The IBJ Podcast

Pete the Planner on derailed college, early professional careers

The pandemic has raised all kinds of new questions about college and student loans—and the value of an online education versus attending in person. 

Plus, what do you do if you graduated in May and still don't have a job?

Host Mason King explores those issues and more with IBJ columnist Peter "Pete the Planner" Dunn.

Also, read Dunn's latest column here.

The IBJ Podcast is brought to you by the law firm Krieg DeVault.

 

 

 

The owner of Windsor Jewelry talks about surviving the riots and pandemic

Windsor Jewelry, located just south of the Circle on Meridian Street, was one of the businesses hardest hit by the riots that followed Black Lives Matter protests at the end of May.

 

The vandalism and looting came just days after Windsor Jewelry reopened following the pandemic shutdown. 

 

The store is open again now, and the owner, Greg Bires, talked with podcast host Mason King about the one-two punch of the pandemic and violence and what it will take for Windsor and for downtown to recover.

 

Plus, hear from Mayor Joe Hogsett, who spoke to IBJ's editorial board last month about some of the very problems Bires is concerned about for downtown.

 

The IBJ Podcast is brought to you by the law firm Krieg DeVault.

 

 

This couple developed a robot that will kill the coronavirus in your workplace

Diana Brugh is a microbiologist with experience working with bacteria- and virus-killing ultraviolet lights. Her husband, Jason Brugh, is one of the state’s foremost robotics experts. And together, they've created a coronavirus-killing robot that they've just moved into the market.

 

UVNinja Lux is the first product from the couple's newest company, AutoBio Reduction. It moves around a workplace (after mapping the space) and uses ultraviolet let to kill bacteria and viruses. 

 

Diana and Jason talks with podcast host Mason King about how they were able develop the product in just weeks, what it has been like working together, and what the robot costs. Plus, Diana explains her family's experience with the coronavirus that helped motivate the project.

 

To learn more, check out IBJ reporter Anthony Schoettle's story about AutoBio Reduction.

 

The IBJ Podcast is brought to you by the law firm Krieg DeVault.

 

Indy's top doc on the COVID response, masks, contact tracing, second wave

Dr. Virginia Caine has been in charge of the Marion County Public Health Department since 1994. Over her tenure she has fought waves of public health crises including HIV and AIDS, the H1N1 pandemic in 2009 and the ongoing scourge of black infant mortality. But never has she taken such a visible and constant public role of authority as she has over the last five months of the coronavirus crisis. For Indianapolis, she is as one of the key interpreters of data, prime shapers of policy and chief evangelizers for protective measures.

IBJ reporter Lindsey Erdody interviewed Dr. Caine last week about the frustrations and challenges of tackling the pandemic. Caine addresses the current state of local testing and contact tracing. She explains the reasoning behind the recent mask mandate and when it will be possible to make a call on running the Indianapolis 500. And she has an emphatic message for Marion Country residents who might not see the wisdom of following public health recommendations.

The IBJ Podcast is brought to you by the law firm Krieg DeVault.

 

 

When will office workers return to downtown Indy?

Before the pandemic hit Indianapolis in March, some 155,000 people were working regularly downtown. In the weeks after Gov. Eric Holcomb ordered all non-essential workers to go home, just 5% or so of those workers remained. Essentially, the Mile Square became a ghost town.

Today, some of those workers are returning. Many restaurants are open again. And a few offices are open.

But IBJ reporters Samm Quinn and Anthony Schoettle spent a week talking with the leaders of downtown companies and learned that many are delaying plans to bring workers back to the office. 

What are the ramifications for downtown? That's the subject of this week's podcast.

Want to know more? See Quinn and Schoettle's story at IBJ.com.

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The IBJ Podcast is brought to you by the law firm Krieg DeVault.

 

Pete the Planner explains what's scaring him about the economy right now

It's been nearly four months since host Mason King sat down with Peter "Pete the Planner" Dunn to talk about personal finance. In fact, their last get together took place in person—and it was March 12, what some are now calling Black Thursday 2020, the day Wall Street suffered its largest single-day percentage drop since 1987.

