WASHINGTON D.C. | Household median income in Lake County has declined since 1970, and Northwest Indiana lost 38,000 manufacturing and middle management jobs in the shrinking steel industry over the subsequent two decades.

The job losses resulted in less pressure to maintain high wages in the Calumet Region, dragging down everyone else’s pay.

But the hope is that major transportation initiatives that are underway will help reverse generational trends that have stagnated Northwest Indiana’s economy and population for decades, said U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-Merrillville.

Visclosky, D-Ind., is hopeful that the South Shore Line extension, the Gary/Chicago International Airport expansion and the continuation of the Marquette Plan to spruce up the lakefront will transform Northwest Indiana for the long term. The state Legislature’s $31.5 billion budget includes funding to extend the commuter train service from Chicago, the Midwest’s largest economy, to Dyer or St. John.

“Too often in the past we blame somebody else for some of the problems we face in Northwest Indiana,” he said. “In this case, you’re seeing the state Legislature and the state government act in a very supportive fashion in investment in a transportation project.”

Indianapolis has long motored the state’s economic growth, while Indiana’s rural areas have shed population. But several major projects are coming to a head in Northwest Indiana at around the same time, giving the region the potential to emerge as the state’s next big economic driver, Visclosky said.

“I can’t overemphasize the transformative change I see in Northwest Indiana,” he said. “You extend the South Shore — ultimately to Lowell and Valpo, the first stop will be Dyer or St. John — it will have an impact for 50, 75, 100 years. You continue to open up the lakefront in Whiting and Portage, and you end up with a lakeshore like Chicago. The runway at Gary after all of these years will be done by July, and I’m convinced that will be a job creator. The Gary bus system, which was going to have funding pulled about a decade ago, just extended two new routes outside the city. You combine all four of those, and you’re going to see Northwest Indiana become the next great economic engine of the state.”

Northwest Indiana can build upon its success in steel, oil refining and manufacturing by becoming even more of a bedroom community to Chicago, a $575 billion economy that’s one of the largest and diverse in the world, Visclosky said. One of 10 Lake County residents already commutes into the city for work, but the region could be a more attractive suburban enclave to young professionals if it had more rail connections.

“We’re going to essentially draw the Chicago economy all the way to Michigan City,” he said. “I think it will be hopping. Twenty-five years from now, I think it will be a different place to live and to work.”

The South Shore Line should spur more investment, likely first in new housing and later in more businesses, Visclosky said. Improved transportation will enable more people in the Chicago region to take advantage of Northwest Indiana’s lower tax structure and good schools.

More young people could stay because of greater accessibility to Chicago’s jobs, Visclosky said. The South Shore Line’s new Sunset Express has already shortened commute times.

With so many major projects coming to fruition at around the same time, the region has the opportunity to take better advantage of its tremendous assets, he said.

“With the express train, you have the opportunity to get from Michigan City to downtown Chicago in 60, 70 minutes,” he said. “The metropolitan area keeps moving and investment follows. We have on occasion whined, complained, and felt sorry for ourselves. We’re on the largest body of freshwater and a great city-state whose economy is larger than Sweden. And we feel sorry for ourselves? That’s crazy.”

Find the full article at: http://www.nwitimes.com/business/investment/visclosky-nwi-is-the-state-s-next-great-economic-engine/article_7cbea0ca-19dd-57a3-a797-9a47a26d2991.html

Unemployment dropped across Northwest Indiana in February.

Joblessness in the Gary metropolitan area — which includes Lake, Porter, Newton, and Jasper counties — fell to 8.3 percent in February, down from 8.6 percent in January. The unemployment rate in the Michigan City metro, which is solely LaPorte County, declined to 8.6 percent, down from 9.1 percent a month earlier, according to Indiana Department of Workforce Development.

In February, five of the top 11 counties with the highest joblessness in the state were in Northwest Indiana.

Lake County had an jobless rate of 8.8 percent, the second highest out of all 92 counties in Indiana, after only Vermillion County along the Illinois border just north of Terre Haute. LaPorte had the fourth highest rate of 8.5 percent, while Japser was seventh at 8.2 percent and Starke was eighth, also at 8.2 percent.

Newton County came in 11th statewide with a jobless rate of 7.9 percent.

Though the Region lagged behind the rest of the state, unemployment fell in every major city and town in Northwest Indiana in February. The biggest drops were in Valparaiso, Michigan City, Hammond, Merrillville and Gary.

