Lilly Endowment's assets shrink along with sagging stocks\nINDIANAPOLIS -- The sagging price of Eli Lilly and Co.'s stock cut the value of Indiana's largest charitable foundation by 20 percent last year. But Lilly Endowment officials said the drugmaker's stock still performed well.\nWith 99.9 percent of its assets in Lilly stock, the value of the Lilly Endowment's assets rise and fall with the company's trading on the New York Stock Exchange.\nAssets last year totaled nearly $8.6 billion, down from a peak of $15.8 billion in 1998, according to the endowment's 2004 annual report, released Wednesday.\nTotal grants paid by the Indianapolis-based foundation also dropped for the third year in a row, down 7.5 percent from the year before, although the foundation contributed $285 million to Indiana projects last year.\nLilly Endowment spokeswoman Gretchen Wolfram said the foundation's board of directors continues to review whether to maintain the majority of its assets in Lilly stock.\nBut she said the stock has outperformed the rest of the market, helping the endowment grow to its present size from $3.1 billion in holdings a decade ago.\nThe endowment, which last year was the nation's second-largest foundation behind the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, has slipped to fourth place, behind Gates, the Ford Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy, an industry publication.\nHowever, a federal judge's decision expected Thursday could dramatically affect the assets of the endowment, which is the single largest holder of Lilly company stock.\nIf the judge issues a favorable federal patent, it could give the stock a boost.\nLilly stock closed up $3 a share Wednesday on expectations the company will win its patent case involving the antipsychotic Zyprexa. Three companies that make generic drugs have challenged Lilly's patent.
Daniels signs pre-permitting bill into law\nINDIANAPOLIS -- Gov. Mitch Daniels signed a bill into law Thursday that allows pre-permitting for industrial sites, legislation he hopes will spur economic development by making sites "shovel ready" for developers who want to move in on short notice.\nThe law establishes a site development center to help businesses go through the permitting process and to allow local communities to get sites ready for development.\nChanges in the state's permitting system has been a priority for Daniels, who asked for the pre-permitting authority in his first State of the State address.\nDaniels said the new law would help communities get development sites ready so that companies could move in on very short notice.\n"We'll be very actively urging communities to use this cutting-edge tool to get sites in their areas ready," he said.\nHe has described Indiana's previous permit system as complicated and slow, saying it discouraged development by costing businesses time and money. He said some businesses might have decided to locate in other states, such as Kentucky, with pre-permitting because the development site would be ready more quickly.\n"Time being money, we think this will be a very helpful economic development tool," Daniels said.\nThe new development center is part of the Indiana Development Finance Authority.
