Shows
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingPete the Planner on whether buying a home is always a smart investmentHome ownership is viewed in many circles as a standard rite of passage for young adults. It indicates a certain financial wherewithal and the understanding that buying a home is an early key to building wealth. It’s supposed to be one of your most important investments. It’s the prime ingredient in what we consider the American Dream. And to be frank, if you are in your 30s or 40s and you don’t own a home, you’re very likely to get frequent reminders that you’re burning money on rent without building any equity.
But is...
2025-09-0144 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason King'It all comes back to relationships,' says banker turned small-biz ownerCindy Schum grew up in a troubled family situation and, as she describes herself today, was terribly shy and awkward. Still, she found ways to put herself in situations that could help her be more outgoing. She was great at working with numbers, and she gravitated to a career in commercial lending that put her in front of business owners who loved to talk about how they made things work.
She picked a heck of a time to jump from banking to buying a 104-year-old small business. She felt something vital was missing from her career, and...
2025-08-2552 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingShe kept her job but hit the road, lived in a school bus and reclaimed her callingKarmen Johnson certainly had the trappings of traditional success
in her mid-20s: the corporate job in finance, the new house and a wedding in
the works. Then she took a hard left turn in the early 2020s and transformed
working from home to working and living on the road.
She got a taste for what folks call van life—outfitting a truck, bus or van as a mobile home and traveling the country for months at a time. She persuaded her employer, Indianapolis-based credit union Elements Financial, to allow her to work remotely and way off th...
2025-08-1855 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingChristine Brennan on Caitlin Clark’s cultural influence and the WNBA’s growing painsIn this episode of the IBJ Podcast, USA Today columnist and sports broadcasting veteran Christine Brennan speaks with IBJ's Mickey Shuey about "On Her Game," her bestselling unauthorized biography of Indiana Fever’s star Caitlyn Clark. Brennan explains how a chance encounter at the Olympic swimming trials led to a whirlwind book deal, and why Clark’s impact on attendance, viewership and cultural visibility is unlike anything women’s team sports have seen.
She also speaks candidly about the WNBA’s handling of Clark’s debut, arguing that league leadership failed to prepare for her arriva...
2025-08-041h 02
Inside INdiana Business Television PodcastIndiana Claims Global Spotlight in Nuclear Medicine—and Honors Top Business LeadersThis week on Inside Indiana Business with Gerry Dick, we spotlight Indiana’s emergence as the “Radiopharmaceutical Capital of the World.” With major investments from companies like RayzeBio, Novartis, and SpectronRx, plus a new Purdue master’s program and the state’s central role in cancer-fighting innovation, Indiana is transforming the future of nuclear medicine—and its economy.
Plus, IBJ Media unveils the 2025 Indiana 250 list, recognizing the state’s most influential business and civic leaders. We also get a sneak peek inside Noblesville’s new $93 million arena, share the IU Luddy School's new STEM outreach for kids, and examine India...
2025-07-2925 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingIndy’s fast-rising chief of community outreach on potholes, curbside recycling, rural rootsNatalie van Dongen grew up in a small farming community outside a modest city in central Illinois. She spent most of her youth either in school or in the woods by her home. Approaching high school graduation, she wanted to study theater in college and definitely didn’t want to go to Butler University, where both of her parents graduated. But that’s where she eventually chose to go.
Two weeks ago, she became the Hogsett administration’s point person for addressing the concerns and complaints of nearly 1 million Indianapolis residents. In eight years, she had risen from a...
2025-07-2849 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingCan Indy's All-Star moment shine without Clark?Host Mickey Shuey unpacks the high-stakes arrival of the 2025 WNBA All-Star Weekend in Indianapolis—and explores what it means that the league's biggest star, Caitlin Clark, is sidelined. With thousands descending upon the Circle City. Featuring interviews with WNBA Chief Growth Officer Colie Edison, USA Today columnist Christine Brennan, sports marketer Ken Ungar, and leaders from Visit Indy, Indiana Sports Corp., and Pacers Sports & Entertainment, this episode dives into the marketing, civic planning, and vision behind one of the biggest weekends in WNBA history as the city looks to use the weekend as a catalyst for its own ambitions ar...
2025-07-1839 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason King“Am I crazy for doing this?” asks attorney turned bookstore ownerIndependent bookstores have been on the retail death watch for a few decades now. But, as one American author might put it, reports of their impending demise have been greatly exaggerated. For many, the recipe for success is local ownership, strict attention to local needs and concerns and calendars packed with special events to help create a sense of community. This is what Tiffany Phillips has found over nine years as founder and owner of Wild Geese Bookshop in Franklin.
Phillips had a well-established career as an attorney in the health care industry as she w...
2025-07-071h 01
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingPete the Planner’s advice for Gen X’s retirement dilemmasComing after the baby boomers, Generation X is often referred to as “the forgotten generation,” the self-reliant generation and perhaps the last free-range generation. Today, you certainly could argue that it's becoming the financial-panic generation.
The first Gen Xers hit the workforce right around the time pensions gave way to 401(k) accounts with self-directed invested assets. Recent studies indicate that Gen Xers who have retirement accounts have saved on average somewhere in the neighborhood of $180,000. That’s well below the $1 million popularly seen as the minimum requirement for beginning a comfortable retirement. (Of course, the ability to sust...
2025-06-3052 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingCould proposed tax credit upgrade help make Indiana a film and media hub?In this era of online entertainment, you could switch to a steaming service this very second and watch one of many classic movies filmed in Indiana. You would be hard-pressed to find many movies and TV shows that recently were filmed in Indiana—even those where the stories are set in Indiana. Other states, including several of our immediate neighbors, have been much more aggressive than Indiana in offering financial incentive to filmmakers, TV producers and commercial creators. In 2022, Gov. Eric Holcomb signed a law that offered state tax credits for certain elements of a production’s budget. But that...
2025-04-0734 min
Indiana 250: Off the Record with Nate FeltmanMarisol Sanchez, executive vice president of Endress+Hauser USAIn this episode of Indiana 250 Off the Record, host Nate Feltman talks with Marisol Sanchez, executive vice president, general counsel, and board member of Endress+Hauser USA. Marisol shares her journey from growing up in Puerto Rico, earning a business degree at the University of Puerto Rico, relocating to Indiana through an exchange program with what was then Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne, attending the IU Maurer School of Law, to ultimately becoming a key leader at the U.S. division of a global industrial automation company. Marisol also discusses her experience clerking for Indiana Supreme Court Chief Justice...
2025-03-2748 min
Indiana 250: Off the Record with Nate FeltmanOff The Record with Justin Christian, founder and CEO of BCforwardIn this episode of Indiana 250 Off the Record, host Nate Feltman talks with one of Indiana’s most dynamic entrepreneurs, Justin Christian, founder and CEO of BCforward, one of the largest Black-owned businesses in the United States. A New York native, Justin came to Indiana to study music at DePauw University before shifting to computer science, which led to a job at Eli Lilly and Co. before he launched his own IT consulting firm. He and his business partner started BCforward with just $1,500, growing it into a global enterprise now with 5,000 employees. Justin discusses his path to entrepreneurship, his le...
