wages will apply to any project awarded within three months by the same government agency in the same Indiana county. Due to the amendment, an awarding agency should make sure to adopt complete wage scales, because if it fails to list a trade or craft, the awarding agency must reconstitute a committee to determine the scale of wages applicable to the missing trade or craft.

Finally, the amended CCWA prohibits bid-splitting in order to avoid the application of the CCWA and contains a two-year www.buildingindiananews.com

debarment penalty for knowing violations of the bid-splitting provisions.

Unemployment Compensation Changes have also been made to Indiana’s Unemployment Compensation statutes. Starting July 1, 2011, an individual is not eligible for unemployment benefits if the person fails, without good cause, to accept an offer of suitable work. Further, a person is considered to have refused suitable work if he or she fails a drug test or refuses to take a drug test required by the prospective employer.

Effective October 1, 2011, a worker who accepts a severance package from an employer in connection with a layoff or plant closing will have their benefits reduced or eliminated.

Firearms Last year, Indiana passed a law which prohibits most employers from adopting a rule or policy prohibiting employees from possessing firearms or ammunition at work so long as they are kept in a locked

vehicle and out of sight. Effective July 1, 2011, Indiana adopted an additional law which prohibits an employer from conditioning employment or any term of employment on employees or applicants forgoing any right they have as gun owners.

The law also prohibits employees and job applicants from having to disclose information about their ownership, use, possession or transportation of firearms or ammunition. Of crucial note for employers is that the new law allows for an award of punitive damages against employers who knowingly or willfully violate the law.

Union Balloting Effective July 1, 2011 a new Indiana statute provides employees with the right to vote by secret ballot in any election that is required by Indiana or federal law for the designation, authorization or retention of employee representation. The statute also provides for the right of the employer to engage in a campaign in connection with such an election.

However, it remains to be seen what

effect this new law will have. The National Labor Relations Board has filed suit against Arizona to invalidate a similar law.

Right to Work Finally, one of the fights which led to the 2011 legislative walkout appears headed back to the state legislature in its next session. On July 26, 2011 the Indiana General Assembly held a hearing on whether Indiana should become the 23rd state to pass “Right to Work” legislation.

For the uninitiated, “Right to Work” laws prohibit agreements between employers and labor unions that make membership, payment of union dues or fees a condition of employment. (Editor’s note: for more details, see pages 36-37 of the March/April 2011 issue of Building Indiana, available in our online archives at www.buildingindiananews.com.)

The battle lines are already being drawn on the issue and it promises to be one of the most contentious debates the General Assembly has entertained in years.

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SAFETY ZONE

Acronym Nirvana Will efforts to streamline, simplify and harmonize regulations bring things more in tune for Indiana businesses?

By Mark Jaeger, Safety Coordinator, DLZ Corporation

I

n the safety world, dealing with complicated regulatory and government agencies is a daily task.

OSHA, EPA, FRA, FAA, ANSI, NIOSH, USACE are just a few of the multilettered acronyms we deal with every day.

Each business genre has its own initialed shorthand, of course, but attempts to make things “easier” often result in even more confusion for those not versed in a specific industry’s code.

So when I heard there were changes this year to some of the rule-making processes and regulations within OSHA that would make my life easier, and jobsite safety less confusing for the workers, I was suspicious. So I dug into the changes and their impact on businesses throughout Indiana to see if the government’s reduction of the number of letters in an acronym would really make things easier to understand.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is releasing a series of updated, and supposedly “streamlined” final rules that are touted as simplifying standards while reducing employer burdens. In addition, OSHA has stated these new rules will 32

help keep standards up-to-date and better enable employers to comply with their regulatory obligations.

Streamlined Rules According to Jim Arendas, Environmental Safety & Health Director for the Construction Advancement Foundation and a member of Northwest Indiana Business Round Table’s safety sub-committee, “these updates will be in line with the goals of the ‘Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review,’ issued in January 2011 to simplify standards and reduce unnecessary regulatory burdens. The rule will update OSHA’s standards and identify requirements for revision based on an agency review, comments from the public and recommendations from the Office of Management and Budget.”

Hmmm…no shortened acronyms here.

But there does appear to be progress in time frames for implementation.

In speaking with safety professionals, these are some of the revisions which impact businesses and employees: ◆ The new rules update the definition of “potable water” to be consistent with the

current Environmental Protection Agency standards instead of the outdated Public Health Service Corps definition. ◆ The rules remove an outdated requirement that hand dryers use warm air because new technology has produced handdryers that do not involve hot or warm air. ◆ The new rules delete a number of requirements for employers to transmit exposure and medical records to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) because, according to NIOSH, these records did not serve a useful research purpose. ◆ Slings standards will also be updated and streamlined by requiring that employers use only slings marked with manufacturers’ loading information. ◆ There are also new crane standards, which were reviewed in the January/February 2011 issue of Building indiana.

Still no significant acronym changes to test my theory. And then I found it, the one place safety professionals have asked for streamlining and less confusing information for employees and workers – Hazar Communication, or the “HazCom” Standard.Stephan Arndt, President of Above the www.buildingindiananews.com

material data sheets being sent to companies around the state. There will be no changes in the training and commu-

GHS supplies a mechanism to meet the requirements of a Hazard Communication system, improving global competitiveness. nication of the information. The changes within companies’ HazCom program will be the format of the data sheets and the labeling which workers should be trained

on each year anyway. It will be easier and take less time after the initial training because of the standardization and thus not a significant cost.”

“Oh, there is one significant change in the naming of data sheets,” she adds.

“They are changing from Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS), to just Safety Data Sheets (SDS).”

Bingo! The Holy Grail of my theory.

By reducing the number of letter initials in a regulatory agency’s acronyms, there can be cost savings, improved worker safety, and less confusing standards.

Now, who wants to tackle the IRS?

Information Inform that matters BCRC is very passionate about what we do. Our services promote the well-being and safety of employees in the workplace. Empowering our members with information is just one way BCRC does this.

It is our purpose to provide a vehicle to help establish and maintain a workplace free of the destructive effects caused by the use of drugs and alcohol.

Smooth Changeover The greatest concerns for businesses were, does this mean I have to re-write my entire Hazard Communication program? Will I have to take countless hours re-training workers? Will this improve worker protection? And, what will this cost me? Arndt says it seems that most businesses have already implemented these changes in the development of updated data sheets, or have plans in place for a smooth transition.

Nor does the UN program conflict with OSHA. “There should be no major significant changes in the way OSHA’s Hazard Communication standard will be implemented” says Pamela (Ferrante) Walaski, President of JC Safety & Environmental. “The major impact will be seen in the avalanche of updated chemical and www.buildingindiananews.com

If you require more information or would like to speak with us directly, please feel free to contact BCRC at anytime.

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Tracks JobSite Safety, a safety manpower and training company, has firsthand knowledge of the opportunities for improvement within the HazCom standards.

“We’ve complained for years about the oft times confusing myriad of information we have to train workers on chemical and material hazards in the workplace,” he says. “The intent of the standard was to protect the worker through ‘Right to Know’ information presented in Material Safety Data Sheets, or MSDS.” But there was not a standardized format for manufactures to follow.

“One manufacturer may have a one page MSDS, and another may have a seven page MSDS for relatively the same chemical,” Arndt says. “Even the labeling wasn’t standardized for everyone to understand.”

This changed with the arrival of the UN Global Harmonization initiative, officially called the United Nations Global Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals, or GHS, for short. (Whoa! Eleven words condensed into a three letter acronym. I may be onto something here.)

It actually is not a rule or standard at all, but a document (referred to as “The Purple Book”) which establishes agreed-upon hazard classifications and communication provisions with explanatory information on how to apply the system. The elements of the GHS supply a mechanism, or building blocks, to meet the basic requirements of a Hazard Communication system. In a global marketplace, this helps ensure the safe use of chemicals as they move through the product life cycle.

877-988-5400 info@bcrcnet.com

33

THE BOTTOM LINE

Changing the Model Changing your company’s business model to stoke growth and profits has become a common exercise. Here’s how to do it right.

By George F. Brown, Jr., CEO, Blue Canyon Partners

M

aking changes to the business model has become a high-frequency activity these days.

From companies looking to expand globally to those exploring e-commerce opportunities to firms entering new markets, the search for growth and profits is pushing corporations in new and unexpected directions. But identifying the opportunity is the easy part; the challenge lies in making the transition from an existing to a new business model One recent example we encountered was a manufacturer of capital equipment.

Their technology was a market leader among larger businesses, but they had not been nearly as successful among small and medium-sized companies. In researching the problem, they found that smaller firms didn’t have the internal infrastructure to support the technology included in their products, so they were taking the “safe” route associated with competing products.

As a result, several years ago, the firm decided to create a customer service arm for smaller firms that bought their equipment.

“We had no idea what we were getting into,” says one of the company’s senior executives. “First of all, we learned that our customers assumed that we were available to provide service on a 24/7 basis. Our operations traditionally involved normal business hours – and we had assumed the same for the service arm we created. That was wrong, and a costly mistake as we had to add staff for the many hours we had assumed we didn’t need to cover.

“Second, we thought our responsibilities were tied to our products. This too was 34

off the mark. More than half of the service calls that we got were associated with something that was at best peripheral to our products, some not in any way linked except in the minds of our customers. But we had to learn the larger systems in which our products were operating, and be able to steer our customers towards a solution to whatever problems they had.

“And as one more illustration, we sell through a dealer network, a group of firms with which we’ve had great relationships over the years. I’ve never seen such a firestorm as occurred when our service people started working directly with the custom-

“Firms that develop these skills will be well-equipped to manage complex changes to business models.” ers. You would have thought we were the competition – at least that’s how the dealers reacted. It took us over a year to calm the waters with our dealers, and even today some of them still seem suspicious of us.”

This firm eventually got it right, gaining market share with the small and medium-sized businesses in their target market. They also learned a lot about making changes to their business model in the process. “I didn’t even know what our business model was,” the senior executive says. “But I’ve learned my lesson – whatever it is, beware of making changes to it.”

However, the reality is that business model changes are often needed. In our

research, seven themes were mentioned by executives as tools for ensuring success.

The two most frequently mentioned were oriented towards addressing the biggest overall challenge, internal resistance to the new business model.

Leadership Buy-in and Involvement was at the top of the list of recommendations to overcome internal resistance. Some observations of executives: “C-Level commitment is critical. Senior executives have to understand the plan, be able to explain it and be able to sell it to employees and customers.”

“Problem-solving has to come from the most senior levels of the corporation.

That’s the only place where roadblocks can be overcome, where options can be approved.”

Communication, the second mostfrequently cited priority, goes hand in hand with leadership involvement. One of the points frequently made involved selling the changes to external audiences – not just customers, but also distributors, suppliers, and others. This requires the ability to translate the changes from the firm’s own www.buildingindiananews.com

high failure rate that it’s impossible to discern exactly where things went wrong. But when the strategy is defined in a meaningful “what-who-when” action plan, the team has a roadmap to follow and a basis for assessing progress and problems.

perspective to those relevant to the external audiences.

Testing, Risk Identification, and Adequate Funding reflected responses that cited “the unknowns” as the key source of failures. One executive emphasized the need for internal and external beta testing of the planned changes before implementation was approved. Another executive linked risk assessment and adequate funding, as no plan ever goes as planned, but funding levels typically assume a smooth path from start to finish.

A third recommendation emphasized the need to pre-test key systems and processes within the company. While changes might be centered elsewhere, virtually every change these days impacts financial systems, enterprise IT systems, fulfillment systems, etc.

A Detailed, Fact-Based Strategy also rated highly. Offthe-cuff strategies have such a www.buildingindiananews.com

Another set of recommendations advocated a Full Time Project Team with the Right Skills. Quite frequently, projects failed because of team members’ existing commitments to their “day jobs.” “If it’s important enough to do, it’s important enough to put people on the project full time” was one comment.

The “right skills” was another theme. New business models often require skills not resident in the firm. But too many firms assume that these skills can be quickly learned, and fail to source individuals with the necessary expertise to be successful.

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Monitoring, Learning, and Removing Barriers was cited as important because no major project goes without surprises and monitoring processes ensure the involvement of key members of the management team, which is essential when barriers need to be removed.

Observations related to the need for Best-in-Class Project Management emphasize that skills associated with implementation are every bit as demanding as those associated with strategy development. Firms that develop these skills will be well-equipped to manage complex changes to business models required from time to time. Specific recommendations involved almost every phase of project management, but the one given most weight was developing metrics through which progress can be measured and managed.

35

BEING PRODUCTIVE

High Time to Test A new program gives small businesses a chance to boost morale, and the bottom line, by establishing a drug-free workplace program.

By David Wellman

N

o employer wants to think that their employees are drunk, high or coked-out on the job, but the chances are good that some of them are. And those employees are driving costs up, efficiencies down and may be outright stealing from the company to boot.

Yet for a variety of reasons, ranging from a lack of money or resources to a belief that most employees resent drug testing programs, many small business aren’t screening their staff for substance abuse.

Now, a new statewide program is seeking to change that by providing small companies with the tools they need to put a drugfree workplace policy in place – and one testing services provider has stepped up to offer discounts on the actual tests as well.

The new program, Drug-Free Hoosiers, is the brainchild of Mary Wellnitz, CEO and President of Figment Group, Inc., a La Porte-based company that provides drug-free workplace, federal regulatory consulting and safety compliance services. Funded by a two-year grant from the Small Business Administration, it offers a 72-page toolkit (available at drugfreehoosiers.com) that includes a legally vetted drug-free workplace policy and a training program that can be run by the employer or, on the SBA grant’s dime, by Figment Group.

The toolkit does have a small cost, $200, but Wellnitz says that companies will recoup that money quickly by implementing the policy. “Drug and alcohol 36

abuse accounts for 50 percent of workplace thefts, it’s the third-leading cause of workplace violence and users are 300 percent more likely to have higher medi-

cal insurance costs,” she points out. Due to absenteeism, accidents, lost productivity and similar issues, each substance abuser inflicts an average annual cost of $7,000 to $9,000 on their employer.

Yet not only do many companies not test as a matter of routine, substance abusers are not considered a workplace hazard by the Occupational Health & Safety Administration (OSHA), something that befuddles and frustrates Wellnitz. “Fifty percent of workplace accidents are related to drugs or alcohol,” she says. “Given that, wouldn’t you think a drug user would be a

FAQ: What’s included in a Drug-Free Workplace Program?

