The IBJ Podcast with Mason King

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 Indiana and now president of the new Inside INdiana Business division of IBJ Media, to break down what the deal means for subscribers, other news consumers and the business community in general. They push back on any suggestion that this is yet another example of media consolidation, promising that this will lead to wider and deeper coverage of business around the state that preserves the Inside INdiana Business brand and perspective. At the same time, the deal gives IBJ the ability to make a strong push into new mediums and grow outside the Indy area. Feltman and Dick tell host Mason King that they foresee very few changes in the two brands’ editorial output and products in the near term. But how might IBJ influence Inside INdiana Business, and vice versa? How much will one bleed into the other? Are there any redundancies between the two businesses? How big is IBJ Media now? How closely will the teams be working? They address these questions here.

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 topic, including the reasons Mears gave for his hesitancy and why the mayor wants the prosecutor at the campus.   The IBJ Podcast is brought to you by Resultant, formerly KSM Consulting.    

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 the buildings.  Host Mason King talks with Big Car CEO Jim Walker about the vision, what the project means for the neighborhood and how the group is trying to ensure artists aren't eventually priced out of being there. You can read more about Big Car's Garfield Park project in this story by IBJ reporter Susan Orr.   The IBJ Podcast is brought to you by Resultant, formerly KSM Consulting.    

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 Podcast, reporter John Russell explains that this is the latest indication that local and area hospitals are struggling with a growing nursing shortage and, to a lesser extent, that the pandemic is roaring back to life. Unfortunately, it’s very difficult to pin hospitals down on just how often this has been happening. No federal or state agency tracks ambulance diversions or requires the hospitals to report it, so the fine details are closely guarded secrets. The IBJ Podcast is brought to you by Resultant, formerly KSM Consulting.

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 man-made climate change, and the effects could be significantly more intense in coming decades, Dukes says. Since 1895, Indiana’s statewide annual average temperature has risen by 1.3°F, and some models show it rising another 5°F by mid-century. Winters will be shorter and the number of days above 95°F could rise by dozens per year. The state also is getting wetter. Since 1895, average annual precipitation in Indiana has increased by about 15%, or about 5.6 inches. Models show winters and springs are likely to be much wetter by mid-century. Heavy rain events will increase flooding risks and increase the amount of pollutants washing into waterways from city streets and farm fields. In this week’s edition of the IBJ Podcast, Dukes explains to host Mason King how these changes will impact our day-to-day lives and some of the state’s most important industries, such as agriculture, energy and tourism and recreation. The IBJ Podcast is brought to you by Resultant, formerly KSM Consulting.

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 Weidenbener interviews Indy Chamber CEO Michael Huber and the group's director of economic development, Vincent Ash, about the programs and the honor. The IBJ Podcast is brought to you by Resultant, formerly KSM Consulting.

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 story detailing the city's downtown hotel pipeline. The IBJ podcast is brought to you by First Person Advisors, a subsidiary of NFP.

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 on the podcast to get some answers to those questions and others. The IBJ Podcast is brought to you by First Person Advisors, a subsidiary of NFP.

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, what it will cost (hint: a lot) and why the sport is more diverse than you might think. For more, read this profile of Brown by former IBJ reporter Anthony Schoettle. The IBJ podcast is brought to you by First Person Advisors, a subsidiary of NFP.

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 for the first time in more than 15 months.  Andrichik talks with podcast Mason King about what it will take to reopen the bar, what the closure has cost him and what he's been thinking about while he's been waiting. The IBJ Podcast is brought to you by First Person Advisors, a subsidiary of NFP.