A publication of
FEBRUARY 2014
Safe and secure Data Cave protects what cannot be lost
FEBRUARY 2014 The Business Connection 1
2 The Business Connection FEBRUARY 2014
Contents
Also inside Chamber Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Around the Watercooler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 On the Move . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Business Leads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Mark McNulty column . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Morton Marcus column . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Brian Beach page 6
Business Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Comments should be sent to Doug Showalter, The Republic, 333 Second St., Columbus, IN 47201 or call 812-379-5625 or dshowalter@therepublic.com. Advertising information: Call 812379-5652. Š2014 by Home News Enterprises. All rights reserved. Reproduction of stories, photographs and advertisements without permission is prohibited.
On the cover
Zack Ellison is president of Data Cave. Photo by Andrew Laker. Story page 4.
Whistleblowers page 12
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To serve and store Data Cave offers security from ground to cloud for customers’ information By Barney Quick n photos by Greg jones
I
n a very real sense, Data Cave’s product is peace of mind. Its customers are the kind who require guaranteed uninterrupted data storage, and that’s what the people in the fortress-like concrete building on Columbus’ south side deliver. “They can’t stand a moment of downtime,” says President Zack Ellison of Data Cave’s customers. “Our purpose in life is pretty simple. We provide security from natural disasters and from any environmental factors that pose a threat to their data.”
The physical structure of the plant certainly bolsters one’s sense of security. The actual arrangement of customer suites, staff offices and mechanical areas is surrounded by an outer structure and topped with an 8-inch steelreinforced concrete roof. One of the most noticeable aspects of the environment inside the building is how quiet it is. People move about impervious to weather phenomena or any other outside noise. The building, on Technology Boulevard near the intersection of
Top: Jake Campbell, from left, Ben Hatton, Zack Ellison and Patrick Gill in the control room or nerve center of Data Cave. Above right: A pair of backup power generators and air chillers is an example of having two of everything in case of failure of one. Below right: The concrete-filled and steel-reinforced block samples demonstrate Data Cave’s efforts to ensure customers’ equipment and data are safe from natural disasters. 4 The Business Connection FEBRUARY 2014
Customers have 24-hour access to Data Cave’s equipment cells, each air-conditioned to compensate for the heat produced by the electronics. Overhead duct work cools the front of the racks, while the rear sides have warm-air take-up ducts.
Gladstone Avenue and Marr Road, houses 28 data suites, and customers lease all or part of a suite to store servers. “Primarily, we’re storing their backup servers,” says Ellison. “A lot of companies like to keep their equipment and see the lights blinking. It’s a challenge to get them to see that it’s OK to store your data offsite.” Data Cave currently has about 60 customers representing a broad cross section of industries. Comcast, Smithville Communications and AT&T all do business with Data Cave, as do Cummins, Dorel, Boyer Machine & Tool, Grote Manufacturing, Schneck Medical Center, Indiana University, Evansville-based Traylor Bros. Inc. and Bartholomew County government. Some customers occupy entire suites. Others need only partitioned portions. They have access to their areas 24/7, and the security surrounding their access is state-of-the-art. They use both a card and biometric access control, in which a customer places his hand on a scanner that produces a unique thermal print that the control system recognizes. Suites are modular and can coexist separately from each other. Each suite has its own fire-suppression system. The E5 tornado-proof building is made of 12-inch concrete blocks.
The rebar in the roof is 7/8 of an inch in diameter. Rebar is typically 5/8 of an inch. Other security features include a fenced perimeter, a single security access gate and 24/7 video surveillance. There are no ground-level windows. “Our mantra here is redundancy,” says marketing manager Ben Hatton. “We thought about every worst-case scenario and provided for it when we built our infrastructure.” It includes redundant power feeds and generators. Fiber optic lines come into the building on opposite sides. A flywheel is available for inertia power. “It bridges the gap between Duke Energy going down and the generator revving up,” says Ellison. “It’s kinetic energy, an alternative to the lead acid batteries used by many data centers.” Data Cave also offers a service it calls business continuity. Its facility includes space customers can use for temporary relocation of staff and office equipment in the event of a natural disaster. The firm can also build private data clouds for customers. There are several options for the ongoing management of a cloud, including the customer, Data Cave or a third party. “If a see DaTA cAVE on page 8 FEBRUARY 2014 The Business Connection 5
Backup plan Working from Columbus home, computer engineer Brian Beach still feels part of community with company in California By Barney Quick n photos by Greg jones and chet strange
B
rian Beach has a foot in each of two quite distinct worlds. One is central California, where he was raised and educated, and where he began his career as a computer engineer. He still gets back there almost monthly. The other is Columbus, where he and his family have lived for nine years, and where he has immersed himself in civic involvement and community life. He holds the title of distinguished engineer at Backblaze, a California-based data backup provider. He had been at TiVo for 15 years prior to that. Earlier stints included Silicon Graphics and Hewlett-Packard. The attraction and move to Columbus came about via his wife, Sharon, a native Hoosier and former HP executive who went back to school for a bachelor’s degree in fine and studio arts. She is head of the curating committee at the Columbus Museum of Art and Design.