• Drug-Free Workplace Policy: A formal document outlining why the employer is becoming a drug-free workplace, a statement of what behaviors are prohibited in the workplace, and a statement of consequences for violating the policy.

• Supervisor Training: Supervisors should be trained in how to implement the drug-free workplace policy, how to identify signs and symptoms of substance abuse, and how to refer employees to assistance when needed.

• Employee and Working Parent Education: All employees need to be educated on the contents of your drug-free workplace policy, the effects of drugs and alcohol in the workplace, tips on keeping children drug free, and where to go if they or their family need help with a substance abuse problem.

• Employee Assistance Program: Also known as EAPs, these programs help employees with substance abuse problems overcome their addictions. EAPs can range from a simple resource sheet to employer-provided counseling.

• Drug Testing: Drug testing is the heart of any DFWP. The specifics of when and who is drug tested should be outlined in your drug-free workplace policy, but many employers test potential hires, employees involved in accidents, or randomly selected employees. www.buildingindiananews.com

By the Numbers: Substance Abusers

• Absent three times more often • 33 percent less productive • The cause of 40 percent of industrial fatalities • Three times more likely to have an accident • Five times more likely to file a workers’ comp claim • 300 percent more likely to have higher medical insurance costs • The cause of 50 percent of workplace thefts and fraud • The third leading cause of workplace violence • 50 percent of workers’ compensation claims are related to substance abuse

hazard on the job?” At the very least, employers should insist on testing after an accident, because while an accident victim being drunk or stoned won’t absolve them from covering their medical costs, it does mean they don’t have to pay workers’ compensation.

But if OSHA doesn’t consider substance abusers a job hazard, many medical insurance companies do. “Check with your provider,” Wellnitz urges. “You may get a discount if you have a drug-free workplace policy in place.” Given the soaring costs of health care, that discount alone could easily pay back any costs involved in establishing a drugfree program.

Drug-Free Hoosiers has found several partners, including Purdue University, all of the Indiana Small Business Development Centers around the state www.buildingindiananews.com

and the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute. Recently, Michigan City-based WorkingWell, whose suite of occupational health services includes drug testing, joined up, agreeing to administer drug tests to program participants for a reduced rate.

“It was a great fit for us,” says Tim Ross, Regional Administrative Director of Occupational/Employee Health for WorkingWell. “We have worked with Mary in the past on a number of other initiatives, so we have partnered with them on Drug-Free Hoosiers and given them a discount to help them promote the program in our markets.”

Contrary to what employers sometimes believe, “your employees are for this,” Wellnitz says. “What we usually hear from employees after management decides to move ahead with a program is, what took them so long to figure this out?”

Drug-testing program are also key to economic development, Wellnitz adds. “The training in a drug-free workplace program is all dedicated to education on the impact of drugs and goes beyond the workplace to the home,” Wellnitz explains. “Schools, business and people at home need to work together to create not just drug-free workplaces but drug-free communities, otherwise you won’t be able to boost the local economy.”

Wellnitz views the DrugFree Hoosiers program as seed money for this. “Try it out, see how it works, and measure again in 18 to 24 months to see the impact,” she says. “You’ll make your community better – and maybe save somebody, too.”

37

MASS PRODUCTION

Building

Health

Onsite clinics are becoming a common site at manufacturing and other facilities around the state.

By Rachel Savieo, Communications Coordinator, Infinity Employer Health Solutions

E

mployee onsite health care centers have increased in popularity and evolved over the past several years.

Today, clinics are located in a wide range of employer settings, including manufacturing, transportation, municipalities and schools. Clinics have migrated from an occupational health focus to encompass a broader scope including primary care and wellness programming. This partnership between primary care

38

physicians and wellness providers is powerful, allowing for the traditional treatment of acute conditions, with ongoing follow-up care provided by the wellness practitioner to address underlying lifestyle behaviors.

The focus shifts to the whole person and relationships are developed that foster a high level of trust and communication.

The approach taken when implementing an onsite clinic in a manufacturing facility is strikingly similar to the approach taken for other types of employers. The clinic may naturally focus on safety and occupational health needs if the access to those services is not already sufficient. However, the need to address underlying health concerns to prevent workplace injuries is leading manufacturers to consider onsite clinics with a primary care and wellness programming focus.

Onsite clinics benefit both the employee and the

employer in a variety of ways. First and foremost, employees have a low- or no-cost option for any immediate health concerns.

At the first sign of illness or injury, the employee can be seen by a primary care physician and treated or referred appropriately.

The majority of onsite clinics allow the employee to be seen without a co-pay. This encourages employees who may have delayed or completely avoided seeing a physician due to the co-pay to be seen by a physician, treated, and have the issue resolved in an efficient manner.

The employee also benefits from a dedicated staff of clinicians who understand the population’s needs and are prepared to address common concerns. In today’s volatile economy, it is immensely valuable to have a clinic staff which anticipates the needs of the employer, whether or not they are related to common workplace illness and injuries, or helps manage the stress related to certain business cycles and changes. The impact of the relationships built between employees and the healthcare center staff cannot be understated as a means to improve workplace morale and increase employee retention.

Determining whether a clinic is the next best step for an organization requires an in-depth consultation with an experienced clinic provider. Some initial questions that should be considered include: • What are the intended goals of the onsite clinic?

• What are the main health concerns within the organization?

• What type of benefits structure is provided?

• Does the work location allow for convenient access to health care?

• Do your health care expenses make the investment of an onsite clinic worthwhile?

Employers who opt for an onsite clinic can expect a three to five percent reduction in their overall medical spending trend by year three. Employers who implement a clinic with a well-orchestrated opening and carefully managed operating hours can expect to recoup the operating expenses by the end of the first year. Of course, any ROI calculation is dependent upon the overall scope of the onsite clinic services, benefit design, and up-front investment. www.buildingindiananews.com

www.buildingindiananews.com

39

SMALL BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT

Changing of the

Guard Retiring Indiana banker and community leader leaves a legacy of achievement in building and growing businesses throughout Northwest Indiana.

By David Wellman

W

hen Tom Galovic took the job of President and Executive Director of the Regional Development Company three years ago, the veteran Indiana banker envisioned “a grand old time” helping small businesses in the northern part of the state navigate the ins and outs of U.S. Small Business Administration loans that still left him ample time to work on his golf swing.

Of course, the economy promptly tanked, conventional lending options dried up and the Valparaiso-based RDC – like many other Certified Development Companies that administer the SBA’s 504 lending program nationwide – suddenly found its services in demand as small businesses scrambled for funding.

“It became more of a challenge than I expected,” recalls Galovic, who retired from the RDC in August. “But it turned out to be an ideal job for me because I had worked with or for so many of the lenders in the 40

area, and part of the challenge was that we still had to have a bank partner on the loans.”

Prior to joining the RDC, Galovic was President and CEO of Mercantile Bank until its sale in 2004. He had also served as President and CEO of the Northern Division of Civitas Bank (now Fifth Third) and Senior Vice President of Gainer Bank/NBD. “It also helped that in my travels around the region I had met a lot of people in the marketplace,” he adds. So he was able to draw on connections through groups such as the Northwest Indiana Forum and area chambers of commerce and economic development groups to help build the cases for why a bank should support this or that project.

“Tom’s leadership has been instrumental in guiding the RDC successfully through the most difficult economy that any of us have known,” says Dewey Pearman, Chairman of the Board of the RDC. “He put the RDC on the forefront of lending at a time when traditional lending options were dry-

ing up and helped businesses throughout Northwest Indiana expand and grow despite the tough times.”

The last three years weren’t Galovic’s first encounter with rough economic waters. “I went through worse from 1979 to 1981, when unemployment was at 16 percent and the prime rate was 22 percent,” he says. What changed this time around as compared to then was the reaction.

“Back then, the bank examiners came in and said, you need to find a way to help these people. Now, the examiners are coming in and dictating what the banks can and can’t do,” he says. “The truth is, most banks like to help people, and after four decades in lending I can tell you that [tight credit] is not the bankers’ fault.”

Fortunately, things finally appear to be turning around. The RDC’s loan volume initially dropped 50 percent when the recession hit, recovered about halfway the next year, and in 2011 “we’re looking at a year that’s almost close to normal,” Galovic www.buildingindiananews.com

says. And getting that small business lending engine back up to speed is critical for the region’s economic development.

“Northwest Indiana is small business,” Galovic says. “I’m not sure most people realize that. We only have one Fortune 500 company, NIPSCO. From an economic development standpoint, they do a marvelous job and without them we would be in real trouble. But 95 percent of the companies in Northwest Indiana are small businesses, and that’s what makes this place go.”

Galovic was succeeded by Erica Passauer, previously the RDC’s Senior Vice President of Lending. Through the trying times, Galovic says, “Erica has been wonderful working with the lenders to make sure that we got something done and in front of the

A healthy workforce.

The first step to building a healthy community.

“95 percent of the companies in Northwest Indiana are small businesses, and that’s what makes this place go.”

- Tom Galovic, Departing President and Executive Director, RDC SBA for approval.” Passauer holds a degree from Indiana University Northwest and prior to joining the RDC worked in commercial lending and business development for Horizon Bank.

“Tom leaves behind some big shoes to fill, but the organization is in great shape, and we have a strong board and a terrific staff,” says Passauer, a four-year veteran of the organization. “I couldn’t ask for a better opportunity.” Passauer’s position was in turn assumed by Niccole Zell, formerly the RDC’s Portfolio Manager.

“While we are sad to see Tom go, we couldn’t ask for a better successor than Erica,” says Pearman. “Her strong leadership skills and experience will ensure that the RDC continues to be an engine for business and economic development in Northwest Indiana.”

As for Galovic, it looks like he finally get that time on the links.“It has been an honor and a privilege to serve the businesses and communities of Northwest Indiana,” Galovic said. “Even thought my wife Denise and I will be retiring to Orlando, we will always think of Northwest Indiana as home.”

As an employer, you know that a happy, healthy workforce is a productive workforce. And one of the keys to health and happiness is great health insurance, which is exactly what PHP provides. We have an array of options that we can custom fit so that the coverage you provide is exactly what your employees need and you can afford. Give us a call or visit us on the web and let’s get started on providing you with a more productive workplace.

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www.phpni.com 41

www.buildingindiananews.com Building Indiana - Workforce - 0511.indd 1

5/11/2011 2:51:08 PM

COVER STORY

Developing the Future

Building Indiana’s inaugural Economic Development Awards.

By David Wellman

W

hat constitutes excellence in economic development?

Creating and retaining jobs, surely. Attracting strong financial investments? Of course. But most of all, it’s building for both the present and tomorrow – creating opportunities that benefit communities now but set the stage for future growth.

Those were the criteria that Building Indiana asked companies, local leaders and economic development officials to show us for our first-ever Economic Development Awards (we’re still working on the snazzy name!) and that’s exactly what they did. From turning cornfields into tech centers to leveraging new industries from old to creating new venues for tourism, these efforts have already created thousands of jobs and will continue to create more going forward. And they demonstrate that no matter where a community is located, there are always opportunties for those bold and visionary enough to grasp them.

42

Quality Connection

I

t’s something of a cliché to say that we still make things in Indiana, but a recent analysis of federal data by The Business Journals found that not only is it true, it’s very true. Manufacturing accounts for more than 27 percent of Indiana’s gross state product, the highest share in the nation. Oregon comes in second at 22.3 percent, and no other state exceeds 20 percent.

At the same time, people haven’t become any less demanding about the things they buy. “The American consumer continues to demand perfection,” says Tom Gray, COO of Stratosphere Quality. “Think back 25 years. It used to be common to see cars stalled on the side of the highway. But not any more. Why? Because people said, we’re not going to put up with that.”

The drive for quality has fixated American manufacturing for decades, from “quality circles” to Six Sigma programs. These days, it’s even more critical as companies seek to cut inventories and produce on demand as competition intensifies. “All big manufacturing companies keep a tally of where their chronic supply problems are, and no one wants to be on that list,” Gray says.

Keeping Indiana Manufacturers Competitive Keeping manufacturers in Indiana and around the Midwest off those lists is Stratosphere’s mission. The two-year-old company, which saw growth double in its second year and is on course to double again in its third, has about 700 employees in the Midwest, upper South and in Toronto, Canada. The biggest group, about 200, are based in Indiana and dedicated to boosting the state’s manufacturing competitiveness. The company announced plans in August to add another 150 people

at its Fishers HQ by the end 2011 of 2012, and a total of 400 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT throughout its market area.

AWARDS “Many manufacturers statewide WINNER impose significant penalties on suppliers if bad parts make it to the line,” Gray explains. “And if suppliers have to shut down lines to find problems, that can cost them tens of thousands of dollars a minute.” But few companies can afford to keep a troubleshooting staff in-house just in case of a problem.

Stratosphere provides quality assurance services as they are needed and on a regular basis, including inspection and sorts, data management and launch support. “A lot of what we do is built around ensuring that things are built as designed,” Gray says. “We’re our clients’ last defense against imperfection.”

Medical Business Booming Traditionally, the company’s strong suit has been the automotive industry, but that has lately begun to change. “In the last 18 months, business has really skyrocketed for us here in Indiana,” Gray says. Much of that is due to new markets. “We’ve done really, really good in the automotive space, but now we are doing a lot of work for a medical device company in Indiana and an Indiana medical equipment manufacturer.” Stratosphere has also picked up new business in fields as diverse as construction and appliances.

“We’re really excited,” he says. “We see such a great opportunity as the economy rebounds and believe we are a great asset for Indiana companies.” www.buildingindiananews.com

Retaining and Growing Hoosier Jobs

E

conomic development includes retaining existing companies, which is just as important as bringing in new business but generally gets far less publicity.

The City of Greenfield scored on both those fronts in a deal with Stanley Black & Decker which is bringing new jobs to the city while retaining existing Hoosier positions by remaining in Indiana.

“Stanley Black & Decker had run out of space in Shelbyville,” says Greenfield Mayor Brad DeReamer. “ Meanwhile, Greenfieldbased Eaton was vacating a 220,000-square-foot facility. “They were kind enough to give us six months notice, so we put the facility on the market while they were still operating,” DeReamer says.

With less than 20 miles separating Shelbyville and Greenfield, the Eaton facility offered an opportunity to keep the company in the area. “But this location actually had too much space,” DeReamer says, “so Stanley Black & Decker decided to combine two existing businesses, the one from Shelbyville and another from Rhode Island, here.”