Pete talks about what he got right and wrong about the economy, jobs and the stock market the last time he and King talked. And Pete explains what is scaring him the most about the economy right now.

Plus, he offers advice for people who are in financial trouble right now because of the pandemic, those who are at risk of trouble and those who are likely to escape relatively unscathed, if not in a better position than when the pandemic started.

You can read more in Dunn's "Pete the Planner" columns for IBJ.

 

The IBJ Podcast is brought to you by the law firm Krieg DeVault.

 

Advice for hiring and nurturing a diverse workforce

Angela Freeman is an attorney at Barnes & Thornburg, formerly a molecular biologist at Eli Lilly and Co., and is finishing up a six-year stint on the board of the not-for-profit Women & Hi Tech, the last year as president. And in those roles, she's served on a number of search and hiring committees, which have often been charged with hiring diverse candidates.

Freeman talks with podcast host Mason King about the biases that exist in hiring and promoting and explains some of the mistakes that companies make when they seek to diversify their workforce. Here's one: If a company doesn't have a diversity statement, a diversity committee or a diversity officer, "that is a big red flag" to minority candidates. And it's not good enough to have the only person of color on an executive team be that diversity officer.

Among her many suggestions, Freeman recommends using a diverse committee for hiring (rather than leaving the job to one individual) and then assigning new employees, especially minority hires, to mentors who are invested in their success.

You can learn more about Freeman in this profile by IBJ reporter Anthony Schoettle.

The IBJ Podcast is brought to you by the law firm Krieg DeVault.

 

Indy Black Chamber of Commerce wants city support

The city of Indianapolis and Indy Chamber are close partners. Not only does Indy Chamber's Develop Indy division have a $1 million contract to handle the city's economic development efforts, the city has also given it millions of dollars for grants and loans to help companies deal with the pandemic.

The Indy Black Chamber of Commerce, which launched in 2015, wants a piece of that action.

Host Mason King with the Black Chamber's Larry Williams about why he thinks the city should be working more with his organization—and providing it funding. And Mason also talks with Angela Smith Jones, the deputy mayor of economic development, about the reasons the city is working with Indy Chamber.

Read more about the issue in reporter Samm Quinn's story in this week's IBJ.

The IBJ Podcast is brought to you by the law firm Krieg DeVault.

Will the Indy 500 run with fans in the stands? IMS officials say yes.

Indianapolis Motor Speedway officials are putting all their energy into running the Indy 500 with fans in August, despite continuing concerns about big crowds and the coronavirus.

In fact, just weeks after IMS announced that NASCAR's Brickyard 400 would run in front of empty stands, the track's new owner—Roger Penske—said the Indy 500 would not run if fans couldn't be there.

So we talked with IBJ reporter Anthony Schoettle about the Indy 500 and his conversation with IMS President Doug Boles about the track's plans.

You can read Anthony's Q&A with Boles by clicking here. And see our story about Penske's comments about the race and fans.

The IBJ Podcast is brought to you by the law firm Krieg DeVault.

Should the city help pay for damage done to businesses downtown?

Protests focused on racial inequality and police treatment of African Americans boiled over on May 29-30 into violence and vandalism that left businesses across downtown damaged and looted.

Eric Wells, president of the Stadium Village Business Association, says the city failed to adequately protect businesses and has not communicated a plan or a vision for bringing the city's core back after the one-two punch of coronavirus and the riots. 

She talks with podcast host Mason King about ways the city could step up to help businesses not just survive but thrive again. 

Then Mason talks with Mayor Joe Hogsett's chief of staff, Thomas Cook, about the city's reaction, whether it acted quickly enough to quell the violence and how the administration plans to move forward from here.

You can read about the actions the Stadium Village Business Association is requesting here. Wells is also one of four columnists featured in IBJ talking about the protests and the damage.

The IBJ Podcast is brought to you by the law firm Krieg DeVault.