In the mood for some barbecue? Or maybe some poke? A peanut butter and jelly sandwich? Or maybe just a cold beer? It's all available at the AMP food hall at the 16 Tech Innovation District on the northwest edge of downtown. And Chef Craig Baker is the coordinator who has has helped make it all happen.  He crafted the overall feel of the 40,000-square-foot space in the HqO building at 1220 Waterway Blvd., which includes shipping containers and booths for each restaurant and retailer. But each of the eateries is responsible for their space, creating a eclectic spot for lunch or an event. Baker talked with host Mason King about how the space came together—and why, for him, success will be when some of those same eateries grow up and move out. For more about what's opening this month at the AMP, check out this story by reporter Susan Orr.   The IBJ Podcast is brought to you by Resultant, formerly KSM Consulting.  

The Newfields board last month elected Darrianne Christian as its new chair, making her the first Black woman to lead the museum's board. Christian was already serving on the board in February when the Newfields president resigned following allegations of racial bias. Christian, who was then the board's only African American member, led the effort to develop the institution's new plan to embrace diversity, equity, inclusion and access. Christian talks with host Mason King about what the museum is doing to get past the controversy and how her background growing up in poverty is helping her move Newfields in new directions.   The IBJ Podcast is brought to you by Resultant, formerly KSM Consulting.

Peter "Pete the Planner" Dunn says most people need a financial adviser at some point in their lives to make sense of their investments, insurance, retirement accounts and more. But as host Mason King has experienced, figuring out what type of adviser to hire and then which one to hire can be tough. So Dunn explains what to look for and how to choose. You can read more financial advice from Dunn at IBJ.com.

Chris Baggott is always looking for a better way to do things. He co-founded ExactTarget when he couldn't find a good way to communicate with customers. He co-founded Compendium Software to give companies a better way to rank high in internet search results. And he founded ClusterTruck to get prepared food to customers while it was still hot and fresh. In each case, Baggott has helped disrupt established industries, although he acknowledges it's not always because he was first to an idea. Baggott talks with host Mason King about what makes an idea disruptive and explains why it's so much easier for startups—rather than established companies—to come up with those innovations. The podcast is part of IBJ's larger look at disruption in this year's Innovation Issue, which includes a story by Anthony Schoettle about Baggott and other local disrupters. 

Republican. Sen. Todd Young of Indiana and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, introduced the Endless Frontier Act this spring with the goal of pumping more than $110 billion over five years into scientific and technological innovation. That includes a $10 billion effort to create tech hubs across the U.S., focusing on areas outside of the traditional tech centers like Silicon Valley, Seattle and Boston. Sen. Young is on today’s podcast to talk about the legislation. Then we talked with David Johnson, the president and CEO of the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership about what it could mean for Indiana. You can read a column Johnson wrote about the Endless Frontier Act at IBJ.com. One note: After our interview with Sen. Young, Sen. Schumer announced he would expand and rename the legislation to the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act.  

As more Hoosiers become fully vaccinated, restaurants and bars are filling up again. But restaurant operators say finding workers to serve all those customers. has been a struggle. Are some people afraid to return to work at such public places? Are the increases in unemployment benefits to blame? Have former restaurant workers given up on the industry and found positions elsewhere? Host Mason King talks with two restauranteurs—Loughmiller's Pub & Eatery co-owner Danny Scotten and Upland Brewing Co. President David Bower—about how the labor crunch is affecting their eateries and what they're doing to try to find workers. For more about this issue, read reporter Kurt Christian's story at IBJ.com.