93 Jobs Retained, 84 Positions Created As a result, not only will 93 employees from Shelbyville retain their jobs, but an additional 84 positions will be created. The city worked with Stanley Black & Decker to ensure the facility met their needs, including $300,000 in upgrades to the electrical systems and parking lot of the building and a tax abatement on $14

million worth of new and transferred equipment. The 2011 project’s capital investment was supported by an IndiECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ana Accelerate Your Business Grant through the Indiana AWARDS Economic Development Corporation, which also offered central WINNER up to $650,000 in tax credits and training grants.

In addition to the financial incentives, Greenfield also offered assistance with advertising, screening, evaluating, and hiring new employees, and committed to promoting the company through press releases, newsletter articles and other support to ensure their success.

The Future Takes Off

F

or two decades, the Grissom Aeroplex has drawn firms to Miami County. “We have companies in warehousing, medical, transportation and distribution but what we have really wanted to develop was aviation,” says Jim Tidd, Executive Director of the Miami County Economic Development Authority.

The centerpiece of the 850-acre site is a 12,500-foot runway, the longest runway in Indiana. Together with more than 1.2 million square feet of unrestricted-weight parking ramp, the facility is capable of handling civilian aircraft of any size. The challenge was creating a reason for them to go there.

At an aircraft trade show in 2009, “We were just walking the floor and came across Dean Baldwin Painting and got into a conversation with the owner,” Tidd says. As it turned out, the San Antonio, TX-based aircraft painting company, which also has facilities in Roswell, NM, was looking to expand to a location closer to the East Coast.

No Time to Lose The county wasted no time, engaging an architecture and engineering firm to develop plans to renovate and expand an existing hanger, and assembling a package of more than $10 million in loans, grants and tax dollars from the Commerce Department, the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs, the Agriculture Department and Miami County to fund the project. www.buildingindiananews.com

Dean Baldwin has agreed to a 20-year lease on 2011 ECONOMIC the hanger and will create 200 jobs, in addition to 100 DEVELOPMENT AWARDS temporary construction jobs. Total economic impact is estimated at $161 million over the next five years. northeast WINNER But that pales next to the opportunity Dean Baldwin’s arrival creates. “Now we can build an aviation cluster,” Tidd says.“We’ve already been invited by one major domestic carrier to come and talk about performing maintenance on the same site. This is something that the community has been waiting a long time for.”

43

The Space Race

M

he felt, was the presence of uch like Camaros 2011 several major universities, in the SevenECONOMIC including the University of ties, business incubators DEVELOPMENT AWARDS Evansville and the University are everywhere these days. southern And while they are often WINNER of Southern Indiana, with strong four-year programs in associated with economic accounting and finance. development, it’s usually in terms of start-ups, not attracting new Stemming the ‘Brain Drain’ global companies to the state. But thanks “We could demonstrate that they to some outside-the-box thinking on the could get a pipeline of accounting and part of Southwestern Indiana economic finance majors here – and for much less development officials, one incubator than you would pay in a place like New helped to do just that earlier this year.

York City,” Wathen says. At the same time, The incubator is question is Innohaving an option like SS&C in town would vation Pointe, a facility in downtown help to stem the tide of talent leaving the Evansville owned by the city and manstate. “Here’s an opportunity for someone aged by a public-private partnership, the to graduate and stay here with a good Growth Alliance for Greater Evansville job,” Wathen says.

(GAGE). The company was SS&C TechThe City of Evansville promised tax nologies, a 25-year-old firm supplying breaks, and the IEDC came in with a packsoftware and services to the financial inage of $8.5 million in performance-based dustry. Headquartered in Windsor, CT, the tax credits and training grants, but it was company has more than 1,400 employees GAGE’s offer of space at Innovation Pointe worldwide. that helped push Evansville over the top.

“We worked with the city governEvansville Gets a Call ment on the tax phase-in and we ofGreg Wathen, President and CEO of fered SS&C immediate start-up space at the Economic Development Coalition of Innovation Pointe,” says Deborah Dewey, Southwest Indiana, admits that somePresident of GAGE. “We told them, we can place like New York City seems like a far give you 1,000 square feet and you can more likely place to locate a business start operations tomorrow.” Later, GAGE servicing the financial industry, but when and SS&C would work out a flexible lease SS&C was looking to open a new fund allowing the company to add space in administration and technology center, 1,000-square-foot increments over time Evansville got a call. while they ramp up business in Evansville.

“The CEO grew up in Evansville and Eventually, the company plans its own fathey reached out to us because of that,” cility with 500 jobs at an average annual he explains. “But that just got us a look, salary of $60,000 plus benefits. nothing more. What made the difference The experience “helped us rethink was our ability to be creative.” how we utilize space at Innovation Competition for the new center inPointe,” Wathen says. “Now, we don’t cluded sites in nearby Louisville as well think of it as purely incubation space, but as Springfield, IL, Oklahoma City, OK and also for companies new to our market.”

Kuala Lumpur, India. “Louisville was our Once SS&C moves to its own facility, the biggest competitor,” Wathen says, but space will be available for another firm. one whose strengths and weaknesses “Typically you don’t think of real estate as he knew well, having spent six years in an incentive, but for some companies that economic development in Louisville. One speed to market is critical,” he notes. of Evansville’s strongest selling points, 44

www.buildingindiananews.com

Racing for Life

C

ommunities are always looking to leverage their location and resources in order to attract new business. For Hendricks County, the trick was leveraging its skilled workers to attract a new industry cluster to the region: life sciences. And the industry those workers were involved in?

Motorsports.

At first blush, the connection isn’t all that clear. “But we kept peeling back the onion and kept finding parallels between the motorsports and life sciences industries,” says Cinda Kelley-Hutchings, Executive Director of the Hendricks County Economic Development Partnership (HCEDP). From the kind of clean room facilities employed by both industries to patent and testing procedures, skill sets kept matching up.

So HCEDP partnered with the IEDC; the Town of Brownsburg; Ross, Sinclair & Associates; Katz, Sapper & Miller; and Simpson Properties to market motorsports workers to life sciences and medical devices companies. They focused on stage one companies. “They are the right size for our community and we had in place incentives [that fit them] such as lease assistance and universities who partner with us for training,” Kelley-Hutchings says.

The first taker was Biologics Modular, whose idea to convert shipping containers into modular clean rooms was of interest to both industries. Biologics agreed to locate at Brownsburg’s motorsports-oriented Eagle Point development in 2010,

www.buildingindiananews.com

a $14 million project that promised 50 jobs by 2013.

2011

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AWARDS

600 Jobs to Date, 500 in the Pipeline “Over the last two years that project has led to central so much more,” Kelley-Hutchings notes. The team has WINNER landed an additional six life sciences companies projected to create more than 600 new jobs and invest a combined $22.9 million. Further, she adds, several more companies are in the pipeline, and if they come to fruition would add another $116 million in investment and 570 jobs over the next several years.

45

Jump-Starting Development

W

hen it comes to assets a community can build around, it doesn’t get much better than the Defense Department’s Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Crane in Southern Indiana. The $2.5 billion facility already employs 3,000 Hoosiers, making it one of the state’s largest employers.

Naturally, defense industry suppliers are interested in locating close to NSWC Crane, so Daviess, Greene and Martin counties partnered in 2006 to establish the Westgate @ Crane Technology Park, which includes parts of all three counties.

The result? “There have been eight new buildings put up over the last four or five years,” says Ron Arnold, Executive Director of the Daviess County Economic Development Corporation. Total investments in the park since its founding now top $35 million.

Foundation Supports Development As part of its initial efforts behind Westgate, Daviess County – supported

by Indianapolis consulting firm MEK Group – created an EDIT tax to spur development in and around the park, got it certified by the state as a Certified Technology Park and established the Daviess County Economic Development Foundation. The Foundation today controls more than $6 million to support projects in the county and park development.

46

In Au2011 gust, Daviess ECONOMIC County seDEVELOPMENT AWARDS cured $4.1 milsouthern lion to buy 300 WINNER acres for a new sewer system that will open even more of the park to development.

“Greene County has already started work on a new waste water treatment facility,” Arnold says. The plant is expected to be completed by the end of the year. “This land will give us the access we need to put in the lines and open 80 to 100 acres to new development.”

Academy Bringing Jobs This isn’t just speculative. The waste water system already has a customer going up. In late July, ground was broken (pictured above) on the $8.8 million Westgate Academy, a 64,000-square-foot facility which will serve as a business incubator and training facility. The Academy is expected to create about 200 jobs.

Arnold credits several groups with key roles in the success story, including the Foundation, the Southern Indiana Development Commission, The MEK Group, and most of all the three counties.

“I can’t say that it hasn’t been a challenge but at the end of the day everyone has stepped up,” he says. www.buildingindiananews.com

Regional Touchdown

T

he City of Crown Point dedicated the first phase of its new sports complex in September, a project that will not only benefit the community, but the entire region as well.

“This puts us on the regional and national map as a premier facility for soccer, football and lacrosse,” says Crown Point Mayor David Uran, whose administration initiated the project. “This will bring in people from outside the area who will be staying in hotels and eating in restaurants around the region. This is a differencemaker for Northwest Indiana.”

The 95-acre facility includes restrooms and a concession stand, but the gems of the $3 million (so far) project are two FieldTurf football/soccer fields. The city has also invested nearly $1 million in nearby road improvements. “We had to do all of that first in order to demonstrate to people living in the neighborhood that the acreage could handle the traffic,” Uran explains.

Commercial Development Underway The site and surrounding area is part of a TIF district so the city can direct revenues back into improvements. It is already attracting sports-related businesses, with a karate instruction studio in operation and a commercial lot featuring a sports-related business under development, Uran notes.

A total of $6 million in improvements are planned for the site. An indoor play-

www.buildingindiananews.com

ing facility represents the “next phase” of development, 2011 Uran says.

ECONOMIC “We have gotten nothing but positive feedback DEVELOPMENT AWARDS from tourism and economic development officials northwest throughout Northwest Indiana,” Uran says. Many have WINNER made suggestions for further additions to the site, including a rock-climbing wall and facilities for corporate team-building, all of which are under consideration. “This is something that’s going to bring our community together – we have 3,000 kinds who play sports – as well as have a regional impact,” Uran says.

47

Economic Development Statistics TOP 10 JOB OPENINGS BY OCCUPATION CATEGORY, OCTOBER 1, 2009 TO SEPTEMBER 30, 2010 MAJOR OCCUPATION CATEGORY Office and Administrative Support Production Transportation and Material Moving Sales and Related Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance Installation, Maintenance and Repair Management Food Preparation and Serving Personal Care and Service Business and Financial Operations

TOTAL OPENINGS

PERCENT OF TOTAL

20,878 10,976 9,691 8,996 6,586 2,786 2,696 2,241 2,206 2,136

26.6% 14.0% 12.3% 11.4% 8.4% 3.5% 3.4% 2.9% 2.8% 2.7%

The orthopedic devices cluster in Kosciusko County had an estimated economic impact of

$3.7 billion in 2009.

Source: Indiana Business Research Center

Since January 2010, Indiana has accounted for

10 percent

Source: IBRC, using Indiana Department of Workforce Development data Source: IBRC, using Indiana Department of Workforce Development data

of the nation’s private sector job growth.

More than

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

21,000 jobs

The Hoosier State is home to a network of

28

in Indiana are created through the golf industry.

business incubators.

Source: Golf 20/20, SRI International, 2011

Source: Indiana Economic Development Corporation

GREEN AUTOMAKER INVESTMENT IN INDIANA, MICHIGAN AND OHIO,

BY COMPANY AND BY STATE, 2010-2011 ANNOUNCEMENTS

Indiana has the third highest

life sciences

concentration nationally.

Source: BioCrossroads, 2011

COMPANY Bright Chrysler Ford General Motors Honda Subaru (SIA Toyota) Think Total

INDIANA (IN MILLIONS) -$1,271.3 -$111.0 -$81.0 $43.5 $1,506.8

MICHIGAN (IN MILLIONS) $11.0 $302.0 $1,183.0 $613.2 ---$2,109.7

OHIO TRI-STATE TOTAL (IN MILLIONS) (IN MILLIONS) --$420.0 $186.2 $70.0 --$676.2

$11.0 $1,573.3 $1,603.5 $910.4 $70.0 $81.0 $43.5 $4,292.7

Source: Center for Automotive Research

48

Source: Center for Automotive Research

www.buildingindiananews.com

u ECoNoMIC IMPACT oF THE ETHANoL INDUSTRy IN INDIANA – 2010 • Annual Production capacity • Percent of Total U.S. Ethanol Industry • Direct Capital Investment since 2006 • Full-Time Jobs in Indiana • Annual Economic Impact • Net Annual Contribution to Gross State Product • Net Increase in Household Income • Annual Industry Contribution to State/Local taxes

980 million gallons 7% $1.5 billion 3,527 $2.7 billion

Bring Your Vision

to Life

$499 million $255 million $48 million

Source: informa economics, inc. 2009

ECONOMIC IMPACT OF AZA MEMBER ZOOS AND AQUARIUMS IN INDIANA – 2010 IMPACT OF SPENDING

DIRECT SPENDING Construction Outlays $4.91

Construction Outlays Output $11.97

Total $84.28

Total $39.44

PERSONAL EARNINGS Construction $3.63

Bring Your Vision

to Life

Operations Outlays Output $72.31

Overall Budget $34.53

With over a century of building excellence for all facets of theWith businessover world, Larson-Danielson experience, a centuryhas ofthebuilding insight, and expertise to bring your vision to life. excellence for ■ General Contracting ■ all Butlerfacets Pre-engineered Buildings ■ Design/Build of the business world, ■ Facility Services ■ Construction ■ Masonry Management Larson-Danielson hasRestoration the

Voted Best Commercial and experience, insight Best of Construction Company 5Yearstoin bring a Row Northwest expertise

JOBS SUPPORTED Construction 106

by Northwest Indiana

Indiana

Business Quarterly Readers your vision to life. Business

2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 & 2011

Total $30.02 Operations $26.40

Total 947 Operations 842

Source: Association of Zoos & Aquariums. Dollar figures in millions. ACA Zoos in Indiana:

Source: Association ofFort Zoos & Indianapolis Aquariums.

Dollar figures in millions. ACA Zoos in Indiana: Fort Wayne Children's Zoo, Wayne; Zoological Society, Inc., Indianapolis; Park Zoo & Botanic Garden, Evansville; Potawatomi Zoo, South Bend.

Fort Mesker Wayne Children’s Zoo, Fort Wayne; Indianapolis Zoological Society, Inc., Indianapolis; Mesker Park Zoo & Botanic Garden, Evansville; Potawatomi Zoo, South Bend.

