The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana • Page 21

Monday BriefingC4 People on the MoveC5 Numbers GameC5 no The Indianapolis Star lndyStar.combusiness Li Monday, September 15, 2003 Section InfoUne: 624-INFO (4636) Market weakness reflects uneven recovery. C3 Low-power radio activist takes on big media. C4 fri I DOWNTOWN DIGEST Veteran Kidd takes post at Venture Center i Miiim.irr -i iii-wn -i iwii nn Tax cut this year, headache next year Complexity, timing guarantee that filling out '03 returns will be more complicated. By Mary Dalrymple Associated Press WASHINGTON Tax cuts have costs. This year's reduction in capital gains rates may require some taxpayers to fill out 13 more lines on next year's forms a new level of complexity sure to be a boon for professional tax preparers but a bane for people who fill out their own returns.

The Internal Revenue Service has started work on new forms that incorporate the tax cuts enacted this year. It posts the drafts on its Web site so tax preparers can review them and offer advice. The draft of the new form for reporting capital gains and losses grows from 40 lines to 53 lines. An earlier IRS analysis estimated IS million people will be affected by the change in capital gains rates. People will have to use the form if they sold stock, held mutual John Severson The Star The sounds of success: Emmis Communications president Jeff Smulyan talks with staff at the company's Downtown offices.

The amiable CEO's cup runneth over with a new bride, an offer to buy the Los Angeles Dodgers and plans to split his company in two. nn The Internal Revenue Service has estimated 15 million people will be affected by the change in capital gains rates. funds or received dividends in 2003. The new document is particularly long because the tax rate on capital gains changed on May 6, 2003 a date in the middle of the year. The extra lines help taxpayers calculate their capital gains at Emmis CEO Jeff Smulyan is viewed as a likable boss who breaks though barriers i "I like to do what people say can't be done," he said.

That has been Smulyan's key, say friends of the down-to-earth CEO, who owns more than half of the shares of Emmis and rules with a velvet fist "He's a very, very kind person," said Steve Crane, who has known Smulyan since the two attended John Strange Elementary School in the 1950s. "And his persistence. He has a never-give-up attitude." Smulyan received a degree in history and telecommunications from the University of Southern California. He returned to Indianapolis in 1973 to work with his father, Sam Smulyan, at WNTS-AM. His father owned the station and the local Howard Johnson motel franchise and was president of Congregation Beth-El Zedeck.

"We talked mostly about sports, By David Penticuff david.penticuffindystar.com After nightfall, youngster Jeff Smulyan searched out AM radio play- by-play of the New York Giants. He dialed in stations, some of which could radiate a thousand or more miles through the static of thunder in Indianapolis, to hear what his favorite outfielder was doing. "At the time, you were either a big Willie Mays fan or a Mickey Mantle fan," Smulyan remembers. "I liked Willie Mays." Radio and, to some extent, baseball still occupy Smulyan, who returned to Indianapolis from law school and started a radio career that resulted in Emmis Communications. Now Smulyan is a past owner of one Major League Baseball team and is prospecting to own the Dodgers while continuing to build Emmis Communications with assets today of about $2 billion and 21 radio stations some dominating top U.S.

markets. The Indiana Venture Center now has a No. 2. Bruce Kidd, a longtime business consultant for entrepreneurs, starts as vice president today, helping President Steve Beck develop a center designed to launch high-growth businesses into the economic stratosphere. "He's extremely connected throughout the state," said Beck.

The Venture Center is bankrolled by Mike Hatfield, an Indiana native and now successful Silicon Valley telecom entrepreneur. "Hopefully we can keep guys like him at home," Kidd said. "That's sort of our mission, to help keep those (high-growth) companies here." Beck said he is close to choosing office space for the center, which is supposed to open in October. It is not the first time Beck has played a role in hiring Kidd. In the 1980s, Beck helped Kidd land a job at the Indiana Institute of New Business Ventures, a state-created assistance group.

Concord's future in doubt Kidd will cease his consulting work for Concord Partners, the business consultancy created in 1997 by Leagre Chandler Millard. The law firm is winding down its business after its principals moved over to Barnes Thornburg. Concord's remaining consultants Bob Campbell, Bob Bracale, Tim Dirig, Ron Dietz and Leslie Rubin are continuing their work. But whether they will do so under the Concord name remains to be seen, said David Millard, one of the owners of Leagre Chandler Millard. "It's up to them," he said.

"I'm sure we'd agree to anything reasonable." Block lofts' 'opening' A summer construction snag cut the steam out of the leasing at the Block lofts. Now managers of the building at 50 N. Illinois St. are hosting a grand opening to rekindle the renting. While leases were signed for 103 of the building's 163 units in late May, mostly on floors two through four, various construction delays prevented city inspectors from approving more floors until this month, said property manager Maggie ReeL Not until mid-August could Reel lease any more units.