Top: Software engineer Brian Beach works in his comfortable home office. Above: Books in his office reflect his information needs for work. Opposite page: The title page of his Ph.D. dissertation. 6 The Business Connection FEBRUARY 2014
The data backup field has been around for some time. What sets Backblaze apart from the other major companies is ease of installment. “It figures out what files need to be backed up,” says Beach. Backblaze uses a storage pod, an open-source-design product that Beach describes as the “cheapest and most effective way to build cloud storage. Other companies such as Shutterfly are using it now,” which he says is fine with Backblaze. He has been with Backblaze for a little over two months, but he was familiar with the company. “I’d already been friends with one of the founders for some time,” he says. He admired the way the company was founded. “The normal procedure is to get money from a venture capitalist, at which point they own your company,” he explains. “The five founders of Backblaze each kicked in $10,000 and went a year without pay. They worked out of one of the guys’ houses. The other thing I liked about it was how open it is, with the public and employees.” Beach says he was motivated to switch companies because he’d have to travel less — generally one monthly trip to Backblaze headquarters in San Mateo versus sometimes weekly jaunts — and he could get back to technical work. “With the software I use, you can talk to all the computers and find out what’s going on,” he says. He cites the book “Remote Works” by Jason Fried as a clear and accurate observation of what the modern home-office work life is like. It addresses issues such as productivity and staff interrelations, asserting that it actually enhances planning and product development. Cindy Frey, Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce president, has taken notice of Beach’s work style and has enlisted him in a project the chamber is undertaking. Its aim is to establish a space in which remote workers can perform their jobs uninterrupted yet feel a sense of community with others working the same way. “One of the great things about the co-working project Cindy has started is that it acknowledges that people are social
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DaTA cAVE continued from page 5 customer has a cloud system with us, it knows where its data is physically stored,” says Ellison. The result of such extensive forethought is one of the best uptime records in the industry. According to an Uptime Institute survey, the cost of downtime for a data center is $1,500 per minute. Ellison says Data Cave has experienced 100 percent uptime since January 2010. “When you read the stats on data centers, you see that over 90 percent have had some downtime,” he notes. Data Cave is a spinoff from Analytical Engineering Inc., a high-end diagnostics company located in the same industrial park. AEI needed a data storage facility and decided to build it offsite. During the course of planning, it occurred to the AEI staff that space could be leased to other organizations with a similar need. Angie May is CEO of both AEI and Data Cave. Besides the administrative roles held by May and Ellison and Hatton’s marketing function, staff specialization includes technical operations, information technology, network operations, facility management and systems administration. 8 The Business Connection FEBRUARY 2014
Business development manager Brittany Lutke handles sales from an office in Louisville, Ky. Much of her work consists of developing relationships with prospects. “You have to talk to a lot of people several times to build trust,” says Ellison. Hatton’s marketing work includes improving Google search rankings, creating website content and refining the company’s social media presence. He maintains a blog that informs visitors about Data Cave’s capabilities and recent developments in a conversational tone that makes the technical arcana comprehensible to the lay reader. He describes Data Cave as “the coolest facility I’ve ever worked in.” Ellison, a West Virginia native whose previous experience includes the Marine Corps, a stint as an air-traffic controller, a mechanical engineering degree from Purdue and several years at Cummins, says his current position suits him nicely. “I’ve always enjoyed people and goalsetting,” he says. He says that business has doubled every year in the company’s fouryear history. “I don’t know if that’s sustainable, but we have a lot of talent in place that will help us move forward.”
Top: Ben Hatton stands in front of a bank of surge protectors. Above: After scanning his security card, Zack Ellison watches as Hatton places his hand in the biometric reader. The reader failed to open the door to the data cell area since it registered incorrect information from Hatton’s hand. The door was successfully opened when Ellison swiped his card again and placed his hand in the reader.
beach continued from page 7 animals,” says Beach. The project team visited two such spaces in Indianapolis. Beach says that one was more casual and geared toward entrepreneurs, and the other more formal. The team then decided on a less-formal format that seemed to be a fit for the Columbus remote-worker community. The Columbus co-working space is at the Indiana University Center for Art and Design. Remote workers have been gathering there on Wednesdays since Jan. 8. For a native Californian whose bachelor’s degree in information science and Ph.D. in computer engineering are from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and whose work life had been situated in his home state, Beach has acclimated himself to Columbus life enthusiastically. He cites the ease of movement within the city, as well as its prevalent pitch-in spirit, as two main factors of its appeal. He’s found a number of ways to get involved, including membership in the Sunrise Rotary Club and singing with the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic Chorus. Two of his grown children remain here, while the other intends to move back to California. Backblaze tried a number of marketing strategies before settling on the blog on its website, to which Beach frequently posts. A November Forbes magazine article recounts those efforts. The company tried giving away iPads on Ellen DeGeneres’ television program, as well as putting an ad on a billboard on Highway 101 near San Francisco that read “Kiss your lost files hello.” These yielded scant results. Facebook ads, hiring a public relations firm and sending out email reminders worked somewhat better, but still proved less effective than blogging. Backblaze CEO Gleb Budman, who was interviewed for the article, says that the company discovered that the key is to target those most likely to use a data-backup product. Recent Beach posts at the blog include a comparison of consumer drives and enterprise drives, and a look at the life span of disc drives. He uses such topics as an opportunity to emphasize Backblaze selling points, such as the fact that Backblaze is the only data-backup provider still offering unlimited backup for $5 a month. Beach describes the pace of change in his industry as “amazingly fast” and says it’s hard to keep up with new developments. Even so, he says he “stopped going to trade shows years ago.” It’s easier, not to mention more pleasant, to conduct that kind of research from the comfort of a home office on a shaded street in Columbus.