The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis has a total direct economic impact at

$73.4 million an increase of 20 percent (in constant dollars) since 2005.

Source: University of Michigan, 2009

www.buildingindiananews.com

Tell us your vision.We’ll bring it to life.

General Contracting Contact Larson-Danielson today.

www.ldconstruction.com Design/Build

302 Tyler Street • LaPorte, Indiana 46350

(219) 362-2127 • FAX (219) 362-2848 Construction Management

Butler Buildings

With over a century of building excellence for all facets of the business world, Larson-Danielson has the experience, insight, and expertise to bring your vision to life.

■ General Contracting ■ Butler Pre-engineered Buildings ■ Design/Build ■ Facility Services ■ Construction ■ Masonry Restoration Management

Facility Services

Voted Best Commercial Construction Company

5Years in a Row

by Northwest Indiana Business Quarterly Readers

Best of

Northwest Indiana Business 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 & 2011

Tell us your vision.We’ll bring it to life.

Contact Larson-Danielson today.

www.ldconstruction.com

302 Tyler Street • LaPorte, Indiana 46350 (219) 362-2127 • FAX (219) 362-2848

49

Contractor list for Graycor’s Portage Operations Center General Contractor Graycor Industrial Constructors Inc. Survey & Traffic Study Dlz Industrial llC Bunker Earthwork GE Marshall Inc. Bunker Rebar Risch Construction, Inc. Misc. Fabrications Synergy Steel Structures, Inc. Fire Protection Shambaugh & Son Plumbing & Fixtures keough Mechanical Corp.

HVAC four Seasons Mechanical Electrical, Data, Access Controls EMCOR Hyre Electric Overhead Cranes JV Crane & Engineering, Inc. Lube Room Construction kwiatkowski Masonry Inc. Pallett Racking REB Storage Systems International Central Lube System Superior Petroleum Products, Inc. Compressed Air System Circle “R” Mechanical, Inc. Carpentry, Studs, Drywall kleckner Interior Systems Inc. Flooring Monterey flooring Glazing Trout Glass & Mirror Inc. Painting Prism Painting Company, Inc. Concrete Corridor Stain/Polish Artlow Systems Audio/Visual Enhancements Allen Visual Systems, Inc. Workstations Henricksen Window Coverings Interior Concepts Inc. Exterior Signage Doyle Signs, Inc. Lazzaro Companies Doors & Accessories B&F Fabricating Misc fabrications Final Construction Cleaning Performance Plus

50

Center of Service One of the nation’s largest construction and maintenance companies opens its first Indiana office.

By David Wellman

G

raycor Companies has completed construction of and moved into its new operations center in Portage, giving the Chicago-based family-owned construction, maintenance and facilities services provider an official presence in the Hoosier state for the first time in its 90-year history.

“Now that we do substantial business in Indiana it just makes sense to invest in the community here,” says Tom Muchesko, Senior Vice President of Graycor Industrial, one of Graycor’s four operating units. “It’s just good business.

And the community has been very welcoming.”

The new $5 million, 44,000-squarefoot operations center provides management and monitoring systems

for the heavy industrial operations and industrial maintenance services of Graycor subsidiaries Graycor Industrial and Graycor Blasting. The new center also features state-of-the-art fabrication and equipment servicing capabilities and a dedicated explosives bunker. Its primary focus is on the company’s key clients in Northwest Indiana, which include U.S. Steel, ArcelorMittal, BP, Duke and NIPSCO. The decision to locate a facility in Northwest Indiana was also inspired by the success of a similar office in Pittsburgh. “Our presence in Pittsburgh has proven to be a valuable asset and has provided us with a template for our approach to Northwest Indiana,” Muchesko explains. “In today’s highly competitive business, having a presence in www.buildingindiananews.com

Congratulations Graycor Industrial Constructors Inc. & Graycor Blasting Company Inc.

B & F Fabricating, Inc. Miscellaneous Fabrications 708.758.7878 www.bffabricating.com

Circle R Mechanical, Inc. Compressed Air System 219.787.5566 www.circlermechanical.com

EMCOR Hyre Electric Co. Electrical, Data, Access Controls 219.923.6100 www.emcorhyre.com

Lazzaro Companies Inc. Steel/Wood Doors and Hardware 219.980.0860 www.lazcos.com

DLZ Industrial, LLC Survey & TrafďŹ c Study 219.845.1750 www.dlz.com

G.E. Marshall Inc. Bunker Earthwork 219.462.3415 www.gemarshall.com

The Performance Companies, Inc. Final Construction Cleaning 800.358.6951 www.performancep.com

Synergy Steel Structures, Inc. Miscellaneous Fabrications 708.474.2777 www.synergysteelstructures.com

New Northwest Indiana Operations Center www.buildingindiananews.com

51

Graycor’s new operations center boasts a piece of company history: an emblem dating from the 1950s featuring the company motto set in the floor. It was originally part of the company’s Avenue O office building in South Chicago that was recently closed down.

these major markets is one more thing that sets Graycor apart from our competition.”

About 50 Graycor Industrial and Graycor Blasting employees are now based in the operations center. Many of them live in Northwest Indiana and were formerly based in Graycor’s offices in Homewood, IL (which have since relocated to Oakbrook Terrace, IL), so the new digs have led to a leap in productivity. “It saves me more than two hours in the car a day,” Muchesko notes.

In similar fashion, the new facility’s communications capabilities – including wireless access, smart boards and videoconferencing – are also saving employees time. “We now communicate with the home office through videoconferencing versus driving back and forth, so we don’t end up spending a day on a onehour meeting,” Muchesko says.

Positive Response All of this, of course, means that Graycor now has more time to spend with its clients. Already, Muchesko says their clients’ reaction to the center has been “very positive.”

Likewise, Graycor has received enthusiastic support from neighbors in the Ameriplex 52

at the Port park in Portage, including the Iron Workers Local 395 and retailer Bass Pro Shops (which is also a Graycor client).

Graycor’s arrival in Northwest Indiana brings a significant construction industry player to the state: the company is ranked by Crain’s as 90th among Chicago’s largest private firms; 55th among Building Design & Construction’s GIANTS contractors, 159th among Engineering News Record’s top 400 U.S. contractors and 33rd among Midwest Construction’s top 119 general building contractors.

“This is exactly the kind of company that we try to attract,” says Bert Cook, Executive Director of the Portage Economic Development Corporation, pointing to Graycor’s size, longevity and good-paying positions.

“The other piece is that they are servicing local companies,” he adds. “Attracting new companies is a very competitive business and not just here, but everywhere, we are seeing more and more development based on customers or the supply chain. So in order for us to keep attracting these kinds of companies we have to focus on our industrial base.” www.buildingindiananews.com

Better Health is Everything.

Of all the Northwest Indiana institutions, Methodist Hospitals attracts the most complex cases across a wide range of specialties.

Methodist Hospitals has been the Northwest Indiana leader in high level, complex acute care since 1923. From our award-winning Women’s Services program and our Neuroscience and Oncology Institutes, to our growing cardiovascular program, top-flight emergency services, Spine Care Center, Bariatric ReStart Center of Excellence, and Breast Imaging Center of Excellence, Methodist consistently sets the standard for specialty care in the Region. For example, Methodist is the first Northwest Indiana hospital with advanced 3D mammography technology. Our dedicated physicians, nurses and staff also deliver unmatched excellence in a wide range of inpatient and outpatient services, from orthopedics and behavioral health, to rehabilitation and home health services. We also offer state-of-the-art diagnostic techniques, and innovative programs in bloodless medicine and wound care. In short, maintaining the highest standards of care is what leading the way to better health is all about.

Let Methodist Hospitals help you f ind the right physician for you and your family. Visit www.MethodistHospitals.org, or call 1-888-909-DOCS (3627).

888-909-DOCS (3627) METHODISTHOSPITALS.ORG

Leading the Way to Better Health

www.buildingindiananews.com

NORTHLAKE CAMPUS

MIDLAKE CAMPUS

53 SOUTHLAKE CAMPUS

REAL ESTATE

Wanted:

Calm Seas Real estate market growth in Southern Indiana awaits the calming of a jittery overall economy.

By David Wellman

R

eal estate experts in Southern Indiana say their markets remain strong, but economic uncertainty continues to take a bite out of growth. Before the stock market volatility in August, “I thought we were on the road to recovery,” David Matthews, Owner of David Matthews Associates in Evansville. Now, he believes the uncertainty that has had people sitting on the sidelines in his market will persist.

“There have been no new projects, no new industrial parks, no new shopping centers of any size, everyone’s just waiting to see what’s going to happen,” he says.

Likewise, Tom Sims, Vice President at CB Richard Ellis|Louisville, points across the Ohio River from his offices to the River Ridge Commerce Center in Jeffersonville, noting that many local developers have had good experiences there (see story page 57). “But we haven’t seen the big REITs or 54

pension funds invest yet,” he adds. As for other development around the LouisvilleJeffersonville metro area, progress is slow.

“Lending is still too tight,” he says. “Developers still feel like they are being asked to put in too much of their own money. Hopefully that will turn around.”

“Not a whole lot,” was Pfister & Company Owner Mary Caye Pfister’s answer to the question of what was going on in industrial and commercial real estate in Terre Haute.

But, she adds, “we’re not ones to have high fluctuations one way or the other.”

The good news is that, broadly speaking, industrial vacancy rates are low across Southern Indiana. Pfister estimates Terre

Haute’s industrial vacancy rate at about eight percent. In the Louisville metro, Southern Indiana is actually the tightest segment of the market with an industrial vacancy rate of just 6.4 percent, versus eight percent overall. Sims attributes that in part to aggressive efforts by local economic development groups like One Southern Indiana to lure new employers to the region.

“We work very closely with them and they are on top of things any time we need help,” he says.

One Southern Indiana has scored several successes in 2011, including the mid-August announcement that Clyde, OH-based Revere Plastics Systems would

LOUISVILLE MARKET STATISTICS – INDUSTRIAL BUILDINGS 100,000 SF AND OVER – Q2 2011 MARKET Southern Indiana Total Louisville Market

RENTABLE AREA 14,473,203 97,124,883

SHADOW NET VACANCY% ABSORPTION SF SUBLEASE SF 6.40% 8.00%

100,000 521,250

0 432,266

UNDER CONSTRUCTION SF

AVERAGE ASKING LEASE RATE - $ SF/YR

0 186,000

$3.16 $2.88

Source: CB Richard Ellis|Louisville

www.buildingindiananews.com

expand it operations to Indiana and occupy 122,000 square feet of existing industrial space in Jeffersonville. The company’s $13.4 million investment is expected to create about 178 jobs.

Even more critical to the regional market is UPS, whose gargantuan 5.2 million-squarefoot Worldport is located at the Louisville International Airport.

Worldport is the base for UPS’ international shipping operations, as well as its UPS Airlines air cargo arm, and employs an estimated 20,000 people. “That’s the big driver for bulk industrial space,” Sims says.

A third factor remains on the drawing board: the Ohio River Bridges Project which would provide a second bridge over the Ohio with an exit directly to the River Ridge Commerce Center.

Once that is in place – and depending on the timetable it could take as long as a decade – Sims believes development at River Ridge will really take off.

Surplus of Space In Evansville, Matthews sketches a picture common to other parts of the state. “In Southwest Indiana from 2000 to the mid-2000s we didn’t have that strong growth and rapid appreciation that happened elsewhere, so when the market crashed we didn’t have far to fall,” he recounts. The market has rebounded slightly, but there remains a surplus of commercial space, depressing prices.

And those numbers looked to be headed in the wrong direction in late summer, thanks to the failure of Evansville-based Integra Bank. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation closed the institution, which hadn’t been profitable since the first quarter of 2008, at the end of July, and sold it to another Evansville bank, Old National Bank. www.buildingindiananews.com

Integra had 52 branches, mostly within 100 miles of Evansville. These were initially reopened as Old National branches, but the bank announced in August that nine old Integra branches would be closed. “Also, it will create more vacancy because of Integra’s headquarters building downtown,” he says.

The central business district is already about 16 percent vacant, he adds, though class A office space is holding up better at less than 10 percent unoccupied.

But overall, Matthews says, “Southwest Indiana is holding its own.” Retail space is 10 to 20 percent vacant but generally speaking the malls have good occupancy, a few new strip centers have been built and closures like Linens ‘n Things and Borders have been offset by the arrival of retailers such as Menards and The Fresh Market. Deaconess Gateway Hospital on the east side of town is growing, several shovel-ready sites are awaiting development, and a development group is actively marketing about 700,000 square feet of industrial space recently vacated by Whirlpool. If the uncertain economy settles, Matthews believes that pent-up demand will lead to new deals and projects.

In Terre Haute, Pfister estimates that retail vacancy is around 10 percent, industrial eight percent and office perhaps four percent. She credits a strong university presence consisting of five schools, a pair of major hospitals and auto and plastics manufacturing industries for helping to keep the market strong. “Our downtown is undergoing a lot of good changes as well,” she notes.

“We have two new hotels and a new children’s museum.” The 10 percent retail vacancy – a rate she calls “high for us,” – is the result of some unoccupied big-box outlets in the area.

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CONSTRUCTION

Managing the Job

ScheckTrac – Project Control System Construction Planning and Scheduling

ScheckTrac Interface Module Sample

Construction Planning and Scheduling ▲

Focused Project Execution Effective Management and Control Processes

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Insightful Reporting

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Aggressive Team Building Computerized Project Control Systems

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Technical innovation is key to excellence in modern project management.

By Robert Hite, National Labor Relations Manager, Scheck Industries

I

n the end, great project management is about having experienced supervisors who have been in the trenches during tough project situations. Talented Project Managers have a way of establishing clientcontractor relationships as one with shared goals and objectives. However, without the right tools the best Project Managers in today’s construction environment can only deliver average results.

When Scheck Mechanical Corporation (now known as Scheck Industries) was founded in 1984, this wasn’t the case. Many of the original employees are still with the family and they love to tell stories about the old days. Geri Hlavac, one of Scheck Industries’ Controllers still remembers the 11 x 17 ledger books. With a wry smile she explains, “All our jobs and related costs were hand-written in the Job Book.”

These costs included everything from labor-associated fringes for the union to changes orders. All invoicing and payables were also done out of the Job Book. Most importantly, beyond walking the job site with his Superintendent to get a feel for project issues or progress, the Job Book was the bible by which Rich Scheck measured the efficiency of his operation and successful completion of a job.

