Help Wanted!
High School graduations are being celebrated across the region this week as the current school year has drawn to a close. Students will now shift gears and begin to focus on what the next chapter of their life will look like. Many of them will have completed their educational journey and will head straight for the workforce. Others will prepare for the next phase of their school journey, choosing to pursue college, technical, or trade opportunities. I remember those days fond
Minimize Risk, Generate Rewards
It’s a pretty simple recipe for economic development success. Minimize risk and uncertainty for developers, reduce time in the developm ent process, and increase the probability of landing a project. You don’t have to look much further than the recent GM announcement in the New Carlisle area to affirm that recipe. Company, State, and Local officials announced last month a $3.5 billion project which will generate 1,600 new jobs on land at SR2 and Larrison Blvd. in western St.
Campaigns Can Hamper People, Business Attraction Efforts
Imagine trying to sell a product at your business by drawing attention to all that is wrong with that product. That would likely limit your growth opportunities and you probably wouldn’t be in business too long. Put that in context with elections, fresh on our minds coming off primary elections earlier this week. We heard a lot about the problems in our community and what’s going wrong, but little about how to fix them or about what is going right. Imagine being a business th
2022 a Year of Slow Growth for the Region
Last week, the Indiana Business Research Center (IBRC) at the Indiana University Kelley School of Business released its annual report on population growth in the State of Indiana. Population growth is a top priority of the State and communities around the State and the IBRC is a critical resource for key datapoints that help us assess current progress. How’d we do? Not as well as we would have liked. Overall, the state saw the smallest annual population increase since 2015 an
Indiana Scores High Marks in Current Rankings
We have entered March madness and we’re anxiously waiting to see if our favorite team made the big dance and where they might be seeded. But I’m paying close attention to a different kind of ranking, anxious each year to see where the State of Indiana stacks up with its competitors. And the truth is, I like where we stand, at the top or near the top of several key rankings. And I like our chances, as Indiana seeks to attract new jobs and capital investment. We’ve been on a gr
Solving the Housing Crisis
By Jeff Rea Our region is in a fierce battle to attract and retain people. Recent out-migration patterns have favored the southeast and southwest parts of the Country. Many Midwest rustbelt communities have seen slow or no growth and are making a concerted effort to change their trajectory. In Indiana, the Regional Cities and READI programs were aimed at doing just that. Enhancing the quality of place and building and improving communities where people want to live, work, and
Could Four Winds Field Expand?
By Jeff Rea (originally published, South Bend Tribune, January 8, 2023 Could an expansion of Four Winds Field be on the horizon? The Indiana General Assembly will play a critical role in that decision as they consider changes to legislation passed in 1997 to create financially self-sustaining sports stadiums for professional teams – teams like our own South Bend Cubs. South Bend Cubs Team Owner Andrew Berlin is now working with the city of South Bend on an ambitious plan to e
READI 2.0 Top Legislative Priority for the Region
On Monday, January 9, the Indiana General Assembly will convene for its 2023 Legislative Session. The state’s 50 Senators and 100 Representatives will huddle through the end of April as they consider Indiana’s priorities over the next few years. The top of the priority list for the general assembly every two years is the adoption of the biennial State budget. The state budget each year is about $46 billion. The line of people advocating for budget priorities may stretch arou
Memories of King Kong Bundy's visit to Mishawaka
I met Christopher Pallies at a high school gymnasium in Mishawaka, IN on a cold February night about a decade ago. I was serving at the Town’s Mayor, Pallies was in town for a professional wrestling event called “Clash at the Cave.” Many knew him better by his stage name, King Kong Bundy. I first became familiar with the 6-foot-4, 458-pound giant as a kid watching him mix it up in the wrestling ring on some of the biggest stages on the planet. Perhaps the highlight was 1986
TayCo wins Commercialization Award
TayCo Brace, LLC, a South Bend based start-up business was crowned winner of the 2018 1st Source Commercialization Award at a ceremony Tuesday in South Bend. The company makes an external ankle brace that was produced initially to stabilize ankle injuries sustained on the football field. The product was the brainchild of Mike Bean, an associate athletic trainer at the University of Notre Dame. Bean has worked with the football team since 1996 and supervises the student-athle