Beach meets with other members of the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce during its newly created Fish Tank project at the IU Center for Art and Design. Below left: Since moving to Columbus, he has been active in the community, as evidenced by his tenure as president of the Columbus Sunrise Rotary Club.
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FEBRUARY 2014 The Business Connection 9
chamberc FEBRuary 2014
Monthly publication of the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerc
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From the president Columbus is a hotbed of innovation. Its world-renowned public art and architectural designs were so ahead of their time that they are still studied as examples of design excellence decades later. Today, the businesses that drive our economy are fueled by cutting-edge technology and engineering genius. Simply put, innovation is in our DNA. The Chamber has been asking, “How do we leverage our assets – our heritage, our talented people and our drive to continually improve – to create a community that is like no other?” Along the way, we’ve discovered an opportunity to bring together our artists, engineers and visionary thinkers in a collaborative space where some of our most creative thinkers can work alongside one another. Partnering with the Indiana University Center for Art and Design, the Chamber has established a co-working site in the IUCA+D studio. This experiment is in its infancy. Every Wednesday afternoon, software developers, designers and entrepreneurs work in the space rather than in their home offices, studios or coffee shops. We began with a benchmarking study by Leslie Phillips, an IUPUC student (now an IUPUC graduate). Armed with this outstanding research, we toured the Speakeasy, Developertown and The Hinge Bureau in Indianapolis. Excited by what we witnessed, we wanted to create a similar space right here. We started off playfully calling this project “The Fish Tank,” a place where good ideas can swim around. The early champions of this project include artist Andy Miller, Jonathan Earley and Steven Riche from Joust Multimedia, Brian Beach from Backblaze, Alex White and Allison Schultz from Cummins, Zach Warren and George Devidze from LHP as well as Lisa Westmark and Kelly Wilson from IUCA+D. The excitement is building as we explore what happens when we move beyond business as usual. To learn more about the community’s collaborative workt Strange t photo by Chef the Fish Tank mee r o s Cente space, contact us at the Chamber. IU e Member th at me Cindy Frey Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce
10 The Business Connection FEBRUARY 2014
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The Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce, the city of Columbus and the Southeast Indiana Small Business Development Center are sponsoring a national speaker, Marc Willson, on “Staying Relevant to a Changed Customer.” This workshop will be held from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Feb. 21 at the Chamber office, 500 Franklin St. Cost for chamber members is $20 before Feb. 1 and $25 after. For nonmembers, the cost is $25 before Feb. 1 and $30 after. Light refreshments will be served. Willson brings 35 years of experience to bear helping retail, restaurant and tourism-related small businesses refine and promote their concepts to the public. He will focus on helping businesses determine why their offerings are unique, who their customers are and how to reach them. Wilson joined the SBDC in 2009 as a retail and restaurant consultant and has delivered over 300 seminars and assisted over 1,000 retailers and restaurateurs throughout the country.
Agenda topics include: • Overview of today’s economic climate. • Harvard Business School study on how consumers changed their buying habits in a deep recession. • Differentiation and defining your customer. • Retailing 101. • Restaurateuring 101. • Marketing and social media. To register: http://tinyurl.com/columbus221.
FEBRUARY 2014 The Business Connection 11
Knowing their rights Company whistleblowers protected by OSHA By Greg Seiter
he Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 was written to ensure that individuals have “safe and healthful working conditions” while at their places of employment. Essentially, the act was put in place to provide for research, information, education and training in the field of occupational safety and health. Today, OSHA continues to enforce proactive workplace safety and health standards while simultaneously providing information, training and assistance to employers and their employees. But there’s also another level of on-the-job protection specifically geared toward taking care of workers. According to Tim Maley, deputy commissioner of labor in occupational safety and health administration for the Indiana Department of Labor, Indiana’s Whistleblower Protection Unit, which takes care of Hoosier workers who have engaged in a protected activity and as a result, have been subjected to an adverse action, has been in place since being approved as a state plan in 1984. Protected activities include: • Filing safety and health complaints relative to the Indiana Occupational Safety and Health Act. • Participating in an IOSHA inspection. 12 The Business Connection FEBRUARY 2014
• Testifying in occupational safety or health proceedings. • Filing a complaint with another regulatory entity. • Raising safety and health concerns with employee management. • Complaints to co-workers. • Work refusal (if a reasonable person would agree that work conditions pose an imminent danger that would result in serious injury or death). “The message to business owners is that, under OSHA, they need to understand what employee rights are and what they aren’t,” Maley said. “They also need to understand how an adverse reaction on their part might conflict with those employee rights.” An “adverse reaction,” which could conceivably be perceived by a given employee as an act of discrimination, as noted on the Indiana Department of Labor’s website, might include: • Firing or laying off. • Demoting. • Denying overtime or promotion. • Disciplining. • Denial of benefits. • Intimidation/harassment. • Reassignment affecting prospects of promotion.