Sales of grills, patio furniture, fire pits and other outdoor goods skyrocketed last spring and summer as the pandemic forced people to stay at home. So a big question for this spring—as vaccinated people started venturing out again—was whether that trend would continue. Local garden and outdoor venture retailers say it has. In fact, they say sales of some products, like outdoor furniture, have been even hotter, which is just one of several reasons many outdoor goods have been hard to come by. Host Mason King talks with two of those retailers—Scott Horvath, owner of Omalia’s Living, and Pat Sullivan, who owns owner of three Sullivan’s Hardware & Garden stores plus Allisonville Home & Garden by Sullivan. They explain the supply chain issues that are causing a shortage of bigger-ticket items like fire pits and furniture and smaller, everyday products like watering wands and garden hoses.  For more about the trends, check out Kurt Christian's store at IBJ.com.

The U.S. economy is on the verge of potentially the greatest boom time of all time, according to Peter “Pete the Planner” Dunn. It will be fueled at least in part by the enhanced child tax credit, which is part of the American Rescue Plan stimulus package.In essence, the child tax credit that parents get every year will increase to $3,000 to $3,600 per child for 2021, depending on the age of each child. And the government is going to give taxpayers half of it in cash in installments over the last six months of the year.But Dunn also is concerned that as the economy improves and taxpayers start to feel their stimulus payments since the beginning of the pandemic burn holes in their pockets, they will fall into a financial trap. In this week’s edition of the IBJ Podcast, Dunn discusses with host Mason King the risks in recalibrating your spending habits during a boom with artificial income.

Indiana University didn't just hire former Hoosiers standout Mike Woodson to turn around the school's struggling basketball program; it also brought reinforcements. Thad Matta and Dane Fife are joining Woodson in the effort to bring glory back to IU. Mason King talks with IBJ reporter Anthony Schoettle about why IU Athletic Director Scott Dolson put together the team he did and how the strategy could get big-money donors excited again. It's all about bringing different generations of IU fans back into the fold. To read more about Dolson's effort, check out Anthony's story at IBJ.com.  

Thousands of Hoosier adults are receiving COVID vaccines every day in Indiana. But none of the shots are available to kids younger than 16.  So what does that mean for family gatherings? For cookouts and other outdoor activities? And what about youth sports? Host Mason King poses those questions and many more to Dr. James Wood, a pediatrician at Riley Children’s Health and an expert in pediatric infectious diseases. Dr. Wood offers practical advice for traveling, entertaining and other activities when parents are vaccinated and kids aren't.  

By some measures—like the percentage of doses that have gone into arms—Indiana's vaccine rollout has been better than average. But because the state hasn't received as many doses as others, the percentage of Hoosiers who are fully vaccinated trails much of the country. IBJ health care reporter John Russell dives into the numbers with host Mason King, and they explore how soon herd immunity might stop the pandemic. Read John Russell's story about the state's vaccination efforts here.

When the pandemic hit one year ago, Sun King almost immediately lost some 40% of its business, the result of restaurants and bars that shuttered and stopped buying beer in kegs. It would have been a catastrophe had canned beer sales not picked up fairly quickly, leaving Sun King and other breweries to scramble to shift work. An eventual can shortage caused more problems. But Sun King co-founder Clay Robinson tells podcast host Mason King how the company and its employees adapted to put the company in better position now than it was before the pandemic. To read more about how other Indiana breweries managed, read IBJ reporter Susan Orr's story at IBJ.com.

The pandemic has been tough on restaurants almost across the board. And so it's no wonder that the Indianapolis City Market and its 22 vendors have had a particularly difficult past year. And with uncertainty about the return of downtown office workers, construction outside its front door and new competition at Bottleworks and 16 Tech, it's not clear when—or if— the situation will improve. But a new director and a group of resilient vendors say new events and a focus on residential developments nearby should help them not only survive but thrive.  To learn more about the market, read IBJ reporter Susan Orr's story here.

CBS and Turner Sports will pay the not-for-profit NCAA some $850 million this year for the right to broadcast, stream and otherwise present the Men's Basketball Tournament. That will equal about 70% of the organization's revenue for the year. IBJ columnist and investigative reporter Greg Andrews explains why the rights to March Madness is so valuable even as the media landscape changes quickly. And he tells host Mason King why it's unlikely that the NCAA or its broadcast partners will want to renegotiate the deal—which runs through 2032. You could read more details about the NCAA's contract and see a breakdown of the value of the contract by year in Andrews' story in this week's IBJ. 

