The IBJ Podcast

Quiet not-for-profit powers big innovations in energy, transportation

Those familiar with Indianapolis-based Energy Systems Network say it’s one of the most innovative organizations in energy and transportation—not only in the state, but in the nation. But it’s not particularly well-known. Its officials prefer to work in the background while pushing forward initiatives like IndyGo’s bus rapid transit program, the Blue Indy electric car-sharing program, and an early initiative that helps some of the state’s biggest manufacturers make big moves in heavy-duty hybrid industry, including buses and trucks.

Over 11 years, the small not-for-profit has generated about $750 million in direct investments in ESN-related projects from public, private and philanthropic sources. In the latest edition of The IBJ Podcast, host Mason King speaks with CEO Paul Mitchell about how ESN has helped power so many high-profile initiatives. Not every project has been a winner. Blue Indy folded earlier this year, although Mitchell says it still could pay dividends for the city. And he details one of ESN’s flashiest projects: the Indy Autonomous Challenge, an IndyCar-style race with cars completely controlled by computers scheduled to take place next year.

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

"When can we be with Grandma and Grandpa?" and other COVID questions families are asking

Conversations around the family dinner table during the coronavirus crisis have taken on incredibly high stakes. Deciding whether or not the kids can see Grandma and Grandpa over the weekend now requires research into the latest physical distancing guidelines and any chronic conditions they might have. Deciding whether or not to play baseball, basketball or soccer in youth summer leagues requires a serious calculation of the risks and rewards, as well as a working knowledge of all of the precautions that coaches and venues will take. Some families are agonizing over whether to let their young children go back to day care. Some already are weighing what to do when—or if—schools open in the fall.

For this week’s edition of The IBJ Podcast, host Mason King asked local families to share the questions they’ve been wrestling with—and added a few of his own. The topics above are all covered, as well as best practices for wearing masks, eating at restaurants and taking safe vacations. Our experts this week are Heidi Hancher-Rauch, who is an associate professor and director of the public health program at the University of Indianapolis, and Kara Cecil, an assistant professor of public health at University of Indianapolis. Both have families with kids and are willing to share the thought processes that have led to their decisions on these vital questions

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

Holcomb campaign faces peril of managing COVID crisis in public spotlight

Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb has put himself in the public spotlight—or, if you will, the crosshairs of public opinion—nearly every weekday for the last two months, hosting press conferences about the state’s response to the coronavirus crisis. It is not an easy job, as the governor and his staff must address new fatalities, respond to questions that have no easy answer, and ask residents to make difficult sacrifices to beat an enemy we don’t totally understand.

This also happens to be an election year. On one hand, Holcomb has the opportunity to show voters how he can handle a dire crisis—and without having to spend a dime from his immense campaign war chest. On the other hand, if he makes an obvious mistake or miscalculates how quickly the state should reopen, it’ll be in front of millions of voters with a deep, vested interest in the outcome.

In this week’s edition of The IBJ Podcast, host Mason King examines the political risks and potential rewards of managing the state’s response to COVID-19 in real time and in the public eye nearly every day. His guests are reporter Lindsey Erdody, who has written about this topic in the latest issue of IBJ, and Robert Dion, associate political science professor at the University of Evansville.

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

Wedding season walloped by COVID leads to postponements, tears, pizza parties

Hundreds of thousands of couple who for months have been picking preachers, flowers, venues, bridesmaid dresses, reception menus and deejay playlists now find themselves making a no-win decision: Do we keep the dates for our spring 2020 wedding and scale it way down, or do we reschedule the whole shebang and hope we’re not in the middle of another wave of infections?

The coronavirus crisis and its social-distancing protocols have wreaked havoc on the multibillion-dollar wedding industry—not to mention the lives of an untold number of couples who thought they’d be betrothed by fall. In this week’s edition of The IBJ Podcast, host Mason King explores the tumult from the perspective of two Indianapolis women: a bride who decided to keep her wedding date—May 2—and scale the festivities way down (including an after-party with pizza); and a wedding planner who had 23 weddings on the books for this year but now spends much of her time working on Plan Bs and Plan Cs for clients.

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

-----
Felix Mendelssohn's "Wedding March," from "A Midsummer's Night Dream," arranged for drunk organist (or sober organist pretending to be drunk) by Jonathan Mui.

The rent is due, and tenants are struggling as unemployment soars

As the economy swan-dives into a deep recession due to the coronavirus crisis, many of the people who live in apartments or rented homes find themselves in a frightening bind. Unemployment has surged in the working-class sectors, making it difficult for tens of thousands of tenants in Indiana to make their monthly rent payments. According to industry estimates, about 8% to 10% of renters were delinquent on their April rents, both in Indiana and nationwide.

