The staff of American Legend Fishing Company: Adam Daywalt, Paul Claspell, Tom Ashby, Todd Herron, Dixie Ashby, & Nikki Ansell.

At age 8 — five years after Tom Ashby took his first fishing trip with his father, Jack — he was a passenger on a floatplane bound for Rowan Lake in Canada. As the plane landed on the lake, he found himself mesmerized by his surroundings: the pristine wilderness and cerulean blue waters that he would soon discover were filled with trout, northern pike, largemouth bass, walleyes, and 50-inch muskies. That adventure, says Ashby, is “when I knew I was really hooked on fishing.”

Nearly five decades later, Ashby transformed his lifelong hobby into a living, opening a “superstore” designed to lure anglers seriously hooked on the sport. The retired corporate executive became a licensed dealer for G. Loomis, a high-end manufacturer of fishing equipment with a loyal following.

“G. Loomis is to fishing rods what Harley Davidson is to motorcycles,” says Ashby. “The same mystique, following, and loyalty Harley Davidson has with riders, Loomis has with fishermen.”

A visit to Ashby’s store, the American Legacy Fishing Company on Congress Avenue (southwest of Eastland Mall) reveals the location is an angler’s paradise, filled with every G. Loomis rod and accessory and adorned with antique fishing-related prints and a conversation pit perfect for telling fish stories. Behind the conversation pit are rows of G. Loomis rods, made from an aerospace graphite sheet cut like a sliver of pie, making G. Loomis rods lightweight, sensitive, and strong.

The fishing-rod designs come from Steve Rajeff, who was recently described as “the world’s greatest caster” by the San Francisco Chronicle shortly after his 2009 induction into the California Outdoors Hall of Fame. With four decades at competitive casting, Rajeff’s won 33 national and 14 world all-around championships. His experiences fishing around the world — from Russia to the Bahamas to South Africa — helped him, as the head of engineering at G. Loomis, design more than 2,500 rod models for a variety of disciplines, from fly fishing to deep-sea fishing.

These models aren’t cheap, priced between $240 and $1,000, but the price reflects G. Loomis’ focus on the dedicated fisherman, says Steve Grutbo, a national sales manager at G. Loomis’ headquarters in the state of Washington. These are fishermen who are spending money, too, even in a tight economy. According to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the estimated 30 million U.S. anglers spend $5.3 billion a year on equipment in order to take to the water an average of 17 days a year — four days longer than the average American’s vacation.

Those kinds of numbers led Ashby to launch the American Legacy Fishing Company in August of 2007, after he’d contacted Grutbo to pitch this idea: He wanted to open an Evansville-based superstore with a strong online presence that, as Ashby says, “would have every single Loomis item made.” All 1,100 items. “I didn’t care if it’s a child’s extra-small T-shirt or the most obscure rod blank,” says Ashby.

The superstore, dedicated completely to G. Loomis products, was a new concept for the company, and Grutbo was initially skeptical. But Tom Ashby’s ability to deliver on his concept and the store’s success so far has made Grutbo a believer. “I have a lot of customers who talk big but don’t always come through,” says Grutbo. “I always like to give them the benefit of the doubt. Tom’s the reason why.”

Ashby is focusing on a worldwide customer base with the promise of fast turnaround on an order placed through the company’s Web site, www.gloomis.us. “Right now, the concept we wanted to explore primarily is to supply G. Loomis to fishermen worldwide from a central location with reliable delivery,” says Ashby. “The key (to our success) has been the Internet and the global community.”

“I still remember the first customer from Australia bought a shaving bag,” says Dixie Ashby, Tom’s wife of 43 years who helped him launch the store. “He called back later and bought a rod.” He was the first of many international customers from Australia, the United Kingdom, Scandinavian countries, Mexico, and elsewhere.

The Ashbys have invested as much care in their Evansville store, where photographs of happy customers clutching their prize catches hang inside American Legacy’s 3,000-square-foot showroom, made appealing by the conversation pit furnished with leather couches, an espresso machine, and a small flat-screen TV. Staffing the superstore are Ashby’s five employees who offer their expertise to patrons. Employees Paul Claspell and Adam Daywalt are competitive tournament fishermen, and Daywalt builds and repairs fishing rods. The store feels like a homage to an old-fashioned tackle shop, only more upscale, says Grutbo: “It’s like a classy cigar shop.”

