The IBJ Podcast

Mar 09 2025 341 ep. 32 mins 124

The IBJ Podcast artwork

A weekly take on business news in central Indiana. The IBJ Podcast is brought to you by Taft.

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Tech founder on building teams, loving pivots, fostering startup hustle in high schools

Mar 09 2025 50 mins

Scott Lingle grew up in Indianapolis with parents who were always looking for a side hustle and ways to eliminate debt. Their entrepreneurial pursuits included flipping houses—"I lived in 20 houses growing up," Lingle says—and rehabilitating a host of other products for resale. Scott Lingle knew early on that he wanted to be in sales. After a distinguished career in the insuran

Third-gen Indy hotelier on industry ups and downs, $43.5M Ball State project

Mar 02 2025 47 mins

Based in Indianapolis, the Schahet family has been managing and developing hotels since the 1960s. The family firm Schahet Hotels currently has nine properties in its portfolio, mostly in central Indiana, with a 10th hotel under construction in Muncie and an 11th in the final planning stages. There’s still room in the lodging industry for mom-and-pop hoteliers—although in this

Marsh Davis on a career saving Indiana landmarks, bringing right people to the table

Feb 23 2025 49 mins

Indiana has been a national leader in historic preservation for decades. Hoosiers have a strong record for studying, cataloguing and saving homes, churches, farms, factories, covered bridges, monuments, courthouses, hotels, libraries and even entire commercial districts and neighborhoods deemed to have historic value. Since being founded in 1960, the nonprofit group Indiana Landmar

The risks tariffs pose to Indiana’s manufacturing-heavy economy

Feb 16 2025 32 mins

Podcast listeners might remember about three months ago when regular guest Pete the Planner predicted that President Donald Trump’s plans for tariffs could have a pronounced effect on some elements of Indiana’s economy. Trump wasted little time once his second term began last month, imposing or thratening to impose a barrage of tariffs on many of America’s trading partners—

With billions at stake, hyperscale data centers become charged issue in Indiana

Feb 09 2025 33 mins

You don’t need to be too technically savvy to pick up on the charged atmosphere surrounding large-scale data centers. Various technology-heavy industries need data centers as a kind of way station and storage point for all the electronic information they generate and process. As technology evolves at a breakneck speed, the size of these centers grows. In October, the financial fi

A preschool, a church, a pickleball palace—tracking the transformations of Indy’s vacant Marsh supermarkets

Feb 02 2025 33 mins

Founded in central Indiana, Marsh Supermarkets Inc. at its peak operated well over 100 stores, with a critical mass in the nine-county Indianapolis metro area. In 2017—11 years after a private equity firm took ownership—just 63 stores remained. Marsh declared bankruptcy in May 2017. From those 63 stores, Marsh closed the majority and sold 26 to Kroger and Needlers.That left a l

The latest on downtown soccer stadium, $78M Fever facility and Simon hotel/concert venue

Jan 26 2025 41 mins

It’s time to unpack the latest developments in Mayor Joe Hogsett’s plan to establish a Major League Soccer team in downtown Indianapolis. Among other things, the team needs a stadium to play in. The city earmarked about 16 acres in the southeast quadrant of the Mile Square and held discussions with MLS officials. We were left with a cliffhanger: Can the city get state approval

Pete the Planner on Trump's second term, rising inflation and the impact of the LA wildfires on housing

Jan 19 2025 31 mins

The official release date of this episode is Jan. 20, which not coincidentally is Inauguration Day. President Trump will outline his vision for second term, but we already have a sense of what to expect in terms of economic policy. Four of the biggest themes are prioritizing tax cuts, decreasing regulation in several major industries, increasing tariffs on imported goods from tradi

Inside the mind of a rising Indy apartment developer

Jan 12 2025 43 mins

After five years leading apartment development for Indianapolis-based real estate firm Birge & Held, Jarod Brown decided he wanted a business with his name on the door. So he struck out on his own in late 2022 and soon hung his shingle for Brown Capital Group on an historic building in Broad Ripple. As a developer, he hit the ground running with an impressive set of established

Dave Lindquist previews can't-miss entertainment in 2025

Jan 05 2025 29 mins

2024 was a big year for entertainment in Indianapolis. Taylor Swift came to town for three concerts of course. But major sports events including NBA All-Star Weekend, the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials and Indianapolis 500 included multiple concerts and arts events. Even celebrations around the eclipse featured music and the arts. So will 2025 be a letdown? IBJ Editor Lesley Weidenb