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Deflation is the potential new boogeyman for consumers, replacing inflation.

Absent in any significant way since the Great Depression, deflation—a prolonged period of downward-spiraling prices of goods and services—is seen as a possible threat after three straight months of falling prices.

Lower prices might sound appealing, making the cost of everything from cars to food to vacations cheaper. But prices decline because of a lasting drop in demand, which also means employers lower wages and consumers slow spending. It’s a combination that can drag down an economy for years.

The fear is going the way of Japan, which has battled periods of deflation for two decades. The country still hasn’t recovered from its “Lost Decade” of the 1990s, when bubbles in the stock and real estate markets burst and the economy fell into years of recession and stagnation.

The danger doesn’t appear imminent. The Federal Reserve has signaled it’s ready to take the necessary steps to prevent anything similar occurring here. And the chances of deflation receded somewhat with the disclosure that the consumer price index edged up 0.3 percent in July.

Still, the slight rise hasn’t erased the issue because concerns remain about a double-dip recession.

Consumers wondering what it would be like need look no further than the housing market, which has been in steep deflation for four years. “It’s much easier to tame inflation than it is to derail deflation once it gets started,” says Diane Swonk, chief economist at Mesirow Financial Inc., a Chicago-based financial services firm.

Over the next three to five years, she says, it’s a greater risk than inflation.

Here are some points for consumers and investors to keep in mind if deflation occurs:

1. Reduce your debt. One of the best ways to prepare for deflation is to focus on paying off debts. In a period of widespread price declines, your wages may fall and it gets tougher to pay off credit cards, auto loans, student loans and mortgages.

“For most people, the best way to get a good return on investment is to pay down whatever debt they have,” says Jerry Webman, senior investment officer at OppenheimerFunds Inc.

2. Buy high-quality bonds. U.S. Treasurys, and to a lesser extent high-quality municipal and corporate bonds, are the best defense against deflation. Bond prices rise as interest rates fall.

Treasurys also are a particularly welcome refuge because of the safety factor, because bankruptcies rise in deflationary periods as companies go under in the tougher economic conditions.

Relying too heavily on bonds carries its own risks, however, so don’t lock up the bulk of your holdings in Treasurys. It is possible to lose money in bonds.

“If we see inflation with long-duration, that will be a painful part of your portfolio,” says Webman. “Getting 2.6 percent on 10-year Treasurys will have proven a bad investment.”

3. Don’t load up on stocks. The stock market fares poorly under deflation.

Companies are pressured by falling prices and cannot keep up revenues or profit margins, driving investors away. And investors have less to put into the market.

That makes it a better time to have your money in cash. But not all of it. Most experts agree that it’s necessary to keep a significant amount of your money invested in stocks in order to ensure the best returns over a long period.

4. Keep an eye on these sectors. Some sectors and stocks may provide protection against deflation.

Companies with strong brands, an international presence, below-average debt and lots of cash are the safest bets because they should be the best-positioned to withstand an extended economic slowdown.

Using what happened in Japan as a gauge, investors should avoid food and beverage makers, household product manufacturers, as well as mining and other materials companies, according to Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at Standard & Poor’s. They would want to embrace energy and financial stocks and keep an eye on health care and technology.

Stovall recommended the following companies as good investments during deflation: drugstore operator CVS Caremark Corp. (CVS), retailer Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT), oilfield services company Schlumberger Ltd. (SLB), credit-card company Discover Financial Services LLC (DFS), bank JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), drug distributor McKesson Corp. (MCK), package deliverer FedEx Corp. (FDX), defense contractor ITT Corp. (ITT) and Korean steelmaker POSCO LLC (PKX).

5. Don’t lose sleep over the risk. Deflation can be difficult for people, and whole economies, to endure. But we’re not there yet, and most economists think the chances are below 50-50.

“Our expectation is that the U.S. will skirt deflation, but that the low saving rates in the U.S., still-growing populations, and quick and decisive Federal Reserve moves to expand the money supply can avoid the trap,” Standard & Poor’s said in a report last week.

