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Former ATA workers receiving free, fast help: Ivy Tech, WorkOne team up to help those displaced

Less than a week after ATA Airlines Inc. filed for bankruptcy and shut down April 3, Barbara Greene, a 24-year employee, was feeling good about finding a new job. The 52-year-old former government affairs worker coordinated the issuance of permits planes needed for landing in or flying over other countries. Her years with the airline included work with international agencies and travel to foreign locales. She credits her positive outlook to the help she’s receiving from a WorkOne training center…

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Making Hoosiers more educated is a tricky task ECONOMIC ANALYSIS:

One thing that virtually every bit of serious research on education has revealed is that parents play the biggest role in educational outcomes. My own work in this area found that more than 90 percent of the differences in regional educational attainment can be attributed solely to the educational history of parents. Families play a far bigger role in educational success than any differences that occur across schools. So, what then does this mean for public policy? In my last…

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VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: Weak dollar can actually help Hoosier manufacturers

As the U.S. dollar continues to weaken against foreign currencies, it actually benefits many Indiana companies that are actively pursuing sales abroad. M a n u fa c t u r e r s should pursue crossborder sales and supply-chain relationships to capitalize on the improved price points resulting from the lower dollar. However, manufacturers should be aware of the reach of U.S. patent law, which U.S. courts are regularly extending to cover activities performed outside our borders. Capitalizing on…

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A life of hard work, from the farm to the House: Thompson, who has three business degrees, wants to give boost to economically disadvantaged counties

Nearly 30 years ago, former State Sen. Katie Wolf appeared at a “women in politics” conference in Gary. Afterward, Jill Long Thompson, then 25, marched up and asked for advice. Thompson had her sights set on joining the Valparaiso City Council. Wolf offered her phone number. She soon found Thompson waiting on her doorstep, bursting with questions about how a female Democrat should campaign in a conservative, rural area. “What struck me was her determination to win,” Wolf remembered. “After…

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ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: How kids do in high school matters to economy

Far too often, our worry about the shortterm state of the economy prevents us from focusing on the long term. That’s too bad because it is the long term, not the short run, that we have the most ability to influence. The most important issue looming for Indiana and the nation is education. Here is the fate of a representative group of 10 18-year-olds. Four years ago, our 10 Hoosier students entered high school. One could not read. As of…

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Sales tax will finally settle old police, firefighter pensions: Local government headache now on state’s books

For decades, local governments begged the Legislature to pick up their enormous tab for pre-1977 police and firefighter pensions. Thanks to property tax reform, this year they got their wish. Indiana will use a portion of its 1-percentage-point sales tax hike, which is expected to raise close to $1 billion annually, to underwrite the pensions. The state’s additional yearly expense will be $115 million to $125 million. “We believe the portion of the sales tax pledged will be sufficient to…

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Docs dip toes into computerized records: Electronic systems are the future, but high costs slow adoption rate

Ask Cathy Molchan the cost of installing the electronic medical record system in a doctor’s office she administers, and she gives a clear, quantified answer: $80,000. Ask her whether the system saves the practice any money, and her answer is less concrete. “It can definitely save money because of the time savings,” said Molchan, practice administrator for Dr. Leo Bonaventura, an infertility specialist at Clarian North Medical Center. “You can actually be focused more on what you need to do,…

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INVESTING: Diversifying in right way not as easy as it sounds

When you talk to your financial adviser and he tells you to diversify your investments, you are supposed to find ideas that do not move in direct sympathy with the stock market. In other words, put your money in non-correlated asset classes. The concept here is that, when one area of your portfolio is not doing well, another part is more than making up the slack. This whole program is wrapped up neatly in a cool term called modern portfolio…

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EYE ON THE PIE: Why is home ownership a big deal?

Housing remains one of our most domestic industries. The labor used to build the houses themselves is still local. Products we put into our homes (furnaces, plumbing, appliances, etc.) are still primarily made in the United States from domestic parts. All that is changing. More and more work is being done off-site and more of the components installed have foreign origins. Now, without our thinking about it, the financing of our homes has become an article of international trade. Once…

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Federal survey of patients puts hospitals to the test: Satisfaction questionnaire ranks criteria ranging from room cleanliness to communication skills of providers

New patient satisfaction scores compiled by the federal government and posted online give consumers more feedback than ever regarding the care hospitals provide. The usefulness of that information is up for debate. On its Hospital Compare Web site, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services tracks technical measures that show how often hospitals provide certain types of care that is recommended for patients treated for various conditions-heart attacks or pneumonia, for instance. Starting late last month, the agency began including…

