Indy's New Director of Latino Affairs

Carolin Requiz Smith (right) will be director of Latino affairs in the administration of Indianapolis Mayor-elect Greg Ballard, according to the Indianapolis Business Journal. Requiz Smith is director of the office of minority health for the Indiana State Department of Health, as well as executive board member for the Indiana Commission on Hispanic/Latino Affairs.

Foreign Investment in Indiana

This map shows the location of foreign investment in Indiana. Below the map is a detailed list of this investment, and where each company can be found on the map.

Terri Morris Downs named Executive Director of Immigrant Welcome Center

The Immigrant Welcome Center, a not-for-profit program that connects immigrants to resources and services in Indianapolis, has named Terri Morris Downs as its first Executive Director. The centerpiece to the Immigrant Welcome Center is a volunteer program known as Natural Helpers. The program recruits recent immigrants to share information at a grassroots level on how to access services for basic needs, such as health care, government, transportation and employment. Natural Helpers can be anyone in the neighborhood or community who has demonstrated leadership abilities and a first-hand understanding of the challenges facing those entering a new country and community. The Immigrant Welcome Center currently has 12 Natural Helpers with home countries ranging from Mexico, Ethiopia and Venezuela to Senegal, India and Burma. Through contributions from the Efroymson Fund, a CICF fund; The Clowes Fund, Inc.; and individual donors, the Immigrant Welcome Center provides Natural Helpers with formal training on topics ranging from accessing community resources to supporting immigrants in a crisis or difficult situation. Beginning 2 January, the center will be located at 2236 East Tenth Street, Indianapolis. For more, click here.

International Center Gets Lilly Grant

The International Center of Indianapolis recently received a $300,000 grant from Indianapolis-based Lilly Endowment to be used for current and future services provided by the non-profit organization, reports Inside INdiana Business. Part of the award is based upon the endowment matching gifts from other donors up to a total of $100,000. Earlier this month, ICI reported that it received a $25,000 grant from the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust. The funds will be used to enhance the Center’s ability to provide educational materials and "cultural" training about U.S. citizenship and immigrant naturalization for Indianapolis area school children.

Emmis Adds Bulgarian Radio Chain

Indianapolis-based Emmis Communications Corporation announced it has acquired Inforadio, a national radio chain broadcasting in 13 Bulgarian cities, according to Indianapolis Business Journal. Balkan Broadcasting EAD, an Emmis subsidiary, purchased 100 percent of the stations' parent company, Infopress & Company OOD, a Bulgarian limited liability company. Emmis International also owns and operates national stations or networks in Belgium (Be One), Hungary (Slager Radio), and Slovakia (Radio Expres).

Nigerian Author to Speak at Butler University

Chris Abani (pictured), will speak about his writing at 7:30 p.m. 9 April 2008 in the Reilly Room of Atherton Union at Butler University. Abani, from Nigeria, wrote his first novel at 16. Two years later he was imprisoned on the grounds that this work had served as a blueprint for the failed coup of General Vatsa. His experiences as a political prisoner and of civil war in his homeland under Abacha's rule are articulated in a highly personal and explicit way in his work and in his speaking. His prose includes Song For Night (2007), The Virgin of Flames (2007) and Becoming Abigail (2006). He is a professor at the University of California, Riverside. Abani's presentation is part of the Spring 2008 Vivian S. Delbrook Visiting Writers Series at Butler. All events are free and open to the public; no tickets are required. For more information, call 317:940-9861.

Canada's Ag Growth Industries Comes to Union City

Canada-based grain handling equipment manufacturer Ag Growth Industries has announced the company's plans to locate a new manufacturing facility in Union City, with plans to create more than 70 new jobs by 2010. The company, which manufactures and distributes augers, conveyors, grain storage bins and other grain handling equipment, will locate its new operations in the 163,000 square-foot former Union City Body Company building on the city's west side. The Indiana Economic Development Corporation offered Ag Growth up to $475,000 in performance-based tax credits and up to $70,000 in training grants based upon the company's job creation plans. The City of Union City and Randolph County have committed to provide the company property tax abatement and each have committed up to $100,000 in grants to the company. Ag Growth is a leading manufacturer of portable and stationary grain handling, storage and conditioning equipment, including augers, belt conveyors, grain storage bins, grain handling accessories and grain aeration equipment. Ag Growth's sales, marketing, and distribution system includes approximately 1,400 dealers and distributors in 48 states and nine provinces.