2025-03-1457 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingThe risks tariffs pose to Indiana’s manufacturing-heavy economyPodcast listeners might remember about three months ago when regular guest Pete the Planner predicted that President Donald Trump’s plans for tariffs could have a pronounced effect on some elements of Indiana’s economy. Trump wasted little time once his second term began last month, imposing or thratening to impose a barrage of tariffs on many of America’s trading partners—and in particular Canada, Mexico and China, who are among Indiana’s top six importers of goods. For example, on Feb. 1, Trump said he would implement a 25% additional tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico and a 10% additional...
2025-02-1733 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingThe latest on downtown soccer stadium, $78M Fever facility and Simon hotel/concert venueIt’s time to unpack the latest developments in Mayor Joe Hogsett’s plan to establish a Major League Soccer team in downtown Indianapolis. Among other things, the team needs a stadium to play in. The city earmarked about 16 acres in the southeast quadrant of the Mile Square and held discussions with MLS officials. We were left with a cliffhanger: Can the city get state approval for the taxing district that would help pay for the stadium?
That’s where we’ll kick off this week’s edition of the IBJ Podcast, but we’re going to cover much mo...
2025-01-2743 min
Indiana 250: Off the Record with Nate FeltmanOff the Record with Scott DorseyIBJ Media CEO Nate Feltman speaks with Scott Dorsey, co-founder and managing partner of High Alpha, a leading venture capital firm based in Indianapolis that creates and funds B2B SaaS companies. Dorsey shares his journey as founder of ExactTarget, a pioneering digital marketing company. ExactTarget's meteoric rise included developing its unique "Orange Culture," going public on the New York Stock Exchange, and being acquired by Salesforce for $2.5 billion in 2013. The conversation delves into the challenges and successes of building a successful business, Dorsey’s passion for fostering entrepreneurship, and his efforts to strengthen Indiana’s tech ecosystem through High...
2025-01-2348 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingInside the mind of a rising Indy apartment developerAfter five years leading apartment development for Indianapolis-based real estate firm Birge & Held, Jarod Brown decided he wanted a business with his name on the door. So he struck out on his own in late 2022 and soon hung his shingle for Brown Capital Group on an historic building in Broad Ripple. As a developer, he hit the ground running with an impressive set of established relationships and a strong track record in central Indiana. He currently is working on several major apartment projects in various stages of development in the Indy area, including The Grounds, a 236-unit project at 22nd...
2025-01-1344 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingDave Lindquist previews can't-miss entertainment in 20252024 was a big year for entertainment in Indianapolis. Taylor Swift came to town for three concerts of course. But major sports events including NBA All-Star Weekend, the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials and Indianapolis 500 included multiple concerts and arts events. Even celebrations around the eclipse featured music and the arts.
So will 2025 be a letdown? IBJ Editor Lesley Weidenbener sat down with IBJ’s arts and entertainment reporter Dave Lindquist to find out what’s on the docket this year in entertainment.
The IBJ Podcast is brought to you by Taft.
2025-01-0630 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingJosef Newgarden, Indy 500 champ and avid investor, also races against S&P 500IndyCar and Indy 500 champion Josef Newgarden doesn’t take his hands off the steering wheel when he leaves the cockpit of his No. 2 Chevy. He enjoys being a very hands-on caretaker of his career, business interests and financial life. As he says in his IBJ Podcast interview this week, “Maybe I’m just too type-A, but I want to know where every dollar is.”
That includes tracking his philanthropic efforts, sourcing new merchandise and, as we’re going to cover in great detail this week, managing his investment portfolio. He says that if he weren't a racer, "I think I...
2024-12-0934 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingFrom the Army to finance to tech to owning an excavation firm, Andrea Sloan says ‘yes’ and takes chancesReaders of IBJ’s annual lists of fastest-growing Indianapolis-area companies might be familiar with GroundBreakers, formerly known as GroundBreakers Hydrovac Excavation. Between 2021 and 2023, its annual revenue grew 143.1% to $18.9 million, which was good for 10th place on our most recent list. All of that growth came under President Andrea Sloan, who was recruited in 2018 to become the chief executive and buy the firm. She acquired it in chunks and became the outright owner in 2021.
So who is Andrea Sloan? Is she one of those management ringers that private equity firms hire to take over companies? Nope. Did she ha...
2024-09-3046 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingPete the Planner on the best places to stash your cashOn Sept. 18, we will learn whether or not the Federal Reserve will lower its federal funds interest rate for the first time in four years. It could be one of the biggest financial events of the year, leading to lower interest rates for lending and quite possibly a big bump in spending in the U.S. economy. In this episode of the podcast, our concern lies in its effect on the interest rates banks pay consumers for parking their money in savings. That interest rate also would go down.
For the podcast, we’re defining savings as mo...
2024-09-0939 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason King'Swiftianapolis,' 10 more can't-miss arts events, and what they all say about IndyWe are in the era of peak entertainment. Through our phones, computers and televisions, we have access to nearly every movie, album, TV show, book and video game ever created. You'd think many of us would decide it isn’t necessary to leave our homes. In the Indianapolis area, that apparently is not the case. IBJ just published its 2024-25 arts and entertainment calendar, and the number of music, dance, comedy, literary, film and theatrical events—not to mention art fairs and exhibits— to choose from is astonishing for an area that two generations ago was known as “India-no-place.”
I...
2024-09-0343 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingFever emcee’s story of getting the gig is the ultimate in moxie, initiativeYou easily could argue that the biggest business newsmaker of the year so far in Indianapolis is the Indiana Fever. It started with drafting Caitlin Clark in April, leading to an explosion of interest in women’s professional basketball with sold-out stadiums and best-ever TV ratings for the spor—and now the news that the Fever will host the 2025 WNBA All-Star Game. Olivia West has had a front row seat for the Fever phenomenon (not that she ever sits down) as one of the in-arena emcees for Fever games—one of the folks who hype up the crowd, host games...
2024-08-1953 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingSimons building hospitality ecosystem by fieldhouse with plans to add luxury hotel, concert venueThe footprint of the Indiana Pacers on the southeast side of downtown Indianapolis would roughly correspond with a size 6,329 athletic shoe. Gainbridge Fieldhouse actually is owned by the Marion County’s Capital Improvement Board, which owns most of downtown’s major sports and convention facilities. But there’s no doubt that its primary occupants are the Indiana Pacers and Indiana Fever, both owned to a large degree by real estate developer Herb Simon and his family. (FYI: Billionaire businessman Steve Rales has a minority stake in the Pacers.) But in recent years, the Simon family’s real estate holdings near and...
2024-08-0533 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingHotly anticipated eatery Borage debuted in June. So how’s it going?The debut of the Speedway eatery Borage in June was one of the hottest local restaurant launches in recent memory, covered by most of the major media outlets in the Indianapolis market—including IBJ. Its co-creators—Josh Kline and Zoe Taylor—had won considerable acclaim as chefs for nationally lauded Milktooth in Fletcher Place. The concept for Borage was unique, combining a restaurant, a bakery and a market in one L-shaped building. And Taylor and Kline wanted to make a point of providing fair compensation for employees, guaranteeing at least $20 an hour.
IBJ’s Dave Lindquist outlined their pl...
