Chamber launches biz networking online site
The Greater Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce has launched an online business networking site called Indylink.com.
Economic Development
Articles
Indy’s loss is Arizona’s gain
USA Basketball today announced it will move its headquarters from Colorado Springs to Glendale, Ariz. Indianapolis and Louisville were the other front runners. Indianapolis officials announced earlier this year they were out of…
Obama win buoys backers of pro-union measure
Proposed national legislation that simplifies business unionization is more likely to be adopted during the Obama administration,
experts agree.
Speedway on track to develop tourism year-round
As the 100th anniversary of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway approaches,
the town of Speedway, at long last, is making an aggressive play to turn the world-famous oval into an economic engine that
runs year-round.
Budget cuts threaten local economic data analysis
Budget cuts could eliminate programs that gather and analyze local and state economic data. This would hurt businesses and
economic development officials, since they would not have the data that helps them see how their market differs from the state
and the nation.
ICVA embarking on new direction with new CEO Welsh
Don Welsh is quickly making a name for himself as a change agent. Though few knew what to think when Welsh announced he was
leaving Seattle to become Indianapolis Convention & Visitors Association CEO, he’s shown he didn’t come here to simply
wind
down his career.
Greenfield trying to grow post-secondary presence to aid economic development
If certain people in Hancock County have their way, one of the fastest-growing new industries here could be adult education.
Downtown development great for citizens, visitors
The development of shopping, restaurants, museums, public arts and hotels downtown in the past 25 years has made Indianapolis
a vibrant, more interesting place to live—and to visit.
Economists research, analyze trends
Most economists spend some time teaching, but the vast majority of our time is spent doing research.
Let’s use old terminal for distribution hub
The city should organize a public-private partnership to create a multi-modal distribution community at the site of the former
Indianapolis Airport terminal.
Election of president, governor signals Hoosiers desire changes
Indiana’s blue vote for president-elect Barack Obama on Election Day was a sign that Hoosiers are ready for change. So was
the state’s red vote to keep incumbent Gov. Mitch Daniels in office. In this case, the status quo means more change. Daniels
has been making gutsy and sometimes unpopular moves since taking office four years ago. He ran on a promise to keep shaking
things up.
Indianapolis Motor Speedway ponders hotel, moving museum
Indianapolis Motor Speedway officials are in talks to move their Hall of Fame Museum from the interior of the oval to a spot
just outside the south end of the track, an area that could also house a new Speedway hotel.
Leaders analyze Denver’s commuter transit
Sixty Indianapolis-area business and civic leaders visited Denver Oct. 19-21 as
part of the Greater Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce 2008 Leadership Exchange and paid close attention to public transportation, especially commuter trains.
Pay off debts, invest in education, enrich lives
In 2008, a Hoosier economist suggests consumers first pay off their debts, then invest in a liberal education and other causes
that enrich lives.
Residents to decide fate of township assessors
In this election, citizens must decide whether the assessing duties of the elected township assessor in the township should
be transferred to the county assessor.
New rail route connects Hendricks to West Coast: Line should bolster county’s distribution industry
A new rail route launched last month between Los Angeles and CSX’s Avon rail yard could give a further boost to Hendricks County’s booming warehousing-and-distribution industry. The county already hosts some 29 million square feet of warehouse space. However, it lacked a direct connection to the teeming Port of Long Beach in Los Angeles, a major gateway for U.S./ Asian trade. Anyone in the Hendricks County area wishing to send or receive goods from that port by rail had to…
EYE ON THE PIE: Unemployment rates highly variable
I apologize for filling a column with numbers. But there is no other way of depicting the unemployment situation in Indiana. As we have learned in the current financial crisis, lack of knowledge is the root of calamity. In August, the latest date for which we have information, Indiana’s unemployment rate was 6.4 percent, compared with 4.5 percent a year earlier. Nationally, the unemployment rate had gone from 4.7 percent in August 2007 to 6.1 percent this year. This stronger…
A renewed call for renewable energy mandate: State bucks trend by not forcing utilities to diversify
Indiana has become the lone state in the upper Midwest not requiring that utilities supply a certain percentage of their electricity from renewable resources, such as wind turbines and landfill gas. Last month, Michigan’s legislature mandated that at least 10 percent of electricity supplied in that state be generated from renewable sources by 2015. Indiana’s conspicuous lack of a standard, along with growing environmental concerns over coal, could improve prospects for passing a standard during the 2009 session of the…
Gubernatorial candidates Daniels, Thompson see economic development differently
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jill Long Thompson promises to buoy Indiana’s slumping rural counties with a three-tiered
incentive plan. Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels has a different vision for stoking the state economy. He wants to build on Indiana’s
strengths–such as world-class research at universities–to innovate and create jobs.
ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: We shouldn’t let market mayhem obscure progress
Amid all this joyless market watching, this much is clear: The financial markets and the economy are going to get worse before they get better. But market watching is never a healthy sport, especially since it tends to make us lose track of the real economy at times like these. Over the past couple of weeks, the real economy has shown a bit of resilience. And here in Indiana, really great news has been lost in the wake of the…