Unemployment and debt pose more immediate problems for the economy.

“I would tell people to calm down about it,” says Webman of OppenheimerFunds. “It’s not the greatest risk we’re facing right now.”

Harry Rivera, of the Technology and Education Center for Renewable Resources in Puerto Rico, holds a platinum-coated membrane while helping lead a short course in fuel cell membrane and electrode assembly earlier this month at NuVant Systems Inc. at the Purdue Technology Center in Merrillville. (Photograph by The Times.)

Meticulously dabbing a small artist’s paintbrush, the chemical engineering doctoral student looked more like he was painting a tiny one-inch square for a modern art project than advancing an environmentally friendly energy solution.

In fact, the graduate was depositing a catalyst on a Teflon-based membrane as part of two-day hands-on course on fuel cell membrane and electrode assembly at NuVant Systems Inc., located at the Purdue Technology Center of Northwest Indiana.

“We’re trying to develop new contributions to the field,” said Mike Thorson, 25, of Washington, who with lab partner Adam Hollinger, 26 of Pennsylvania, is conducting research in fuel cell manufacturing for the University of Illinois.

A dozen people from as far away as Taiwan attended the course this month in which participants assembled from scratch a state-of-the-art electrode membrane assembly, installed it in a fuel cell membrane and acquired the operating data for analysis.

Fuel cells can be thought of as devices that produce electricity in a chemical process, in a similar way that batteries do. But unlike batteries, its fuel is delivered externally and is constantly replenished.

Hollinger said he’s interested in incorporating more lightweight plastic material into the assembly and modifying fuel cell design. Du Shangfeng plans to integrate what he learns in his research as a fellow at the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom.

NuVant develops fuel cells that use both hydrogen or methanol for both stationary and portable fuel cells and also manufactures instrumentation for academic and industrial customers, said founder Eugene Smotkin, who started the business in 1999.

The company, which also has an office in Boston, located to the Technology Center in 2005 and was its first tenant. NuVant mass produces its products and equipment in a lab which occupies about 2,000 square feet.

It receives an estimated $2 million annually in federal funding and generates about $500,000 in revenues. Smotkin, who lives in Boston and is a professor at Northeastern University, projects sales to increase to about $2 million in the next two years.

NuVant employs 12 people who earn salaries between $50,000 and $80,000 plus benefits. A study by the U.S. Department of Energy projects net increases of 361,000 to 675,000 jobs by the year 2035 in the fuel cell and hydrogen industry.

Smotkin’s journey into advanced electrochemical technologies began in the early 1990s. Today is he’s leader in educating people throughout the world as a result of partnerships developed with academia, business and industry. His goal is to position Indiana as a global leader.

A growing industry

Fuel Cells 2000, a nonprofit educational organization, reports more than 630 companies and labs in 47 states are now involved in the industry, investing more than $1 billion annually.

Global Industry Analysts, a market research firm, reports the global market for fuel cell technologies will reach $2.6 billion by 2015 after enduring through the economic downturn last year.

The firm also said patent applications for fuel cells and hybrid and electric vehicles in the U.S. rose by a combined 20 percent in 2009, the highest among comparable clean technologies.

NuVant chemist Piotr Kleszyk said fuel cells are simple compared to batteries and the technology has applications for everything from powering a laptop to heating and cooling a home or business as well as automobiles.

The organic grocer Whole Foods Market Inc. announced last year it’s using onsite hydrogen fuel cell technology to power a new store in California.

“Our energy problems are not going to be solved by a single technology,” said NuVant instructor Harry Rivera, who is also the co-founder of the Technology and Education Center for Renewable Energy in Puerto Rico.

“It has to be more complete,” Rivera said. “Not one energy solution is going to save us. It will be a combination of all the emerging technologies.”

An English class works at Arsenal New Tech High School in Indianapolis. The school uses a curriculum being implemented at Calumet High School as the Northwest Indiana schools strives to shed its failing status. (Photograph by The Times.)