• Reducing pay or hours. “If an employer takes an adverse action, they need to make sure it’s done in terms of neutral factors,” Maley said. “If a person is going to be fired because of their attendance, the employer must be able to show that situations involving other employees who have also had attendance issues have been handled similarly.” No matter the situation, documentation is vital, and according to Maley, can be effective whether it’s shown through hand-written or typed memos, recorded performance counseling sessions or even on an annual performance review. However, consistency is also an important proving point for employers wanting to protect themselves. “If we look at an annual performance appraisal and can see that an employee has been exemplary for the last five years, but has one specific recently recorded incident, that could look very suspicious,” he added. Through the Indiana Department of Labor, two specially trained officers who report to a supervisor are responsible for following up on Whistleblower Protection Unit claims. “Our officers are highly trained to look at all available information and to make an objective decision, which sometimes works
in favor of the employer and sometimes in favor of the employee,” Maley said. In 2012, the unit received 48 cases from throughout the state. Of those, 29 percent were found to be valid. Last year, 69 reports were filed in Indiana through early December, with 31 of those found to have merit. “A typical investigation takes 90 days or less, and if the investigating officer feels the complaint has merit, that officer has the authority to negotiate directly with the employer,” Maley said. Resolution and closure could mean reinstating a person’s job, compensating the individual with back pay and interest, if appropriate, adjusting vacation time and removing personal records that deal with the situation in question. “If the employer does not settle, we file a case with the Indiana attorney general’s office, and they take it through a circuit court,” he continued. “Indiana statute says we have to determine if the case has merit within 120 days. But if a determination is made on the 119th day and legal action is then required, a whole new clock starts
after that point.” Maley also emphasizes that even though the Whistleblower Protection Unit does not reach out to employers to instruct them on how to avoid being reported for potential violations, there are other ways for business owners to learn how to protect themselves. “Our unit is in place to investigate complaints. They are not consultants, but if employers have questions or concerns, they can contact IOSHA or even an attorney,” Maley said. “In fact, there’s a consultation branch within the Indiana Department of Labor known as INSAFE. “Local chambers of commerce often schedule training sessions to help make business owners aware of regulations, and we sometimes get requests from groups asking us to come out and talk about safety topics, which we’re open to doing,” he added. Aside from knowing employee rights and documenting activities, events and correspondence, there are some other things business owners can do to minimize their chances of having a whistleblower complaint filed against them.
“An employer should have a nice, internal complaint system of their own, within the company, through which employees feel free to complain,” Maley said. “They should also strive to be fair and attempt to handle things themselves. “If an employer does come under The message to business investigation, they should be open and cooperative owners is that, under with the agency. OSHA, they need to “It’s important to understand what understand that we are not targeting an employer. employee rights are Our role is simply to be a and what they aren’t. neutral investigator. Our officer will ask for a lot — Tim Maley of things and consider Indiana Department of Labor that information before making a decision. “A cooperative employer probably has a better chance of having the outcome work at least somewhat in their favor than one who is uncooperative with us.”
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Around the WATERCOOLER PURDUE JOINS RARE EARTH METALS CONSORTIUM
State, Butler and other Indiana schools have all gone on record opposing the proposed constitutional amendment.
WEST LAFAYETTE — Purdue University researchers have joined a national consortium working to address shortages of rare earth metals and other materials that are critical to the nation’s energy security. The Purdue researchers are collaborating with the Critical Materials Institute, a national consortium launched in September with a five-year, $120 million U.S. Department of Energy grant. The institute is a consortium of national laboratories, industries and universities that’s being led by the Ames Laboratory in Iowa. Purdue researchers working with the group will receive up to $2.5 million over the next five years. A 2011 Department of Energy report found that supply challenges for five rare earth metals could hamper the development of the cleanenergy technology industry in the years ahead.
INDIANAPOLIS — State officials say e-retailer Newegg Inc. plans to locate a new warehouse in Indianapolis, creating up to 150 jobs by 2015. The Indiana Economic Development Corp. said the California-based company will invest $20 million to lease, renovate and equip a nearly 500,000-square-foot order warehouse in Indianapolis to serve customers in the Midwest and Great Lakes regions. The agency offered Newegg up to $1 million in conditional tax credits and up to $100,000 in training grants based on the company’s job creation plans. It says Newegg plans to begin hiring late next this year, when the expansion is expected to be completed. Newegg currently has about 2,600 employees worldwide.