The company transitioned to its first computer-based system in 1998. But as project management grew in complexity it became clear that Scheck needed to move beyond off-the-shelf Construction Management software. “All the packages we bought or investigated just didn’t meet our needs in one way or another,” Rich explains. “If the technology wasn’t good enough for us then it couldn’t help us deliver the best possible 56

service for our clients. This troubled us.”

The main disconnect was that existing solutions lacked the ability to manage large labor pools and Scheck was growing by leaps and bounds. In 2002, Scheck was awarded a contract in Dearborn, MI at the Ford Rouge River facility to assist the EPC contractor in completing the project. In a five-day period, Scheck assumed over 300 pipe fitters on the project and was tasked with providing daily labor reporting by shift and by area.

Scheck’s management team quickly devised a plan to modify their existing cost accounting software and create a custom database to track the necessary labor hours in real time. The project grew in scope and eventually Scheck was managing nearly $24 million in labor through the new labor tracking solution. The result? A nearly 80 percent increase in productivity on the project. The system, dubbed Schecktrac, is now used by the company to manage labor on job sites throughout the country.

In developing Schecktrac, still in use today, the company learned a number of important lessons in terms of what constitutes top-flight project management software. Among these lessons were: Project Managers in the field are critical. “Our timing was good because we were on the cusp of winning contracts across the country which ranged from $10 million to over $50 million in labor alone,” says Scheck Project Engineer Cecil Barnes.

“We had no idea how useful Schecktrac would become as a Project Management tool. Timing was everything for the implementation of this program. Schecktrac kept us out of trouble while at the same time creating a value-add to the client.”

The product must provide a complete picture. The project database is developed in real time as construction progress is made on a daily basis. On-site project teams and Scheck’s Senior Management Team can remotely analyze trends as they review all the job sub-components, including Total Project Budget and Total Project Actual; Work Order; Work Order Steps Reporting; Work Order Variances; Materials; Logistics; Quality Control; and Safety.

Compatability. Schecktrac can integrate electronically with virtually any Windows compatible software. As a Web-based solution, it provides instant access to critical information required to manage costs.

Project performance measurement is accomplished through strict work processes including our Schecktrac Commercial Control and Tracking System, which provides objective and accurate data throughout a project’s life cycle.

Customization. Schecktrac has seperate platforms for capital and maintenance projects. Depending on the specific needs of the project, Scheck will customize the Schecktrac Project Module to meet the requirements of the client and the project.

Schecktrac has proven to be a valuable addition to Scheck’s arsenal of project tools, increasing the efficiency of not just the project team, but senior management team and, most importantly, the client. It creates continuous process improvement because relevant data is evaluated on an hour-by-hour basis allowing real time corrective measures. The company’s substantial investment in the project tracking solution over the past 10 years has been spearheaded by Randy Peach, Vice President of Operations, along with his project team. www.buildingindiananews.com

Companies at River Ridge Commerce Center • Abel Construction • American Contracting & Services, Inc. • Aqua Utility Services Inc. • Axmann Conveying Systems • B&k Enterprises • Bob’s Welding Service, Inc. • Chryso, Inc

Down by the River

• City of Charlestown

River Ridge Commerce Center is focusing on infrastructure improvements which will add to the lure of the already popular business park.

• Homebuilders Plus ll C.

O

www.buildingindiananews.com

• Clarcor Air filtration Products • Community Wireless • Complete Metal fabrication • Connextions, Inc. • D-2 Industrial Services • DeCrane Aerospace Inc. • Duke Energy • Environment first Inc. • Evan Appraisers • Gaylor Inc. • Hughes Development, ll C • Hydro-Technologies • idX Corporation • Indiana Attorney General

By David Wellman nce upon a time, the site of the River Ridge Commerce Center was an engine of destruction.

Today, the Clark County business and industrial park is an engine of job creation, with nearly 40 companies employing an estimated 3,000 people operating on the property – and more expected to come when the Ohio River Bridges Project improves its already attractive location.

River Ridge has come quite a way in only a little more than a decade. The park is owned and managed by the River Ridge Development Authority, created in 1998 by Clark County to oversee redevelopment of the site, which was formerly the Indiana Army Ammunition Plant.

Declared surplus by the Army in 1998, it sprawls over 6,000 acres in Southern Indiana. To give some idea of the scale of the opportunity – and the challenge – the 39 companies now in River Ridge only fill up about five percent of the site’s vast acreage.

“The Ammunition Plant was set up almost

• City of Jeffersonville

• J & B Tanker and Trailer Repair • JACO Transportation

like a small city,” says River Ridge Development Authority Director of Marketing and Finance Paul Wheatley. The first facilities date back to World War II, “so there’s a lot of old infrastructure in the ground from the ’40s that we are significantly upgrading.”

Earlier this year, the Authority issued an $8.5 million bond to fund those upgrades, which include 12,000 linear feet of new roads and replacing 8,500 linear feet of sewer lines.

The Indiana Department of Natural Resources kicked in an additional $5 million in improvements to the park’s drinking water system, which includes approximately 12 miles of water main as well as three new supply wells, a twomillion-gallon per day treatment plant, booster pump station and a 750,000 gallon storage tank. “That really boosted our water quality,” Wheatley says. The system is managed by the Authority in cooperation Watson Water Company and Louisville Water Company, which provide maintenance and support services.

Road and sewer work is being handled by two

• lPI Investors, ll C (Hughes) • MAMCO • Manitowoc Company, Inc. • Mid America Rail, Storage & leasing • Midland Powder Co., Inc. • Midwest Environmental Services • Mr. “P” Express, Inc • nelson Brother Trucking • nu-Yale Cleaners • Orica, USA, Inc. • Pegatron Technology Services Inc. • Plan-It Organics • Progress Rail • R&R Trucking, Inc. • ResCare Inc. • River Ridge Development Authority • Sheriff of Clark County, Indiana • SMC Maintenance & facilities Services • U.S. Army • U.S. Census Bureau • U.S. Coast Guard • Utica Volunteer fire Department

57

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By the Numbers: River Ridge Commerce Center • Number of acres transferred to River Ridge (2010): 3,126 • Number of acres pending transfer to River Ridge in 2011: 361 • Number of acres sold to-date: 335 • Acres currently available for development: 2,791 • Total jobs at River Ridge: approximately 3,000 • New building space construction through 2010: approximately 3 million square feet • Total private investment through 2010: $144 million • Federal/State-funded infrastructure investment through 2010: $7 million • River Ridge-funded infrastructure reinvestment through 2010: $4.4 million to date • Building construction planned for 2011: 800,000 square feet • 2011 planned infrastructure improvements: $10.5 million in road and utility improvements

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Clarksville-based companies, Gohmann Asphalt and Dan Cristiani Excavating Company, Inc. The Authority also transferred an existing waste water treatment plant to the City of Jeffersonville in 2010. The city has in turn slated the plant for $15 million in upgrades that will allow it 4:32 PM to accommodate three to four million gallons a day.

The new roads “will be modern industrial roads which will open more of the site to development,” Wheatley says. At present, about 3,500 acres has been turned over to the Authority for redevelopment. Another 1,800plus acres of land will be turned over after environmental remediation work is completed. Additionally, the state legislature has designated the portion of Indiana 62 that runs adjacent to the River Ridge property as the River Ridge Commerce Corridor. This designation will allow INDOT to make road improvements necessary for heavy loads, which will allow trucks to travel to and from the Port of Indiana-Jeffersonville without needing special heavy haul permits.

In addition to the ongoing infrastructure upgrades, River

Ridge has the advantage of location, boasting convenient access to four interstates (265, 71, 65 and 64), two airports (Clark County Regional and Louisville International), CSX rail service and, of course, the Port. The metro area surrounding the park has a workforce in excess of one million, and the park itself is classified as an Indiana Urban Enterprise Zone,

To give some idea of the scale of the opportunity – and the challenge – the 39 companies now in River Ridge only fill up about five percent of the site’s vast acreage. making companies within it eligible for a variety of special tax breaks.

But even given all that, Wheatley calls the Ohio River Bridges Project “vital, all caps” to River Ridge’s continued growth.

“Right now we have good access, but the Bridges project will give us great access. We’ll have an interchange that will directly service us.” Currently, the project is undergoing a mandatory federal www.buildingindiananews.com

Boasting over 3,580 readily available acres in numerous tract configuration, River Ridge Commerce Center is prepared for a range of industrial and manufacturing projects.

review period before construction can begin on two new bridges and a new downtown Louisville interchange. Financing also remains a challenge. The 12-year project was originally supposed to begin in 2012 with an estimated $4.1 billion price tag. In June, a modified version costing $2.9 billion and

www.buildingindiananews.com

starting in 2013 was presented by a bi-state panel. “Modernizing the interchange and bridges is paramount to the development’s needs,� Wheatley says, and he is confident the project will eventually move forward.

In the meantime, River Ridge continues

to generate new jobs for the region. The most recent example came in June, when Connextions, an Orlando, FL-based company which provides services to the health care industry, announced the addition of 750 new jobs at its existing facility in River Ridge.

59

LOGISTICS

Full Steam

Ahead

Renewable energy industries are helping to drive growth at Indiana’s ports.

By David Wellman

I

ndiana’s trio of ports – Burns Harbor, Mount Vernon and Jeffersonville – are cruising through a solid 2011 shipping season. Through the first half of the year, the three ports handled 3.3 million tons of cargo, which puts them on pace with 2010, says Director of Corporate Affairs Jody Peacock. Last year, the ports handled more than 7.7 million tons of cargo, the port system’s highest volume since 2006, thanks in part to booming renewable energy-related shipments, a trend that continues this year.

“The Port of Indiana – Burns Harbor was up 17 percent midway through the year with a number of wind energy shipments,” Peacock notes. Fifteen of these “heavy lift” cargoes passed through Burns Harbor in 2010. “We just had the longest wind turbine blades in America – 161 feet – pass through headed to a wind farm in Ohio,” Peacock says. “They are just so long that there is no other way they can get there.”

Wind energy appears likely to play a key role at Burns Harbor for the foreseeable future. According to the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), the wind power industry grew 15 percent in 2010 and accounted for 26 percent of all new generating capacity installed. Another 1,100 megawatts of capacity was installed in the first quarter of 2011, more than double that installed in the first three months of 2010. In Indiana alone, there are more than 8,000 megawatts worth of wind power projects 60

planned, including Chicago-based E.ON Climate & Renewables’ proposed Wild Cat Wind Farm in Tipton County, a $400 million project that E.ON hopes to begin construction on before the end of the year.

At the Port of Indiana – Mount Vernon, the story is similar, only with ethanol replacing wind power. Last December, Aventine Renewable Energy completed construction of the largest facility ever built at any of the three ports, a 110-million gallon ethanol plant. “That plant alone has introduced two new cargoes to the port, ethanol and DDGs,” Peacock says. Protein-rich DDGs, or distillers dried grains, are a byproduct of the ethanol manufacturing process used as an additive in livestock feed.

Port Grows in Size “And when you have a plant that size, it changes the scope of the port,” Peacock adds. “It attracts suppliers and service companies to locate there as well.” One example is Consolidated Grain and Barge, which expanded its operations at the port by opening a rail-to-barge terminal to transload ethanol and DDGs. In fact, to keep up with the growth, the port purchased 110 acres on its eastern border, bringing the total size of the port up to 965 acres. Also, by creating a local processing facility for locally grown corn, “it’s expanded our reach throughout the region,” Peacock notes.

Like wind power, ethanol production is growing strongly in Indiana. In early 2011,

the Renewable Fuels Association ranked Indiana fifth nationwide in ethanol production capacity at 1.1 billion gallons annually.

Other items whose shipments are up in 2011 include salt, steel and fertilizer, Peacock says. International shipments also continue to be strong. Burns Harbor received a 2010 Pacesetter Award from the St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation for its increase in international shipping, up 70 percent in 2010 versus 2009. www.buildingindiananews.com

BY THE NUMBERS: PORTS OF INDIANA COMPANY DIRECT JOBS TOTAL JOBS DIRECT PERSONAL INCOME TOTAL PERSONAL INCOME LOCAL PURCHASES TOTAL STATE& LOCAL TAXES TOTAL VALUE OF ECONOMIC ACTIVITY

BURNS HARBOR

JEFFERSONVILLE

MOUNT VERNON

TOTAL

5,092 25,941 $235,746,579 $1,558,793,892 $490,552,000 $146,526,626 $3,495,275,748

1,885 10,845 $68,690,222 $510,448,839 $202,714,311 $47,982,191 $1,171,217,043

1,151 6,958 $41,902,890 $311,281,950 $38,593,000 $29,260,503 $751,118,728

8,129 43,744 $346,339,691 $2,380,524,681 $731,859,311 $223,769,320 $5,417,611,519

Source: Martin Associates, 2010

To support the project, Kentucky has already spent nearly $10 million to improve area roads, and has a $40 million plan for a 32-mile road that would provide the port with access to Interstate 65.

Ports of Indiana officials don’t believe that a new port would have a big impact, noting that shipments at Jeffersonville rose 27 percent in 2010, suggesting that there is room for more players.

More Magazine than just a

www.buildingindiananews.com www.buildingindianablog.com

Check out BUILDING INDIANA NEWS online for news updates, issue archives and the latest on our awards and events.

Indiana’s final port, at Jeffersonville, may face a new challenge within the next two years: a new port downriver in Meade County, KY, near Brandenburg. Bandied about for decades, county leaders voted in July to move forward with a $6.5 million regional terminal. Initially, the port would focus on grain handling, giving local farmers a closer option than Jeffersonville. Estimates are that Indiana and Kentucky farmers in the vicinity could save more than $1.4 million annually in trucking costs. www.buildingindiananews.com

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61

WORKER’S COMP

Combining the art of medicine with a strong understanding of the scientific evidence is the key to treating back pain in the individual injured worker.

to

Back Health

By Shaun Kondamuri, MD, Midwest Interventional Spine Specialists

B

ack pain is one of the most common reasons for visiting the doctor. Eight out of 10 of Americans will suffer from back pain during some time in their lives according to the National Institutes of Health. This pain can last a few days, months or even years, and can impact every part of a patient’s life. From dealing with simple family and social interactions to getting a good night’s sleep, even the simplest task can become difficult. In particular, the demands of the workplace can be impossible for the injured worker who cannot work if restrictions are placed on him. Returning workers to their previous level of function quickly is of paramount importance for doctors who provide top-notch spine care.

