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, an...
Dec 13, 2021•35 min•Ep. 182
Investment adviser Morningstar has issued new guidance that changes the conventional wisdom about how much you can expect to withdraw from your investment accounts in retirement. The change in the so-called 4% rule has podcast host Mason King worried, and so he and Peter "Pete the Planner" Dunn dive into the details in search of clarity. Pete also predicts what the omicron variant will mean for the market and why the debate about the debt ceiling might actually be more important. You can read mo...
Dec 06, 2021•33 min•Ep. 181
Experts expect shoppers to drop a record amount of money this holiday season. The National Retail Federation forecasts sales for November and December to grow between 8.5% and 10.5% over the same months in 2020. In total dollars, that would be between $843.4 billion and $859 billion. At the same time, the supply-chain issues that have plagued commerce since the start of the pandemic are expected to complicate gift buying and limit stock for some products. The answer is to get your shopping done ...
Nov 29, 2021•29 min•Ep. 180
In the second part of a two-episode interview, Martha Hoover—founder of the Indianapolis-based Patachou Inc. restaurant company—explains how the pandemic pulled back the curtain on problems in the restaurant industry, especially how little workers are paid and how vulnerable most eateries really are. Hoover—known for restaurants including Cafe Patachou, Public Greens and Napolese—tells host Mason King that because she came from outside the restaurant world, she charged appropriate prices from th...
Nov 22, 2021•38 min•Ep. 179
Indianapolis restauranteur Martha Hoover launched her first Cafe Patachou at 49th and Pennsylvania in 1989 and has since expanded her company to 13 eateries spread across several distinct concepts. Like other restaurants, though, Hoover had to close the doors at all of her Patachou Inc. locations when the pandemic hit, a time she calls "frightening." But Hoover tells host Mason King — in the first of a two-part interview — that Patachou is now "very healthy," in part because she and her leadersh...
Nov 15, 2021•37 min•Ep. 178
Veteran real estate agent Matt McLaughlin reached more than $1 billion in career sales in September after some 22 years as an agent for F.C. Tucker. It's a milestone the firm's CEO, Jim Litten, called "one of the most challenging to attain in our industry." And yet McLaughlin said it was not particularly a goal and he wasn't fully aware he was approaching it until the folks in his office mentioned it earlier this year. Host Mason King sat down with McLaughlin to learn how he closed so many sales...
Nov 08, 2021•28 min•Ep. 177
Indiana’s unemployment rate inched down to 4% in September, but what does that actually mean? How many people are in the Indiana workforce? And why are so many companies struggling to find workers? Host Mason King talks with Fred Payne, commissioner of the Indiana Department of Workforce Development, about what the state is doing to help more Hoosiers find jobs and more companies find workers. Plus, King quizzes Payne about whether Indiana should join most of its neighbors in raising the minimum...
Nov 01, 2021•35 min•Ep. 176
A record 4.3 million workers in the U.S. quit their jobs in August and more are expected to do so as part of what analysts are calling the "Great Resignation." But can you afford to join them? Host Mason King talks with Peter "Pete the Planner" Dunn about how to prepare financially to leave your job. Plus, Pete offers a prediction about the stock market as the year comes to a close. Looking for another podcast to try? Check out IBJ's The Freedom Forum with Angela B. Freeman, an exploration of di...
Oct 25, 2021•29 min•Ep. 175
Nine teams representing students, researchers and autonomous vehicle experts from across the globe will convene at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Oct. 23 for an auto-racing competition without drivers. Or at least without a human in the cockpit. The "drivers" in this case are software systems coded in advance by the teams, who must just sit back on "race day" to see if the cars can direct themselves out of the pits, around the track and avoid obstacles (which might or might not include anoth...
Oct 18, 2021•39 min•Ep. 174
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, ...
Oct 11, 2021•28 min•Ep. 173
Riley Hospital for Children is preparing to unveil its $142 million maternity center—five floors of renovated space that will house labor and delivery rooms, intensive-care-unit rooms, emergency and triage rooms, operating rooms, and infant-resuscitation rooms. It's a new direction for Riley, which has traditionally served sick children and babies who need special care. But Indiana University Health is now moving its well-baby maternity services from Methodist Hospital to Riley, giving moms and ...
Oct 04, 2021•23 min•Ep. 172
Some 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 Mot...
Sep 27, 2021•37 min•Ep. 171
Podcast host Mason King recently used an online calculator to estimate what it might cost to send his 5-year-old son to college someday—and the answer shocked him. So he's talking with Peter "Pete the Planner" Dunn this week about when parents need to start saving, what savings vehicles to use and whether parents should go into debt to fund their kids' education. The IBJ podcast is brought to you by First Person Advisors, a subsidiary of NFP....
Sep 20, 2021•36 min•Ep. 170
Dale 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 ...
Sep 13, 2021•25 min•Ep. 169
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, IB...
Sep 07, 2021•35 min•Ep. 168
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 Muñi...
Aug 30, 2021•24 min•Ep. 167
It was about six years ago when Indianapolis arts organization Big Car bought an old factory in the Garfield Park neighborhood and started working on a plan to create an arts campus there. Fast forward to today and the group owns the Tube Factory Artspace in that former factory, an audio art space that houses a radio station, nine houses it has renovated for artists and another factory—this one 40,000 square feet—that it is starting to renovate. Plus, it's creating a public green space between t...
Aug 23, 2021•38 min•Ep. 166
At emergency rooms across central Indiana, “No Vacancy” signs are flashing at unprecedented rates. Emergency rooms are often overflowing with patients, prompting hospitals to divert ambulances to other hospitals for hours at a stretch, provided the cases aren’t life-threatening. On July 26, for example, at least 10 large hospitals in central Indiana went on diversion at some point, causing ambulance drivers to look high and low for a place to take their patients. In the latest edition of the IBJ...