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NOTIONS: Why you can feel good about the world’s future

Let me introduce three remarkable young people. Jessica Gabrian grew up in a St. Louis suburb. She earned good grades, excelled at volleyball and won an athletic scholarship to William Woods University in Fulton, Mo. Early on, there was a hearing-impaired student in one of Jessica’s classes. There was also a sign language interpreter. Always a visual learner who talked with her hands, Jessica grew fascinated with the beauty of American Sign Language (ASL). She was “instantly hooked.” She decided…

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Charter schools face long wait for county funding: State, local money based on outdated mechanism

The property tax reform plan recently signed into law by Gov. Mitch Daniels is expected to provide relief-eventually-for most homeowners. Unfortunately, the tax crisis wasn’t fixed fast enough for charter schools. Because property taxes haven’t been calculated yet this year, schools didn’t get funding advances from Marion County, something 15 of the county’s 21 charter schools needed last year. At least one school-Irvington Community Academy-has received help from the Greater Educational Opportunities Foundation in getting an emergency bridge loan of…

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VIEWPOINT: ‘Buy local’ should be rallying cry

In recent months, our governor and mayors across the state proudly have announced business developments and out-of-state companies’ plans to expand or relocate in Indiana. They’ve worked overtime to earn these economic boosts, and they’re to be congrat ulated for helping bolster the state and local economy. But we’re ignoring a simple strategy that could yield many more high-paying jobs: Buy local. Here’s the irony: Pursuing this strategy doesn’t have to cost a dime. No recruiting trips to China, no…

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ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: Sales tax increase helps cut government spending

Indiana’s sales taxes rose a penny this week, to 7 percent. The increase was a necessary remedy to our property tax mess. But it’s worth laying out its impact on our economy. Sales tax is paid by Hoosier residents, visitors and businesses alike. By my estimates, Indiana households will pay $640 million in additional sales taxes, businesses $500 million more, and out-of-state visitors an extra $160 million. The two effects economists might worry about with a tax hike are changes…

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THE TRAVELING LIFE: Not for the night life: On tour in Saudi Arabia

Shortly after arriving in Jeddah, it became clear that you don’t go to Saudi Arabia for its night life. With very little interaction of the sexes, a virtual ban on flirtation, a total prohibition on alcohol, smoking, dancing and movies, there was not much for our little tour group to do after dinner each evening. As for the days, well, they were different than anything you could experience here in the U.S. … particularly for the women in our group….

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Commentary: Daniels, IEDC burning things up

My friends at Crain’s Chicago Business have published several stories about the state of Indiana’s economic development efforts since Gov. Mitch Daniels took office and launched the Indiana Economic Development Corp. in 2005. They never used to write much about Indiana. In June that year, an Illinois economic development official was quoted in Crain’s saying, “It seems like every time I turn around on a project along Interstate 80, there’s Indiana breathing down my neck.” A year later, a guest…

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Goldberg contest counts on business: Companies find recruits, marketing opportunities

In terms of advertising revenue, the Final Four it ain’t. But the national Rube Goldberg Machine Contest at Purdue University is attracting more corporate sponsorships than ever before. Named for the Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist, the annual event scheduled for April 5 is a testament to his drawings that lampooned government policies by using complicated contraptions to complete trivial tasks. This year’s assignment is to assemble a hamburger consisting of at least one patty, two vegetables and two condiments between buns….

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EYE ON THE PIE: Many Hoosier counties losing people

The phone rang. It was Bella Coase, outraged again. She said, “The Census Bureau’s county population estimates were mistreated by most Hoosier newspapers. They emphasized their counties as if population change were a sporting event. “They didn’t bother to examine the larger view,” Bella went on. “Only 56 of Indiana’s 92 counties grew in population between 2006 and 2007. Spencer County had no change and the remaining 35 lost population. Doesn’t it trouble you that nearly 40 percent of Hoosier…

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Construction in the Fast Lane: Flush with Major Moves funding, INDOT streamlines its approach

Northern Indiana motorists and Democratic opponents of Gov. Mitch Daniels were screaming bloody murder. Daniels in 2006 convinced the Legislature to lease the vital highway and plum of political patronage-the Indiana Toll Road-to an Australian-Spanish consortium for nearly $4 billion. Some managers at the Indiana Department of Transportation also were screaming-with panic. Despite winning the departmental lottery of all time-an annual budget for new roads would now quadruple from $213 million a year to $874 million by 2015-Daniels wanted 200…

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