The IBJ Podcast

Ryan Vaughn talks sports, the tech sector and whether he might ever run for mayor

Ryan Vaughn has spent the past eight years leading the Indiana Sports Corp., a job that requires constant work attracting big sports events to the city and then pulling them off once they arrive. The goal is to always have a pipeline of events coming to help bolster the region's tourism industry and economy overall.

IBJ reporter Mickey Shuey (in for vacationing host Mason King) talks with Vaughn about what he's learned during his time in the post and why he's leaving to take a job in the tech sector.

Plus, Shuey presses Vaughn about the challenge the next Indiana Sports Corp. president will face—and whether Vaughn might someday run for mayor.

The IBJ Podcast is brought to you by Taft.

Examining the $175M plan for downtown’s City Market block

The city has endorsed a $175 million proposal from two Indianapolis-based developers to significantly recast the entire block that contains the Indianapolis City Market.

The proposal from Gershman Partners and Citimark included the following: A $90 million redevelopment of the Gold Building (which is the 9^thlargest office complex downtown) into an apartment building with 350 units and an entirely new façade with a darker, more neutral color.

Next up: Construction of a $40 million, 11-story apartment building with 60 units, plus office and retail space, on the site where the market’s east wing currently sits. Next, $30 million in ongoing improvements to the 11-story office building at 251 E. Ohio, and $12 million in improvements to the parking garage that’s between 251 E. Ohio  and the Gold Building, which are all on the northern half of the block.

For this week’s edition of the podcast, host Mason king talks with Scarlett Andrews, director of the Indianapolis Department of Metropolitan Development, and Eric Gershman, principal at Gershman Partners, about the project and the timeline.

Is a funding slowdown hitting the local tech sector?

The amount of venture capital invested into Indiana-based tech companies was down overall in the first quarter of the year—despite several recent announcements. That tracks with national trends, and has local venture firms urging their portfolio companies to think about ways to make their cash last longer.

IBJ tech reporter Susan Orr talked with local tech firms and venture funders about the trends and tells host Mason King about their concerns and expectations.

But Orr said there’s plenty of optimism about the area’s tech sector. And she offers a reminder that sometime slowdowns help weed out weaker companies while making others stronger.

You can read Orr’s story at IBJ.com.

Inside the risk-taking mindset of Maven Space’s co-founder, CEO

The name Leslie Bailey might ring a bell. She was a reporter for The Indianapolis Star from 2012 to 2016 and penned a regular column titled "The Adventuress." She’d jump into some new sport or activity or an unusual situation and write about it. As she discusses in the latest edition of the IBJ Podcast, taking risks is in her DNA.

In 2019, Bailey and business partner Amanda Kingsbury co-founded Indy Maven, a lifestyle website and membership organization focused on providing a wide variety of content and networking resources for women. As Bailey learned more from the women who were consuming the content and pursuing networking opportunities, she realized that the next obvious move was to create a physical space that could serve that community.

So she and another partner co-founded Maven Space, which at heart is a co-working space—again, primarily intended for women—but also offers an abundance of amenities including a full gym, a podcast studio and a room for new mothers. This was a much bigger risk, which entailed digging deeply into her personal savings and getting a zero-interest credit card for charging necessary expenses.

Maven Space opened in mid-May. Bailey was fortunate to find a space to sublease in downtown's historic Gibson building that already was outfitted with many of the features she wanted to offer. But the sublease is up in about two years, meaning a new set of important decisions is waiting just over the horizon.

In this week’s edition of the podcast, Bailey discusses her approach to entrepreneurism, which some would describe as building the plane while you’re trying to fly it. She readily admits that she wouldn’t necessarily advise other new entrepreneurs to take the same path. But, as she says, she believes in the idea and wasn’t interested in the time and energy needed to try to find investors when women-led businesses historically get so little attention from funders.

The IBJ Podcast is brought to you by Taft.

 

What Indiana’s auto industry must do to adapt to EVs

Carmaker Stellantis NV made big news in Indiana last week when it announced it will build a $2.5 billion electric-vehicle battery plant in Kokomo with partner Samsung SDI. The plant—which is expected to employ 1,400 people—is one step in a fledgling transition in the auto industry from vehicles with internal combustion engines to those with electric motors. 

But what does that transition mean for a state like Indiana, which has five vehicle assembly plants and more than 500 auto industry suppliers. In all, more than 110,000 people are employed by the auto industry.

