Monthly Archives: January 2010

Notes: New Federal Funding for “Shovel-Ready” Projects Expected Soon

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The Northwest Indiana Regional Planning Commission expects a new round of funding for “shovel-ready” projects to hit within the next 45 days and is urging local leaders to start assembling projects now because the money is expected to go quickly.

Developers want to create an “aerotropolis” including business, retail and lodging facilities, around the Indianapolis International Airport.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will sample the Grand Calumet and Little Calumet rivers in northern Indiana for Asian carp DNA.

Purdue University will cut employee benefits by $27 million to help close a $67 million budget gap at its West Lafayette campus.

The Allen County auditor’s office says the county needs to set funds aside now to offset declining future revenues.

Downtown Elkhart’s theater renovation is proceeding on time and under budget.

Clean energy advocates are objecting to changes in legislation regarding who can install their own clean energy devices, such as wind turbines, and how much credit they get back from utility companies for the power they generate.

The J.T. Myers Lock & Dam in Posey County needs work.

EnerDel Adding 500 Jobs in Indiana

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Governor Mitch Daniels joined executives from lithium-ion battery maker EnerDel today to announce the company will locate its newest manufacturing operation in Hancock County and create 500 more jobs, bringing the company to a total of 1,400 in three Central Indiana locations.

EnerDel announced in 2008 it would add 900 jobs by expanding its Indianapolis research and cell production center, building a new battery pack assembly center in Noblesville and committing to locate a full-scale manufacturing site at a to be determined location in Indiana. This announcement means the company will grow by another 500 jobs as it prepares to open its third location in Hancock County.

The developer of lithium-ion batteries for hybrid, plug-in electric and electric vehicles will invest $237 million to lease and equip more than 200,000 square feet of Building 1 located at Axcess70 at Mount Comfort Road in Hancock County.
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DMS Ranked Among Top 50 Women-Owned Businesses in Indiana

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Diversified Marketing Strategies (DMS) has been named one of Indiana’s Top 50 Women-Owned Businesses by diversitybusiness.com, b2b Web portal for DiversityBusinesss, the largest organization of diversity owned businesses in the United States with more than 48,000 members.

Diversitybusiness.com ranked DMS 17th among businesses owned by Hoosier women.

“Having a diverse group of people who bring fresh and innovative ideas to the table is a big part of why DMS has thrived for more than two decades,” said Andrea M. Pearman, Founder and Creative Commander of DMS. “Companies that let gender, race, age or physical challenges blind them to talent are only hurting themselves.”

Award winners will be honored at the 10th Annual Multicultural Business Conference in Washington, D.C. in April.

Indiana Leading Indicators Index Rises

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While the Leading Index for Indiana (LII) for December continues “its unenergetic climb,” for the first time since its release in October of last year, the state economic indicator was higher than it was a year earlier.

The LII, produced by the Indiana Business Research Center at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business, increased by 0.2 in December to 96.4. The index limped up in November and improved at a slightly faster pace in December.

Timothy Slaper, director of economic analysis at the IBRC and director of the index project, said several factors contributed to a stronger rise more recently, including an up-tick in the Dow Jones Transportation Average, the continued large interest rate spread and a strong up-tick in the purchasing managers’ index. Other components of the index are lagging behind, especially the sentiment of home builders, he said.
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Notes: Asian Carp DNA Found in Lake Michigan

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Though the U.S. Supreme Court refused to order shipping canals in Chicago closed to prevent the spread of Asian carp into Lake Michigan, Asian carp DNA has now been identified in the lake itself. The discovery is spurring regional and federal action as Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin and the Canadian province of Ontario are all now demanding that Illinois waterways be closed.

Economic developers in northeast Indiana are putting aside differences in order to come together and bring jobs to the region.

Casino revenues in Indiana are likely set for a long-term slide thanks to increasing competition from other states.

Legislation that would ban smoking indoors in most public spaces, with the exception of casinos and other gambling businesses, is moving forward.