But the renting season hits its "dead zone" in October, so there's a race against the calendar to fill the building by year's end, she said. The 7 p.m. opening Thursday will include hors d'oeuvres, a jazz band and tours of floors five and six. The floors formerly housed the Block's tearoom, the Men's Grill and the beauty salon. Fountain Square event Fountain Square merchants hope heavier promotion yields heavier crowds at this year's Masterpiece in a Day event.

For about 10 days, Fountain Square Main Street, a nonprofit revitalization organization, has run cable television spots, print ads and hung posters, beckoning locals to Fountain Square on Saturday. Masterpiece in a Day shows off artists, many of whom now have studios in Fountain Square, creating their works in front of spectators. "It's really to get people down here, to get (the merchants) to have an increased shopping crowd and dining crowd," said Paul Baumgarten, director of Fountain Square Main Street. Call Star reporter J.K. Wall at 1-317-444-6287.

"In a business that has a reputation that people are just in it for the money, Jeff is a humane operator Amos Brown, Radio One About Jeff Smulyan Chairman of Emmis Communications Age: 56 Hometown: Indianapolis Professional: A former director of the national Association of Broadcasters. A member of the board of trustees of Ball State University and the University of Southern California. Father was Sam Smulyan, real estate developer and operator of the local Howard Johnson motel franchise, who owned WNTS-AM radio' and brought Jeff Smulyan into the radio business. Education: A cum laude graduate of USC, with a bachelor's degree in history and He also earned a law degree from USC. Personal: Married to Heather Hill this year.

Has two children from a previous marriage. OFor business updates throughout the day, go to lndyStar.com business See Media, Page C3 the old 20 percent rate until May 5, and at the new 15 percent rate that began May 6. Rick Rodenbeck, managing director of a division of Block, said he tested the draft form as an exercise. At the end of the 53 lines, the form delivered the same tax bill he had calculated himself, but he couldn't exactly explain the form's math. "It appears to get you to the right answer," he said.

The machinations have some observers shaking their heads. "This is a tax break that's going to cost you more in compliance and computing burdens and, I don't know, maybe you'll have to buy a computer than the break's going to give you," said Christopher Bergin, director of Tax Analysts. The new tax law made one thing easier. A bigger standard deduction for some married couples means some will not have to go through the hassle of itemizing their deductions. But other changes mean added complications.

The IRS anticipates: About 27 million taxpayers who received checks this summer as an advance child tax credit payment will have to fill out a "relatively simple" worksheet. More than 20 million will have to adjust to a new system for reporting dividend income. About 10 percent of small businesses will have to spend more time keeping records to take advantage of tax breaks on newly purchased equipment. Stepping up As Emmis moved to manage its debt, the stock price stabilized above $20 a share. $25 Emmis net revenue The company's revenue picture continues to inch higher.

Revenue (in millions) IMF I $600 500 I I 400 MO 300 1 0 i i i i i i i i i i i i i i ii i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i Sept Oct Nov. Pec. Jan. feb. March April May June July Aug.

Sept 1 2002 IF 2003 1 99 "00 '01 "02 "03 Robert Dorrell The Star Sources: Company report, Bloomberg Sales guru preaches earning trust of the prospect 1 Ti teach people how to close. We teach people how to be trusted advisers, about human relations, and how to make the prospect comfortable to make the final yes or no decision without pressure. We do this by creating highly trained and well-disciplined sales forces. We work with sales teams so they know what to do and how to do it through a systematic method that earns trust from the prospect This approach works because salespeople typically have not been taught the art of the sale, and even if they have, often don't have time to practice it in their spare moments. Who does Effective Selling As an intern for U.S.

Rep. Tom Luken of Ohio, Tim Roberts realized that selling yourself or anything else is an art. He has taken that experience, along with 18 years in working for the family business, to teach the art of selling at training seminars. A president of Effective Selling Methods Inc. in Indianapolis and a member of the Sandler Sales Institute, Roberts recently wrote a chapter for the forthcoming book Success is a Decision of the Mind.

As a guest speaker Tuesday at the iWoman Convention, he will discuss selling methods to area businesswomen. Question: Tell us about Effective CORNER OFFICE A weekly with a noteworthy local business professional Selling Methods Inc. Answer First and foremost people need to understand that while sales is in the company name, we're not just about sales training. Sales training implies a 101 class. We're more along the lines of a 501 class.

Let me tell you what we don't do: we don't teach people how to sell, convince, persuade or cajole; we don't teach people about how to do features and benefits; and we don't Char The Star Art of the sale: Tim Roberts, president of Effective Selling See Corner, Page C2 Methods, will speak Tuesday at the iWoman Convention. Bt-I 1 1 i 4) tC it il'irft rrt rflrf id' ikrt tf if rl -f.