In the first year in operation, American Legacy Fishing had $1.5 million in revenues, and an optimistic Ashby predicts he’ll eclipse $2 million in 2009. That makes his store the biggest single-shop location for G. Loomis products and one of the top 20 dealers in the country. The rest of the fishing-rod industry — even outside of G. Loomis — has taken notice of his successful business model. “He’s on everyone’s radar,” Grutbo says.

While Ashby runs American Legacy Fishing like the longtime businessman he is, the success seems just as exciting as his boyhood fishing trips to Canada. “I didn’t think I’d work seven days a week when I was 61 years old,” he says with a smile. “It’s fun.”

As I write this letter, or in this case, somewhat ashamedly dictate this letter as we roll through the Tennessee mountains, the last thing I want running through my head are thoughts of the November 2011 mayoral race. First of all, probably like you, I’m glad it’s over. But what amazed me more than anything over the last several months leading up to the election were the conversations that I had with people around town, where the overriding question was not “What will Candidate X do to stimulate and grow our local job and economic base?” but frankly, was “Why would anyone want to subject themselves to running for mayor?”

Think back to the last few months of this election cycle to the war of words, rhetoric, and accusations, and the mayoral election was relatively clean (as far as elections go). Would you be willing to put yourself out there for a year of public examination that is more than thorough, to say the least? And I must have struck a cord with more than a few readers last issue when talking about outgoing Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel, where I referenced the incredibly malicious attacks by anonymous posters on websites on his character and integrity. Many readers, when referencing my letter said, “I can’t imagine running for any type of public office.” Several of these people would make outstanding candidates in their own right, but we will never know because they will never run.

My hope is that we will give Mayor-elect Lloyd Winnecke our full community support as he prepares to embark on his first term as mayor. I would be willing to bet that after enduring what it takes to reach Evansville’s highest office, that Winnecke is breathing a sigh of relief, realizing, however, now the real work begins.

It really bothers me to see the loss of another small locally owned business. John Stratman announced in mid-November that his Stratman’s Pharmacy, a long-time fixture on Main Street, and a satellite pharmacy located next to Deaconess Hospital have been sold to drugstore monolith CVS.

I have written several times over the years that it is the local small businesses — whether they be restaurants, retailers, or in this case one of the very few local drugstores — that make up the local fabric of a community. In this case, Stratman’s was more than a drugstore. It was a place to be greeted warmly by John or his son Nick, pick up a good bottle of wine, a gift or grocery item, or enjoy a tasty bit of tilapia at the cafeteria where you always could visit with the other patrons.

Many years ago, my wife and I stayed loyal to local pharmacist Jim Evernham. As the large national pharmacy players came into the Evansville market place, our local pharmacy went through a series of sales and mergers and we were finally confronted with the reality that all of our prescription fillings would have to be done by the aforementioned large chain, and I gave in. This is not a knock on the national mega stores where I’ve been treated very well and patronize frequently, but it concerns me that at our present rate our city’s streets could be analogous to The Stepford Wives. I know I wish the Stratman family nothing but the best as they move forward into a new chapter in their lives.

I might be just a little bit biased, but I really like this issue of Evansville Business that you are currently reading. I am equally proud that just as we celebrated a few short years ago the 10th anniversary of Evansville Living, we now celebrate a decade of publishing Evansville Business. Evansville was said to be too small to produce a paid-for city and regional lifestyle magazine — and certainly not large enough to support a paid-for business magazine as well.

Last year at the annual City and Regional Magazine Association Awards in Chicago, Evansville Business became one of five finalists for a national award, Best Ancillary Publication of a city magazine. Strange, there was no mention in the judges’ discussion of positive merit on this publisher’s page. I’m sure that was just an oversight.

I would also like to take a moment to thank the advertisers of Evansville Business. I hope you continue to patronize their businesses. I would like to also thank our subscribers and readers. I can assure you we can’t do it without you.

As always, I look forward to hearing from you.