I have heard some physicians speak of the injured worker in the same terms as the injured athlete, the suggestion being that we should treat them as if they are the same. The fallacy of this argument is that the injured worker is often times not the 62

best physical specimen going into the injury, has little motivation to get back “into the game” and may hold his employer responsible for the injury. By contrast, athletes, especially the ones that are paid to perform, are in great physical shape, especially with regards to conditioning and core strength.

They are hugely motivated to get back into the game and they don’t blame the team owners for an injury!

Slow Recovery When a back injury is deemed compensable, it is covered under the workers compensation act. In Indiana, the employer determines where the worker is treated and is highly motivated to return the worker to full duty as soon as possible. Presumably, the worker shares the same motivation and begins treatment. Far too often, these injured workers are slow to recover, do not return to their previous level of employment and their injury ends up costing far more than anticipated.

Because the neck and back are such vital and complex parts of the body, spine care has become an important field of medicine. Spine care specialists come from nonsurgical and surgical specialties such as anesthesiology, physical medicine, orthopedic surgery and neurosurgery and several other fields all of which are dedicated to alleviating their patient’s pain and returning them back to normal function. The most important, and sometimes undervalued, task that the spine specialist performs is making a proper and precise diagnosis of the pain.

Obtaining a precise diagnosis for the back pain is particularly important for employees who become injured at the workplace. Physicians with a high level of experience treating injured workers know that, in general, these patients are different and getting them back to normal function takes as much finesse and the art of medicine as it does experience, education and training.

The worker who is accustomed to heavy labor may feel that he is in good www.buildingindiananews.com

shape because he can lift a lot of weight. But his discs and spinal joints may be quite degenerated with an associated diminished reserve of muscle strength, leaving him vulnerable to significant injury from even a slightly miscalculated lift at work. Even the sedentary worker who rarely needs to lift anything more than a few pounds may be vulnerable to injury if his lifestyle is similarly sedentary, leading to de-conditioned muscles and weight gain.

Tailored Approach Quick resolution of pain in these patients requires a tailored approach to treatment beginning with a precise diagnosis followed by an understanding of how a particular patient’s overall spinal health impacts that diagnosis.

The experienced spine specialist takes into account many factors when recommending treatment. The state of conditioning of a patient’s trunk muscles, for example, which form a sort of protective envelope around the spine, is important to assess. If the worker is seriously de-conditioned, it is not surprising that some patients with herniated discs do not respond to spinal injections (such as epidurals) or surgery for decompression. Doctors who do not take into account an individual’s physical, psychological, social and work related issues when offering treatment and set improper expectations will, not surprisingly, have poor results. These workers may remain off work for prolonged periods of time and may become dependent on high doses of pain-killers.

Success comes with combining the art of medicine with a strong understanding of the scientific evidence supporting specific treatments and using what will work for the individual injured worker. A cookie cutter approach to treating back pain may www.buildingindiananews.com

not always give good results.

For example, some spine specialists may give injured workers two or three precisely placed spinal epidural injections for back pain due to a herniated disc. This is a specialized though common treatment that allows patients to undergo physical therapy and often they can achieve complete relief of their pain. No relief of pain, however, is often the trigger for automatically sending that patient for surgery. This may not always be the right approach. Workers may have pain from other structures that need treatment such as muscles, joints, etc.

Worse yet, the injured worker may be severely de-conditioned and/or have advanced, pre-existing degenerative spinal arthritis. Performing surgery may be the worse thing for him.

The best treatment may be to do nothing, simply place that worker at MMI with appropriate restrictions or find him a different job.

Making this difficult assessment before spending large health care dollars on unnecessary injections, surgeries, and rehabilitation may be more cost-effective.

Furthermore, if all the MRI scan and physical evidence support a particular treatment but the doctor does not take into account the psychological situation, there is great risk of treatment failure and worsening of the patient’s condition.

Clearly, treating back pain in an injured worker is not for the weak-minded. These are our most complex patients. Ignoring the fact that they carry baggage beyond just simply having back pain is asking for trouble, and expensive trouble at that. Managing these patients begins with good communication and a good understanding of the special pressures a patient may face on the path to good spinal health.

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YOUR WELL-BEING

Getting

Control How to get three steps closer to controlling health care costs.

By Matthew H. Glaros, Broker and Consultant, Employer Benefit Systems ✧ STeP TWo: Use data analysis tools

M

any of our clients ask a common question: “Is health care reform the biggest risk to the employer health insurance world as we know it?”

The answer is no. The biggest risk to the health insurance industry is the rising cost of health care, and unless we slow that pace, who knows how long employers will continue to offer coverage.

The next question asked is: “How can I, as a business owner, better control my health care costs?”

There are many ways to affect health insurance costs, some of which include changes to deductibles and office co-pays, and increasing employee contributions, to name a few.

Unfortunately, these measures amount to cost-shifting, not real cost control. To truly control health care costs, employers have to understand how to manage their health plan in order to control costs and ensure the overall health of the organization.

64

which allow the employer to drill down and see how claim dollars were spent, and if there was any waste in certain areas. For With that information they can then attack overall healthcare spending. We recommend a three-step program to better control costs. ✧ STeP oNe: Use data analysis tools

to analyze how claims dollars were spent in the previous year. Typically, employers must have more than 100 employees covered on a health plan before carriers will release this in-depth data, but for the employers that qualify, this can be a true gamechanger in the way they manage health care costs.

After the data has been compiled into a management report, companies can review how the previous year’s claim dollars were spent and where there may be some planning opportunities. The management report should benchmark the company’s plan against the industry, the area of the country, and the employer’s size in order to provide accurate statistical data showing how the company’s plan is performing compared to that other employers.

example, a common area of over-usage is the emergency room. The drill-down could show that employees are using the ER as a “doctor’s office,” which could warrant increasing the ER co-pay to curb the overutilization.

A more recent development is projecting plan renewals six months in advance.

This is extremely important in order to provide budgeting information and determine the impact on costs driven by plan modeling. These projection tools allow businesses to project costs and then to model plan changes (such as deductibles, coinsurance, out of pockets, etc.), and provide statistical data showing how many people would have been affected and how much money could have been saved. ✧ STeP THRee: Implement a wellness strategy starting with wellness screening and health risk appraisal. This is an inexpensive way to get an idea of a company’s overall health status. The screening consists of an outside company coming in and www.buildingindiananews.com

performing blood draws and body measurements on employees and then sending individualized reports to the employee’s home.

Employers get the best participation in wellness screenings when they give an incentive to the employees for taking the screening. We have seen cases where

The biggest risk to the health insurance industry is the rising cost of health care. employers have close to 90 percent participation when a proper incentive is used.

Once the data is compiled in a global management report, it is smart for the employer to sit down and discuss how they can educate the whole employee base about the group’s trouble spots. Usually this consists of developing an edu-

cational campaign through newsletters and flyers and, possibly, a wellness program to target trouble areas. An example would be identifying obesity as a problem area and then planning for ongoing employee education on the problem and even starting a “Biggest Loser” program.

Typically, cost control strategies are merely shifts in cost created by tweaking the plan design and contribution change. The way to truly impact costs to develop a mixed, information-based strategy to drive the process. First, companies must use plan utilization data to better position their plan to reduce costs based on real time information and facts, not guesswork. Second, they need to implement a health screening and health risk appraisal program in order to have the information needed to design a good wellness program which is intended to mitigate risk.

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LIFELONG LEARNING

Western Win

By Janet Fick, Instructor in the Construction Management program, Ball State University

Ball State Construction Management students take their skills west to score a victory in Nevada.

First Row (left to right): Coach Janet Fick, Andrew Williams; Second Row (left to right): Michael Key, Ben Lamm, Edwin Frieden, Austin Hart and Captain Alex Beasley

T

he difference between winning and losing a construction bid can be razor thin.

Construction firms know this, and at the ASC (Associated Schools of Construction) student competitions, students know this also.

Ball State University’s Construction Management program competes each October in the ASC Great Lakes Region competition in Chicago. In October 2010, our students competed in the Design Build division and the Commercial Estimating division. As a faculty member in Ball State’s CM program, I had the pleasure of coaching the Commercial Estimating team.

In our competition, sponsored by 66

Walsh Construction, each of the 15 teams in our division were to create a fictitious construction company which would then compete for a project. Based on construction documents provided by Walsh, the teams had one day (7 a.m. to 11 p.m.) to compile a project estimate, schedule, safety plan, site logistics plan, value engineering recommendations and LEED certification recommendations. The next day each team, as their fictitious company, presented their proposal to the Walsh judges. My team finished fourth, just out of trophy range, by a razor-thin margin.

How did the students handle this loss?

They were mad, they were fired up and they wanted to compete again. www.buildingindiananews.com

They knew that the ASC Rocky Mountain Region and the ASC Far West Region held a joint conference each February in Reno which included nine open competitions. Any ASC school could send a team to compete in these open competitions, but Ball State never had.

Several of the competitions were already full, so they decided on the “Concrete Solutions” division, sponsored by Sundt Construction.

Within 24 hours of returning from Chicago, I signed them up to compete. The only problems were that they weren’t concrete experts, and there wasn’t any money to go to Reno!

petition categories. After submitting a “Statement of Qualifications,” teams were given construction documents and specifications to compile their bid proposals.

The teams began work at 6:00 in the morning, with a midnight deadline to deliver their completed bid proposals, including a detailed estimate, a construction/pour sequence schedule, a site-specific safety plan and an analysis of which forming system best fit the project’s needs. The proposals would then be presented to Sundt Construction judges the following day.

The Ball State University team went above and beyond the requirements by building a foamcore study model to show their specific recommendations of the concrete pour sequence. We had strong competition, including Arizona State, Boise State, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (third place), Mesa State, Oregon State (second place) and the U.S. Air Force Academy. But when they announced first place and we heard “Ball State,” the team knew that all of their hard work was worth it!

Hunt Helps Enter Robert G. Hunt, Chairman and CEO of Hunt Construction Group, who was Ball State’s Fall 2010 “Executive in Residence.” He was working with a class of CM, architecture and business majors, and had gotten to know the team. He knew of their determination to win in Reno and generously informed the students that he would pay for their trip.

With less than three months to prepare, the team worked closely with Ball State’s CM advisory board: Hunt Construction Group, F. A. Wilhelm Construction, Walsh Construction and E&B Paving. The firms met with the team and took them on jobsite tours. The team, now known as “Capstone Concrete,” met twice a week for several hours at a time, and each member was assigned a job such as Preconstruction Manager or Project Engineer.

A few weeks before the competition, they were given basic information from the competition sponsor, Sundt Construction. They were to be a concrete subcontracting firm involved in “the pre-construction process of a construction manager at risk project. The judges will be acting as the CMAR contractor for the project.

They will be reviewing your written proposal and will request a formal interview with your company.”

Since “Concrete Solutions” was a new category, the team didn’t know what deliverables they would be required to prepare. So they prepared their own estimating spreadsheets, scheduling templates as well as a generic safety plan and LEED information.

Strong Competition The Reno ASC conference was in its 24th year and included more than 1,200 participating students, 47 universities and 17 comwww.buildingindiananews.com

67

WELCOME CENTER

Fields of Green New outdoor event venues grow around the state.

The new amphitheater at the Avon-Washington Township Park

By David Wellman

N

ew outdoor events venues are springing up around Indiana, offering fresh opportunities for tourism and recreation. Among the new arrivals are a 17-acre events field at Fair Oaks farms in Northwest Indiana, a 15,000-person capacity outdoor concert area and steakhouse halfway between Indianapolis and the Ohio border, and a new park amphitheater in Central Indiana.

Of these, Montgomery’s Steakhouse in Spiceland might be the most unique.

Opened last May by owners John Montgomery and Don McSwain, the venture is actually the second steakhouse opened at the location. “It’s a gorgeous facility,” says Paul Fabrick, Events and Media Manager.

“The steakhouse itself was built five years ago but was only open for about eight months.” Now under new management, the restaurant has been renovated and expanded with an eye toward entertainment.

“There are 90 acres tied to the property, and we enclosed three of those acres with a 2,000-foot-long fence,” Fabrick says. The steakhouse also boasts a separate 12,000-square-foot patio with a gazebo and its own, smaller stage.

The location is ideal for an outdoor venue, Fabrick says. “There’s really not much out this way. It’s a rural area, we’re right off I-70, people don’t have to drive all the way to the Verizon Wireless Music Center in Noblesville to see a show and we 68

Montgomery’s Steahouse’s field can hold up to 15,000.

have the capacity for thousands of people.

It was just a win-win situation for us and for the region.”

The field had its grand opening in July with country stars Ty Herndon and Jamie O’Neal providing the entertainment. “We had nice turnout,” Fabrick says, without doing a lot of promotion. “We’re still taking it slow. It’s a marathon, not a sprint and we want to make sure that we do everything right.” The next show, featuring the Kentucky Headhunters and Confederate Railroad, is scheduled for October 14.

Another outdoor venue making its debut this year was the amphitheater at the Avon-Washington Township Park. Built as part of a park expansion that included two new shelter areas as well as a splash pad for kids, the amphitheater technically

opened in October of 2010, “but we haven’t used it until now because we’ve been working on the grass,” says Park Director Susan Hamman. “It’s been a struggle because of the drought.”

The roughly five-acre field still has its challenges, but the park was moving ahead with the amphitheater’s debut in August starring Convergence, an Indianapolisbased band specializing in jazz, standards, dance tunes, ballads, and golden oldies.

“This park has been known for doing free summer concert nights,” Hamman notes.

Previously, these shows were held in the older, upper section of the park and required a rented stage to hold. “That wasn’t really ideal,” she says. The new amphitheater is larger with space for more people as well as snack and drink vendors. www.buildingindiananews.com

The first event, the Milk Cow Blues Festival, on Fair Oaks Farms’ new field.

Though they are just getting their first show going, Hamman says plans are to host at least four concerts next year. The amphitheater and field can also be rented out for private events such as weddings.

In Northwest Indiana, Fair Oaks Farms is looking beyond its traditional dairy farmoriented offerings with a new events field

which will play host to a variety of activities ranging from concerts to car shows and even polo matches. “We want Fair Oaks to be a gathering place for families,” explains Job Stockton, Social Media Director for Fair Oaks Farms.

The Winamac-based dairy has had an events field on the drawing board for some

time. “But our owners are very meticulous about how the farm is perceived and wanted something that would make people say, wow,” Stockton says. So the dairy went to work with Purdue University to develop a hybrid strain of Kentucky bluegrass for a new 17-acre events field.