Valparaiso has the lowest unemployment rate in Northwest Indiana at 6.1 percent, and Porter County’s overall rate was a relatively low 7.1 percent. East Chicago, which has been hit with steel mill idlings, has the highest joblessness rate in the state at 11.9 percent.

East Chicago, Gary and Hobart were the only cities in Indiana with double-digit unemployment.

Find the full article at: http://www.nwitimes.com/business/local/jobless-rate-drops-across-northwest-indiana/article_b4d9c5e1-ebea-5f86-97f8-0dd861260555.html

Gary, Ind. — T&B Tube Company, Inc., a manufacturer of cut-to-length steel tubing, announced plans today to relocate its South Holland, Illinois operations to here, creating up to 100 new jobs by 2017.

The company will invest $5.6 million to purchase, renovate and equip a 196,000 square-foot facility at 4000 East 7th Street in Gary, doubling available space from its current Illinois operations. With the recent addition of galvanized tubing to its product line, along with customer reshoring, T&B Tube’s new Indiana facility will provide critical space for improving production efficiency to meet growing demand. Following landscape improvements and renovations to office and production areas beginning this month, the company plans to be running in Gary by the end of the year.

“Illinois companies like T&B Tube compare expenses and see the advantage they gain in Indiana,” said Governor Mike Pence. “It’s a trend we continue to see among businesses in high-tax states. We’re proud to offer the strongest business climate in the Midwest, with companies moving here to save money and keep their business growing in a state that works.”

T&B Tube, which currently employs 80 full-time associates, has already begun hiring for production positions. Interested applicants may apply through Sedona Staffing and Davis Staffing.

“We chose Indiana because of its lower taxes, business friendly environment, close proximity to our steel vendors and great infrastructure to move our products,” said Jack Jones, president of T&B Tube. “The Indiana location will make us more competitive against our domestic and international competitors. We will also be able to retain all our associates since the new location is close to our current facility.”

Founded in 1982, T&B Tube is a second-generation, family-owned business that specializes in manufacturing cut-to-length steel tube for applications including point-of-purchase displays, outdoor products and tube fabricators. With multiple customers reshoring production to the United States, T&B Tube’s sales have seen double digit increases in the last year.

The Indiana Economic Development Corporation offered T&B Tube Company, Inc. up to $950,000 in conditional tax credits based on the company’s job creation plans. These tax credits are performance-based, meaning until Hoosiers are hired, the company is not eligible to claim incentives. The city of Gary will consider additional incentives.

“The relocation of T&B Tube to Gary is definitely a huge deal for us,” said Gary Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson. “Our focus is on creating jobs for Gary residents, so they can live, work and prosper in their own community. I look forward to building even more partnerships with IEDC, NIPSCO, GEDC and other entities so that we can continue to entice more businesses to move to Gary.”

As the home of an affordable business climate, Illinois companies continue to pick Indiana as the new home for their growth plans. T&B Tube’s decision to relocate to Indiana follows news earlier this year that Romeoville, Illinois-based American Stair Corporation is also moving its operations to northwest Indiana, with plans to create up to 180 new Hoosier jobs by 2018.

About T&B Tube
For three decades, T&B Tube has strived to put the customer first and exceed their expectations. We know how important it is that our product arrives on time and fabricates without problems. With our Gary location, we will have easy access to all the large steel mills, as well as major interstates. With our high speed tube mills and, robotic recut machines, we are able to supply cut to length steel tubing faster and at competitive prices. For more information, visit www.tbtube.com.

About IEDC
Created in 2005 to replace the former Department of Commerce, the Indiana Economic Development Corporation is governed by a 12-member board chaired by Governor Mike Pence. Victor Smith serves as the Indiana Secretary of Commerce and Eric Doden is the president of the IEDC.

The IEDC oversees programs enacted by the General Assembly including tax credits, workforce training grants and public infrastructure assistance. All tax credits are performance-based. Therefore, companies must first invest in Indiana through job creation or capital investment before incentives are paid. A company who does not meet its full projections only receives a percentage of the incentives proportional to its actual investment. For more information about IEDC, visit www.iedc.in.gov.

Source: Indiana Economic Development Corp.

Find the full article at: http://www.insideindianabusiness.com/newsitem.asp?ID=70073

New Data from Quarterly ASA Staffing Employment and Sales Survey

U.S. staffing companies employed an average of 3.2 million temporary and contract workers per week in 2014, up 5.4% from 2013, according to data released today by the American Staffing Association.