Regards,

Todd A. Tucker
Publisher

Inside the newly renovated Berry Plastics building, Adam Unfried and Curt Begle show off one of the company’s many display rooms

Inside the newly renovated Berry Plastics headquarters is a Mini Cooper. The red convertible was lifted into the 90,000-square-foot building during the construction phase that finished in February 2011. The car has never been started. It doesn’t have gas in the tank. It doesn’t run. Its purpose for sitting two stories above the pavement inside the largest private company in Indiana: to serve as a prop in a faux garage. “Prop” seems appropriate. Curt Begle, the 6-foot-9-inch president of Berry’s rigid closed top division, jokes that his outstretched frame is longer than the tiny car. As he stands next to it, along with not-much-shorter colleague Adam Unfried, president of the rigid open top division, the car nearly seems like a toy. Yet, the Mini Cooper is real. It shines in one of Berry Plastic’s display rooms and represents a big concept.

Nearly one year ago, Berry Plastics unveiled the garage along with other exhibition rooms including a kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, and outdoor patio — all stocked with the proper household products just as a home would be. These rooms, designed by Hafer Associates, demonstrate to Berry’s clients what their products would look like in cabinets, on shelves, in the shower, or in their cars. The Mini Cooper’s interior showcases two thermoform drink cups — the kind served at fast food joints — a pack of gum, and an unopened box of snack crackers. Each is packaged in plastic.

The concept is from former CEO Ira Boots. Featured in the February/March 2008 issue of Evansville Business, the now retired Boots helped Berry grow from $4 million in annual net sales to more than $4 billion. He acquired 30 companies along the way. “Under Ira’s leadership,” says Jon Rich, Berry’s current CEO, “Berry grew from a small, Evansville-based, plastic molding company to a national leader in the packaging industry.” Although Rich’s plans for Berry focus on continuing that growth, to mimic Boots’ prosperity is a tall order. “No matter what I do, I’m not going to duplicate Ira’s success,” Rich said at the September meeting for the Growth Alliance for Greater Evansville, a business incubator. He’d have to make Berry a $4 trillion company.

Still, early in his position of heading Berry Plastics, Rich has made the company bigger again. In the early fall of 2011, company officials announced the acquisition of LINPAC Packaging Filmco for $19 million. The Ohio company, which was a subsidiary of a United Kingdom plastics giant, championed packer processing film (think of the plastic wrap surrounding meat sold in groceries). But the best proof of Berry’s growth resides on the corner of West Franklin and Oakley streets where the 90,000-square-foot expansion is a part of the world headquarters. Employees barely had time to sit down in their new offices by the time Rich announced in June 2011 that Berry Plastics would soon look for 120 new hires over the next three years. The customer service, finance, and general administration positions would add to Berry’s 16,000 employees worldwide. The corporation, says Rich, is “a classic American success story.”

From laundry detergent containers near the washer to lip balm tubes on nightstands, the number of Berry Plastics products has grown exponentially since 1967. Originally Imperial Plastics, the company received a name change when Florida-based citrus grower Jack Berry Sr. bought it in 1983. It since has developed into a leading manufacturer of injection-molded plastic packaging, thermoformed products, flexible films, and tapes and coatings and has earned an extremely diverse clientele. Berry Plastics’ largest client constitutes only 3 percent of the business.

Additional clients have created the need for more employees. That job announcement in June includes careers beginning with salaries between $30,000-$40,000 plus benefits. This declaration followed the 2009 expansion of the thermoforming operations, which brought 360 production-related jobs to Evansville.

Berry already had been leading the way with thermoforming since acquiring Chicago-based Landis Plastics in 2004. That acquisition, says Unfried, brought “state-of-the-art technologies which has allowed us to drive our organic growth while improving our financial performance. It is one of the fastest growing technologies and product lines in the country.”

Thermoforming, a manufacturing process using heat to mold a plastic sheet into a desired shape, allows Berry to create a super-sized cup designed to fit into any vehicle’s cup holders such as a Mini Cooper’s. Thus, Berry Plastics ended what Randy Hobson, the executive vice president of commercial development, says was the No. 1 complaint the fast food industry had against drink cups: easy spillage. The redesigned commodity costs fast food giants more to make, but it increased sales because super-sized cups universally fit — without spilling. “We are the largest supplier in that business today,” Hobson says. “A lot of the expansion in Berry has been in the thermoforming area. A big part of that was drink cups.”

Berry Plastics has made acquisitions that have led to national attention. Take, for example, the Kerr Group. The Pennsylvania-based company had just landed a new client, Target, the superstore with nearly 1,750 locations in 49 states, and in June 2004, Target executives pitched the idea to revamp the cylindrical prescription bottles almost universally used in pharmacies.