Calumet High School this fall became one of six high schools in Indiana to become a New Technology High School, bringing the number to 16 in Indiana—more than any other state.

Lake Ridge Schools Superintendent Sharon Johnson-Shirley said it’s taken three years to implement the program at Calumet, one of six Lake County schools and 23 statewide that have been on academic probation for six straight years and could face state takeover next year under Indiana Public Law 221. There are no failing schools in Porter County.

Several Indiana schools adopted the New Tech model four years ago, and The Times this month spent time with teachers and students at two of them—Arsenal Technical High School in Indianapolis and Zebra New Tech at Rochester Community High School in Rochester—to see firsthand how the concept is working and what Calumet High can expect.

Arsenal Technical High School

Some say it looks like a college campus but in truth, Arsenal Tech resembles the U.S. arsenal it once was, which closed after the Civil War.

Sitting on nearly 80 acres, 16 buildings comprise the campus on Michigan Street east of downtown Indianapolis, with a security guard who checks IDs at the iron gate and brick Italianate guard house, which date to the 1870s.

The city’s Police Department has a substation on school grounds, but there are no metal detectors in the buildings.

Arsenal Tech, part of the Indianapolis Public Schools, has 2,500 students in six minimagnet academies, or small schools, one of which is New Tech High Academy. Students must apply to the New Tech program.

Of Arsenal New Tech’s about 300 students in grades nine through 12, 15 percent are in special education, and 83 percent are eligible for free or reduced-cost lunch.

Academic Dean Scott DeFreese acknowledges the campus is in a rough neighborhood and there are plenty of fights and other problems. South of campus, the neighborhood abounds in rental property, while, in sharp contrast, to the east is Woodruff Place, where homes are valued at half a million dollars or more.

Still, DeFreese said his students have shown significant gains and have been pretty successful.

DeFreese said Arsenal New Tech’s suspension rate in 2009-10 was 30 percent of the rate across the campus. He said its attendance rate is 96.1 percent, compared to 92 percent throughout campus.

DeFreese said he was a teacher when New Tech opened four years ago and that the first year was rocky, because administrators didn’t do what needed to be done to build the right kind of academic culture.

“You have to do a lot of diligent work,” DeFreese said. “You have to explain to parents what the school means. You have to explain rigor to parents. You have to prepare the community. The expectations of teachers are much higher in this environment.”

Junior Russtin Trotter, 16, has been a New Tech student for three years, since his freshman year.

“The New Tech environment is like a big family,” Trotter said. “There’s only been one fight on this site since I’ve been here. There are a lot more fights on other parts of the campus. It takes a couple of months to get used to the New Tech model. Collaboration is a little rough, learning how to work with other students instead of just doing it yourself.”

The New Tech model, which originated in Napa, Calif., works within Indiana’s state standards and focuses on project-based learning and integrated use of technology in the classroom. It seeks to foster a culture of student responsibility. New Tech projects are completed collaboratively by groups of students, and grades are based on a multifaceted combination of content, oral and written communication, teamwork, critical thinking and work ethic.

Student uniforms include black or beige pants and shirts in red, green, black or white. No jeans are permitted.

The first few days at a New Tech school are about culture-building, emphasizing to students over and over about the need to work together, to collaborate—to know their learning style and to make the best use of that while working in groups. Most classes are taught in a block format in which two teachers from two different disciplines work together.

At Arsenal, New Tech students have lunch at 10:30 a.m. Because DeFreese doesn’t have the staff to provide electives at New Tech, those are taken outside the New Tech building, and students return for the last two hours of the New Tech day at 12:30 p.m.

“The International Academy teaches eight different languages, and I want my kids here to be able to take advantage of that,” DeFreese said of another minimagnet school on campus. “The athletics on campus are also fantastic. Most of my kids are involved in that and. as a former coach, I encourage it.”

Teachers Paryis Housley and Connie Buckley said it’s better to implement New Tech throughout the whole school rather than just at two grade levels as Calumet has done.