2024-07-2936 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingThe inside story of WWE’s blockbuster deal for three events in IndyWWE and the Indiana Sports Corp. announced a first-of-its-kind agreement last week that will bring three of pro wrestling's top events to Lucas Oil Stadium over the next eight years.
The deal means Indianapolis will host "Royal Rumble" on Feb. 1, 2025, and then “WrestleMania" and “SummerSlam” in the years after.
This week on the podcast, we’re giving host Mason King a break and turning the podcast microphone over to IBJ arts reporter Dave Lindquist. His guest is our own Mickey Shuey, who – among other things – covers tourism and the business of sports for IBJ.
He's got th...
2024-07-0133 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingDowntown soccer battle update—stadium design, burial sites, Simon family landThree weeks ago, we released an episode of the IBJ Podcast explaining the sudden, multilayered and high-pitched battle over building a soccer stadium in downtown Indianapolis. Since then, the drama has taken several turns with fresh revelations about what’s underneath the ground set aside for the stadium complex that developer Keystone Group wants to build and who owns the land the city has identified for another site that Mayor Joe Hogsett’s administration has championed. Meanwhile, a proposal for a taxing district that would cover most of the cost for the latter stadium is wending its way to the...
2024-05-2842 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingExplaining the Indy Eleven stadium, MLS soccer bid dramaLess than two weeks ago, everything that we had assumed about the future of pro soccer in Indianapolis and the creation of a publicly owned downtown stadium for the Indy Eleven soccer team received a swift kick between the stitches. With head-spinning speed on April 25, the owner of the Indy Eleven accused the city of backing out of negotiations to finalize the stadium deal and support financing for a $1.5 billion mixed use project that the stadium would anchor. Then Mayor Joe Hogsett announced that the city indeed had halted negotiations, claiming in part that the numbers didn’t add up...
2024-05-0653 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingStartup guru Christopher Day on boosting Indiana’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, getting investors to say ‘yes’When serial entrepreneur Christopher Day walks into a room, he should be followed by somebody with a boombox playing “Start Me Up” by the Rolling Stones. Not to put too fine a point on it, but Christopher Day gathers no moss. Over the last 30 years, he has co-founded eight businesses in seven distinct sectors—namely, artificial intelligence, software as a service, hardtech, broadband, entertainment, investment banking and real estate. For the last two years, he has been CEO of Indianapolis-based Elevate Ventures, a seed and early-stage venture capital firm that invests in high-potential, innovation-based companies with a significant presence in Ind...
2024-03-1151 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingPete the Planner asks, ‘Can ambitious people feel fulfilled in retirement?’As you know, we discuss retirement planning fairly regularly on the IBJ Podcast, but in retrospect it’s been a little one-dimensional. We almost always are focused on how to hit a particular number—the amount to have squirreled away that will allow you to maintain your current lifestyle during retirement. There’s a little bit of wiggle room in our definition of lifestyle, but we’re usually talking about creature comforts, travel, entertainment, family obligations and health care.
What we have not addressed is ambition. If you’re a company founder, serial entrepreneur and/or C-suite executive...
2024-02-1929 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingHere's what to see and do during All-Star WeekendThe NBA’s All-Star weekend is just about 10 days away, and the calendar is filling up fast with official and unofficial events. There are concerts, forums, theater, comedy and lots of art.
Guest host Lesley Weidenbener talked with IBJ arts and entertainment writer Dave Lindquist to talk about the schedule so far and what central Indiana residents can find to do during All-Star Weekend—even if they don’t have a ticket to the game.
One note: After this podcast was recorded, the NBA said rapper Lil Wayne will be the headliner for a pre-game concer...
2024-02-0535 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingPete the Planner bullish on 2024 stocks, housing market (with a Constitutional caveat)Stocks went up about 25% in 2023, a welcome correction from a lousy 2022. Don’t say we didn’t give you a heads-up: On the IBJ Podcast a year ago, Peter Dunn, aka Pete the Planner, predicted a “bonkers” year for stocks with equities rising 30%. He wasn’t quite as close on some of his other prediction—especially for the housing market—but, you know, nobody ever gets it totally right.
Given Pete’s qualified success last year, we thought it’d be worth revisiting those predictions about stock, interest rates, housing and the overall economy for this week's edition of the IBJ...
2024-01-0833 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingStatehouse reporters preview the upcoming legislative sessionIndiana lawmakers will return to the Statehouse for their 2024 session on Jan. 8 with plans to talk about water rights, literacy and apprenticeships for students. But House and Senate leaders have said they don't expect to tackle any especially polarizing issues this year.
With IBJ Podcast host Mason King off this week, Managing Editor Greg Weaver talks with two Statehouse reporters—IBJ's Peter Blanchard and State Affairs' Kaitlin Lange—about what to expect at the Legislature in the coming weeks.
The IBJ Podcast is brought to you by Taft.
2024-01-0225 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingHow Westfield resident Joey Chestnut makes a good living in competitive eatingJoey Chestnut is the king of competitive eating. You almost certainly have seen video clips of him gulping down dozens of hot dogs, boiled eggs, tacos, wings, burritos, Twinkies and/or spears of deep-fried asparagus. He in fact has more than 50 gastronomic world records, including a vaunted 76 Nathan’s Famous hot dogs, with buns, eaten in 10 minutes. He’s the first to admit that competitive eating is a little weird, but he has a natural affinity for it, and it allows him to make hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. He confirms in his IBJ Podcast interview recent repo...
2023-12-0444 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingShawn Fain, UAW’s firebrand prez, was forged in Kokomo’s union hotbedShawn Fain seemingly came from nowhere to win the United Auto Workers presidential election in March by a razor-thin margin. He ran on a reform platform promising to toss out the status quo and stand up to the Big Three automakers: GM, Ford, and Stellantis. He took a hard line in contract negotiations, and when the automakers didn’t meet the union’s aggressive demands by the Sept. 15 deadline, the UAW took the unusual tack of striking against all three companies at the same time.
It’s still in the midst of what’s called a standup strike, ...
2023-10-0933 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingPete the Planner faces the ‘financial chaos’ of raising teenagersIBJ personal finance columnist Pete the Planner has a teen and a tween at home. Pete has been helping people with family finances for decades, and even he admits now to being humbled in this new season of his financial life by numerous large or unusual obligations. As he puts it in an upcoming column for IBJ, Pete is bracing for many years of “financial chaos.” He also finds himself in the uncomfortable position of using the advice he has given older families over the years and realizing that it’s tougher to follow than he thought.
In thi...
2023-07-3136 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingList of most influential Hoosiers contains dozen of new namesLast July, IBJ Media unveiled the inaugural issue of the Indiana 250—a compendium of the state’s 250 most influential and impactful business and community leaders. The definitions of “influence” and “impact” were intentionally broad, and the list included C-suite executives, not-for-profit leaders, civic bigwigs, lawyers, bankers, board chairs, artists, promoters, judges, philanthropists, and serial entrepreneurs. The biggest caveat was that the list didn’t include elected officials because their influence was already so obvious.
The beauty of the Indiana 250 concept is that the list is a living document that’s updated every year. On July 20, IBJ Media unveiled the 202...