Tenants in Indiana have been shielded from eviction since mid-March thanks to a moratorium issued by Gov. Eric Holcomb. But that doesn’t make their past-due rents go away. Advocates for both low-income residents and for landlords say more must be done to aid renters. Both sides are working their political connections to establish an emergency rental assistance program, that would help tenants cover the rent and keep revenue flowing for apartment owners.

For this week’s edition of The IBJ Podcast, host Mason King interviews Lynne Peterson, president of the Indiana Apartment Association, and Andrew Bradley, policy director for Prosperity Indiana, about the need for assistance and the fix that both tenants and landlords find themselves in.

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

What will restaurants, offices look like when economy reopens?

Last week, Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb told businesses they needed to start planning to reopen, although he didn’t set a particular date—or, what’s probably more likely, a schedule of how restrictions gradually would loosen. That process could start as soon as early May.

So, what do companies and restaurant think reopening will look like in a world still very wary of the coronavirus pandemic? How do they envision minimizing the risks for their employees and customers? Should restaurants still allow patrons to wait in lobbies? Should they be required to wear masks? How many people should be allowed in an elevator at once? Or in the office bathroom? Will 6-foot-tall cubicles make a comeback?

For this week’s edition of The IBJ Podcast, host Mason King and reporters Anthony Schoettle and Mickey Shuey focus on two of the biggest workplace sectors: offices and restaurants. There’s precious little consensus about the necessary precautions, although most decision-makers agree that we won’t get back to anything resembling “normal” until there’s a vaccine. And that could take a year or more.

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

How buying and selling homes have changed in the COVID era

Home sales in central Indiana have tumbled since the coronavirus crisis told hold in March. Home showings have cratered. The number of owners deciding to list their homes for sale has slumped well below average. That said, people are still buying and selling homes in central Indiana, even as public officials ask us to severely limit personal contact and any non-essential travel outside the home.

How are homes still moving? Good real estate agents are nothing if not entrepreneurial, and they’ve created some clever workarounds. What used to be a face-to-face, high-touch business has gone digital. Some owners are taking a more active role in marketing. Some closings now have more in common with the drive-through window at Portillo’s than a suit-and-tie office meeting.  

To help explain these abrupt strategic maneuvers and what it will take to get the market back on track, IBJ Podcast host Mason King interviewed two of the best-connected people in the local real estate market: Shelley Specchio, CEO of MIBOR, and Jim Litten, president of F.C. Tucker Co. Inc.

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

The pressures of working and parenting at home in a pandemic

Mason King, the host of The IBJ Podcast, focuses this week on the pressures and challenges of trying to fulfill your obligations as an employee, spouse and parent during the "new normal" of sequestration, in an environment where those responsibilities easily collide.

These dramas are playing out in a thousand different ways, so King invited local families to pose questions for his podcast interview with human resources expert Liz Malatestinic. One of the most common: “Is it reasonable for employers to expect their workers to put in eight- or 10 hours of work every day and be responsive within minutes under these circumstances?” The obvious follow-up: “What if my boss doesn’t care?”

The families also shared some of the strategies they’ve employed to stay organized and ahead of potential meltdowns—either from children or the parents.

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

What you need to know about unemployment now

Just a few weeks ago, Indiana's new jobless claims numbered just a few thousand a week. Then the coronavirus shuttered the economy and Gov. Eric Holcomb ordered non-essential businesses to close. The result: The last week in March saw 146,243 new unemployment claims.

The surge has flooded the state's computer system and its call center, and the Department of Workforce Department is quickly hiring and training new staff to handle the workload and get unemployed Hoosiers answers and benefits as quickly as possible.

But the situation is complicated by the CARES Act, a law passed by Congress that expands who is eligible for payments and dramatically increases the amount workers can receive, moves that require the Department of Workforce Development to reprogram its software and retrain staff.

The DWD's chief of staff, Josh Richardson, talks with host Mason King about who is now eligible, how soon they'll begin receiving benefits and how the agency is adjusting to the flood of applicants.

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

Sahm's—one restaurant group's story about the effect of the coronavirus

Ed Sahm and his son, Eddie Sahm, started planning for the shutdown of the restaurant industry weeks before the coronavirus outbreak led city and state officials to order the closures.

And so they were a little more ready than most owners to refocus Sahm's 16 restaurants. The result is an operation to benefit the not-for-profit Second Helpings, offer takeout at some locations, and open a series of marketplaces, where customers can get grocery items, including produce, cleaning products and, yes, toilet paper.

Still, the effort is not profitable. It's just enough to put some of Sahm's employees back to work, help the community and keep the company afloat for a few more weeks.

Host Mason King talks with Eddie Sahm about how he and his dad made key decisions and how they're making it work.

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