Their new bottle came from Deborah Adler, a onetime senior designer for famed New York-based design studio Milton Glaser. She recently had witnessed her grandmother suffer from an avoidable illness. She accidentally confused her pills with her husband’s medicine — and poor labeling and design were the culprits in her confusion.

Adler’s new bottles, known as ClearRx, showed promise, and once on the market in May 2005, her design earned praise. News outlets such as New York magazine dedicated pages to the new look. Consumer attention soon followed. They flocked to a prescription system consisting of a wide, flat label; six color-coded ID rings for each family member (purple is the most popular color); a patient information card; and a label magnifier.

One month after ClearRx’s debut, Berry Plastics acquired Kerr Group for $445 million. The purchase gave Berry nine more domestic facilities and a much bigger product line. “They brought with them a broad portfolio of products and customers,” says Begle, “that Berry had not been producing prior to that acquisition.” From closures to tubes, he says, the Kerr group brought more than ClearRx prescription bottles. Even so, it was that bottle that took the spotlight when, after five years on the market, it received the Design of the Decade award from the Industrial Designers Society of America.

Growth also comes from Berry Plastics’ team of designers dedicated to improving the function and aesthetics of plastic products. They generate ideas, test the potential products with focus groups, and review the results in a theater room filled with couches, chairs, tables, and a screen that movie theater owners would envy. There, they view tapes of consumers trying new products. The hope is to create an item ready for the market — and for Berry’s display rooms.

The design team’s work is why Evansville fourth-grade students, who take field trips to the manufacturing plant Downtown, scour their household kitchens for items made by Berry Plastics. To find a plastic product made by a different company is a rarity.

And their efforts lead to continued growth. In our 2008 story, Berry had 13,500 employees, ranked No. 107 of top private companies in the United States, and reached $3.1 billion in annual revenue. Today, the company has a workforce of 16,000, ranks No. 50 of top private companies, and boasted $5 billion in sales in 2010. Each year, Rich says, Berry has seen a 20 percent growth in sales and earnings, and in the past year of his leadership, two more companies, Rexam SBC and Filmco, have been added to the list of acquisitions. These moves “not only enhance our reach from a customer and product standpoint,” Hobson says, “but they also bring expertise, people, and technologies to the company.” Rich agrees. “The key to innovation,” he says, “is people.”

Tom Ashby

On the East Side, a onetime boiler room turned vacuum cleaner shop is now Cigar! Cigar!, a new humidor and lounge where leather is the preferred material for furniture. The revamped store, thanks to Hinderliter Construction, feels like a man cave, admits co-owner Tom Ashby. Men constitute a large portion of the cigar-smoking population (Ashby estimates 90 percent), and he caters to that crowd. Not that women won’t feel comfortable. Our photographer Natalie Greer immediately propped her feet up inside.

Cigar! Cigar! is the second business venture for Ashby since August 2007 when he launched American Legacy Fishing Company, a superstore with high-end fishing equipment. We covered Ashby’s entrepreneurial spirit in our April/May 2008 issue (“Don’t Spare the Rod”). His hobby of plucking big fish from big water became a multimillion-dollar company, and now Ashby’s goal is to turn his decades-long love of cigars into a profitable business.

Ashby opened the cigar shop in November 2011, and as much as he is selling cigars (more than 500 types ranging from $2 to $50), he also is selling an experience. The 60-inch television comes loaded with channels, the art deco paintings show scantily clad women and debonair men, and the leather furniture is comfy. “It’s a relationship business,” Ashby says.

Cigars matter, though. The climate-controlled, walk-in humidor keeps the merchandise at 70 degrees with 70 percent humidity. “That’s the perfect environment for cigars,” Ashby says. Too humidified, then the cigars collect too much moisture (making it hard to keep them lit). If kept too warm, an infestation of tobacco beetles happens.

Outside the humidor is the lounge where air quality is Ashby’s main concern. When Ashby met with companies of air filtration systems, representatives suggested he use one and a half ultra-quiet air purifiers to reduce the cigar smoke and smell. Ashby bought five. The idea is to keep people in the store: A good cigar takes 45-60 minutes to smoke; it’s about relaxation.

For more information, visit www.cigarcigar.us.

21c Museum Hotel. Photo by Kenneth Hayden.