One year after the pandemic hit Indiana, three women talk about how it has affected their jobs and how that has affected their psyches.  Kelly Tingle, who kept her job in internal communications at Cummins Inc. but had to adjust to working at home; Lisette Woloszyk, who lost her job at the J.W. Marriott but has since found a new one; and Andrea Haydon, who has started her own design firm after being laid off from Ratio Design, talk with host Mason King about their anxieties, their fears and their hope about the future. The women were among 11 central Indiana residents IBJ profiled in last week's issue. You can see all the profiles here. From left to right: Andrea Haydon; Kelly Tingle and her daughter, Elena; and Lisette Woloszyk

After a long year crushed by the pandemic, restaurants—especially those located downtown—are reveling in a series of announcements that could help push their recoveries forward. First, the NCAA announced it would stage its entire March Madness men's basketball tournament in central Indiana. Then, the Indy-based organization said it would allow a limited number of fans to attend. And finally, the Marion County Health Department increased the capacity limits for bars and restaurants. So host Mason King talked with Mike Cranfill, co-owner of The District Tap, and Mike Cunningham, owner of Cunningham Group, which owns 35 restaurants with plans to open several more soon, about what the NCAA tournament will mean for them. Plus, the restaurateurs catch us up on how they've fared throughout the past year. You can read more about the projected impact of the NCAA tournament on restaurants in a story by IBJ reporter Susan Orr. Plus, check out all of IBJ's NCAA tournament coverage at The Rebound.

When Salesforce announced that, even after the pandemic, it planned to let many employees work from home most of the time, a ripple of dread spread across downtown. After all, some 2,000 Salesforce employees worked downtown before COVID struck, patronizing restaurants and retailers. Other companies have indicated that they, too, plan to reevaluate how many people need to work in an office, and therefore, how much office space they actually need. It's too soon to know for sure how many downtown workers might not be back. But to try to get a handle on the possibilities, host Mason King talks with IBJ real estate reporter Mickey Shuey about what he's hearing on the street. Plus, Mason talks with Adam Broderick, managing broker for the Indianapolis office of Chicago-based JLL, about how the market is shifting as well as restauranteur Ed Rudisell about what that could mean for businesses that depend on downtown workers. You can read more in Shuey's story at IBJ.com.

More than 60 business and not-for-profit executives have signed a letter telling lawmakers to back off proposals that would restrict or usurp power from city government in Indianapolis. Leaders from Eli Lilly and Co., Elanco Animal Health, Roche Diagnostics, Anthem Inc., Salesforce and Cummins Inc. are among those who endorsed the message that city government should be allowed to make decisions affecting the city.  The letter was a reaction to separate bills that would strip the mayor of authority to oversee the police department, ban the city from regulating landlord/tenant relations, withhold tax revenue from the IndyGo bus system and more.  Host Mason King talks with Indy Chamber CEO Michael Huber and Jobvite CEO Aman Brar about why each signed the letter and what they want to see the General Assembly do now. Click here to see the letter. You can also learn more from this story by IBJ reporter Lindsey Erdody.

The city and several community organizations are launching clean-up efforts, street upgrades and art projects to beautify downtown and nearby areas in advance of the NCAA tournament in March. Similar beautification efforts have accompanied other big events, including the Super Bowl and past NCAA Final Fours, but this year is different. Downtown still shows signs of the violence that spilled over from racial protests last May and the pandemic has left more storefronts and restaurant spaces empty. So host Mason King talks with Downtown Indy Inc.'s Bob Schultz, Keep Indianapolis Beautiful's Jeremy Kranowitz and the Arts Council of Indianapolis' Julie Goodman about the projects and cleanups they have planned. To learn more, read IBJ reporter Mickey Shuey's story about beautifying downtown and then read about the grant the Lilly Endowment is making fuel the efforts.