The Indiana Department of Corrections has finally agreed to pay for a new $4 million work release center in South Bend.

Elkhart has approved a tax abatement for Vixen, a manufacturer of RV parts which has committed to a $6.1 million upgrade project that will create 34 jobs in the area by 2012.

Evansville city officials have acquired the final piece of property they needed to begin demolition for the downtown arena project.

NWI Forum President & CEO Announces Resignation

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NWI Forum President and Chief Executive Officer Vincent Galbiati today announced that he is stepping down from his role with the Forum. “In my five years at the Forum, we have been able to build a strong, vigorous organization which can aggressively support the interests of business here in Northwest Indiana,” said Galbiati.

Mark Maassel, previously President of NIPSCO and currently of counsel at the Schererville office of Krieg DeVault, an Indianapolis-based business law firm, will act as interim President & CEO. Galbiati has agreed to assist in the transition, working on special projects focused on specific issues while pursuing other business opportunities.

“Vince took an organization needing to refine its mission and purpose and worked long hours to build the Forum into a vibrant regional institution” added Mike Baird, Chair of the Board of Directors of the Forum. “Today, the Forum is seen as a place where the business leaders across the region gather to address critical issues and work with many diverse groups to move the region forward. Our economic development and environmental partnerships are well established and effective.”

The Northwest Indiana Forum is a non-profit regional economic development organization and the voice of business leadership for Lake, Porter, LaPorte and Starke Counties. Its corporate members represent more than $40 Billion is commerce for Northwest Indiana.

Notes: Businesses Object to Proposed Gun Law

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Indiana business executives are objecting to proposed legislation that would allow workers to keep guns in their cars at work.

Fort Wayne officials are hoping to hear good news soon on a proposed high-speed rail project.

Indianapolis will host the AFC title game next weekend.

Delaware County has declared indoor tanning a health hazard.

Terre Haute International Airport is close to selling its fixed base operations to a private firm.

Notes: Marian University Seeks $75 Million for New Med School

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Marian University will announce plans today to raise $75 million to build Indiana’s second medical school.

The Indiana Association of Beverage Retailers wants a freeze on state alcohol permits until the process for issuing them can be clarified.

The number of building permits issued rose in Allen County last year.

Conexus Indiana has received a $3.45 million grant from the Lilly Endowment to continue its work preparing Hoosiers for high-tech manufacturing and logistics jobs.

Porter County may not like the Regional Development Authority, but the towns in the county do.

A new study says that more than 12,000 jobs have been lost in Delaware County in the past decade.

Electronics retailer Best Buy is coming to Terre Haute.

Notes: Ethanol Pipeline Plan Proposed

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Plans for a Midwest ethanol pipeline to the East Coast which would cut across central Indiana were unveiled yesterday.

More Asian carp DNA was found in three spots along the Chicago River, renewing calls for the closure of shipping locks that separate the Great Lakes from the Mississippi.

The town of Morocco in Newton County is looking at establishing its own economic development board.

Legislation has been introduced to allow Indiana’s 32 microbreweries to sell beer for carryout on Sundays.

Indiana State University will cut between 80 and 100 jobs as a result of budget cuts.

Senate Health Care Reform Bill Threatens Small Construction Firms

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Small businesses with 50 or fewer employees were to be exempt from new, expensive healthcare mandates and penalties under the Senate’s healthcare reform bill. But language slipped into the bill at the last minute—and voted on without many Senators even realizing it—altered that exemption from 50 employees to only five employees (and $250,000 in payroll) for businesses in the construction industry.

Small business owners from across Indiana gathered today at the state Capitol to expose this change as “a back-room deal” made in Washington that threatens thousands of jobs in Indiana.

“This provision is a job-killer, plain and simple,” said Barbara Quandt, state director of Indiana’s leading small business association, the National Federation of Independent Business. “Senator Reid’s back room deal is threatening thousands of Hoosier small businesses and putting their employees and families in jeopardy, and we need our congressional delegation to strip this from final healthcare legislation.”
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