Belarus Poet to Speak at Butler

Valzhyna Mort (right) will speak at 7:30 p.m. 27 March in the Krannert Room of Clowes Memorial Hall as part of Butler University's spring 2008 Vivian S. Delbrook Visiting Writers Series. According to Blue Flower Arts, "Valzhyna Mort was born Valzhyna Martynava in 1981 in Minsk, Belarus. At 26, as a poet and translator, her work has been translated into many European languages, the most recent being a book in Swedish, released in 2007. She has been published in various literary magazines and anthologies, including an Anthology of Belarusian Poetry (Sofia, 2002). Her first Book, Factory of Tears, is forthcoming by Copper Canyon Press in the spring of 2008, co-translated with Franz Wright. Valzhyna is famed throughout Europe for her remarkable reading performances, which display a talent not normally associated with one so young. She is the winner of several poetry competitions in Belarus, and in 2004 she received the Crystal of Velenica Award in Slovenia, which is awarded for reading performance. Valzhyna’s first collection, I’m as Thin as Your Eyelashes (2005), is startlingly assured and reveals a powerful poetic voice. She is the 2005 recipient of the Gaude Polonia stipendium. In 2006 she was a poet-in-residence at Literarisches Colloquium in Berlin, Germany. She currently lives in the United States. Valzhyna writes in Belarusian at a time when efforts are being made to reestablish the traditional language, after governmental attempts to absorb it into the Russian language have been relinquished. She reads her poems aloud in both Belarusian and English.

Purdue Researchers Assess Socioclimatic Exposure

Researchers have taken a first step toward quantifying the "socioclimatic" exposure of different countries to future climate change, according to the Purdue University News Bureau. A research team from Purdue and the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics in Trieste, Italy, found that China, India and the United States face substantial exposure relative to other nations, but that every area of the world faces high exposure in at least one category. The research will be published online this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Regionally, the most exposed nations are China, Bangladesh and Myanmar in Asia; western Sahel and southwestern nations in Africa; Brazil in South America; the eastern United States in North America; and the Mediterranean nations (including France, Italy and Spain), Russia and Scandinavia in Europe. The study found that the climatic and socioeconomic variables together determine the international variations in socioclimatic risk. The Purdue Climate Change Research Center is affiliated with Purdue's Discovery Park. The center promotes and organizes research and education on global climate change and studies its impact on agriculture, natural ecosystems and society. It was established in 2004 to support Purdue in research and education on regional scale climate change, its impacts and mitigation, and adaptation strategies. The center serves as a hub for a range of activities beyond scientific research, including teaching, public education and the development of public policy recommendations. The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics was founded in 1964 by Nobel Laureate Abdus Salam. The center operates under a tripartite agreement among the Italian Government and two U.N. agencies, UNESCO and IAEA. Its mission is to foster advanced studies and research, especially in developing countries. While the name of the center reflects its beginnings, its activities today encompass most areas of physical sciences, including geophysical and environmental sciences.

FCGS Renamed for Richard G. Lugar

Marian College in Indianapolis announced today that it is renaming its global studies center to The Richard G. Lugar Franciscan Center for Global Studies at Marian College. The center has been directed by Dr. Pierre M. Atlas, a political science professor at the college, since its founding in 2004. The center sponsors an academic program in global studies for Marian College students as well as the Global Studies Speaker Series, a platform for public discussions and workshops featuring international diplomats, journalists, academics, clergy, and global activists. Senator Lugar (pictured), who grew up in the neighborhood near Marian College and attended Shortridge High School, has been a longtime friend of the college.

French Optical Company Acquires GK Optical

Essilor a multinational firm based in France, has acquired GK Optical, a group of two prescription laboratories in Greenwood and Fort Wayne. Essilor, a manufacturer of opthalmologic optics, produces 195 million eyeglass lenses each year. Its brands include Varilux® (progressive lenses), Crizal® (multiple-coating lenses), Transitions® (variable photochromic lenses), Airwear®, Nikon® (high-technology lenses) and Xelios™ (corrective lenses for sunglasses).