The Sherman Minton double-deck arch bridge spanning the Ohio River via Interstate 64 still is closed, making travel to Louisville a bit taxing during peak drive times. Arrange for some time off at the world-renowned 21c Museum Hotel, just 99 miles down the road from Evansville, and you’ll be rewarded for your patience.

Named by Condé Nast Traveler as a Top 10 Hotel in the World for three years running, the 90-room property houses a $10 million collection of paintings, sculptures, photos, and video installations by living artists (hence the hotel’s name, 21c). Most of the art comes from the personal collection of owner and philanthropist Steve Wilson and his wife, Laura Lee Brown.

“We are honored to earn this distinction three years running,” says Stephanie Greene, communications manager for 21c. “We’re thrilled that people continue to be as excited and invigorated by the 21c experience as we are. This year, we were one of only two U.S. hotels to earn this distinction, and 21c Museum Hotel was in the company of brands such as Ritz Carlton, Four Seasons, and Mandarin Oriental.”

I first wandered in 21c Museum Hotel, opened in 2006 and located on Main Street in a stretch Louisville now bills as Museum Row, while visiting the nearby Frazier History Museum. I’ve since been back numerous times, to browse the galleries, dine at the restaurant Proof on Main, and stay overnight.

Founder Wilson says, “My wife Laura Lee Brown and I had the desire to bring contemporary art to the mainstream of our community and to contribute to our mayor’s master plan to revitalize Louisville’s downtown, which at the time had a lot of empty buildings. We purchased five old bourbon and tobacco warehouses to create 21c Museum Hotel and Proof on Main. The buildings themselves are certainly reminiscent of Kentucky’s heritage.”

Designed by New York architect Deborah Berke & Partners, the 19th-century brick buildings comprising 21c showcase a spare yet polished style of exposed-brick walls and bead-board ceilings – a stunning stage for galleries. Berke’s firm also is designing 21c hotels opening in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Bentonville, Ark.

While Louisville offers a seemingly disproportionate number of great dining experiences for a city its size, you’ll want to experience Proof on Main. Nearly any day of the week it is the place to be seen. Still, in keeping with the owner’s tone of imparting accessible contemporary art, you’ll feel welcomed and comfortable. Nearly all the excellent wait staff is from the area, and they work in their own attire — free to express their personal style.

Proof has collected plenty of accolades of its own, beginning with its naming to prestigious Best New Restaurants list published annually by Esquire.

“The restaurant,” Wilson says, “features over 50 Kentucky bourbons, and our chef Michael Paley works with local and regional farmers and producers when creating his menus, including produce and bison from our own Woodland Farm located in Goshen, Ky.”

I dined at Proof for lunch during my stay and ordered the pan-roasted trout, which I knew from a prior visit to be irresistible. Later in the day, seated at the bar, I ventured into bourbon tasting with a $20 proof flight (quite a deal) of Pappy Van Winkle 15-year bourbon batches. The bartender was very helpful in explaining the nuances of Kentucky bourbon.

Michael Simon, executive vice president of Publishers Press, a printer for magazine publishers located just south of Louisville in Shepherdsville, Ky., frequently entertains clients at 21c and Proof.

“What Laura Lee Brown and Steve Wilson are able to provide the Louisville hotel and dining scene with Proof and 21c is irreplaceable,” Simon says. “We enjoy bringing clients to Proof not only for the fabulously prepared local fare, but it’s such an eclectic environment — a great blend of the historical aspects of our city and the possibilities of its arts and culture. The service and hospitality are also top rate. It’s a very distinct experience.”

Sales director and executive producer Lynne Finney (left) prepares the show’s host and owner Jim Knauff and guest Pam Kirk.

Nearly two decades ago, John D. Engelbrecht was in an East Coast hotel when he discovered a TV show promoting local restaurants. Engelbrecht, the president of Evansville’s South Central Communications, thought a version of this show would work for his city. When Engelbrecht returned from his trip, he contacted Jim Knauff, a friend and entrepreneur with marketing businesses. The two envisioned a Knauff-hosted Dining Discoveries, an hour-long program with restaurant discounts for viewers.

In the days of dial-up Internet, this TV show was Groupon, the Internet’s nationwide coupon program, before there was a Groupon, says Knauff. Today, Groupon’s business is booming. In November 2011, the company sold $700 million of shares in its initial public offering. That figure made it the largest IPO for a U.S. tech company since Internet search giant Google went public in 2004. The success came from efforts earlier this year when Groupon pressed into smaller markets including Evansville, and yet Dining Discoveries, the show that first aired in 1996, grew.