ISU groups opposed to gay marriage ban
Supreme Court clears way for Rockport plant
TERRE HAUTE — Indiana State University’s faculty, staff and student groups have joined Indiana’s growing collegiate opposition to the state’s proposed constitutional ban on gay marriage. ISU’s Faculty Senate, Staff Council and Student Government Association have all taken votes affirming their opposition to the proposal. School President Daniel J. Bradley said in a statement that the groups’ actions are in keeping with ISU policies barring discrimination and harassment based on several factors, including sexual orientation. Faculty Senate Chairman Steve Lamb says the group’s vote opposing the constitutional amendment was broadly supported, but some faculty “think we ought to keep our nose out of state politics.” Faculty at Indiana University, Purdue, Ball 14 The Business Connection FEBRUARY 2014
E-RETAILER PICKS INDY FOR DISTRIBUTION CENTER
INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Supreme Court has cleared the way for construction of a coal-gasification plant in Rockport. The state’s high court ruled unanimously that an alteration of the contract the plant’s developers signed with the Indiana Finance Authority did not constitute a significant change. Opponents of the project had argued the contract should be invalidated. Under the contract, the state will buy the synthetic gas produced by the plant at a fixed price for 30 years. The state would then resell the gas, and consumers would either make or lose money. The state has not said how much it will pay for the gas. Justice Mark Massa ruled in favor of the project after declining to recuse himself from the vote despite a close friendship with the project’s lead developer.
GM USING LANDFILL GAS TO POWER PLANT
ROANOKE — General Motors Corp. is spending $11 million at its Fort Wayne Assembly Plant to create a small power plant to supply 40 percent of the factory’s operations. GM spokeswoman Amanda Kurzman says the move will save GM about $5 million a year and reduce the truck assembly plant’s carbon footprint. Since 2002 the plant has been using landfill gas to create steam for its boilers. For that project, a pipeline was built to deliver the gas from a landfill about nine miles away. Now, a new building is being constructed to house several generators that will turn the landfill gas into energy the plant can use. It’s due to be up and running by May.
ALLEGION PLANS CARMEL HEADQUARTERS
CARMEL — Security device maker Allegion says it is establishing its North American headquarters in suburban Indianapolis and plans adding up to 100 employees there this year. Allegion is based in Ireland and spun off from Ingersoll Rand as a stand-alone public company. Allegion already has about 1,000 workers in Indiana at its office in Carmel and a manufacturing facility on the east side of Indianapolis. The company sells mechanical and electronic locks, key systems and other security devices, with about 7,800 employees worldwide.
Kokomo buys ex-steel plant site
KOKOMO — The city has purchased a former steel plant site that has undergone years of environmental cleanup and plans to use the land to try to reduce damage from future flooding. The sale of the Continental Steel Superfund see watercooler on page 15
on the move
Kim Rocker
Kim Rocker of Columbus has joined First Financial Bank as a mortgage loan originator. She is located at the bank’s downtown office, 125 Third St., and serves clients in Columbus, Seymour, North Vernon and Bloomington. She is a graduate of Indiana University Kelley School of Business and has more than 18 years of experience in financial services and mortgage banking. Aquatic Control Inc. honored several employees during a Christmas party in December for their service to the Rust Cos. Barb Garner and Patrick Whitson were recognized for five years of service to Aquatic Control. Garner is an administrative assistant, and Whitson, a biologist/aquatic applicator, has been named manager of the Aquatic Control office in Evansville. A 10-year service award was presented to Bill Thomas who does all in-house diagnostic and repair work on fountains and aeration equipment. Mike Johnson, who is a licensed aquatic applicator, specializes in large
lake applications, manages equipment maintenance and repair, and serves as project leader on many specialty jobs. He received a 25-year service award. A 30-year service award went to Penny Warren who is in charge of payroll and employee benefits for all Rust Cos. employees. David Elwood of Columbus, co-owner of Elwood Staffing, recently received the Harold W. Reed Leadership Award from Olivet Nazarene University, recognizing his lifetime of ethical leadership and the success of his family business. Elwood is a 1955 graduate of Olivet and earned post-graduate degrees at Southern Illinois University and Purdue University. Elwood Staffing was founded by Elwood and his three sons, Michael, Mark and John. The award was established by Harold W. Reed, president of Olivet from 1949 to 1975. Natalie Mann of Columbus has joined Tastefully Simple Inc. as an independent consultant. Tastefully Simple is a national
direct sales company featuring easyto-prepare foods through home tastetesting parties. White River Broadcasting has named John Foster station manager of WCSI/ WKKG/WWWY and WINN radio. A 45-year broadcast veteran, he has been director of programming there since 1994. Bob Morrison, a marketing consultant with White River Broadcasting since 1993, has been named sales manager. He is a graduate of Ball State University, with a degree in marketing and professional sales. Christine R. Nelson, a White River associate since 2008, has been appointed business manager. She is a graduate of Indiana Wesleyan University, with a degree in business management, and has more than 20 years of experience in finance. Michael Sullivan, a 25-year broadcast veteran and graduate of Indiana University School of Telecommunications, has been named manager of creative services. He joined White River in 1997 and has experience in all aspects of the industry, from on-air to administrative functions. — Staff Reports
watercooler continued from page 14 site marked the end of nearly 10 years of discussions between city officials and Howard County. The city bought the property for $5,000 and purchased 54 flood-damaged properties in the area for $500 apiece. Plans for the Continental Steel land parcels include the continued development of a 60-acre soccer complex and the development of a roundabout. The city also is planning development of a storm-water basin at a quarry site.