Chinese Delegation Plans Visit to Anderson

The city of Anderson will welcome a visit from a delegation of eight Chinese from Anderson’s sister city of Yuhang District, Hangzhou, next Friday (14 December), it was announced by Mayor Kevin S. Smith. The visit is in response his November 2006 trade mission (pictured) to the Chinese cities of Shanghai, Ningbo and Hangzhou. He noted that, "While in Hangzhou, we formalized a sister-city relationship between our two cities. Business in China begins with relationships and this visit to Anderson will further our cultural, educational and business exchange." The eight Chinese visitors will include six men and two women, representing government, health, education, art and culture for the Yuhang District. Anderson is the only Indiana city these Chinese will visit while in the United States. Mayor Smith and city of Anderson representatives, Anderson University officials and business leaders will participate in a state dinner on Thursday night (13 December). Anderson Mayor-Elect Kris Ockomon and other representatives of the new city administration have been invited by Mayor Smith to participate in all of the events with the Chinese delegation to assure continued relationships and business opportunities. Friday (14 December) will include a breakfast and meeting with city officials, a press conference, visit to Anderson University and the Falls School of Business, a tour of the Paramount Theater, luncheon at the Flagship Enterprise Center, tour and meetings at the Flagship Enterprise Center and the Flagship Education Center.

Bloomington Connects with Ukraine

Bloomington's Herald-Times and Kafa, a thrice-weekly in Ukraine, are in the fifth year of a partnership that benefits both small newspapers (the Herald-Times has a circulation of 28,000, and Kafa, published in the Crimea, has a circulation of 35,000). The two were paired by the Ukraine Media Partnership Program operated by the non-profit International Research and Exchanges Board.

New BMV Rules Are Problematic

The new Indiana law requiring a valid Social Security number in order to obtain an Indiana Driver's License is having all sorts of unintended (and negative) consequences. The Japan-America Society of Indiana has issued an information sheet for their members that has relevance to many of us. Check it out here. It may help you resolve your BMV dilemma!

"The State of India's Democracy"

A new book co-edited by an Indiana University professor marks the 60th anniversary of India's independence and subsequent transition to democracy and will receive major recognition when released there next week, according to the IU News Bureau. The new book, The State of India's Democracy (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007), will be released in New Delhi next Tuesday (11 December) in a ceremony at the official residence of Mohammed Hamid Ansari, vice president of India. It will be widely distributed nationally afterwards. It already is available in the United States. Sumit Ganguly (pictured), the Rabindranath Tagore Professor of Indian cultures and civilizations, professor of political science and director of the India Studies Institute at IU, co-edited the book.

Danish Company Acquires Peerless Pump

One of Indianapolis' oldest industrial businesses, Peerless Pump Co., has been sold to Grundfos Group, a pump-making giant headquartered in Denmark, for an undisclosed price, reports the Indianapolis Business Journal. Peerless, whose origin dates to the 1920s, had been owned by Monaco-based Thyssen-Bornemisza Group since 1976. Peerless manufactures pumps for fresh water. Much of its $110 million in sales is generated by pharmaceutical plants, offshore oil platforms and other industrial projects. Peerless also sells to municipalities and to office buildings for fire protection. Its fire protection pumps move water to upper floors of some of the world's tallest buildings, including the Sears Tower in Chicago and Taipei 101 in Taiwan. According to Grundfos, its current sales in North America are $300 million. "The U.S. pump market alone is estimated to be $6 billion, so the business potential for Grundfos is huge. With the latest acquisition, Grundfos expects to double sales within a four year period reaching $600 million."

KVK Koetke GmbH Comes to New Castle

A German company is opening a plant in New Castle because the weak value of the American dollar lowers the cost of the investment, according to a report by the Indianapolis Business Journal. Founder Claus-Dieter Koetke told The Star-Press of Muncie that he located the facility in the eastern Indiana city because the person who will be president of the facility, Chad McClung, lives in nearby Connersville. The $3 million project by KVK Koetke GmbH will be located in an existing building and will employ 25 workers by 2010. The plant will pay workers $18 an hour. KVK Koetke GmbH produces customer-oriented hollow parts for technical parts of the automobile industry, heating technology, medical technology as well as for the packaging industry and other branches of the thermoplastic resins industry.