Indianapolis Development News

[mmheidelberger]

Indianapolis (and other similar cities) are not a visitor cash cow like say for example, Las Vegas; it's pretty dependent on consistent business from it's regular and local population.

[arenn]

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dl...4/1305/ARCHIVE

Software consultant relocating and hiring
GyanSys pledges to add 139 new jobs by 2014 at new headquarters
By Tom Spalding
Posted: October 27, 2008

Indianapolis software consultant GyanSys Inc. will hire 139 new workers by 2014 as it invests $3 million to build a new headquarters near the Marion-Hamilton county line.

The company, which helps other businesses streamline accounting, payroll and procurement functions, is scouting locations for its new offices. It currently rents space at 3535 E. 96th St.

GyanSys will begin hiring software, system and project management associates in the first quarter of 2009. A consultant earns an average of $100,000 to $125,000 per year.

GyanSys, formed seven years ago, has been slowly hiring since relocating in 2004 from Austin, Texas, to Indianapolis. It added 11 employees this year. Raj Una, president of GyanSys, said the industry is good, the availability of major interstates and supply of talented computer specialists continue to make Indianapolis a good fit.

"Increased demand for enterprise software solutions is forecasting continued growth for our company," Una said. "Indiana continues to provide the skilled and steady work force we need to support that growth and serve our clients both domestically and globally."

The Indiana Economic Development Corp. offered GyanSys up to $2.1 million in performance-based tax credits and $30,000 in training grants based on the company's job-creation plans. Additional tax incentives from Marion County could be awarded.

Scott Miller, president of Indianapolis Economic Development Inc., said GyanSys had plenty of choices on where to locate. "We are thrilled that this type of company, embodied in GyanSys, has decided to grow its business in Indianapolis," he said.

The move isn't surprising. A 2008 report by a national tech trade found found Central Indiana added high-tech jobs faster than any other metro area in the Midwest from 2001 to 2006. The same report noted the high-tech sector in Central Indiana grew by more than 8.6 percent over the period, making it the fourth-fastest-growing region in the nation.

Software Engineering Professionals, a 71-employee company, announced in September that it plans a $7 million expansion of its headquarters and development center in Carmel, creating nearly 90 new jobs during the next five years. The two-decade-old company specializes in enterprise and Web-based software applications for the aerospace, defense, medical and automotive markets.

And earlier this month, Downtown Indianapolis-based ExactTarget, a developer of e-mail marketing software, said it will add 300 employees by 2013, nearly doubling in size.

[GarfieldPark]

Great news -- 4th best region in the country in tech growth. Very impressive. It does make me wonder though -- who is keeping track that all of these jobs - four or five years down the road - are actually happening. With the growth that has been occurring since 2001, it definitely appears that the jobs are coming though. I think it has become pretty standard to set guarantees in the tax incentive deals, so that if the company doesn't come up with the 130 jobs it promised five years earlier, that the company is required to give a proportionate portion of the tax breaks back that it received.

[indyfiend]

Originally Posted by _ttam_

The downtowns who realize this new role will be the ones who grow in wealth and influence. Now, let's get serious and hear it for the totally unsophisticated banana dancing man!!

Come look at this maw, this nanner sure can dance! YEE HAW!!

[thundermutt]

Columbus Ranks High in Historic Destination Survey
Inside INdiana Business.com Report

National Geographic Traveler magazine has ranked Columbus, Indiana number 11 on its worldwide list of top Historic Destinations. The publication says the Bartholomew County community is a jewel in the region and a model of "what a small town can do to differentiate itself from the crowd." Magazine officials say the survey considers qualities that make a destination unique including environmental and ecological quality, social and cultural integrity and condition of historic buildings.

A panel of 280 travel experts from several fields including historic preservation, ecology and sustainable tourism put together the list.

Columbus is the top rated American destination.

[GarfieldPark]

Great for Columbus -- but, for some reason, I find Madison more interesting to visit. Usually more people there, I guess. If Columbus is the 11th best in the world, it sure seems like the combination of Columbus, Madison, Bloomington, Nashville and French Lick ought to put that area way up on the list of the world's hot tourist regions. I do say that somewhat tongue in cheek -- but, like I said --- If they really think Columbus is so great and we know about the great things that can be seen in Madison, French Lick, etc. maybe it's not such a completely "out there" idea to think that South Central Indiana is quite a tourist destination. I love Story, IN too. Should be beautiful down in those parts this weekend with all the reds, oranges and browns.

[idyllic indy]

Originally Posted by thundermutt

Without looking up the ROW width compared to the pavement width (or an actual survey) it's really tough to tell whether a lot is paved to the ROW or into it.

An example is MoJoe Coffeehouse on W. Michigan...its front-yard parking is probably grandfathered, but there's no easy way to tell for sure if its "front yard" extends all the way to the back of the sidewalk or not. Another example is the string of Shell stations up the city's central corridor: 16th & Illinois, 21st & Capitol, 30th & Illinois.

http://imaps.indygov.org/prod/GeneralViewer/viewer.htm

Actually, if you go to the City's General Viewer, zoom to the area of Michigan & Senate, change the "Map Set" to "Zoning", then make sure the layers for "parcels" and "aerial photo" are marked as visible, you can see that the majority of Mojoe's "parking lot" is outside of the parcel and thus in the right-of-way. Generally, when one is downtown, I think that you can typically tell where the right-of-way is based upon where most of the (especially older) buildings are built (at the right-of-way).

The Mojoe's parking may have been there a long time, but I'm not sure it can really be grandfathered. So long as the ground was dedicated as public right-of-way and has not been vacated, I would think the City could put it to public use at any time. Of course, if the parking lot weren't in the right-of-way, the property owner would actually pay taxes on it, albeit it not much since our taxes are based mostly on buildings, but still it seems as though they shouldn't get a free private parking lot. I think the City should vacate it, or put it to public use.

[arenn]

Read it and weep. Ok, it's only $275 billion US dollars, but ...

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574...-38197,00.html

China to invest A$445bn in rail system

From correpondents in Beijing

Reuters

October 25, 2008 06:08pm

CHINA will invest nearly $A445 billion in its overburdened rail system as a stimulus measure aimed at blunting the impact of the global financial crisis.
The investment is part of plans to extend the country's railway network from the current roughly 125,502km to nearly 160,900km by 2010, Shanghai's Oriental Morning Post reported.

The Beijing News quoted a rail official as saying that, while the network needed extending, the massive investment was also intended to help lift the nation's economy as it suffers amid the global woes.

"New rail investment will become a shining light in efforts to push forward economic growth," railway ministry spokesman Wang Yongping said.

China's economy recorded its slowest growth in five years at 9.0 per cent in the third quarter of 2008.

The situation has looked increasingly dire in recent days with export-dependent factories closing and laying off thousands of workers, with warnings from industry heads of much worse to come.

The China Daily newspaper said the rail investment plan had been approved by the State Council. About 1.2 trillion yuan ($A252 billion) had already been allocated, it said.

The paper quoted a government policy adviser saying the plan was similar to China's successful strategy for warding off the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s.

"In 1997, we dealt with the Asian financial crisis by stimulating domestic economic growth through investment in the construction of highways," Zheng Xinli said.

"This time the money will go to improving the rail network."

China's railway network is one of the most extensive in the world, but has come under pressure as the nation's economy has boomed, giving millions more the opportunity to travel.

Among them, more than 200 million migrant workers are estimated to have left their homes in the countryside for work in urban or coastal areas.

The vulnerability of the rail network was laid bare last winter when fierce snowstorms crippled

China's transport systems, stranding millions of passengers trying to return to their homes during the peak Chinese New Year travel period.