Indianapolis Recorder, Indianapolis, Marion County, 18 November 2005 — Page 2

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THE INDIANAPOLIS RECORDER

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2005

LYNX LINKS BUSINESS AN D CAPITAL

MINORITY-OWNED BUSINESSES BLOOM IN MARION COUNTY

The Metropolitan Indianapolis Board of REALTORS® congratulates the LYNX Capital Corporation for advancing minority business growth throughout Marion County. REALTORS® have devoted a $27,000 investment to the LYNX Capital Corporation, a management fund dedicated to providing needed capital to minority-owned firms. The result: true economic development in action, fueling business expansion and job creation. Created in 1991, LYNX Fund has received $4.7 million in investment income from 17 local corporations. In turn, $6.8 million of growth capital has been provided to 51 local minority owned companies, including Freight Masters Systems Inc., Bertram Electric and Quest Environmental and Safety Products Inc. Quest Environmental and Safety Products, Inc. is a perfect example of quality jobs created through capital infusion. With help from the LYNX Fund, Sam Yadav, a Quest employee, was able to purchase the company in 1997. A subsequent LYNX investment in 2000 allowed him to expand from 10 employees to 25. And in 2002, Eli Lilly and Company honored Quest with a worldwide supplier award. The REALTOR® investment of $27,000 will help fuel future growth of the fund and spur business expansion and jot creation in Marion and surrounding counties. Kudos to the LYNX Capital Corporation, for working tirelessly to ensure a healthy, diverse business model for Marion County.

For more information, go to www.mibor.com/marioncounty.

MIBOR. SOLD ON BETTER BUSINESS.

Ml BOR

The LYNX Fund nurtures development ofminority-owned businesses like Corbitt & Sons Construction Co., Inc.

NO ► Continued from Page 1 I think is best for Marion County,” she told reporters. Peterson’s proposal would have created a single 1,500 officer county police department. Currently, IPD serves the central area of Marion County while sheriff’s deputies patrol the outlining townships. Originally, Sheriff Frank Anderson opposed the plan because he felt it would jeopardize his ability to function effectively as an elected sheriff chosen by the will of people. Some Black civic leaders expressed concerns that the merger would undermine the authority of Anderson, Marion County’s first African-American sheriff. But Anderson endorsed the proposal last Friday after a few llth-hour changes, including those that would secure police pensions, set aside more time to properly plan the merger and make him in leader of the new force. Having the sheriff in control was unacceptable to Franklin, an arson investigator with IPD who wanted authority to remain with the city’s police chief. A U.S. Army veteran who has served with IPD for 15 years, Franklin said she wasn’t against a consolidated agency but had concerns as to “who would be in charge” and determine its direction. Franklin, who represents a district in Lawrence, also had the desires of her constituents to consider. Lawrence already has its own police department, and many residents there are not really interested in the idea of consolidation. Franklin’s name has been tied to sev-

eral historic votes on and off the council. In 2003 she was narrowly elected to her council seat by 13 votes, defeating longtime incumbent Republican Curtis Coonrod. In January she was one of three Democrats who joined Republicans in ousting Rozelle Boyd as president of the council, replacing him with Steve Talley. Peterson said a merger would be needed to not only promote efficiency, but also save money and prevent 48 IPD layoffs in the face of a potential budget crisis that could leave local law enforcement strapped for cash by 2009. But opponents criticized the mayor for not offering specifics on the savings and expressed concern that that consolidation could increase property taxes in local townships by $30 million. Also, many police officers and sheriff’s deputies were not keen on the idea of combining two different departments. “We feel in the Republican caucus the plan is just not good public policy, there aren’t enough details,” council minority leader Phil Borst said to those attending the meeting. Vince Huber, president of the local Fraternal Order of Police, was pleased with the councilors who voted against what he called “an unreasonable and inadequate” plan. “The proposal was ineffective and lacked answers on how public safety would be maintained,” he said. “We would like to thank the citizens who worked with us in defeating a plan that would have compromised their safety.”

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