Farm Bureau wants proposal scrapped
INDIANAPOLIS — The president of Indiana Farm Bureau wants the state’s farmers to urge
the federal government to scrap a proposed reduction in the amount of ethanol in the nation’s fuel supply. Don Villwock says corn prices have dropped more than 5 percent since word of the proposed U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rule was leaked in October. Federal support for ethanol has been a boon to the economies of corn-growing states like Indiana. But the Obama administration says the biofuel law championed by both parties in 2007 isn’t working as well as expected. Villwock says reducing the amount of ethanol in the nation’s fuel supply would harm Indiana’s farmers. He’s urging farmers to write to the EPA and explain what the improved crop prices have meant to their families, farms and communities.
Financing deal set on fertilizer plant
ROCKPORT — A businessman says he has reached a deal with a Chinese company to finance a proposed southern Indiana fertilizer plant that could cost nearly $1 billion to build. Ohio Valley Resources President Doug Wilson announced that the Chinese company will provide equity financing for the construction while his company will manage the project near the Ohio River town of Rockport. Wilson says his company and Tierra Del Fuego Power & Chemical Co. have also picked a Chinese engineering company to develop designs for the plant that would produce ammonia and nitrogen fertilizer. — Wire Reports FEBRUARY 2014 The Business Connection 15
BUSINESS LEADS COMMERCIAL BUILDING PERMITS 11622 N E EXECUTIVE DR COMMERCIAL REMODEL $90,000 JANIE AND JACK OUTLET, OWNER TERRY ADAMS INC, CONTRACTOR 3030 NORCROSS DR DEMOLITION $0 CLAAS OF AMERICA, OWNER DUNLAP GENERAL CONTRACTOR 1325 N NATIONAL RD COMMERCIAL REMODEL $35,000 PETERSON, DOUG, OWNER SH2 COMPANIES, CONTRACTOR RED WING SHOE REMODEL 1995 AF 3136 NATIONAL RD COMMERCIAL REMODEL $3,500 BENJAMIN, BRUCE, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR COM REMODEL 1680 SF 230 S MARR RD COMMERCIAL ADDITION $2,000,000 COLUMBUS EAST HIGH SCHOOL GIBRALTAR CONSTRUCTION CORP, CONTRACTOR COLUMBUS EAST ADDITION 500 CENTRAL AVE FOUNDATION ONLY $0 CUMMINS INC, OWNER TAYLOR BROTHERS CONSTRUCTION, CONTRACTOR BATH REMODEL 2260 1460 N NATIONAL RD COMMERCIAL REMODEL $160,000 CUMMINS FUEL SYSTEMS PLANT TAYLOR BROTHERS CONSTRUCTION, CONTRACTOR BATH REMODEL 575 SF 720 MARR RD COMMERCIAL REMODEL 16 The Business Connection FEBRUARY 2014
$60,000 CENTERSTONE INC., OWNER DRIFTWOOD BUILDERS, CONTRACTOR CENTERSTONE REM 12150 S SR 58 COMMERCIAL REMODEL $1,662,700 BCSC, OWNER DUNLAP & COMPANY INC, CONTRACTOR MT HEALTHY SCH/REM 1209 SYCAMORE ST COMMERCIAL REMODEL $594,700 BARTHOLOMEW SCHOOL CORP, OWNER DUNLAP GENERAL CONTRACTOR 3195 SF SCH/REM 12600 PRESIDENTIAL WAY FOUNDATION ONLY $0 KRAMER, THOMAS, OWNER BATEMAN BUILDERS, CONTRACTOR COM ADDN/KRAMER 30625 SF 2700 MCKINLEY AVE COMMERCIAL REMODEL $1,261,600 BARTHOLOMEW CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL, OWNER GIBRALTAR CONSTRUCTION CORP MCDOWELL ADDITION 2330 MIDWAY ST COMMERCIAL REMODEL $17,272 HEALING WATERS FULL GOSPEL MIN, OWNER COLES CONSTRUCTION, CONTRACTOR COM BLDG REMODEL/HEALING WATERS CHURCH
RESIDENTIAL BUILDING PERMITS 1728 ANTHONY $105,000 RES/NEW BEACON BUILDERS LLC, OWNER/CONTRACTOR
DECEMBER
2223 BROADMOOR LN $250,000 NEW RES GRANT, SCOTT, OWNER PRATT, TIM/BREEDEN INC, CONTRACTOR 2711 DAFFODIL CT WEST $200,000 NEW 4084 SF RES/BMT/GAR HARPER CONSTRUCTION, OWNER/CONTRACTOR 2014 DEER CREEK CIRCLE $300,000 NEW 5144 SF RES/BMT/GAR PHILLIPS DEVELOPMENT INC, OWNER/CONTRACTOR 12225 E OTTER CREEK LN $400,000 NEW RES/BMT/GAR HENRY, SCOTT, OWNER FERGUSON, TRENT, CONTRACTOR 2105 LAKECREST DR $153,700 NEW 2807 SF RES/GAR BEAZER HOMES, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR 2150 LAKECREST DR $145,000 NEW 2841 SF RES/GAR BEAZER HOMES, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR 7000 SCARBOROUGH DR $327,000 NEW 5107 SF RES/BMT/GAR M/I HOMES OF INDIANA, OWNER/CONTRACTOR 7010 SCARBOROUGH DR $346,000 RES/NEW M/I HOMES OF INDIANA, OWNER/CONTRACTOR 7015 SCARBOROUGH DR $318,000 NEW 6314 SF RES/BMT/GAR M/I HOMES OF INDIANA, OWNER/CONTRACTOR 7020 SCARBOROUGH DR $344,000 RES/NEW
M/I HOMES OF INDIANA, OWNER/CONTRACTOR 7025 SCARBOROUGH DR $329,500 RES/NEW M/I HOMES OF INDIANA, OWNER/CONTRACTOR 7043 STONEY RIDGE DR $274,000 RES/NEW M/I HOMES OF INDIANA, OWNER/CONTRACTOR 7068 STONEY RIDGE DR $308,000 RES/NEW M/I HOMES OF INDIANA, OWNER/CONTRACTOR 12105 W BAKER HOLLOW RD $226,830 NEW 3872 SF RES/BMT/GAR FRUHNER, KEN, OWNER HALLMARK HOMES, CONTRACTOR 268 WESTBROOK CT $350,000 NEW 4103 SF RES/BMT/GAR SPOON, JOEL, OWNER/ CONTRACTOR 6989 WINTERCREST DR $325,000 NEW 5466 SF RES/BMT/GAR M/I HOMES OF INDIANA, OWNER/CONTRACTOR 806 YORKSHIRE DR $248,000 NEW 4665 SF RES/BMT/GAR M/I HOMES OF INDIANA, OWNER/CONTRACTOR 816 YORKSHIRE DR $293,000 NEW 4513 SF RES/BMT/GAR M/I HOMES OF INDIANA, OWNER/CONTRACTOR