Podcast host Mason King talks with Ananth Iyer, a professor of management at Purdue’s Krannert School of Management, who is part of a group studying the potential disruption in the auto industry and how Indiana manufacturers can adapt. 

Iyer sees tremendous potential for those plants and their workers, even if that means a bit of retooling and retraining to realize it.

For more about the disruption EVs are causing in the auto industry, read Susan Orr's story in IBJ's Innovation Issue here.

Doug Boles is the Speedway’s chief evangelist

As most racing fans know, Doug Boles is president of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. But that title isn’t quite adequate.

Boles is the Speedway’s chief evangelist, its omnipresent public face and its buck-stops-here customer service guru. Beyond presiding over the day-to-day management of a 300-acre venue that hosts dozens of large, complicated events annually, Boles is the protector of its legacy as Indy’s symbol of industry and speed, while lifting its vital role in the city’s aspirations to create strong connections between innovative industries.

And that’s important, although to thousands of fans on race day, he is the guy in the suit and tie who remembers your family and where you traditionally sit and is happy as hell to take a picture with you, the kids, grandpa and the cooler.

In this week's podcast, host Mason King talks with Boles about what his daily life is like in May, why he calls race fans every day on his drive home from work and what's ahead for the hundreds of acres of undeveloped land IMS owns.

The IBJ Podcast is brought to you by Taft.

 

How favorite son Mayor Mark Myers is changing the face of Greenwood

When Larry Myers was mayor of Greenwood in the 1970s, about 20,000 people lived in the Johnson County city. Today, Larry's son, Greenwood Mayor Mark Myers, leads a city of more than 64,000. But he says some of the most important duties haven't changed: Fill potholes, pick up the trash and plow the snow (without blocking anyone's driveways). 

Still, Greenwood has definitely changed. And during Mark Myers' three terms, downtown has been revitalized, parks and trails have been greatly expanded and the new Greenwood Fieldhouse—the first piece of a larger development called The Madison—has opened.

Host Mason King talks with Myers about how Greenwood is changing, but also about his life, which has included working for his parents' ambulance business, as a police detective, a missionary and in security for a foreign embassy. 

The IBJ Podcast is brought to you by Taft.

 

 

Pete the Planner: A financial loss doesn’t define you—and you can recover

In 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 you've suffered a big loss or are just behind in saving for retirement.

There's good news: Dunn says even later in life you can make your finances work—but it's more about adjusting your spending than it is about saving.

You can read Dunn's columns here.

 

The IBJ Podcast is brought to you by Taft.

The ’surreal’ story behind filming supernatural thriller in West Baden

Best-selling author Michael Koryta of Bloomington based his book, “So Cold the River,” at the West Baden Hotel in Orange County. In fact, you could argue the hotel is essentially a character in the book. And so when it came time to make "So Cold the River" into a movie, there could be no other spot to do it.

Enter Pete Yonkman, president of the hotel's owner, Cook Group. Yonkman is friends with Koryta and the folks at Pigasus Pictures, a Bloomington-based film company.

So he connected the two—and stayed involved. In fact, Yonkman and Cook CEO Carl Cook (the son of Bill and Gayle Cook, who funded the hotel's renovation) invested in the movie and facilitated Pigasus' use of the hotel, which closed down for several weeks to accomodate filming.

Host Mason King talks with Yonkman and Zack Spicer, CEO of Pigasus Pictures, about the hotel, the story and making the movie. But they also delve into a new law that will offer tax credits to future productions filmed in Indiana. 

 

The IBJ Podcast is brought to you by Taft.

 

 

Kevin Lee on broadcasting the Indy 500 and the business of motorsports

As spring turns into the month of May and Indy 500 season, broadcaster Kevin Lee is reviewing his notes for many hours on radio and TV, explaining the nuances of IndyCar and its drivers to fans.

Lee has had a 30-year history covering sports, a career that included doing play-by-play work for the Indianapolis Colts and the Indiana Pacers but is focused today largely on auto racing. He’s in the pits for most IndyCar races and hosts the radio show “Trackside” on The Fan, 93.5-FM and 107.5-FM, among other racing duties.

And in his spare time, Lee manages a racing team in the USF2000 Championship—a rung in the Road to Indy developmental program—for which his son, Jackson, is the driver.

Lee talked with host Mason King about his broadcasting career, what it takes to prepare to announce an IndyCar race and how managing a racing team has helped him better understand the sport.

The IBJ Podcast is brought to you by Taft.