Buckley believes the upperclassmen—juniors and seniors—have some influence over the younger students. Because students in grades nine through 12 at Arsenal New Tech are all in the program, teachers said the older students encourage the younger ones to maintain school rules.

But Buckley said the New Tech model does not fit every student’s needs.

Both teachers said New Tech creates more work for teachers, but they support the model over that of a traditional public school.

Housley said New Tech allows students to explore and ask questions. They learn a lot more when teachers talk less frequently. “Let the students ask teachers what they need to know,” she said.

Buckley said teachers’ direct instruction and lectures are done in spurts, possibly 10 to 15 minutes at a time.

Senior Amanda Gentry, 17, who began at Arsenal New Tech as a freshman, said it’s more hands-on than a traditional school. She’s learned she enjoys working on a project with other students and the importance of a strong work ethic and collaboration, lessons she will carry with her to college.

The first New Tech graduating class will be in June. DeFreese expects to graduate 80 percent, or 52, of the students he first started with four years ago. He said 71 of the original 75 juniors remain in the program; there are 92 sophomores and 84 new freshmen this year.

Students at Arsenal Tech attend Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis through an early entry program administrators developed.

“Too many schools push kids into dual credit and Advanced Placement classes and don’t give them the social and cultural readiness skills they need,” DeFreese said. “Students need to get used to college life first, get a real college experience first.”

DeFreese wants to get as many students to the university as possible. He hosts a variety of fundraisers to help pay student tuition to IUPUI. Over the past several years, DeFreese said he raised $185,000. His goal is that each student graduates with 12 hours of college credit.

Arsenal New Tech also partnered with the Tech Point Foundation to help with fundraising and in getting needed items like computers.

“I have a very dedicated staff and community, and that’s something New Tech has to have,” he said. “The school district also has been very supportive.”

Now that the school is in its fourth year of operation, its annual fee to be a member of the New Tech Network is $20,000. The typical startup cost is $400,000 over the first three years. DeFreese said Arsenal is also a demonstration site, and the school had more than 350 visits last year by educators from across the world.

Rochester Community High School

Nestled in a rural community about 45 miles south of South Bend, just off U.S. 31, sits Rochester Community High, the home of Zebra New Tech High School. The high school, with a student body of about 600, completes its transformation to a completely New Tech format this school year as the initial class become seniors.

Senior Carly Schultz, 18, was one of those first students in the New Tech program. She remembers being nervous as a freshman having to stand up in front of class and talk about her project.

But today not only is Schultz not nervous talking in front of a group, she also leads tour groups around the school, explaining the New Tech format to visitors.

“I’ve learned that some kids are able to lead a group and some kids hang back,” she said. “In order to get a good grade, you sometimes have to pick up the slack for others who aren’t working in the group.”

Schultz said she’s learned how to create and present a portfolio, and she’s done fascinating projects—from a Digicom class project on what students like about New Tech to a biofuel project.

Sophomores Seth Corn, 15, and Jonathan O’Dell, 16, were working on a Digicom autobiography project. Co-teachers Valerie Hoover and Ryan Helt instructed students on how to use Photoshop to develop the project, which would be presented in a week.

O’Dell, who had gone to a Six Flags theme park over the summer, used pictures from his vacation to develop the project. Corn said his autobiography would detail the kinds of activities that were important and fun to him.

Technology Director Theresa Shafer said administrators considered the New Tech model when the business community told them the school was not preparing students for the world of work.

A series of community meetings were held with various sectors; school leaders asked residents what skills they wanted their children to have.

The business community responded that students needed to take more college or dual credit classes to acquire more sophisticated skills.

Rochester Principal Daniel Ronk, who had been principal a year before New Tech began, said the biggest challenge for schools is changing the way teachers and the community think about education.

“It was a struggle for our teachers, especially the first year, because it completely changes the way teachers teach and students learn,” he said.

The district was able to access a federal grant called WIRED and obtained $410,000 to help implement New Tech.

