Indianapolis, IN
Pharmacy software company lays off 71, including 11 at Indy HQ – Indianapolis Business Journal
Just three years ago, an Indianapolis company that sells pharmacy-automation software had huge hopes for growth here.
Innovation Associates, which does business under the name iA, said it planned to expand its Indianapolis office from 20 to 420 by the end of 2023. Gov. Eric Holcomb and Mayor Joe Hogsett joined company executives in announcing the expansion plan.
But instead of growing, the company is now shrinking. Last week, the company quietly laid off 11 people in the Indy office and 60 people in other markets.
“Since entering the Indianapolis market, we have experienced great growth opportunities and an increase in workforce,” the company said in a statement to IBJ. “We’ve also experienced leadership changes, strategic shifts and additional external factors that affected and will continue to inform the evolution of iA. The number [of workforce growth] published in 2021 was a broad estimation given the business strategy and working environment at the time.”
The company declined to say how many people are working today at its Indianapolis office, located on the 15th floor of the 8888 Keystone Crossing building. It did provide a figure for total workforce of 537, “across multiple headquarters offices, as well as many in remote settings across the U.S.”
According to the Indiana Economic Development Corp., the company was eligible for up to $8 million in conditional tax credits if it employed 440 workers here by Dec. 31, 2023.
But according to the IEDC’s transparency portal, the company has claimed only $236,731, suggesting that iA has hired only a fraction of its stated goal. The portal does not show the number of workers employed by any particular company.
The company declined to make a senior leader available for an interview. The company had a change in leadership last year, when CEO Marvin Richardson retired and was succeeded by Tom Utech.
In his retirement announcement, Richardson said the industry has started a movement toward automation. “While the industry has yet to fully embrace technology at rates other industries have, it is poised to do so,” he said in written remarks in November.
In a column published in January in Chain Drug Review, Utech said the industry has faced unprecedented challenges for the past three years and have stepped up to meet them. “The dedication is admirable, yet the increasing demands for prescription fulfillment have brought to light the urgent need for change, for a Movement.”
Utech, who holds a doctorate in pharmacy from Creighton School of Pharmacy and Health Profession, said the industry needs to streamline through automation, undergo a digital transformation, and embrace innovative leadership and technology.
iA was founded in 1972 as Innovation Associates, which once designed manufacturing processes for a variety of industries, from the U.S. armed forces to personal computing, according to a profile on Utech in Creighton University’s alumni magazine.
iA sells software products to the retail, hospital, federal health care and mail-order pharmacy markets. It built its first fulfillment centers roughly a decade ago, the alumni magazine said.
“iA’s retail partners no longer fill the majority of their prescriptions on-site,” the magazine said. “The prescriptions are instead filled in a central fulfillment facility and brought to the brick-and-mortar store for the patient to pick up the following day.”
But the company did not want to discuss its business matters with IBJ, including workforce levels in Indianapolis.
“iA is declining any further comment on this matter,” the company told IBJ through an outside spokeswoman. The company did not return several phone calls to IBJ.
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Indiana State Police have arrested a man in connection with two attacks, including one deadly, near Monument Circle in downtown Indianapolis earlier this month.
29-year-old Michael Willis is facing two counts of attempted murder. Police say that the attacks happened on June 19 and June 26, both happening on N Senate Ave. near Monument Circle.
According to a probable cause affidavit obtained by News 8, on June 19, Willis was walking in the area near Monument Circle around 2 a.m. when he approached a person laying down and repeatedly stomped on them. Police say that this first victim was transported to the hospital in critical condition.
The first victim died on Sunday due to their injuries sustained from Willis’s attack, documents say.
Police also say that on June 26, Willis attacked a different person at the same location near Monument Circle. Police believe that the second victim was repeatedly kicked and stomped on while they were lying down as well. This second attack also took place around 2 a.m.
Indiana State Police detectives shared surveillance photos of Willis from the attacks with other police agencies in an attempt to identify him. Police say Willis was identified by a Greensborough Police Sergeant after Willis had asked the sergeant to use his cell phone.
Police then approached Willis and detained him. Police say that when Willis was detained, he was wearing the same clothes that were seen in the surveillance footage of both attacks. Officers also noticed blood on Willis’s socks.
In an interview with detectives about the July 26 attack, Willis at first said that he was only “nudging” the victim. Police say that according to Willis, he was trying to wake the victim up because he was concerned about them.
Later in the interview, Willis admitted to attacking both victims. Willis said that he was frustrated that he had been homeless and unemployed for around the past 6 months. According to police, Willis also said that the people in the area were “mean and rude” to him.
Police say that Willis told detectives that he was the only person involved in these attacks.
Willis is currently in custody of the Marion County Jail.
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana is under a heat advisory with temperatures in the 90s throughout the week.
Many cooling centers will open throughout the state for those that need to find relief from the heat. Hoosiers looking to find cooling centers in their area can contact Indiana 211. To learn more, call 211 or (866) 211-9966.
Avaliable cooling centers can also be found by clicking here.
Marion County
For those living in Indianapolis, Indy Parks has several cooling centers across the city.
Those Cooling Centers are:
- Broad Ripple Park Family Center
- Brookside Park Family Center
- Christian Park Family Center
- Frederick Douglass Park Family Center
- Garfield Park Burrello Family Center
- Krannert Park Family Center
- Grassy Creek Environmental Education Center
- Pride Park Family Center
- Rhodius Park Family Center
- Riverside Park Family Center
- Stanley Strader Park Family Center
- Washington Park Family Center
- Windsor Park Family Center
- Watkins Park Family Center
- Thatcher Park Family Center
For addresses and hours of operations of these cooling centers, click here.
Beech Grove will also have two cooling Centers for residents starting Monday, June 29. Those hours and locations are:
- Beech Grove Senior Center, 602 Main St
- 8 a.m. – 4 p.m., Monday through Friday
- Hornet Park Community Center, 5245 Hornet Ave
- 8 a.m. – 6 p.m., Monday through Friday
Other Central Indiana Cooling Centers
For addresses and hour of operations of cooling centers below, click here.
Marion
- St. Martin Community Center
- Grant County Family YMCA
- Grant County Rescue Mission
Kokomo
- The Kokomo Rescue Mission
- The Excel Center in Kokomo
Peru
- Community Resource Center
- Miami County Courthouse
- Miami County Health Department
- Miami County YMCA
- Peru City Hall
- Peru Public Library
- Peru Schools Administration Building
INDIANAPOLIS (WRTV) — The National Weather Service out of Indianapolis has issued a Heat Advisory for all of Central Indiana and a High Heat Warning for parts of northern Indiana. The Advisory and Warning will go into effect at 12 PM on Monday and will run through 8 PM Thursday.
WRTV
A Heat Advisory means that temperatures in the 90s with dew points in the 70s, will lead to Heat Index values reaching 106. Hot temperatures and high humidity may cause heat illnesses.
Stay cool:
Drink plenty of fluids, check up on relatives and neighbors, and stay in an air-conditioned room when possible. If outside for extended periods of time, make sure to take frequent breaks in the shade as much as you can.
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