“Staffing and recruiting firms are playing an extremely important role in helping millions of Americans in flexible work situations achieve their goal of bridging to permanent employment,” said Richard Wahlquist, ASA president and chief executive officer. “The staffing industry hired 14.6 million people during all of 2014. Most transitioned quickly to permanent jobs as businesses increased the size of their talent pools. The average length of employment with a staffing firm was 11.3 weeks in 2014, down from 14.3 weeks in 2013.”

In the fourth quarter of 2014, average weekly staffing industry employment grew by 137,100 workers—4.2% more than in the third quarter.

Temporary and contract staffing sales were 7.9% higher in the fourth quarter of 2014 compared with the same period the prior year, totaling $30.54 billion. Fourth quarter sales were 3.7% higher than in the third quarter of 2014. For the full year, sales were up 5.7% over the prior year.

See the ASA website for more details about the quarterly ASA Staffing Employment and Sales Survey, sponsored by ASA research partner CareerBuilder.

For more information, visit the ASA Newsroom. You can also follow ASA on Twitter.

Find the full article at: https://americanstaffing.net/posts/2015/03/19/staffing-employment-grew-5-4-in-2014/

Indianapolis, Ind. — The Hoosier State added 8,600 private sector jobs in January, led primarily by the Trade, Transportation & Utilities (+6,700), and Manufacturing (+1,500) Sectors. Over the past two years, Indiana’s private sector has grown by 98,600 jobs. During this period, monthly job growth has averaged 4,100, and the state has experienced gains in 19 of the past 24 months. Since July 2009, the low point of employment, 268,300 private sector jobs have been added in total. Indiana now stands at just 21,100 private sector jobs below the all-time peak of employment in the state, which occurred in March of 2000.

Despite sizable private sector gains, Indiana’s unemployment rate was driven up 0.1 percent to 6.0 percent in January mainly due to another substantial labor force increase (+14,249). The Hoosier labor force has grown by 85,500 individuals over the past two years, which is one of the largest increases in the nation. Indiana’s labor force participation rate also increased in January by 0.2 percent to 63.9 percent, and continues to be a full percentage point higher than the national average. January also marks the 10th month in a row Indiana’s labor force participation rate exceeded the national rate.

“Hoosier private sector job growth continued a remarkable trajectory in January,” said Steven J. Braun, Commissioner of the Indiana Department of Workforce Development. “Over the past two years, Indiana has grown nearly 100,000 private sector jobs, and scores of Hoosiers are returning to the labor force. Clearly, the numbers indicate many Hoosiers are returning to work and thousands of others, encouraged by the availability of new jobs, are beginning to look for work again, which are both tangible positive economic indicators.”

Source: Indiana Department of Workforce Development

Find the full article at: http://www.insideindianabusiness.com/newsitem.asp?ID=69823

CROWN POINT | Small business owners in Northwest Indiana can learn how to become successful at a new Business Academy.

The Crossroads Regional Chamber of Commerce, which serves the Crown Point and Merrillville areas, established a Business Academy to give small business owners the knowledge they need to grow their companies. They can get academically structured but hands-on training in various disciplines, including marketing and leadership.

Crossroads President and CEO Sue Reed wants to make the chamber a resource for strengthening Northwest Indiana businesses, and believes strong businesses can only help the entire region.

A 15-week Ultimate Marketing Boot Camp taught by Purdue University North Central professor Ceren Ekebas-Turedi will cover marketing strategies, social media and consumer behaviors. A class will take place every three weeks starting April 9.

“We want each series to be implementable, and not just theoretical discussions,” said Rick Riddering, chamber planning committee chairperson. “As a result, each participant will end the series with a complete marketing plan tailored to meet their individual business growth needs.”

The next course will cover leadership management over four, three-hour sessions. Two Purdue University North Central professors will go over subjects like leading in changing times and communication skills for leaders.

Anyone who’s interested can register for the Ultimate Marketing Boot Camp, which costs $600 for members and $750 for the general public. The cost and the start date of the leadership management class haven’t been determined yet.

For information call (219) 769-8180 or visit www.crossroadschamber.org.

Find the full article at: http://www.nwitimes.com/business/local/crossroads-chamber-launches-business-academy-marketing-boot-camp/article_280f75fd-7fe0-532a-8206-0d6d4f6cc391.html