Tag Archives: eli lilly

FINCH Soars: Economy Puts Up Little Fight for Indy Constructor

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These days there are plenty of reminders of the economic downturn. This past weekend, while driving through Pendleton, I saw this sign in a small shop advertising its going-out-of-business sale:  “We fought the economy, and the economy won.”

Thankfully, that’s not the whole story in Indiana. Plenty of Hoosier businesses continue to grow and prosper. I offer the story of FINCH Constructors, an Indianapolis-based company that without any magic anti-recession potion (no, I don’t know where you can buy such a concoction) is experiencing positive growth.

“We stayed the course by taking care of our core customer base and understanding what our job is and what our goal is,” explains president and CEO Robert Finch. Top projects for FINCH Constructors right now include work at Eli Lilly (a FINCH customer since 1993) and at the downtown JW Marriott, which will open in 2011.

Finch says the family-owned and operated company continuously adds talent and technology so it can keep up with the clients it serves. Still, Finch goes back to the backbone of the company: strong relationships with core customers. 

“They believe in us and they’ve given us the opportunity to serve them. Since we understand their facilities and the systems, we owe it to them to be around at the end of today and tomorrow and the next day,” Finch shares.

So here’s to one of many Indiana companies that took on the economy and won.

It’s All in the Timing: Kristol, Chicago Fed President on Tap for Econ Club

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The Economic Club of Indiana has a who’s who of community volunteers who take their role and the fortunes of the Club most seriously. We can be thankful that’s the case.

While the history of the Club is intriguing, this season’s lineup of speakers is a blockbuster. There were early signs that Eli Lilly chief John Lechleiter was going to use his opening address to tackle a large topic — the company’s future. He did. WFYI has the archived speech.

Coming up: political commentator William Kristol (agree or not with his philosophies, he is an equal-opportunity criticizer) on October 27 (that’s eight days before the election) and Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President and CEO Charles Evans on November 21. Do you think he’ll have anything to talk about?

Sounds like a good way to spend 90 minutes at lunch time.

Lilly’s Future: Not a Bad Economic Club Start

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If you weren’t paying attention to John Lechleiter’s Economic Club of Indiana speech on Wednesday about the future of Eli Lilly and Company, you appear to have been one of the few.

More than 800 people attended the season-opening event at the Indiana Convention Center. Media coverage was far and wide, especially when it was anticipated that Lechleiter would deliver a hard-hitting commentary on the company’s future direction. He delivered.

Industry innovation, the company’s staggering stock price and the negative pharmaceutical image are the "800-pound gorillas" awaiting action. Lilly, like it has during its long history, has a plan and is implementing it. Will it mean fewer jobs in the future? Likely. Will the company remain a local, state, national and international powerhouse? We hope so.

Michael Snyder, principal of The MEK Group, writes an informative weekly column for MidwestBusiness.com. Check out his summary for a good review of what Lechleiter had to say.

Next up for the Economic Club: William Kristol on October 27, eight days before the election. Sounds like another great one.

Eli Lilly Helping Struggling Hoosiers Following Disasters

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Bill Benner’s Indy Insights blog serves up due propers to Eli Lilly for the company’s monumental assistance to Hoosier families following the natural disasters we’ve had in Indiana this spring.

The Lilly Endowment is donating $50 million, $45 of which will go to the United Way of Central Indiana.

The Indy Star article explains the magnitude of the donation as follows:

The gift is the Lilly Endowment’s largest to a disaster-related cause to date. It also ranks among the top five private donations for disaster relief since 2000, according to the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University.

Kudos to Lilly, a Chamber member, for their efforts in re-Building a Better Indiana.

Lilly, KeyBank Among Businesses Helping Indiana Flood Victims

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The Indiana Chamber would like to offer its sympathies to those impacted by this weekend’s massive flooding throughout the Hoosier state. Local businesses and relief organizations are working diligently to help.

Inside INdiana Business reports:

Companies in Indiana are stepping up to help the victims of recent outbreak of severe storms and flooding. Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly and Co. (NYSE: LLY) says it is donating $100,000 to help with the relief effort. The Lilly Foundation will provide financial assistance to the Disaster Relief Fund of the American Red Cross of Greater Indianapolis. Keybank (NYSE:KEY) is launching a fundraising initiative for disaster relief efforts in Indiana. It has opened an account for the American Red Cross Indiana Tornado and Flood Relief Fund.

Additionally, here is a link to the American Red Cross of Greater Indianapolis.

Economic Club Speaker Advocates Individual Liberty

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"For the past half-century, free enterprise and what it stands for has been under constant attack,” asserted Walter Williams at the last Economic Club of Indiana luncheon of the season Friday.

Williams, a well-known political pundit, columnist, professor and occasional guest host of the “Rush Limbaugh Show,” presented his strong views on economic and tax policy in America today.

Williams employed obvious and often humorous comparisons to illustrate his message – at one point equivocating the federal government’s wealth redistribution programs to armed robbery with a benevolent motive. 

“We must ask ourselves, is there ever a moral reason for taking what belongs to one person and giving it to another?” Williams asked, reminding the audience that, “government has no money of its very own.”

As a promoter of individual liberty over intrusive government, Williams believes that charitable contributions and other financial transactions are most effective when people are free to participate in voluntary exchange.

Mandating what Americans save for retirement and enforcing it through Social Security taxes is just one of the ways Williams feels government is interfering with voluntary exchange.  He also asserted that the federal government has no Constitutional authority to collect taxes for three-fourths of the things it currently collects.

The next Economic Club luncheon season will begin with Eli Lilly president/CEO John Lechleiter on Sept. 24. He will be followed by editor of the The Weekly Standard (and New York Times columnist) William Kristol on Oct. 27, who will offer his political insights just before the 2008 election. Here is the current schedule, and new speakers are still being added.