Twenty-eight years ago, developer Turner Woodard bought the historic Stutz factory complex, which was built in 1911-1912 by Harry Stutz, who founded the Stutz Motorcar Co. The 400,000-square-foot factory at 10th Street and Capitol Avenue produced cars until 1935, when the Great Depression forced the company to close. Eli Lilly and Co. then used the site for manufacturing. When Woodard got his hands on it, the complex had been vacant for a decade—but he had a vision to bring it back to life, create a place for companies seeking a creative space and celebrate its auto industry history. And over the years, that vision has made the Stutz a home to artist studios, tech startups and even small manufacturers.  Last week, Woodard announced he had sold majority interest in the complex to real estate investment firm SomeraRoad Inc., although Woodard and his son have retained a minority interest.  Woodard talked to host Mason King about his adventure restoring the Stutz, about his decision to sell a majority share and what the new owners have in store for the building. You can also read more about the sale in this story from IBJ's Susan Orr.

In this week's podcast, Peter "Pete the Planner" Dunn says parents aren't doing their adult kids any favors when they share details about their net worth or finances. In fact, doing so can cause far more problems than it solves. Dunn explores these problems with podcast host Mason King and gives some advice about what money issues are appropriate to talk about with your adult kids. Hint: Stay away from the dollar signs! You can read Dunn's column about the issue—and all of his other IBJ columns—by clicking here.

After decades working in car sales, Cole Keesling knows what buyers want and how dealerships work. So he created a website an app called CarSnoop that helps connect buyers and sellers in a way that helps both. Keesling talks with host Mason King about how he developed the idea, what it took to go from concept to product and the marketing push CarSnoop has underway. Want to learn more? Read IBJ reporter Anthony Schoettle's story about CarSnoop at IBJ.com.  

The NCAA made it official last week: Indianapolis will host the entire March Madness men's basketball tournament this spring. That's every team. Every game. With the goal of creating a coronavirus-free zone for players, team staffs, officials and a few hundred family members who will be allowed to attend each game. The logistics needed to pull this off are incredible. But Indianapolis officials tell IBJ reporter Mickey Shuey they are up to the task. So podcast host Mason King talks with Shuey about what he's learned and what's left to figure out. To learn more, check out Mickey's story about the city's plans for the tournament here.

COVID-19 vaccinations are underway, with tens of thousands of shots administered here in Indiana. But how many doses are available and who is receiving them? And of course, the question on many people’s minds: When can I get a vaccine? Or when can my parents get one? IBJ reporter John Russell has been looking for answers. So we invited him onto the podcast to tell us what he’s learned.   (Vaccine photo by Ricky Carioti, The Washington Post)

In a discombobulating year that has turned everything from the world economy to a simple trip to visit your relatives upside down, it’s not particularly important that many college football teams were able to eke out a full season—but it was an impressive feat nonetheless. And no team was more surprising than the Indiana University Hoosiers.Although the team clearly was on an upward trajectory under fourth-year coach Tom Allen, its ascension to the nation’s top 10 with a 6-1 record in the Big Ten was almost surreal. The good news for IU: The team has booked the Outback Bowl on Jan. 2 with Ole Miss. The bad news: Allen is one of the hottest coaches in the nation and is being pursued by upper-echelon schools with plenty of resources.This is an unusual position for a program that historically has been the Big Ten’s doormat, at least in part because it hasn’t made the necessary investments in football. In this week’s edition of The IBJ Podcast, host Mason King and longtime sports reporter Anthony Schoettle discuss IU’s prospects for keeping Allen, factoring in his contract buyout clause, his stated loyalty to the program and IU’s new philosophy on investing in gridiron success. Unfortunately, as Schoettle points out, IU needs Tom Allen right now a lot more than Tom Allen needs IU. The IBJ Podcast is brought to you by the law firm Krieg DeVault.