Ball State as Resource for Business Information

I think I have disclosed my Ball State alumnus status before now, but if not I have now. Which really does not matter that Bureau of Business Research is a good resource for Hoosiers with businesses or thinking of going into business.

Business plan seminar Monday evening in Anderson

From today's The Herald Bulletin: - Business plan seminar to be held Monday at APL.

"For those intimidated by the need to write a business plan, the local SCORE chapter will present a quick, logical and simple preparation sequence for business planning. The presenter will be Bill Christman, a SCORE volunteer."

Daleville's best

Some pretty darned good barbecue regardless of where you are. That is Bird's Smokehouse BBQ. Good sit down restaurant that is just right for the kids. They have their own website, too, at http://www.birdssmokehousebbq.com/. Another example of a successful local business owned by local people.

Wineries

From the Marion Chronicle-Tribune: Winery offers dairy, wine on cheese day. I never knew there was a winery in Converse (and I would still not know it from the article). Why the interest? Think on this:

Earlier this summer, there was bread-baking competition that allowed customers to taste wines along with locally baked breads.

"Our whole idea is to pair with Indiana businesses to promote Indiana businesses, and that way we both win," he said.

Since the article did not provide any location information, here is what turned up from Google: 111 East Marion Street, Converse, IN 46919 Phone (765) 395-3632. The place has its own web page (and why was this not in the original article?): http://oakhillwines.com/.

A post on The Indiana Law Blog from this past Sunday shows the investment other states are putting into their wineries and what Indiana is not doing to help its wineries. See Ind. Law - New York has a good idea here.

Something good about Anderson

No pun intended. Check out Good's Chocolates on West 53rd Street. My step-kids love the place. When my wife first walked in she was shocked - not something that I can usually say about her. She was also quite annoyed that we stopped as she wanted to get home. She lost her annoyance quickly once she was inside.

The place makes me think of a jewelry store. The different chocolate confections lined up in display cases. Very classy, very attractive.

All this proves a few things:

1. An Anderson business can be creative and a class act.
2. An Anderson business can put out a quality product (check out their ice cream).
3. An Anderson business can compete in the new economy. Check out their website at: http://www.goodscandyshop.com/Culture.asp
4. Surely it is only the poverty of our ambitions limiting Anderson from embracing more businesses like Good's.
   

Restaurant nostalgia - in Anderson and a bit beyond

If anyone has not noticed, Noble Roman's returned to Anderson recently. A new store - yes, a real store - opened in the same strip mall on Scatterfield as Fedex/Kinko's. You cannot watch them toss the pizza and they still do not have a Sicilian or a monster pizza, but it has come back. For some reason that last sentence makes me feel very old. I will not explain for those too young, but at one time Noble Roman's was an Indiana success story. Perhaps, its return means something for Indiana?

Little Caesars has been back for a while. Anyone stopped at the intersection of 38th Street and Columbus Avenue certainly has seen the employees hawking the $5.00 pizza. No more two for the price of one and the pizzas do tend to the cardboard (which means, neither Art's nor Scampy's or Third Generation have a thing to worry about).

Then I see this column by John Ketzenberger in today's Indianapolis Star: Resurrecting a brand that once sizzled. The Big Shef might be making a comeback.

For a while longer fast-food hamburger lovers can get a Big Shef at a nearby Hardee's.

That will ring a bell with sentimentalists who remember the Indianapolis-based Burger Chef chain's signature sandwich.

Hardee's may not be driven by nostalgia. Bringing back the double-deck burger may be a shrewd move to block a potential competitor with plans to revive the brand.
Hardee's, which gained control of the Burger Chef trademarks in 1982 when General Foods combined the chains, rolled out the Big Shef in April. It showed up on menus at locations in Indianapolis, Terre Haute, Fort Wayne, South Bend and Dayton, Ohio, after a test in February produced "overwhelming" response, according to a company news release.

Interesting, even if the only Hardee's I can think of is in Elwood.

The Herald Bulletin finds another new business -Anderson gets a new funeral home

Looks like a new funeral home is to open on the west side. Here is part of the article from the Herald-Bulletin:

Glazebrooks Funeral Services at 2822 Nichol Ave. will officially open their doors at the end of summer in August, Robert Glazebrooks, funeral director, at Glazebrooks Funeral Services explained.

At the 6,000 square-foot-building, the plan is to transition the former Red Men Lodge into a funeral home with a chapel, an extended lobby and a main room for viewings.

Glazebrooks is originally from Anderson, and has been working in the funeral industry in Indianapolis in many different capacities.

The writer does not emphasize that is another migrant returning home to start a business but no reason why I cannot.

I also found interesting that Glazebrooks plans to employ 20 people. That is not a small funeral home.