The traction from national powerhouses boosted public interest in Knauff’s show (Knauff bought out Engelbrecht in 2002), and local restaurateurs wanted to work with a company without so much muscle. “If you look at most small businesses,” Knauff says, “they have a tough time with the major folks who do that because they sell so many of them that it lowers the margins.” This has long been a gripe against Groupon from owners across the nation. In the April issue of Philadelphia magazine, the headline read, “Why Philly Restaurateurs Get Grouchy About Groupon.”

Dining Discoveries sets a per-week limit on the number of discounts sold, and their show on WEHT 25, the ABC affiliate, draws attention to businesses even if a customer misses the offer.

Lynne Finney, the sales director and executive producer of Dining Discoveries, and Knauff recently added “…& More” to the title of the show. The change reflects that the duo offers more than restaurant deals. Discounts on hotels, tourist attractions, and spas are part of the package.

The show pushed into the Louisville market a year ago and switched to the Kentucky city’s Fox affiliate WDRB in November 2011. It’s a different city, but the idea is the same: “People come where people are,” Knauff says, “and all we want to do is help fill in some of the seats that are always vacant. It helps other people see the activity.”

Top: Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, American Airlines Admirals Club; Bottom: Detroit Metro Airport (Michigan), Delta

Airport delays may seem inevitable. In May 2011, a regional unit of American Airlines, American Eagle, kept 608 passengers on board 15 different flights for more than three hours. Officials from the Department of Transportation fined the airline $900,000 in November for the lengthy nightmare.

That probably won’t end long delays at airports, so we asked frequent flyers — Glen Dunkerson, the CEO of Atlas Van Lines, who has flown more than 2 million miles, and Brent Beeler, the retired chief operating officer for Berry Plastics, who flies 100,000 miles a year — how to find comfort during substantial holdups.

One recommendation: Look close to home. The Evansville Regional Airport, currently developing jet bridges for smoother access from the terminal gates to the airplanes, long has been known for the comforting rocking chairs in the lobby and a parking lot close to the terminal.

Still, the best source of relief can be found in the airport lounge (used by airline club members). Airport lounges provide complimentary sodas, beers, wines, and premium spirits, but what excites Dunkerson is the peace and quiet. “If you’re working every day,” Beeler says, a lounge is a place to “refuel. It’s a gas station.” Most lounges, he adds, have a work center with “no cell-phone zones” and computers with high-speed Internet access.

Bad weather or flight changes are concerns for any traveler. In the lounge, airline associates worry for you. Beeler confirms his flight information with a lounge employee. If any changes occur, a staff member notifies him. “What’s most important,” says Beeler, “is to have attendants who are knowledgeable.”

Even if you aren’t an airline club member, access into lounges is possible. Some alternatives include day passes, offered by most United States airlines ($30-$50 depending on the airline).

Membership for Priority Pass ($100-$400), an airport lounge access program, gives access to 600 lounges worldwide. Some credit cards including American Express Platinum ($450) and Ameriprise World Elite MasterCard ($50) also get holders into most airport lounges.

Ever hear of Harry Dent? Thousands of investors have. They began following the Harvard Business School graduate and investment manager when he predicted a big fall in the Japanese economy in the late ’80s. He added more believers in the early ’90s when he saw a big rise coming in the U.S. stock market. Dent was spot-on both times.

His 1999 book The Roaring 2000s predicted the Dow Jones Industrial Average would reach 21,500. He missed by 7,300. Then came his 2009 book The Great Depression Ahead in which he said the Dow would fall to 3,800 by the end of 2010. The Dow actually went up 11 percent in 2010 to finish at 11,578. Oops.

Who are we supposed to believe? For years, experts from newspapers, magazines, books, and television have given us a cacophony of investment advice. Now, Internet and social media stars have added to the wave of investment opinions. Some predict a crash will leave you penniless; some tell you to ride their wave to prosperity. Some, such as Harry Dent, do both.

To get a more clear perspective on the investing future, we posed three topics to a pair of Evansville’s financial advisors, neither of whom is trying to sell a book: Tricia Hollander Henning, senior vice president of The Hollander Group at Hilliard Lyons, and Matt Finn, chief investment officer for Old National Wealth Management.