Aug 16, 2021•24 min•Ep. 165
While intense heat waves and wildfires scorch the Western U.S. and freak rainstorms spawn massive floods in Europe and China, the weather in central Indiana has been fairly tame so far this year. Indeed, Indiana very well could sidestep some of the most extreme effects of climate change, but don’t get lulled into complacency, says Jeffrey Dukes, director of the Purdue Climate Change Research Center and a professor of forestry and natural resources. Indiana’s weather already has been altered by m...
Aug 09, 2021•30 min•Ep. 164
Indy Chamber last month was recognized by its peers for work it has been doing that's not quite typical of chambers of commerce nationwide. The group won the 2021 Chamber of the Year award from an association that represents 1,600 chambers and economic development organizations. And it earned the honor for the work it has done on inclusive growth—primarily a rework of the city's economic incentives program—and for the Rapid Response Hub it deployed during the pandemic. Guest host Lesley Weidenbe...
Aug 02, 2021•34 min•Ep. 163
The pandemic wreaked havoc on the hospitality industry in Indianapolis and across the nation. Still, IBJ reporter Mickey Shuey finds that many of the hotels in the planning stages for downtown Indianapolis before the pandemic are still moving forward today. In fact, three hotels have opened since COVID-19 struck the state in March 2020. Host Mason King chats with Shuey about the state of the hotel industry in Indy and which projects are completed, underway and on hold. For more, read Shuey's sto...
Jul 26, 2021•28 min•Ep. 162
Host Mason King and the folks in the Midtown Parents Facebook Group in Indianapolis have a lot of questions about money—specifically how they should be saving it for retirement and college. Should homeowners pay off a mortgage early? How do you plan for the future when one partner in a relationship is significantly older than the other? Should you prioritize retirement savings over college savings for your kids? So Mason asked IBJ personal finance columnist Peter "Pete the Planner" Dunn to come ...
Jul 19, 2021•33 min•Ep. 161
Drag racer Antron Brown of Pittsboro has won three NHRA championships in his 14 years in the sport, but he may be about to take on his biggest challenge yet: racing team owner. Next year, Brown will become one of the few Black team owners ever in the 70-year-old NHRA— and one of the few Black majority team owners in any motorsports series. He will be the only Black owner in the modern era of Top Fuel or Funny Car racing. Brown talks with host Mason King about why he decided to make the move, wha...
Jul 12, 2021•29 min•Ep. 160
If you've ever been inside the historic Chatterbox Jazz Club on Massachusetts Avenue downtown, you have a pretty good idea why it didn't reopen at 50% or even 75% capacity. It's so tiny, the restrictions would have meant only about 20 patrons could be inside at any given time. And owner David Andrichik said that's a recipe for losing more money than being closed completely. But now that Marion County health officials have eliminated all pandemic restrictions, the Chatterbox is about to reopen fo...
Jul 06, 2021•42 min•Ep. 159
In the mood for some barbecue? Or maybe some poke? A peanut butter and jelly sandwich? Or maybe just a cold beer? It's all available at the AMP food hall at the 16 Tech Innovation District on the northwest edge of downtown. And Chef Craig Baker is the coordinator who has has helped make it all happen. He crafted the overall feel of the 40,000-square-foot space in the HqO building at 1220 Waterway Blvd., which includes shipping containers and booths for each restaurant and retailer. But each of t...
Jun 21, 2021•27 min•Ep. 157
The Newfields board last month elected Darrianne Christian as its new chair, making her the first Black woman to lead the museum's board. Christian was already serving on the board in February when the Newfields president resigned following allegations of racial bias. Christian, who was then the board's only African American member, led the effort to develop the institution's new plan to embrace diversity, equity, inclusion and access. Christian talks with host Mason King about what the museum i...
Jun 14, 2021•34 min•Ep. 156
Peter "Pete the Planner" Dunn says most people need a financial adviser at some point in their lives to make sense of their investments, insurance, retirement accounts and more. But as host Mason King has experienced, figuring out what type of adviser to hire and then which one to hire can be tough. So Dunn explains what to look for and how to choose. You can read more financial advice from Dunn at IBJ.com .
Jun 07, 2021•38 min•Ep. 155
Chris Baggott is always looking for a better way to do things. He co-founded ExactTarget when he couldn't find a good way to communicate with customers. He co-founded Compendium Software to give companies a better way to rank high in internet search results. And he founded ClusterTruck to get prepared food to customers while it was still hot and fresh. In each case, Baggott has helped disrupt established industries, although he acknowledges it's not always because he was first to an idea. Baggot...
Jun 01, 2021•33 min•Ep. 154
Republican. Sen. Todd Young of Indiana and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, introduced the Endless Frontier Act this spring with the goal of pumping more than $110 billion over five years into scientific and technological innovation. That includes a $10 billion effort to create tech hubs across the U.S., focusing on areas outside of the traditional tech centers like Silicon Valley, Seattle and Boston. Sen. Young is on today’s podcast to talk about the legislation. Then we talked...
May 24, 2021•24 min•Ep. 153
As more Hoosiers become fully vaccinated, restaurants and bars are filling up again. But restaurant operators say finding workers to serve all those customers. has been a struggle. Are some people afraid to return to work at such public places? Are the increases in unemployment benefits to blame? Have former restaurant workers given up on the industry and found positions elsewhere? Host Mason King talks with two restauranteurs—Loughmiller's Pub & Eatery co-owner Danny Scotten and Upland Brew...
May 10, 2021•31 min•Ep. 152