2023-07-2436 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingLilly in middle of big battle over future of drug prices for seniorsThe health care industry in America is on the precipice of its biggest change at least since the passage of Obamacare 13 years ago. Passed last summer, the Inflation Reduction Act has given Medicare the green light to negotiate the prices of some drugs for its 60 million-some recipients. The program is expected to save patients many billions of dollars while significantly shrinking revenue for some pharmaceutical firms. Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly and Co. is intensely concerned about this development. Two of its most popular medicines are expected to be among the first 40 drugs subject to negotiations.
Lilly CEO David...
2023-07-0326 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingPete The Planner on potential student loan tumult and its wider economic threatsMore than 40 million people in America are about to take a big financial hit, and it could have such serious repercussions on the economy that we could find ourselves back in at least a mini-recession.
Federal student loan borrowers haven’t been required to make loan payments since March 2020, due to the economic stresses of the pandemic. But the grace period is almost over: Some 44 million borrowers will be required to either begin or continue making payments in September.
Education officials have predicted that there could be historic levels of federal student loan delinquency and de...
2023-06-1233 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingWhy does downtown need a $90M sports arena, in addition to its NBA and NFL venues?Indianapolis leaders made sports one of the focus points of its downtown economic development strategy as far back as the early 1970s. Today, we have the 70,000-seat Lucas Oil Stadium and the 17,200-seat Gainbridge Fieldhouse, not to mention the 9,100-seat Hinkle Fieldhouse and 6,500-seat Indiana Farmer’s Coliseum a few miles to the north.
Apparently, civic leaders believe there is room for at least one more indoor sports palace, and it intersects with another one of downtown’s evolving selling points: the campus of urban university IUPUI. As we’ve discussed, IUPUI is in the midst of splitt...
2023-06-0529 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingPete the Planner on death, divorce and more of the most edgy questions in personal financeThe first episode of the IBJ Podcast was posted on June 4, 2018. This week, we present the 250th episode. As listeners know, the podcast’s only regular guest outside of IBJ’s editorial staff has been Pete Dunn, aka Pete the Planner. He first was featured on March 11, 2019, after becoming one of IBJ’s regular columnists for personal finance. Over about 20 podcast episodes, he and host Mason King have discussed investments, insurance, budgeting, retirement, buying a car, saving for college, giving to charities, quitting your job, and how to prepare for the next financial calamity.
After nearly every interv...
2023-05-0142 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingAt Legislature’s midpoint, which bills survived and which bills are toast?The Indiana General Assembly just reached the midpoint of its 2023 legislative session and passed some deadlines for advancing bills, which has pushed at least two-thirds of them back to the curb—at least for this session. So this is a great time to take stock of the bills that made the cut and those that tanked.
As usual, education funding has been at the center of major debate. Lawmakers also are hip-deep in social issues, such as so-called “ESG investing” and potential bans on library books some people believe are inappropriate for minors. The Legislature likes to trumpe...
2023-03-0647 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingIs downtown safe? Ask two business owners who reached different conclusions.One of the most persistent questions about downtown Indianapolis since its 1980s resurgence has been, “Is downtown safe?” In the Feb. 17 issue of IBJ, reporters Mickey Shuey and Taylor Wooten presented statistics for violent and nonviolent crime indicating that downtown remains one of the city’s safest areas, in particular in terms of crimes per capita.
Here’s the rub: Statistics often don’t matter as much as perception. And good luck quoting statistics to someone who has been the victim of a crime. Since safety is a prime concern of business owners and executives whose operations are based d...
2023-02-2733 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingShari Jenkins of Noah Grant’s, Salty Cowboy on taking a third leapGiven what we know about inflation and the chances for a recession, you could assume this isn’t the best time to start a business that depends on consumer discretionary spending.
Shari Jenkins isn’t too concerned. She’s the restauranteur behind the Zionsville mainstays Noah Grant’s Grill House & Oyster Bar and Salty Cowboy Tequileria. She’s now in the process of opening a new restaurant in Zionsville that’s designed to make patrons feel like they’re on vacation and don’t have a care in the world. It’s called Tipsy Mermaid Conch House & Cocktails, and get...
2022-12-1933 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingCould Nashville steal Indy’s conventions-and-events thunder with new stadium?The convention and events business that downtown Indianapolis has worked so hard to develop over recent decades has recovered fairly well from the worst days of the pandemic. But there’s a new competitor on the horizon.
Nashville, Tennessee—a fellow NFL city that also has positioned its downtown for tourism—is on the brink of building a new football stadium downtown with a covered roof. As we know in Indianapolis, a stadium with a roof gives your city a lot more flexibility in attracting and staging major events—for sports, concerts and conventions. And Nashville officials have bee...
2022-11-1433 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingFour races to watch on Election DayAlthough the White House isn’t up for grabs during the U.S. midterm elections on Tuesday, there are candidates for federal, state and local positions on the ballot that affect central Indiana residents in any number of ways.
U.S. Sen. Todd Young, a Republican, is defending his seat from Tom McDermott, the Democratic mayor of Hammond, and Libertarian candidate James Sceniak, a behavioral therapist. Some polls have shown the race between Young and McDermott to be surprisingly close, given Young’s name recognition and massive advantage in fundraising.
On the state level, there’s a he...
2022-11-0734 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingPete The Planner has a frank message on accepting your future demiseIBJ columnist and frequent IBJ Podcast guest Pete “The Planner” Dunn had a piece in the Oct. 14 issue with an uncharacteristically sharp rebuke for a reader who was woefully uninsured. IBJ Podcast host Mason King took it to heart, because he has long avoided getting life insurance, despite being in his 50s, married and the father of a 6-year-old.
But he is far from alone in wanting to avoid acknowledging the need to plan for one’s own demise. Dunn’s take is that life insurance is the foundation of good financial planning, as well as being a good s...
2022-10-2438 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingRahal, Frye on why race teams are investing nowThree of IndyCar’s most prominent teams—Andretti Autosport, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing and Arrow McLaren SP—are investing a total of $250 million to expand their operations and add as many as 750 jobs in central Indiana.
In this week’s podcast, IBJ reporter Mickey Shuey takes on hosting duties and talks with IndyCar President Jay Frye and Rahal Letterman Lanigan co-owner Bobby Rahal about why teams are investing now and what it says about the state of racing globally and in the Indianapolis area.
But Shuey starts by talking with IBJ reporter Daniel Bradley to get the de...
2022-10-1735 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingPete the Planner: Money lessons for your kids (and refreshers for adults)We want our kids to learn how money and personal finances work at a fairly early age so they learn how to make smart decisions. IBJ happens to have a good resource for this bit of childhood development: personal finance columnist Pete Dunn, aka Pete the Planner. He has two kids, ages 10 and 13, and has spent several years trying to imprint them with economic wisdom. IBJ Podcast host Mason King has a 6-year-old with a keen interest in money, so he has turned to Pete for his advice in this week’s edition of the podcast.
There ar...
2022-08-2942 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingThe audacious challenge of choosing leaders for the inaugural Indiana 250IBJ Media last week released its inaugural Indiana 250, a list of the most influential and impactful business and community leaders in Indiana.
The list — researched and developed by IBJ, Indiana Lawyer and Inside INdiana Business — includes CEOs, philanthropists, entrepreneurs, attorneys, economic development officials and more from across the state.