CERTIFICATES TO DO BUSINESS UNDER ASSUMED NAME Robert Mathess, DBA Sin Crew (tattoo), 7255 E. State Road 7 see leads on page 17
coach’s corner
Mark McNulty
Leading the way The economy is improving, your customer base is growing and changing, and people are buying again. Your world has changed, yet in many ways it remains the same, as business is still business, yet somehow everything feels different. The reality is actually some combination of the above, with the fundamentals of business mostly unchanged, yet the business environment completely different than ever before – not better or worse, just different. So how do you navigate your business, your team, through the uncharted waters? It’s simple really. You must be the leader that your team and business need and lead them through it. The first reaction I often get to that last statement is “but I’m not a great leader” or “leadership doesn’t come naturally to me.” My response is always the same, because, as Peter Drucker said so eloquently, “Leaders are not born, they are grown.” True leadership is often misunderstood and is often confused with personalities and communication styles. Leadership is not about personality, it is about behaviors, and all behaviors can be learned. Here are six keys to leading your business and your team to success this year. n The first and most important key to leading your team is to create the context of your business. What I mean by this is to define what your company is all about – vision, mission, culture, core values and philosophy. We often focus too much on skills and procedures, yet without a well-defined context,
skills and procedures can be misapplied. As Simon Sinek wrote in his best-selling book, start with your why. n Once you have established the context of your business, you need to provide your team with a vision for the future that inspires the team members and gives them a reason to come to work and give their best every day. The vision is the picture of what can be, if only they let themselves believe it. Your job is to then help them believe it is possible and that it is worth working for. You do this by ensuring that they can see themselves in it, that they see how achieving it is for the common good, that it is easy to get involved in and exciting to accomplish. n With the context and vision now in place, you need to begin behaving the way you expect the team to behave. We call this “modeling the way,” and it is the most important leadership behavior in your business. Your team will watch how you behave before beginning to behave in a new way themselves. They will not adopt new behaviors that you refuse to adopt, and they will expect you to do what you say you will do. n Leaders also need to be constantly challenging the status quo. Too many people think that this means you need to be incredibly visionary and creative, constantly coming up with breakthrough ideas. Some leaders do have those skills, but most don’t, and they are not necessary to lead your team. All it really takes is to always
be asking questions about how you and your team do things. My favorite status quo question is simple: “How does that process/behavior/ activity help us achieve our vision and mission for ourselves and our customers?” The discussions that result from this question can lead to the dozens of little things you can do to turn your team and business from good to exceptional. n The next thing great leaders do is enable their team to act by establishing a culture and environment of trust and support. When your team members know that you have their back, they will begin to try new things without fear of retribution. Your job as their leader is to give them the framework to succeed and then get out of the way. n The last key to great leadership is to always look up. Too many business owners spend too much time looking down and looking back. What happened yesterday is over and done with, and you can either dwell on it or learn from it. Leaders learn from the past, apply the learnings in the present and future, and regularly look up and out to ensure they are heading in the right direction and identifying the icebergs to avoid and the next opportunity to steer toward. So there you have it, six easy keys to being a great leader. If you can remember only one, make it the last one: Leaders always look up. Mark McNulty is a business coach with ActionCoach Business Coaching. He can be reached at 372-7377 or mark@coachmark.biz.