The Most Overblown Financial Story of 2011

Finn: “Anything to do with quantitative easing, versions 1 or 2. Although the program injected large amounts of liquidity into the economy, it did not stimulate borrowing or lending to the degree that many thought it would.”

Henning: “Many thought we would see interest rates start to rise by mid- to late 2011. This, of course, has not been the case. The low interest rates have made it a difficult year for savers and those on fixed incomes.”

The News Topic We Should Pay Attention to in 2012

Finn: “Economic instability often leads to political instability. I would not be surprised to see greater unrest in Europe as the populace and the various governments come to grips with fiscal restraint and recession. The world has enough problems to deal with right now. Turmoil in Europe would only make the situation worse for everyone.”

Henning: “Stay focused on the European debt crises, the U.S. unemployment rate, and the U.S. housing market. All three of these greatly impact our global growth and growth as a country. With a high unemployment rate, a struggling U.S. housing market, and European countries that may purchase less of our exports, our U.S. equity/bond markets should continue to be volatile.”

Best Indicators of the Near Future for Investors

Finn: “Watch the jobs data. Unless weekly claims fall below 400,000 on a consistent basis and until the unemployment rate begins to come down from above 9 percent, we can’t have any meaningful growth in the economy or consumer spending.”

Henning: “True investors, who are focused on building wealth, should really pay attention to longer term indicators. In the near term, markets can always create anxiety. Look at things like demographics, technology, consumer confidence and the overall state of corporate growth/earning potential today and moving forward. Then, create an overall asset allocation that takes this information into account and that is appropriate for your longer term goals.”

Don’t believe them? You can always put your faith in Harry Dent’s first book Our Power to Predict. Or maybe not.

Dan Oberle, general manager of Global Blade Technology USA, stands ready to begin wind turbine blade production by April 2012.

The floor of the southwest corner of the former Whirlpool plant is uneven and cracked. The small, makeshift office near a retractable garage door is cold, cramped, and dusty. No heat, central air, or electricity exists in the room. Dan Oberle, whose company will one day fit inside this 45,000-square-foot space, spends most of his day in a Downtown office. He is one of two employees in the Evansville location of a Netherlands-based company, Global Blade Technology USA. Their goal: to turn a portion of a former refrigerator factory into a plant producing molds, tooling, and prototypes for wind turbine blades — and a few blades themselves — by April 2012.

Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel and Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels joined Oberle in the fall at the former Whirlpool plant, now known as Park41, to announce that goal to the community. Oberle, GBT USA’s general manager, informed media members that GBT executives were making a $3.5 million investment, and the plan is to create approximately 40 new jobs.

The company could have been anywhere in the United States. GBT already had operations in the Netherlands and India. GBT executives considered St. Louis, Nashville, and Cleveland for their American debut, so what made Evansville the right choice? The move didn’t surprise Joshua Pack or Christine Prior, who both spent three years working on Project Green, an effort aimed to bring jobs to the Tri-State. What they learned from the project was that Southwest Indiana’s workforce was ready for green technology manufacturing.

But GBT’s presence in Evansville almost never was.

For two years, Oberle’s home in Mount Vernon, Ind., was his office. It was an international destination of sorts for a Netherlands-based company started by GE Plastics alumnus Jan Willem van der Werff. Oberle, too, was a former GE Plastics employee in the Indiana city west of Evansville. That connection went a long way in 2007 when the two first met. Then, Oberle sold glass fiber, a material used in turbines, and he wanted Van der Werff, who worked at a wind turbine company, to buy his glass fiber.

A couple of years later, Van der Werff launched Global Blade Technology, an engineering company entrenched in all things wind turbines. He started a location in India and followed up with operations in America. He lured Oberle to the upstart company.

Oberle may have spent much of his career with an established plastics giant, but he came from a family of entrepreneurs. In the 1970s, his father Dick bought a bait and tackle shop and transformed it into a resort in the tourist-rich Lake Barkley area of western Kentucky. The opportunity to join an upcoming company fueled Oberle, who was genetically geared toward entrepreneurship. He knew the commitment and sacrifice needed to launch a business, so Oberle spent two years from his home working on phase one of the GBT plan.