Host Mason King talks with IBJ Media CEO Nate Feltman and IBJ Editor Lesley Weidenbener, who oversaw production of the Indiana 250, about the goal of the program and the challenge of choosing the honorees.
The IBJ Podcast is brought to you by Taft.
2022-07-2530 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingThe state has $6.1B in reserves. What will lawmakers do with it?Lawmakers are preparing to return to the Statehouse next week for a special session that will focus on two key issues: abortion and how to spend some of the state’s $6.1 billion the state has in reserves.
That's right—$6.1 billion. That huge balance in the state's reserve accounts is the result of higher than expected tax receipts as well as pandemic relief money the federal government sent to the state. Gov. Eric Holcomb wants lawmakers to send some of that money back to Hoosiers in the form of $225 tax refund checks.
In this week's podcast, IBJ...
2022-07-1815 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingWhat lies beneath downtown’s Diamond Chain site?IBJ reporter Mickey Shuey broke the story last month that Indy Eleven majority owner Ersal Ozdemir has purchased the Diamond Chain industrial site downtown to be home to Eleven Park, a mixed-use development that is to include a 20,000-seat soccer stadium.
Shuey joins the IBJ Podcast this week to discuss the Diamond Chain site, which is located at the corner of South and West streets downtown, and what sorts of surprises it might hold for the development.
Of course, there's the usual concerns about environmental impacts that come with any industrial site. But this particular s...
2022-07-0523 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingPete the Planner: A financial loss doesn’t define you—and you can recoverIn the latest issue of IBJ, financial advice columnist Peter "Pete the Planner" Dunn shares a letter from reader who for undisclosed reasons has spent a great deal of the money that he made through a successful business.
It’s evident from the letter that this person has hit an emotional low. And in his response, Dunn addresses the dangers of linking your self worth to your financial worth.
IBJ Podcast host Mason King picks up on that thread for this week's podcast and talks to Dunn about steps to stabilize and buttress your finances if...
2022-05-0937 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingPete the Planner goes car shopping during an auto-industry shortageAnyone who has driven past a car lot knows that dealers have virtually no inventory. So what do you do if you need a car?
IBJ personal finance column Peter "Pete the Planner" Dunn found himself in just that predicament recently. And he tells host Mason King that shopping for a car was like nothing he's experienced before.
Buyers have no negotiating power. Zilch, he says. And that's because there are as many buyers on a lot looking for a vehicle as there are cars. In fact, dealers are pre-selling the cars they're expecting to...
2022-03-2834 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingColumnist Mickey Kim on surviving a volatile stock marketFollowing an unexpectedly strong year for the stock market, 2022 is starting with far more volatility, as concern about interest rate hikes and lingering supply chain issues have kept investors jumping.
So what do you do as you watch the balance in your 401(k) fund rise and fall (and so far this year, mostly fall)? IBJ investing columnist Mickey Kim said to stick with your plan—which probably means doing nothing, although that can be tough.
"When things get rocky, we want to protect ourselves," he tells host Mason King. "We are thinking: Don't just sit th...
2022-01-3126 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingThe headlines and headliners of 2021In this week's episode, IBJ Editor Lesley Weidenbener steps in for host Mason King to lead a year-in-review discussion about 2021 and the people who made headlines in 2021.
IBJ Managing Editor Greg Weaver and reporters Dave Lindquist and Mickey Shuey talk about the reasons that IBJ named The Sports Corp.'s Ryan Vaughn its newsmakers of the year and why the new IU president, chair of Newfields, High Alpha partners, a SPAC specialist, an arts community power couple and the head of a local real estate investment trust all made the newsmakers list.
You can read...
2022-01-0336 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingHow has the Vogue been able to weather the pandemic?Local tech executive Eric Tobias and two partners bought the entertainment business that stages events at the Vogue in Broad Ripple in early 2019. “When people ask me about this, I say, ‘Owning a music venue—best first year of my life … but maybe one of the most challenging second years,’” Tobias says.
The Vogue closed abruptly on March 12, 2020, just as that night’s band—Drive-By Truckers—was warming up on stage. The pandemic of course hit the live entertainment industry like a sledgehammer, and Tobias and his partners had to think outside the box—literally, outside the venue itself—to keep...
2021-12-1336 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingShould the men’s and women’s Final Fours be played in the same city?In the wake of criticism about conditions at last spring's women's basketball championship, the NCAA is considering a number of changes, including whether the men's and women's Final Fours should be played on the same weekend in the same city.
IBJ's sports business reporter Mickey Shuey talks with host Mason King about why that would significantly shorten the list of cities that could host the Final Four and whether Indianapolis could handle a combined event.
And King talks with Michelle Perry, a former NCAA executive and now a sports consultant, about what the change would m...
2021-10-1129 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingHere‘s how to keep the Great Resignation from hitting your companySome 11.5 million Americans quit their jobs in April, May and June, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. And a recent Gallup poll found that nearly half of all workers are actively searching for other work.
It's part of what's become known as the Great Resignation—and if you're a manager, you might be wondering whether there's anything you can do to keep your employees on the job.
Host Mason King talks with IBJ workplace columnists Garrett Mintz, founder of consulting firm Ambition in Motion, and Mandy Haskett, a leadership consultant at Carmel-based Advisa, ab...
2021-09-2738 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingDale Neuburger explains what Indy can learn from the Tokyo OlympicsDale Neuburger is a former president of the Indiana Sports Corp. and treasurer of FINA, the International Federation for Aquatics.
He spent several weeks in Japan for the Olympic Games, where he served as the International Olympic Committee’s competition director for swimming, with additional responsibilities for diving, water polo, artistic swimming and open-water swimming.
IBJ sports business reporter Mickey Shuey talked with Dale about his experiences in Tokyo and what Indiana can learn from them.
You can read a column written by Dale in this week's IBJ.
The IBJ Podcast is...
2021-09-1326 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingWhy did IBJ Media buy Inside INdiana Business?IBJ Media’s recent acquisition of competitor Grow Indiana Media Ventures and the Inside INdiana Business and Inside Edge multimedia platforms raises a series of questions, starting with the extent to which the state’s two biggest business news brands actually overlap. Some see the deal as a combination of complementary businesses with different audiences, but the irony of the acquisition is that one is often mistaken for the other in central Indiana.
In this week’s edition of the IBJ Podcast, IBJ Media CEO and co-owner Nate Feltman joins Gerry Dick, formerly the owner of Grow Indian...
2021-09-0735 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingWill the Prosecutor's Office move to the new Community Justice Campus?Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears told IBJ last week that he hasn't decided whether his office will move to the new Community Justice Campus, which remains under construction in the Twin Aire neighborhood.
The office was expected to be part of a second office building that Browning Investments planned to build at the site to complement a jail, Sheriff's Office and court system that will be moving to the campus at the end of the year.
Host Mason King talks with IBJ reporters Leslie Bonilla Muñiz and Mickey Shuey about their reporting on the t...
2021-08-3025 min
The Freedom Forum with Angela B. FreemanIntroducing IBJ's The Freedom Forum with Angela B. FreemanIBJ’s The Freedom Forum with Angela B. Freeman will explore the intersection of business, race and gender in a monthly series that begins Aug. 25.