“It’s a really hearty grass,” Stockton says. “You’ve never seen anything like this anywhere.” During its first event in July, attendees were peeling off shoes and flipflops and praising the grass as nicer than their carpets at home, he adds.

That event was the Milk Cow Blues Festival, a concert that attracted about 200 music lovers in July. “It was very successful for a first event,” Stockton says.

Fair Oaks kept the promotion modest, employing some social media and radio and print ads, “but we are probably going to amp that up in the future,” he says.

For the time being, the events field doesn’t boast any permanent facilities, so for the Blues Festival Fair Oaks trucked in water and portable restrooms. “Longterm, the plan is to have some kind of pavilion down there,” Stockton says.

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MARKETING

Gift

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? ar : e sy s y hi item t A d zing hot i z e l o t bu som H ha e’s W er H

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Solutions Looking for the perfect holiday gifts for employees and clients? Here are some tips.

s A e

• gRILL geAR Put a new twist on “branding!” A variety of grill accessories are available.

By Sumer Rex, Marketing Maniac, Diversified Marketing Strategies

D

oesn’t it seem like it was just Christmas yesterday? Well, guess what: the holidays are almost upon us again, and if you’re planning on giving gifts to your employees and clients, now is the time to find the perfect items and get them ordered in time for the season.

But figuring out what to get one person is tough enough – a whole office or list of customers can be daunting.

You want to find something people want, something that will remind them of you, and something that looks sharp without busting your budget. Here are some tips on making your choice.

1

Spending begins at home.

Companies typically spend more on gifts for employees than on those for clients and prospects, likely because for most companies the latter outnumber the former. According to a survey conducted by the Advertising Specialties Institute (ASI) on corporate gifting in 2010, companies spent an average of $35.55 per item on gifts for employees, versus $26.27 apiece for gifts for clients and prospects.

2

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The care and feeding of customers. Foods and beverages were the most popular client/ prospect gift during the 2010

holiday season. A third of ASI’s respondents went that route. Other popular choices included calendars (25 percent), gift cards (25 percent), writing instruments (25 percent) and desk accessories (24 percent).

Food is a great gift, but it has a very limited lifespan: people eat the food, enjoy it – and then it’s gone. So if you are going to give a food gift, make sure there’s something that stays behind, like a basket or corkscrew or platter.

3

Logos a go. Most companies (54 percent) reported always using their logo on corporate gifts, and another 26 percent said it depended on the item in question. If you do put your logo on a gift, it’s best to keep it subtle – for example, on apparel, no one wants to be a walking billboard for your company. Keep logos on shirts tone-on-tone (similar logo and shirt color). One other option is to personalize gifts with the name of the recipient. No one throws away a personalized gift – but make sure you spell their name right!

4

Variety. Note that in the case of both employees, and clients and prospects, many companies give a combination of gifts, or have different items on hand for different uses, i.e., one present for key clients and another for prospects. This approach

• TRuNk oRgANIzeR Useful items are always retained and appreciated.

This organizer also offers lots of space for a logo.

• CooLeR WRAP Take advantage of a “big palette” to strut your stuff.

• IMPRINTeD WINe/LIQuoR BoTTLeS Not only will they enjoy the wine but they will keep the bottle, too.

www.buildingindiananews.com

use the self-test. When you are looking at potential gift items, obviously you want to choose something people will keep and use. So the first question to ask is, “would I keep or use that item?” If the answer is no, you should probably keep looking.

Practical, useful and different are all key terms to keep in mind when searching for the right gift.

with an established promotional specialties firm. Not only will they have access to more gift ideas at better prices than you will find on your own, but they will also handle all the details of personalizing the items and getting them to you in time for the holidays.

They will also be in a better position to handle special needs, such as finding products that are made in the USA, and to provide services such as customized letters for individual clients and drop-shipping of gifts.

6

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can help you maximize your budget while still ensuring you have an appropriate gift or gifts for everyone.

5

get help. Finding a gift or gifts is time-consuming enough. The actual process of buying them, getting your logo put on them, quality control and shipping is even more so, and only detracts from your ability to do your own job at one of the busiest times of the year. So work

www.buildingindiananews.com

The most important thing – do something!

Doing nothing for employees, clients and prospects during the holiday season is the one thing that isn’t an option. Your competition will be out there showing their appreciation with gifts, so it’s time to step up to the plate.

BY THE NUMBERS: CORPORATE GIFTING EMPLOYEES

CLIENTS/PROSPECTS

40% 32% 24% 24% 18% 16% 13% 9% 8% 8% 8% 4% 3%

25% NA 16% 33% 25% 25% 24% 12% 10% 12% 11% 7% 4%

Gift cards Cash bonuses Apparel Food or beverages Calendars Writing instruments Desk accessories Bags or luggage Charitable donation Drinkware Electronics Golf gear or sporting goods Watches or jewelry Source: Advertising Specialties Institute

BY THE NUMBERS: MONEY SPENT ON GIFTS EMPLOYEES $0-2 $2-5 $5-10 $11-24 $26-50 Over $50 Average

6% 4% 16% 21% 26% 28% $35.55

CLIENTS/PROSPECTS 10% 10% 16% 23% 29% 13% 26.27

Source: Advertising Specialties Institute

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COMPANY SPOTLIGHT

Registering Success Keeping all the paperwork current on a large fleet of vehicles can be a daunting task. Envirotest Titling & Registration makes it a snap.

T

he story of Envirotest Titling & Registration (ETR) brings to mind the old adage about fishing where the fish are, except that in this case the fish were coming to the fisherman, not the other way around. As the long time contractor for Indiana’s vehicle emissions testing program, motorists brought their vehicles to Envirotest’s Clean Air Car Check testing stations before their annual trip to renew their vehicle registration at the Bureau of Motor Vehicles. When Envirotest began partnering with Indiana BMV in 2008, it became a happy reversal of the cliché for businesses statewide that are looking for a faster, more efficient and less expensive way to maintain all the proper documentation on their vehicle fleets.

◆ Eliminating Hassles Envirotest Titling & Registration offers a complete suite of title, registration and related services for any company, such as construction outfits, automotive dealers and rental companies, with fleets of vehicles or heavy equipment. From the initial titling through annual registration renewals, insurance amendments and more, the firm takes the hassle out of staying in compliance with the Indiana BMV. It does so by working directly with the BMV as a Certified Partner using the Bureau’s own terminals and systems, so there are no third-party costs or delays in delivery and no need for companies to hunt down one of the five dealer/fleet BMV branches around the state.

“For any company with a fleet of vehicles, ETR offers a simple and cost-effective alternative to an annual headache,” says Jennifer Kharchaf, Public Information Manager for Envirotest. “We can coordinate with their point person, expedite the registrations and help to 72

ensure that they avoid late fees and potential fines, penalties and tickets for operating unregistered vehicles.”

Traditionally, fleet operators needed to visit a specialized BMV office to get registration renewals, “and there are only a handful of these dealer/fleet branches around the state,” Kharchaf explains. Worse, these types of registrations all come up for renewal every year at the same time. “Corporate fleet registrations expire at the end of January every year, and then in February you have recovery vehicles, rental vehicles and heavy vehicles and equipment,” she says. “Since there are so few dealer/ fleet branches, handling the volume is a big challenge.”

Envirotest, however, has capacity to spare, with about 90 employees and a pair of BMV terminals at each of its seven emissions testing station locations, and the experience to handle the avalanche of paperwork. “For emissions testing, the State of Indiana has laid down strict rules about allowable wait times and testing times that we must meet at our

stations,” Kharchaf notes. “And we have consistently met those goals. What we have learned to do well is to process a high volume of vehicles very quickly. And the procedures we have honed there have been translated to the titling and registration side of the business.”

◆ Simple Process For businesses whose vehicles need to meet those January and February deadlines for renewals, the process is simple. ETR will pick up the paperwork – or for companies outside Northwest Indiana, make arrangements for shipping it to their offices – and process the transactions at one of their locations.

“Instead of going to the BMV, they can hand everything off to us,” Kharchaf says. “This saves time, increases efficiency and allows companies to focus on building their businesses instead of shuffling papers. We can direct the volume to stations that are the least busy so that renewals get done as fast as possible.”

As a Certified Partner of the BMV, ETR has

ETR: The Solution for Corporate Fleets & Fleet Management Companies Registration renewals for large fleets often mean large headaches, but Envirotest Titling & Registration offers a better, more convenient way to get a handle on your fleet renewals, large or small. ETR processes your transactions on actual Indiana BMV terminals, giving customers many benefits, including: • Efficiency gains due to better use of your staff/resources • Direct link to Indiana BMV, no third-party web portals • Expedited processing for titles and registrations • No contract or long term commitment • Processing for all your vehicles, including heavy equipment, trailers and watercraft • Unlike other Indiana BMV partners, ETR has the ability to immediately verify emissions compliance and assist you with emissions compliance issues for vehicles that are subject to testing • ETR may be able to assist with emissions compliance for vehicles registered outside of Indiana, but currently located in the state • Delivery to your office, your client company, or the vehicle driver www.buildingindiananews.com

LA

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COMPANY SPOTLIGHT

BMV

ENvIRoTEST TITLING & REGISTRATIoN, A DIvISIoN oF ENvIRoTEST SySTEMS

CERTIFIED PARTNER TI

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WOR

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direct access to the Indiana BMV, utilizing the same computer system that is used in local BMV branches. When the company processes a transaction, it is processed in exactly the same way it would be handled at a full-service BMV branch. There are no Internet portals or other workarounds to send the information to BMV so there is no delay in processing. “We consider every transaction to be an expedited transaction, so there are no rush fees,” Kharchaf adds.

Once the registrations are processed, they are hand-delivered or returned via overnight shipping to the customer. Costs for the service are straight-up: no contracts, start-up fees, monthly fees or service fees.

ETR simply charges a flat per-transaction fee based on the customer’s expected volume.

◆ Extensive Experience ETR has extensive experience in the BMV registration process thanks to Envirotest Systems’ 1997 partnership with the State of Indiana to manage Indiana’s

www.buildingindiananews.com

Clean Air Car Check vehicle emissions testing program in Lake and Porter counties.

Most motorists coming in to get their cars checked didn’t realize that Envirotest was a private contractor. “People assumed we were the BMV, and they didn’t understand why they couldn’t do things like renew their registration while they were getting their car tested,” says Kharchaf.

Faced with an obvious demand and access to the BMV’s system at their testing stations, in 2008 Envirotest began offering registration renewals at its testing stations.

Since then, Envirotest has processed more than 100,000 title and registration transactions for individual motorists through the Drive-Thru. Renew! service at its Clean Air Car Check emissions testing sites in Northwest Indiana.

In 2010, the company expanded its relationship with the BMV to include providing titling and registration services for car dealers and fleets and created Envirotest Titling & Registration. Now it is offering these services on a statewide basis.

Founded: 1997 Headquarters: Crown Point, IN Web site: www.ETRIndiana.com Phone: 1.888.240.1684 (toll-free in Indiana) 1.219.661.8269 (outside Indiana) Contact: Kim Dulin E-mail: kim.dulin@esph.com SERvICES: Expedited vehicle title and registration ideal for: • Auto Dealers • Fleet Management Companies • Rental Car Companies • Contractors • Construction Companies • Business Fleets • Financial institutions • Auto auctions • Repossession companies PRoCESSING oF CoMMoN BMv TRANSACTIoNS, INCLUDING: • Titling (including speed and duplicate titles) • New registrations and registration renewals • Plate transfers • Temporary permits • Replacement and duplicate registrations • Mailing address changes • Insurance amendments • Specialty, personalized and/or group plates • Any of the transactions listed above for recovery vehicles, heavy equipment, trailers,semi tractors and semi trailers of any weight

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REGION FOCUS - NORTHWEST

Building Possibilities Northwest Indiana’s two largest metro areas are making gains on both the jobs and housing fronts.

By David Wellman

C

onstruction and business developments are stirring in Northwest Indiana’s two largest metro areas, Gary and Hammond. Both are eyeing rail

Canadian National will spend $163 million to renovate its Kirk Yard in Gary. (Photo: CN)

deals that could bring hundreds of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars to the region, and Hammond has broken ground on one of the final phases of a decade-long, $50-million-plus neighborhood revitalization project on the south side of town.

In early August, the efforts of the City of Gary, the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) and the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority (RDA) paid off when Canadian National chose the Kirk Yard rail facility in Gary over a location in Illinois for a $163 million renovation projected to create about 163 Four Packages Available: jobs by 2015.

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ated from a tax increment financing (TIF) bond, the IEDC added up to $2.95 million in performance-based tax credits and up to $250,000 in training grants, and the RDA secured a $4 million matching grant which will be used toward improvements such as a new waste water treatment facility and a new storm water management system.

“These infrastructure improvements were necessary for CN to make the move,” RDA Executive Director Bill Hanna says.

“Indiana was competing with CN’s yard in Markham, Illinois, a site that would not have required as much work.” While the RDA’s primary focus is on long-term infrastructure projects, Hanna says the project was a chance to both build for the future and bring some much-needed jobs to the area now as well.

“This multi-million dollar project will add to our tax base as well as provide opportunities for new, well-paid, full-time jobs for Gary residents,” adds Gary Mayor Rudy Clay.

According to Jim Vena, Senior Vice President for CN’s Southern Region, the Kirk Yard project will result in increased efficiency and create opportunities for growth in Northwest Indiana and Chicago.

CN has about 20,600 miles of track serving close to 75 percent of the U.S. population and all major Canadian markets.

Hammond also has hopes for a project at its Gibson Yard. City officials, including Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr., www.buildingindiananews.com

report having held conversations with PotashCorp. The Canadian company is the world’s largest supplier of potash, a key ingredient in fertilizer, and is interested in building a rail transfer station at the Gibson Yard. PotashCorp is in the midst of a (CND) $7.5 billion, 12-year expansion project that began in 2003.

PotashCorp confirmed that it was looking at the Hammond site as well as others. If the deal happens, it’s expected to represent an investment of $100 million and create about 80 jobs, as well as roughly 225 construction jobs to build the transfer facility.

Notably, the Indiana harbor Belt Railroad, which operates the yard, has been engaged on

Gary to South Bend, other places in Indiana have used Hammond as a template for what public housing could be.”

Counting the current work, roughly $50 million has been spent revitalizing the 42-acre site since 2000, says Maria Becerra, Executive Director of the Hammond Housing Authority. That includes the construction of the 80-unit Golden Manor senior living facility, the 68-unit Saxony Townhomes project and gutting and building completely new interiors for 58 Depression-era bungalows. A final project that will replace buildings in the center of the complex should be finished by 2013.