The first phase — engineering, design, and consulting — spoke to Oberle’s college major. By education, Oberle is an engineer; he spent his career in sales, marketing, and business development. But his role at GBT was to grow the North American business, which involved blade design, developing materials, and manufacturing technology consulting for companies all over the globe, including China and Korea. This is “stuff that only requires brain power,” Oberle says. “It’s very little overhead and no assets to speak of.”

The second phase needed assets. It needed Evansville.

Molds, tooling, prototyping, and limited-series blade production — that’s the focus of GBT’s second phase that currently consumes Oberle’s life. It began in the Netherlands a year ago, India in April 2011, and Evansville in September. The plan: to build everything needed to produce a wind turbine blade.

Evansville was on a long list of American cities aimed at production. Certainly Oberle’s familiarity with Southwest Indiana put the River City on the list, but Van der Werff knew the area too. Van der Werff’s wife is a Cincinnati native, and Oberle’s GBT-issued cell phone has the Ohio city’s area code. Cleveland, St. Louis, Nashville, and southern Michigan were all contenders. “We were ready to go where it made the most sense,” Oberle says. “The fact that I live here was a bonus.”

Evansville is centrally located to the U.S. median population, and the Ohio River is big on barges — the most efficient method of transportation, according to the Indiana Corn Growers Association. Each year, six million tons of cargo pass through the state’s three ports. One gallon of gasoline used to haul one ton of goods on a trailer truck moves the shipment nearly 60 miles. By rail, one gallon takes one ton just over 200 miles, but on barge, one ton can travel on one gallon for 514 miles.

The wind turbine blades need barges. These are big devices — around 10 feet wide and 135 feet long for land-based blades. If GBT ventured into offshore blades, the size increases to nearly 200 feet long. “You can’t take those on the road,” Oberle says. “With offshore blades, the barge is the only way to do it.”

The human resources were just as important as the geography. Oberle worked closely with business incubators: Growth Alliance for Greater Evansville (GAGE), Economic Development Coalition of Southwest Indiana, and the Indiana Economic Development Cabinet. Or, as Oberle rattles off so easily, he worked with “Debbie, Debbie, Donna, and Dorrie.”

Debbie Dewey is the president of GAGE, and she works closely with the organization’s business development director Donna Crooks. Dorrie LoBue heads the southwest region of the Indiana Economic Development Corp. Debbie Bennett-Stearsman is the vice president of community development at the Economic Development Coalition.

Oberle found the resources complemented each other. When Oberle approached GAGE, he wanted to narrow his list of top cities. Dewey and Crooks presented him with area demographics, economic incentives, and local drivers in the community. Crooks credits Dewey for GAGE’s renewed spirit. Named the head of GAGE in September 2010, Dewey wants more business in Evansville. “We’re focusing our efforts on: ‘What do we need to do to help a company move here and be successful?’”

Crooks considers GAGE, the Economic Development Coalition, and the IEDC a team. “We bounce off each other,” she says. “We complement each other.” LoBue helped Oberle with state incentives, Bennett-Stearsman discovered funding opportunities and grants for Oberle, and Dewey and Crooks worked with Oberle on local issues. He found the process “seamless,” and Crooks couldn’t be more appreciative. “Having this type of business among our family of businesses,” Crooks says, “helps attract other companies.”

The Whirlpool facility wasn’t available when Oberle first began his search for a building. It was unclaimed until late 2010 when Ben Kunkel of the design-build company The Kunkel Group bought the property. Kunkel, featured in our June/July 2011 issue, envisioned a 1.2 million-square-foot space with multiple tenants. (He landed his first occupant, an upstart plastics company, in early 2011.) The property was the game changer for GBT. “I was very close to signing up with a place in Cleveland,” Oberle says, “and then this place came up out of the ashes. It was a stick save to keep us.”

When The Kunkel Group finishes construction by April 2012, Oberle and GBT officials will produce molds and parts to make blades as well as begin a limited-series blade production. They also will be one step closer to full-scale blade production, which is the third phase of the GBT business plan. That phase could mean a major job announcement, one that government officials couldn’t help hinting about at GBT’s September press conference. “When the governor and the mayor speak about 400-plus jobs,” Oberle says, “we are talking about that phase of the future.” That’s building one to two blades a day and shipping them throughout America. For now, though, “it’s a giant jigsaw puzzle,” Oberle says. “We’re putting all the pieces together.”