Freeman, an attorney, will talk with business leaders about how the corporate community can advance equity in the way companies hire and promote employees, choose vendors and contractors and fund new companies and ideas.
Freeman, who specializes in intellectual property at Barnes & Thornburg and is a former president of Women & Hi Tech, will also explore the challenges and opportunities companies and leaders face as they try to create a more in...
2021-08-2101 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingWhy a Chicago trade show displaced by the pandemic picked IndyThe Sweets & Snacks Expo, hosted by the National Confectioners Association, is typically held in Chicago. But when the Windy City wasn't yet recovered enough from the pandemic to host this year's event, the group decided to come to Indianapolis.
IBJ reporter Mickey Shuey talks with John Downs, the CEO of the association, to find out how the group decided to become one of the first trade shows to meet in person again and why it picked Indianapolis to host the show.
Shuey asks about the group's experience in Indy and whether it might return.
2021-06-2822 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingDemocrats were supposed to have a big year in Indiana. They didn't. Why not?In a state that routinely rewards Republican candidates, Democrats were expected to have a somewhat breakthrough year here.
Sure, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate, Dr. Woody Myers, wasn't expected to do well. But in the 5th Congressional District, Democrats had high hope for Christina Hale in a race against Republican Victoria Spartz. And they spent heavily in an attempt to knock off several GOP lawmakers in Hamilton County.
But Republicans swept all of those races and many others, actually strengthening their hold at the Statehouse.
So podcast host Mason King talked with University of I...
2020-11-0934 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingThis is the number you really need to know to save enough for retirementIf you think saving effectively for retirement simply means knowing the total amount of money you need on the day you tell your boss sayonara, you've only done part of the calculation.
After all, "knowing" that number — which is really a misnomer, given that almost none of us know how long we're actually going to live in retirement — doesn't tell you anything about how to get to the number.
That's why Peter "Pete the Planner" Dunn says the most important thing to know is how much you need to save every month to reach a tota...
2020-11-0227 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingOur CEO, Nate Feltman, talks about the need for a new vision for IndianapolisDoes Indianapolis need a new vision? A new strategy for its economic development, talent attraction and overall economy that will take the city into the next 40 or 50 years?
A growing chorus of community and business leaders are saying yes, says Nate Feltman, co-owner and CEO of IBJ.
He says the city's long-time strategy related to conventions and sports will continue to be a part of its strengths and successes. But he tells podcast host Mason King that a changing economy and the changing preferences of young workers and families means Indianapolis must find a new...
2020-10-0535 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingPete the Planner urges immediate support for restaurants, plus answers to burning money questionsSince the pandemic began, Peter "Pete the Planner" Dunn has been talking on the IBJ Podcast and writing in the pages of IBJ about the need to get your discretionary spending under control to deal with the current economic downturn.
But now, Pete has a new message to those who are stable: Spend some money at your favorite restaurant.
We all know that restaurants have been devastated by the pandemic. Some have closed, and Pete predicts more are about to shutter. So he suggests determining how much you can afford to help and then spending t...
2020-09-2133 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingWhen will office workers return to downtown Indy?Before the pandemic hit Indianapolis in March, some 155,000 people were working regularly downtown. In the weeks after Gov. Eric Holcomb ordered all non-essential workers to go home, just 5% or so of those workers remained. Essentially, the Mile Square became a ghost town.
Today, some of those workers are returning. Many restaurants are open again. And a few offices are open.
But IBJ reporters Samm Quinn and Anthony Schoettle spent a week talking with the leaders of downtown companies and learned that many are delaying plans to bring workers back to the office.
What ar...
2020-07-1331 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingHolcomb campaign faces peril of managing COVID crisis in public spotlightIndiana Gov. Eric Holcomb has put himself in the public spotlight—or, if you will, the crosshairs of public opinion—nearly every weekday for the last two months, hosting press conferences about the state’s response to the coronavirus crisis. It is not an easy job, as the governor and his staff must address new fatalities, respond to questions that have no easy answer, and ask residents to make difficult sacrifices to beat an enemy we don’t totally understand.
This also happens to be an election year. On one hand, Holcomb has the opportunity to show voters h...
2020-05-1824 min
IBJ's Beyond COVIDLeaders are created in crisis. You can be one of them.Nancy Koehn—a historian, Harvard Business School professor and our guest on Beyond COVID—did a deep dive into history’s most outstanding leaders and what they tell us about the qualities of leadership for her book: “Forged in Crisis: The Making of Five Courageous Leaders.”
What she learned is that leaders aren’t born; they are made. They are made through solving everyday problems but also through crises.
So Nancy talked with host Lesley Weidenbener about how business owners and managers can use this pandemic to develop the skills that will lead their organizations out of the C...
2020-04-2833 min
IBJ's Beyond COVIDWant your company to be agile? Start by making your people feel stable.There may be no more important time to be agile than now, when the entire economy has been disrupted and nothing about the way we do business is normal. But new research finds the single most important factor in a company’s ability to be agile is actually its foundational stability.
And let’s face it: Stable is not something a lot of business leaders are feeling right now.
So we talked with Elaine Pulakos, the CEO of talent management consulting firm PDRI in Arlington, Virginia. She’s the author of the research about agility and is...
2020-04-2135 minIBJ's Beyond COVIDWhy a 90-day sprint is key to getting your company ready for the economy to restartSo many business leaders and entrepreneurs are understandably scrambling to cope with the immediate problems caused by the coronavirus pandemic and the resulting shutdowns. But Matt Neff, an Indianapolis attorney, consultant and venture capitalist, argues that the good leaders will start working now to position their companies for the day the economy restarts.
He urges firms to use a 90-day sprint that involves strategic planning, setting new objectives and then getting the team on board to accomplish them within that three-month period. One key, he says, is "over-communicating" with everybody—your customers, suppliers, lenders and employees.
I...
2020-04-0732 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingPete the Planner talks about the virus, the impact on the economy and what to think about your portfolioIBJ's personal finance columnist Peter Dunn is more worried about what the global pandemic will do to the economy than he is about what it will do (or has done) to the stock market.
And he's most concerned about that economic impact on individuals and families—especially those who are vulnerable to layoffs. And so he talks with podcast host Mason King about what people can do to prepare for what he believes will soon be a recession. The goal, he said, is to "get lean."
He also talks about the power of fear, why yo...
2020-03-1630 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingThese downtown hotel projects appear stalledNineteen hotel projects have been announced for downtown. If every one of them opens, they would add 4,203 more rooms to the central district of Indianapolis—an increase of more than 50%.
But experts say it's unlikely all of those hotels will be built and opened. And in fact, three appear at least temporarily stalled.
Host Mason King talks with IBJ real estate reporter Mickey Shuey about which projects may be on the ropes and which ones appear most likely to make it.
And King interviews Drew Dimond, president of Indianapolis-based Dimond Hotel Consulting Group, abo...
2020-03-0929 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingJon Laramore traded a prestigious law firm job for a gig helping low-income HoosiersJon Laramore served as chief counsel for two governors and spent 10 years at what was then Faegre Baker Daniels.
