Three new signs declaring key state slogans are now up on several Indiana state government center buildings in downtown Indianapolis.

The total cost was about $820,000. Not all was taxpayer money.

Back in 2016, the Indiana Economic Development Corp. added three signs with former Gov. Mike Pence’s “A State That Works” catchphrase to two buildings: the west side of the IEDC’s office at 1 North Capital and the north and south sides of the Indiana Government Center North building. The signs included a gear with the state’s shape inside it.

They cost about $300,000 at the time — or nearly $393,000 in today’s dollars, according to the U.S. Inflation Calculator.

Those three signs have been removed and new signs have been created and replaced by Indiana-based Signworks.

The first two have the new IEDC slogan: Indiana For the Bold. The letters are nine feet tall and span more than 120 feet across.

“The signage, which is internally illuminated to fit the new brand, will better reflect the state and its focus on the future and creating a better tomorrow for Hoosiers,” IEDC Spokeswoman Erin Sweitzer said. “These signs are also a unique opportunity to share our brand and the state’s many competitive advantages to not only Indianapolis businesses, residents and students, but also to the more than 30 million people who visit our capital city each year.”

“The signs are in prime downtown locations that are frequently shown in photo and video coverage of the city by media outlets and content creators, creating countless opportunities to share Indiana’s bold brand with potential businesses, innovators and talent around the world,” she added.

The total cost to remove the three existing “A State That Works” signs and install the two new “Indiana For the Bold” signs – was roughly $580,000. The money came from the IEDC’s existing Business Promotion and Innovation funding, which is used to promote business investment and encourage entrepreneurship and innovation.

The third signage location, on the north side of the Indiana Government Center North building, was replaced with branding from the Indiana Destination Development Corporation (IDDC). It features the “IN Indiana” slogan.

Elaine Bedel, secretary and CEO of the IDDC, said the cost of that sign was $240,848. It was funded by the Indiana Destination Development Foundation and not state taxpayer dollars. The expenditure was unanimously approved by foundation board members on Feb. 20.

Indiana Capital Chronicle is part of States Newsroom, a not-for-profit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. 

Human-resources technology company UKG Inc. is eliminating about 2,200 jobs—14% of its global workforce—including an unknown number in Indianapolis.

UKG, or Ultimate Kronos Group, which has more than 15,000 global employees, offers a software platform for handling payroll, timekeeping, employee scheduling and other human-resources functions. The company has dual headquarters in Lowell, Massachusetts, and Weston, Florida, and its locations include a downtown Indianapolis office in the PNC Center at 101 W. Washington St.

A UKG spokesperson declined to say how many Indianapolis jobs were eliminated or how many people total work at the office.

In an email sent to UKG employees Wednesday and shared with IBJ by the company, UKG CEO Chris Todd said the company is making “a number of organizational changes that will allow us to aggressively focus on critical areas of growth and to provide flexibility to actively invest in important new areas. These changes mean we have made the difficult decision to say goodbye to [about] 14% of our colleagues.”

Todd wrote that the company had originally intended to notify employees of the layoffs next week, but decided to make the announcement early because of “news and speculation” that had begun circulating within the company.

The email also said that the cuts are taking place primarily in the United States and across all departments.

As of Friday, numerous people had announced on the job networking site LinkedIn that they had lost their Indianapolis-based UKG jobs. Contacted by IBJ via that platform, several said they were not sure how many others had been let go locally.

The layoffs are a shift from two years ago, when UKG was approved for up to $2.5 million in state tax incentives based on the company’s local hiring plans. At that time, UKG had more than 300 Indianapolis employees, and it said it planned to hire an additional 200 people by the end of 2024.

According to the Indiana Economic Development Corp.’s transparency portal, UKG was approved in April 2022 for up to $2.3 million in tax credits and $200,000 in conditional training grants. The incentives are performance-based, meaning that the company was only eligible to claim the money after met job commitments.

The transparency portal shows that UKG has claimed only $81,535 in tax credits to date, and it has claimed none of the training grants.

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The Indianapolis Colts tight end room had the 9th most receiving yards in the NFL last season. Their top three tight ends were Kylen Granson, Will Mallory, and Mo Alie-Cox. Granson had 30 receptions for 368 yards (1 TD), Mallory had 18 receptions for 207 yards, and Alie-Cox had 13 receptions for 161 yards (3 TDS).

The Colts chose not to sign or draft a TE this offseason. One reason for this decision could be their confidence in their former 3rd-round pick, who missed all of 2023.

The Indianapolis Colts’ former 3rd-round pick fully recovered from an injury that caused him to miss all of 2023

After having a solid rookie season, Jelani Woods suffered a hamstring injury during voluntary workouts that caused him to miss most of training camp and the entire 2023 season. Woods fully recovered from the injury and is feeling better.

“I feel better (than in 2022), really, because I’m starting to know my body really well and creating a routine daily to just keep building myself,” Woods said. “I feel like I’m in a good start now so I’m just trying to keep it going and take it one day at a time really, for the most part.”

Now that Woods is fully healthy, he will compete for the TE1 spot. He is confident in his skill set and understands he is in a pivotal competition.

“I know what I can do, I know how (much) I can help the offense,” Woods said. “I know I can be a pivotal point in the offense and I’m just trying to show that and earn the respect back, earn my spot back. Just pretty much trying to do whatever I can to show them Jelani, he’s here.”

He will compete against three players for the starting TE job.

Player #1

The first player competing is Kylen Granson. Granson, a 4th-round pick from 2021, enters his fourth year in the league. He finished first in receptions, targets, yards, and snaps among TEs on the team in 2023.

He will be an unrestricted free agent after the conclusion of the 2024 season.

Player #2

The second player competing is Mo Alie-Cox. Alie-Cox, who primarily plays as a run blocker, enters his eighth year in the league. He finished third in receptions, targets, and yards, second in snaps, and first in receiving touchdowns among TEs on the team.

He will also be an unrestricted free agent after the season’s end, but many view him as a player who could get cut during roster cuts.

Player #3

The third player competing is Will Mallory. Mallory, a fifth-round pick from 2023, enters his second year in the league. He finished second in receptions, targets, and yards and fourth in snaps among TEs on the team.

Who wins the starting TE job?

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