Articles

Sewer increases inevitable

As with nearly all issues pertaining to building and maintaining a civilized society, the question is one of “pay now” or “pay later.” We don’t get to “not pay.”

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Mayors can help improve talent pipeline

The problem is that too few students who enroll in postsecondary programs complete them, and too many graduate with skills that don’t mesh with the needs of employers. The result is high unemployment and underemployment among recent college graduates.

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Wanted: champions of technology policy

David Ford, the late senator from Hartford City, was a technology trailblazer at the Statehouse. Among his many accomplishments was passionately leading an agenda in the early 2000s that emphasized policies to help technology companies grow and succeed. Today, our state needs legislators to follow in Ford’s footsteps. According to the Indiana Economic Development Corp., […]

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Enough with drive-by economic hubris

A recent report from the Ball State Center for Business and Economic Research on “footloose” companies and the apparent urgent need to focus on the economic development issue de jour—quality of place—was definitely over the top. There’s nothing wrong with focusing on quality of place as a solution for certain situations. But to characterize a […]

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State job-recruiting efforts are working well

Last month, economist Michael Hicks and the Ball State Center for Business and Economic Research released a study that is primarily focused on local economic development efforts. Yet several reports on the study, including IBJ’s “Ball State study: State too focused on landing ‘footloose’ jobs,” are clearly misguided. In the study, Hicks notes “Indiana is […]

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Federal rules should trump state vaping law

Thank you for your recent article pointing out the absolute absurdity of the soon-to-be-enforced Indiana vaping regulation. This law needs repealed. The Indiana bill clearly states that our bill was to be enforced “in the absence of federal regulation.” There is now a clear federal regulation to be enacted as soon as Aug. 8. I […]

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