But he left in 2015 to become executive director at Indiana Legal Services, the state's largest, independent low-income law clinic, where he's expanded the number of people served as well as the organization's staff.
He talks with host Mason King about the legal needs of people in poverty, those who have been released from prison and clients facing health challenges.
And King questions Laramore about his experiences arguing—and winning—two cases at the U.S. Su...
2020-03-0227 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingHere's why a mega liquor store is trying to move to IndianaA ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court last year could open the door to out-of-state liquor stores moving into Indiana.
In fact, Maryland-based Total Wine & More, the nation’s largest retailer of beer, wine and spirits with 206 superstores, has filed an application to open a store at 1460 E. 86th St. in the Nora Corners Shopping Center. An Indiana Alcohol & Tobacco Commission hearing is scheduled for March 2.
IBJ reporter John Russell explains the Supreme Court's ruling, which struck down another state's law prohibiting out-of-state ownership of liquor stores. And he details how Total Wine & More is...
2020-02-1717 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingHamilton County emerges as player in hemp industryHamilton County is emerging as a key player in the evolving hemp industry, primarily in the area of refining CBD oils from the plants for use in a variety of products.
IBJ reporter Kurt Christian talks with host Mason King about what some are calling a "green rush," which follows a 2018 federal law that removed marijuana’s non-psychoactive cousin from the Controlled Substances Act.
As a result, hemp-processing companies are investing millions of dollars into refineries across Hamilton County in an effort to close a gap in the state’s CBD supply chain.
You c...
2020-02-1025 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingThe session so far: Health care, teacher evaluations and hands-free phone useLawmakers are meeting for their short session and are considering bills to ban handheld mobile-phone use while driving, require more transparency in health care and decouple student test scores from teacher evaluations.
And they're also spending money (even though this isn't a budget year) on some university construction and other special projects. That's cash from the state's budget surplus, and the spending will prevent the state from borrowing money for the projects.
IBJ's Statehouse reporter Lindsey Erdody breaks down what bills are moving, which ones already are dead and what's about to hit Gov. Eric...
2020-01-2730 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingThe latest on Indy's downtown restaurant scene: What's coming, what's goingSome of downtown Indy's most prominent restaurant locations are empty with the recent closings of Palomino, Hard Rock Cafe, Scotty's and Granite City. But brokers tell IBJ that the restaurant scene is healthy and the closings have more to do with problems at those individual chains.
In fact, they say those spots should fill up fairly quickly.
In this week's podcast, IBJ real estate reporter Mickey Shuey describes the downtown restaurant scene, with details about what's closing, what's opening and what's coming in the future. Plus, find out where you're likely to spy some IBJ...
2019-10-2121 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingHow a former cop came to lead the area's top-selling real estate teamDennis Nottingham was on a police run when he met a house flipper who piqued his interest in real estate. Not long after, Nottingham took some classes and got his real estate license. And for awhile, he sold houses on the side, while working the night shift for the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.
But after his daughter was born, Nottingham knew something had to give. So he moved into real estate full time, with a focus on selling foreclosures and homes in need of major rehab.
Today, he owns a RE/MAX franchise — the Indy Hom...
2019-09-1625 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingUpland expands Indiana footprint as it sends beer overseasUpland Brewing Co. opened its main brewery and first brewpub in Bloomington in 1998 and this year will produce 16,000 barrels of beer a year, making it the state's third-largest brewer.
It now operates two brewpubs in Indianapolis and one each in Carmel, Columbus and Bloomington, as well as tasting facilities at its two Bloomington breweries.
Host Mason King talks with Pete Batule, Upland’s chief operating officer, about the company's growth, including its busy new brewpub in Fountain Square, and the line of sour beers that its selling across the country and overseas.
For more...
2019-09-0321 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingMorales Group wants to get you a job—then a better one, then a careerMorales Group launched in 2003 with a focus on placing Hispanic workers into jobs, but the company has grown and expanded—both in geography and in the people it serves.
Today, about half of the people Morales Group places are migrants, immigrants or refugees. In fact, 37 countries are represented by Morales Group’s internal employees and the associates the company has placed.
That means the $100 million firm spends more money upfront to solve language barriers and provide training. But Seth Morales—the company's president and the son of the founder—says that investment pays off later for the w...
2019-07-0826 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingThis IU pediatrician is a health care myth busterShould you avoid red meat? No. Will gum last in your stomach seven years? No way. Should you strive for 10,000 steps a day? Not unless you just want to.
So says Dr. Aaron Carroll, a pediatrician and researcher at the Indiana University School of Medicine who sees it as his life’s calling to debunk what he considers health myths and weak medical research. He writes books and a column for The New York Times, hosts "Healthcare Triage" on YouTube and tweets at @aaronecarroll, all with the goal of educating the public about health issues.
Dr. Ca...
2019-07-0129 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingScott Wise talks Scotty's, starting over and his new restaurant RootsTwo-and-a-half years after selling his namesake restaurant chain Scotty's, entrepreneur Scott Wise is launching another eatery. Roots Burger Bar will be located in the same Muncie location as his original restaurant but will have a more casual feel and tighter menu.
Wise tells IBJ Podcast host Mason King that he's both emotional and excited about the new start, which he says has been like hitting control-alt-delete on his career.
But it hasn't been an easy path. Wise explains why he believed selling Scotty's was a good move, why he planned to stay with the company...
2019-06-2430 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingExploring artificial intelligence, learning from failure and more in our Innovation IssueScience fiction has made many of us cautious about artificial intelligence and what it could mean for our future. But AI is already in use in many industries and could soon be prominent in most. That's why IBJ has made AI the focus of its 2019 Innovation Issue, an annual exploration of disrupters across the business world.
In this week's podcast, IBJ Managing Editor Lesley Weidenbener and technology reporter Anthony Schoettle discuss what they learned while researching artificial intelligence, how it could change industries such as transportation and health care and why the technology raises so many ethical...
2019-06-0322 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingCan scooters really help solve Indy's transit issues?City officials have approved new rules meant to help people in lower-income neighborhoods access scooters to get to jobs, school, bus stops or other destinations. Scooter companies—Indianapolis now has four firms registered to offer dockless services—would be required to put 10% of their scooters in so-called "access" zones.
But the new rules raise lots of questions about whether scooters would actually be a reliable source of transportation and whether the Indy residents most in need of the service actually have the tools (think smart phones and credit cards) needed to use them.
Host Mason King...
2019-05-1324 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingPete the Planner on the vulnerable, upper middle classPeter Dunn — who is bringing his Pete the Planner column to IBJ, starting March 15 — is worried about the upper middle class, a group he says makes good money but often lives beyond their means.
The rising costs (and sizes) of homes, the expense of youth travel sports, car leases and loans parents take out to pay for their kids' college all contribute to a rocky financial picture that means even those with higher incomes might not be saving enough for retirement.
Dunn talks with IBJ Podcast host Mason King about how these concerns led him to st...
2019-03-1130 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingCan Indy win a Major League Soccer franchise?A bill passed by the Indiana Senate would require the Indy Eleven to become an MLS franchise within three years to unlock tax money to build a stadium dedicated to soccer. But is that realistic?
IBJ's Anthony Schoettle says it's an uphill climb — but by no means out of the question. He talks to IBJ Podcast host Mason King about the challenges facing Ersal Ozdemir, the local real estate developer who founded the team, and his ownership group.