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Hammond officials, including Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. (far left) break ground on the American Heartland Homes Two project.

a project to clear and grade 90 acres at the yard, but has said only that the work is being done for “future opportunities.”

Meanwhile, more than ten years of work is coming to fruition on the south side of Hammond, where ground was broken in August on one of the final phases of the redevelopment of Columbia Center. The $11 million project, which will demolish of a group of World War II-era two-story brick apartment buildings to make way for modern affordable housing units, will complete “a transformation of housing that’s been spectacular,” says Joe McCarthy, one of the Hammond Housing Authority’s Board of Commissioners. “From www.buildingindiananews.com

and positive, Becerra says, with few new units remaining empty for long. “I think the Golden Manor was full before the concrete was dry,” she says. The units currently under construction will be available to those making up to 60 percent of median local income.

The old apartments will be replaced by 26 buildings with two one-bedroom, 18 twobedroom, 25 three-bedroom and four four-bedroom units. Despite looking more like a modern development, the renewed Columbia Center will have at least as many housing units as it had before, and many of the new units will be designed for the seniors and the disabled.

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REGION FOCUS - CENTRAL

INDIANA AVENUE

HElIX PARK

Tech Take Two Indianapolis revives plans for a downtown technology district that would leverage the state’s strong life sciences industry.

By David Wellman

I

t’s appropriate that the latest plans for a downtown technology district in Indianapolis begin with a $22 million apartment project at a vacant baseball stadium.The district is targeted to life sciences companies – an industry in which Indiana can justly claim to have hit one out of the park.

Just how far out of the park that ball has gone was illustrated in a new report from Biocrossroads that pegged the life science industry’s impact on the Hoosier economy at a staggering $44 billion. It now accounts, directly or indirectly, for more than 150,000 jobs in the state, and its $7.4 in global exports is the third-largest nationwide. In terms of the size and breadth of its life sciences employment base, Indiana’s sole rival is California.

Not that other states aren’t trying to emulate Indiana’s success. “Every state 76

is trying to become a health care or life sciences Mecca,” says Nancy Langdon, DevelopIndy’s Executive Project Director for the 16 Tech – Downtown Technology District. “It was 60 percent of our job growth last year and that was reflected nationwide. These are the kinds of companies everybody wants.”

Competition is coming not only from traditional states like California and New Jersey, but Kansas, Texas and Georgia as well, and business parks targeting the industry have recently been established in New York, San Francisco and Boston, among other cities. However, Indiana continues to enjoy the advantage of an existing life science industry foundation, much of which was built on the recommendations of the 2002 Battelle Report.

It was shortly after that report was issued that Indiana designated a chunk of

BUSH STADIUM REDEVElVoPMENT

downtown, including what’s now 16 Tech, as a Certified Technology Park (CTP).

In 2004, the area was designated a life sciences district under the Indianapolis Regional Center Plan 2020.

Then…nothing. “We had a few life sciences firms interested, but the infrastructure wasn’t in place,” says Scott Miller, CEO of DevelopIndy. “So from 2003 to 2009 we didn’t have much movement.”

But in 2009, Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard appointed a task force to study the area and make recommendations. The task force met with community groups to secure local support, and developed a master plan allowing for up to one million square feet of development and redevelopment.

The first phase of the plan calls for transforming Bush Stadium, the old home of the Indianapolis Indians, into the 136unit Stadium Lofts apartments, which will incorporate the stadium’s existing shell and façade, and a 132-unit Stadium Flats apartment building. This $22 million project is being funded mainly by developer Core Redevelopment LLC, with an assist of about $5 million in TIF and CTP funds.

Separately, RebuildIndy is putting $3 million into an Indiana Avenue streetscape project to create a signature gateway for the district. The plan includes a Technolwww.buildingindiananews.com

ogy Trail, emulating the Indianapolis Cultural Trail, expanded pedestrian zones, trees and street-level plantings, new lighting and public art.

“We are looking to address water, sewers, all those elements so that companies can hook right

Indiana is home to the global headquarters for Biomet, Cook Medical, DePuy Orthopaedics, Dow AgroSciences, Eli Lilly and Company, WellPoint, and Zimmer and the North American headquarters of Roche Diagnostics. in,” Miller says. The streetscape project will begin this fall, and the apartments could be finished as early as 2012.

Though these initial efforts don’t involve any life sciences companies, Langdon says that it’s crucial to start by creating a sense

of community. “This will be our Seattle, our San Diego,” she says.

What makes this a perfect time for a life sciences development is all the private sector investment going on in the vicinity of 16 Tech. Nearly $1 billion worth of projects, headlined by the new Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Hospital, are planned or underway. “By locating here, companies will be able to tap right into the workforce and research they need to be successful,” Langdon says.

Though she hopes to start things off by landing a sizeable anchor company for the district, overall the target is stage II companies. “This will not be incubator space,” Langdon says. “There are already excellent facilities for that at IU and the Purdue Research Parks. We’re ‘graduation space’ for stage two firms that have already commercialized products. That’s a void we have in our market, and one in a lot of other markets.”

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laGrange LaGrange County has benefitted from Amish entrepreneurship and a new focus on economic development.

By David Wellman

C

ombine manufacturing and tourism opportunities with entrepreneurial spirit and the stage is set for success. In this case, that stage is LaGrange County in Northeast Indiana, where one of the state’s youngest economic development corporations is working overtime to attract new businesses, aid existing firms and lay the groundwork for future growth.

The LaGrange County Economic Development Corporation (LCEDC) owes its existence, ironically, to the economic implosion in 2008. Up until then, the county didn’t have a formal economic development entity, though it did work with a regional economic development group and fund a part-time, contracted economic development job. But the Great Recession laid bare the weakness of that model. “All the counties around us had formal EDCs, so you could really see the benefits,” recalls Keith Gillenwater, Executive Director for the LCEDC. 78

Gillenwater, who previously worked for the Office of Community and Rural Affairs in Northeast Indiana, took the helm of the LCEDC when it was formed in 2009. “It was a rough time,” he says.

“We had 18.9 percent unemployment. We had taken the mantle [of highest unemployment rate] from Elkhart for a while.

The only good thing about it was that we weren’t alone.”

Amish Entrepreneurship In that time of crisis, hope appeared in the form of one of the county’s signature population groups, the Amish. “They are the best entrepreneurs we have,” Gillenwater says, pointing to a study done by nearby Goshen College in 2004 that pegged the failure rate of Amish business at less than five percent. “During that economic downturn, we had a number of Amish businesses start up. They took the skills that they had and got going.”

One example is Shipshewana-based

Heartland Mattress, established in 2009 after owner Mervin Lehman lost his job in the RV industry. “I have always wanted to own my own business, and when the downturn happened, it really created an opportunity for me to put that plan into action” he says. Lehman, along with members of the Northern Indiana Woodcrafter’s Association (NIWA), saw the need for a mattress manufacturer to produce high-quality, locally made mattresses to complement the county’s growing furniture industry. “We were able to fill the niche that some of the other companies haven’t been able to,” Lehman says. “Our target markets are those consumers that want premium mattresses and that value locally produced goods.”

This past April, the company, whose products are now available in stores from Pennsylvania to Texas, expanded into a new 3,600-square-foot factory and showroom in Shipshewana.

Other Amish business predating the www.buildingindiananews.com

recession also continued to thrive. Custom Steel Designs LLC, an Amish-owned firm founded by Paul Miller in Shipshewana in 2004 has grown from one employee – Miller – to 21 operating out of a manufacturing facility that more than doubled in size to 13,200 square feet in 2011.

“We are very happy with the steady growth over the past seven years” Miller says. “We initially started working with wrought-iron staircases for new home builders and over the years have been able to expand and diversify our products and customer base, which has allowed for future growth.” The company now also operates a custom powder coating facility that performs contract work and has added a line of patio furniture to its offerings.

For start-ups trying to figure out which end was up, Gillenwater often found himself

in the role of facilitator. “I would put them in contact with a lender or someone who could write a business plan,” he says.

“We use the Northeast Indiana Small Business Development Center office out of Fort Wayne, and for a while we were leading the pack in referrals.”

Tourism a Driver Among those many referrals were Leanna and Reed Martin, who wanted to start an upscale clothing shop in Shipshewana. “We really wanted to start the business in our hometown,” says Leanna. “It affords us the opportunity to offer trendy new styles to the shoppers who visit Shipshewana while also serving a market that is underserved in the area.”

The Martins initially contacted the LCEDC about starting a small business. The LCEDC put them in contact with Wes Shie, a business

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advisor from the Northeast Indiana Small Business Development Center, who helped them secure financing from the Community Development Corporation of Northeast Indiana.

While a clothing boutique isn’t typically the kind of business that would draw a lot of interest from an economic development organization, Gillenwater says the store highlights one of the major economic development opportunities for LaGrange County.

“Annalea’s is a perfect example of the tourism-based entrepreneurship that has helped make the Shipshewana and LaGrange County flourish,” he says. “I am confident that businesses like Annalea’s will only grow and continue to make our area a magnet for tourism.” Shipshewana itself is one of the state’s top five tourist draws, with an estimated two million visitors annually visiting the town’s mostly Amish shops and attractions.

Of course, it isn’t all about small companies. In July, the LCEDC awarded a $40,000 grant to Therma-Tru Corp., the nation’s top manufacturer of fiberglass and

steel exterior doors, as part of an incentive package that enticed the company to occupy a nearly 350,000-square-foot facility in Howe and expand its operations from 60 to about 100 employees.

Icing on the Cake The grant money came from the LaGrange County Investment Fund, which was set up by the LCEDC with assistance from the LaGrange County Commissioners and the LaGrange County Council in 2009 to provide an edge for projects that would create jobs and add to the tax base. While the fund had previously been used for some smaller grants to help existing businesses grow, this was the first investment for a large business attraction project.

“We’ve been very aggressive with incentives,” Gillenwater says, and the investment fund has been valuable as “icing on the cake. On one project, it was the fact we could give them an up-front grant that edged us ahead of the competition.”

Gillenwater will take all the edges he can get. “We’re only two years old, and there are not fewer EDC’s coming on line,”

he says. “The competition is getting harder.” In the race to stay ahead, the LCEDC recently launched a new Web site designed by a Fort Wayne company, Cirrus ABS, focused on the needs of companies and site selectors. Chief among the upgrades is an improved “sites and buildings” database, as well as a report builder function.

“These new tools make our site easier for users to navigate and find the most relevant information to them” Gillenwater says. “Our sites and buildings database features a wide variety of available sites and buildings in LaGrange County, and the report building function allows users to easily generate an LCEDC-branded report with information that is relevant to their individual needs.” The Web site also features information on core industries in the county and information on business incentives.

Moving forward, Gillenwater says that 2011 has continued an upward trend.

“2009 was pretty slow, 2010 things got better,” he says. “Going into 2011 we had a lull but some of the leads have been really good ones.”

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The last Word Sprinklers Aren’t All Wet Without fire sprinklers, you may have paid too much for your building.

By Mark Riffey, Business Development Manager, Ryan FireProtection, Inc.

J

ust as the first week of October is annually dedicated to Fire Prevention Week, 2011 marks the 100th anniversary of one of the most deadly fires in the United States. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire of 1911 that killed 146 garment workers in New York City led to sweeping fire and safety changes to protect buildings and employees.

This fire and countless others (Boston Coconut Grove fire, 492 dead; Chicago LaSalle Fire, 61 dead; Atlanta Winecoff Hotel fire, 119 dead; Kentucky Beverly Hills Supper Club Fire in 1977, 165 dead and 200 injured; Station Nightclub Fire in Rhode Island in 2003, 100 dead and 230 injured) echo in the minds of fire and safety advocates as they gather annually to create stricter international fire and life safety regulations. During this democratic process, proponents and opponents line up to debate the value of fire sprinkler systems. Interestingly the opponents agree with the proponents about the benefits fire sprinklers have to offer. One might ask what’s left to dispute? Opponents contend installing fire sprinklers are simply too costly. But today’s codes actually bring value by listing fire sprinkler systems as alternatives to other construction methods.

Passive vs. Active Protection Working to change the image of the U.S. as having the worst fire record of any industrialized nation, the threshold levels mandating the installation of fire sprinkler systems have been dramatically

reduced over the last three decades.

Because fire sprinklers are so effective in controlling unfriendly fires when they are small, today’s codes also allow them to be used as fire safety design options. While the codes have become tougher by lowering the limits for when sprinklers are required, all too often the uninformed make the wrong choice.

Taking the path of Passive Fire Protection (compartmentalizing the building with firewalls) in lieu of the path of using Active Fire Protection (fire sprinkler

By taking advantage of the design options, the cost of fire sprinklers can reduce fire resistive construction costs by as much as 17 percent. systems) will most likely increase construction costs. It’s amazing to see the extremes taken to design buildings with costly firewalls that compartmentalize a building rather than taking advantage of the “trade-up” design options available when fire sprinklers are installed.

Can fire sprinklers reduce the cost of construction? Absolutely. It is true that the cost of sprinklers averages between one and two percent of the overall construction cost. However, by taking advantage of design options, the cost of fire sprinklers can reduce fire resistive construction costs by as much as 17 percent. Certainly the bigger the buildings the bigger the savings, but our research indicates fire sprinkler systems

pay for themselves even for smaller structures. One recent example involved an indoor self-storage facility. The cost for compartmentalization of the building exceeded the cost for the sprinkler system by 25 percent without any added benefit. Armed with this knowledge, the developer opted for fire sprinklers. For larger buildings, the savings could be in the millions of dollars.

Insurance Savings When fire sprinkler systems are installed, the savings continue with reduced insurance premiums. Depending on the buildings value and its contents, fire insurance costs are reduced by 57 to 83 percent with fire sprinklers.

The insurance savings combined with depreciation benefits makes the installation of fire sprinklers very attractive even for existing un-sprinklered buildings. The savings are immediate.

Choosing to pay for a fire sprinkler installation over time will still put money in the bank. And the payback continues year after year.

In summary, from a safety and property protection point of view, sprinklers are undeniably the right choice. It’s an opportunity to join the ranks of others to wipe out a hazard that kills more than 4,000 annually. If the decision to install fire sprinklers is also based on cost, sprinklers will win every time. It’s very worthwhile to do the research and take advantage of construction design options to keep from paying for fire protection twice.

The opinions expressed in this article are the views of the authors. We welcome your response.

If you are interested in writing an opinion piece, send an e-mail to editor@buildingindiananews.com.

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