leads continued from page 16 James Griffith and Glenda Griffith, DBA Victory Circles (full-service repair shop), 1942 Seventh St., Columbus Thomas S. Owen, DBA CHS Class of 1955 (class reunions), 883 Rocky Ford Road, Columbus Jeff Smith, DBA Plane and Simple Golf School (golf
instruction), 11522 E. Road 50N, Columbus Christine L. Mullholand, DBA The Noon Gallery (art and memories), 305 E. Third St., Bloomington Robert N. Eikenbary, DBA RNE Sales (sales-wholesale), 2370 N. National Road, Columbus
Riku Nakajima, DBA Elwood Nakajima Valet Service, Columbus Neva K. Tindell, DBA Christian Cavaliers (music performance), 495 Collier St., Columbus Daniel E. Grider, DBA Southern Weatherproofing
(construction), 4684 Westridge Drive, Columbus George Leon Harrison, DBA Harrison Construction, 405 Della Road, Columbus David Wilkerson, DBA DW Rentals (rental properties), 328 Sycamore St., Columbus
FEBRUARY 2014 The Business Connection 17
Eye on the pie
Morton Marcus
Is the party over? “The sky will fall. Inflation will soar. Money will be worthless. Stocks will crash. Auto sales will plummet, and Indiana’s economy will go into the tank again.” That is the dire prediction of many who fear the Federal Reserve cutting back its Quantitative Easing, or QE, policy. If my experience is correct, very few Hoosiers know about QE other than as shorthand for Queen Elizabeth. This QE is how our federal central bank has been fighting to keep our financial institutions from failing and to stimulate the economy. The process can be complicated, but the idea is simple. Remember when the stocks, bonds, mortgages and other financial assets owned by banks, insurance companies and others crashed in value in 2008? The Treasury Department and the Fed went in to relieve those institutions of their “toxic assets.” After that was done, the Fed found the economy was not returning to health quickly enough and decided on a buying program under the name of Quantitative Easing. Thus the Fed went shopping for bonds, mortgages and other
bargain assets, boosting their prices. When the Fed makes such a purchase, it transfers money to the seller’s bank account. Either the money sits there or is spent on something. If the money sits, the bank may lend it to a borrower who spends it on something. But what if the bank does not lend the money? Perhaps, the bank cannot find a risk-free borrower. Possibly, the bank is intimidated by new regulations intended to protect customers. Similar points can be made about other financial institutions that sell assets to the Fed. An insurance company, for example, might take the money out of its bank account and pay it out as profits to its shareholders or bonuses to its executives. Under QE, $84 billion a month is pumped into asset markets and prices rise, as we have seen on the stock market. Owners of stocks, who tend to be among the richest Americans, become wealthier and spend a little of it on baubles or boats. The balance they reinvest in a rising stock market to make more money. When the Fed talks of slowing (tapering) its
buying spree, negative anticipations grow. Hence, the “sky is falling” scenario. The nation cannot undo what has been done. We, however, could do what so many oppose. We could spend money on national needs instead of shifting funds to already-wealthy asset owners. What are America’s and Indiana’s needs? You, I and our neighbors have lists. Preschool education? Safer roads and bridges? Environmental protection and restoration? Worker training? Now, as for the last five years, is the time for aggressive fiscal policy, spending money that becomes jobs and paychecks in ways that benefit our future. In the early stages of the recession, monetary policy saved the banks and financial asset holders from ruin. That was good. But once accomplished, we depended on those institutions to move the economy along. They did not. QE paved the way for a few to be enriched while the nation’s needs went unmet. Morton Marcus is an independent economist, writer and speaker. He can be reached at mortonjmarcus@yahoo.com.
Business Indicators for Bartholomew County
Aug 2013
Sep 2013 Oct 2013 Nov 2013
Labor Force % Chg from Year Ago
42,899 42,432 42,595 43,720 3.36% 3.58% 2.76% 5.23%
Employed % Chg from Year Ago
40,524 40,285 40,401 41,402 4.3% 4.42% 3.56% 6.07%
Unemployed % Chg from Year Ago
2,375 2,147 2,194 2,318 -10.41% -10.09% -10.05% -7.8%
Unemployment Rate 5.5 5.1 5.2 5.3 Chg from Year Ago -0.9 -0.7 -0.7 -0.8 — Center for Business and Economic Research, Ball State University 18 The Business Connection FEBRUARY 2014
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20 The Business Connection FEBRUARY 2014