Among them: Making sure that ownership group has enough money, finding a place to build the stadium (an...
2019-03-0422 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingWill Indiana lawmakers bet big on sports gambling?The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year that states can authorize wagering on sports games, something that's long taken place legally in Las Vegas and illegally every place else.
Now, Indiana has the chance to legalize sports betting here — with regulations and, of course, taxes.
IBJ reporter Lindsey Erdody talks with IBJ Podcast host Mason King about the legislation that will be considered in the Indiana House and Senate this year, including the many details that could complicate passage.
Erdody also explains an unrelated proposal to move Gary's two Majestic Star casinos of...
2019-01-0721 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingIBJ Podcast: Can Indy support its downtown hotel boom?Indianapolis has about 2,800 new hotel rooms slated to come online downtown in the next five years.
Some of those hotels — such as the 316-room Hyatt Place/Hyatt House project across from Bankers Life Fieldhouse — are under construction and nearing completion. Others — such as a long-discussed 800- to 1,000-room convention hotel — are only in the planning stages.
If all are completed, those projects will add to the roughly 7,500 rooms already downtown.
Can Indy support all that growth? Host Mason King talks with Mark Eble, the managing director of CBRE Hotels Advisory and an expert on the hot...
2018-09-2422 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingIBJ Podcast: The experts behind Indiana's wine resurgenceJust two decades ago, Indiana had no grape and wine industry worth talking about. But today, more than 100 wineries dot Indiana.
The annual harvest (and the 2.4 million gallons of wine it makes) generates an economic impact of $600 million, sustains 4,000 full-time jobs, and pays $37 million in state and local taxes and $38 million in federal taxes.
The growth is thanks in part to the Purdue Wine Grape Team, a group funded by a 5-cent excise tax on every gallon of wine sold in Indiana. Founded in 1991, the team is an agricultural extension program composed of enology, viticulture and m...
2018-09-1724 minThe IBJ Podcast with Mason KingIBJ Podcast: Conor Daly, Lilly Diabetes and sponsorship controversyEli Lilly and Co. pulled its Lilly Diabetes brand name off a race car driven by Conor Daly after his father — Derek Daly — was fired from his job as a WISH-TV Channel 8 racing analyst for a racial slur he uttered 35 years ago.
The move raised questions about why the Conor Daly should be punished for something his father said before he was even born. And even WISH-TV's move came under some scrutiny, after Derek Daly said he used the n-word in an interview when he was new to the United States. He said the word was part of what wa...
2018-09-0329 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingIBJ Podcast: What will it take to turn the Brickyard 400 around?NASCAR's Brickyard 400 drew a crowd of 275,000 people when it debuted at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1994. And it came at a great time, as then-Speedway President Tony George created the Indy Racing League, which depressed Indy 500 interest for years.
But fast forward 25 years and the Brickyard 400 is facing its own issues. Last year, only about 70,000 people attended the race — although it did turn a profit.
Host Mason King interviews IMS President Doug Boles about the track's efforts to turn the race around — including moving it to a cooler date and adding a dirt-track race. And then Kin...
2018-08-2731 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingIBJ Podcast: Why business execs say the state needs a hate-crime lawCentral Indiana business leaders are pushing lawmakers to pass a hate-crime law, joining 45 states that already have one in place. They say without it, Indiana is an unappealing place for workers, especially younger workers who want their employers involved in social and community issues.
Host Mason King talks with Ann Murtlow, CEO of United Way of Central Indiana, and Jeff Smulyan, CEO of Emmis Communications, about why they signed a letter of support for a hate-crime law. And Mason role plays with both, pretending to be a lawmaker who needs to be convinced to vote for the l...
2018-08-2020 minThe IBJ Podcast with Mason KingIBJ Podcast: SupplyKick CEO talks about running one of the fastest-growing firms in central IndianaSupplyKick, which helps businesses sell their products on Amazon and other online marketplaces, grew 335 percent from 2015 through 2017, earning it a spot near the top of IBJ's Fast 25 list. CEO Josh Owens talks about how the company has managed that growth — and what Owens did right and wrong along the way. He's got great advice for any firm managing growth or hoping to do so.
2018-07-3030 minThe IBJ Podcast with Mason KingIBJ Podcast: Will Indy Mayor Joe Hogsett seek re-election?Democrat Joe Hogsett is in the third year of a four-year term as mayor of Indianapolis and calls it the hardest job he's ever had. Soon, Hogsett must decide whether to seek a second term, and he tells IBJ's Hayleigh Colombo he's undecided. Colombo talks to the mayor about what will play into his decision, and host Mason King talks to Colombo about the chances that he'll run again.
Click to read Colombo's story about the mayor's re-election decision.
2018-07-2324 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingIBJ Podcast: St. Elmo co-owner Craig Huse on the condition of Circle Centre, Burger Study and expansion in FishersThe restaurants operated by Huse Culinary — St. Elmo, Harry & Izzy's and Burger Study — are among the most successful in Indianapolis. That's despite decreased traffic at Circle Centre mall and increasing competition from other steak houses downtown. CEO Craig Huse talks about the changes he'd like to see at the mall, how the restaurants combat competition and the company's expansion plans in Fishers.
To read more about Circle Centre's current financial situation, read IBJ's story: Circle Centre profit gets lift from eateries, IPS tax cut.
Credits:
Music by Eerkoysh key by Gnagno (c), copyr...
2018-07-0823 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingIBJ Podcast: Author Andrea Neal on chronicling the roundabout rise of Mike PenceAndrea Neal's soon-to-publish book, "Pence: The Path to Power," examines how Indiana native Mike Pence rose from a skilled debater in high school to the vice president of the United States. Neal, a journalist and teacher, leads host Mason King through the process of interviewing dozens of people from throughout Pence's life and assembling a comprehensive account of the making of a vice president.
Music for this episode of the IBJ Podcast from LogansBar by airtone (c) copyright 2010. Licensed under a Creative Commons Sampling Plus license.
2018-07-0147 min
The IBJ Podcast with Mason KingIBJ Podcast: How is Indianapolis becoming two cities—for haves and have-nots? (06/25/18)Host Mason King interviews Indianapolis Business Journal reporter Hayleigh Colombo about her series One City, Worlds Apart, which looks at income inequality and poverty in the city and why it impacts everyone. Hayleigh plays clips from her interviews with Traneisha English of the Wheeler-Dowe Boys and Girls Club, Tess Weathers of the Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health at IUPUI, LeRae Troutman of the Brightwood Community Center, and Rhiannon Edwards of PACE.
See the series so far at https://www.ibj.com/worlds-apart.
Music for this episode: NightRain by airtone (c) copyright 2017. Licensed under a Cr...
2018-06-2424 minThe IBJ Podcast with Mason KingIBJ PODCAST: All you need to know about Indy's HQ2 bid (06/18/18)With central Indiana on the short list for Amazon's $5 billion secondary headquarters project, IBJ's reporters for technology, real estate and economic development join forces to discuss what the internet giant wants and whether the Indy area measures up. They also address the question, "Would Indianapolis have been a serious contender for the project five years ago?"
2018-06-1823 min