Spanish teacher Alex Lute this year issued the first project-based assignment to students a week after school started Aug. 5, which focused on creating a survival guide for first-year Spanish students. The sophomores had several objectives, including providing tips to freshmen to get through Spanish. The students were divided into six teams of three students per team. They have two weeks to complete the project.

Lute, a 1995 Valparaiso High School graduate, said he uses technology in Spanish, enabling students to study the culture and its myths and legends. He said project-based learning provides a more interactive way to teach rather than just using a textbook.

New Tech isn’t the only reform method Rochester uses. It also offers classes through Project Lead the Way and the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) program. It offers Advanced Placement classes in calculus and government. Rochester also won a $14,000 Classroom Innovations mathematics grant.

Students wishing to earn a Zebra New Tech certification on their diploma need to pass the 21st Century Skills Assessment, complete at least six hours of a dual-credit class, develop a digital portfolio, complete 20 hours of community service and choose between a professional internship and a senior project.

Rochester’s graduation rate was 78.8 percent in 2009. The 2008-09 attendance rate was 95.4 percent. The percentage of students passing the fall ISTEP-Plus English/language arts test in 2008-09 was 75 percent. The percent who passed the math test for the same period was 73 percent.

Rochester has expanded its New Tech model to the middle school where teachers are developing project-based lessons designed to engage students in learning.

Rochester Community School Corp. Superintendent Debra Howe said as the region’s Calumet High implements New Tech, teachers may find they have to tweak or “customize” the program to suit the school’s needs.

Rochester also found it needed to rewire the building to make way for New Tech. Principal Ronk said the district had to drastically increase its broadband Internet capacity.

Ronk said student behavior problems have gone down since New Tech was instituted, and issues now mostly revolve around misusing technology.

“I really think the program has changed the culture of the school,” Ronk said. “By working in groups, students know their classmates. It reduces the number of cliques because you have to work with different students in different classes, meaning all of the students interact with each other.”

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Northwest Indiana home sales dropped dramatically in July as tax credit expired; experts weigh in on economic value of Michael Jackson fandom to region; area restaurants adjust after massive egg recall. NIPSCO electric bills to rise, but not as much as utility wanted; Gary airport officials pick company to oversee expansion project; and Gov. Daniels requests federal dollars after criticizing new stimulus bill. Near future of U.S. economy becomes dim as low 2nd quarter growth numbers unveiled; Whiting hosts alternate power race for adventurous inventors; and a new government report shows that four companies have a lock on 90 percent of the wireless market, making competition tough.—Pat Colander, Editor and Associate Publisher, BusINess magazine, serving Northwest Indiana & Chicagoland

BusINess story of the week

• For NWI steelworkers, total safety proves elusive
The region’s existing single-family home sales fell sharply in July, as the effects of homebuyer tax credits finally waned. Sales tumbled 31.6 percent in July compared to the same month one year ago, according to the Greater Northwest Indiana Association of Realtors. nwi.com/inbusiness

what’s news

• Economic, tourism experts weigh in on impact of MJ Fanvention
Whether Michael Jackson’s international popularity and his early childhood ties to Gary translate into an economic and tourism engine for Northwest Indiana remains to be seen, two local experts said. nwi.com/inbusiness

• Restaurants adjust after massive egg recall
Instead of taking eggs off the menu, many restaurateurs are relying on long-standing menu warnings about the dangers of eating undercooked food. In Northwest Indiana, restaurant diners don’t seem to have a lot of concern about the safety of the eggs they’re being served. nwi.com/inbusiness

• NIPSCO electric bills to rise estimated 10 percent
The company’s residential customer bills will increase an estimated 10 percent under an order issued last week by state regulators, who cut down the utility’s request for a 15.6 percent increase and rebuked the utility for poor customer service. nwi.com

• Gary airport authority picks expansion manager
The Gary/Chicago International Airport Authority last week selected aviation consultant Aecom Technology Corp., of Los Angeles, to oversee its $90 million expansion project. nwi.com

this week on our website

• Pump prices falling as vacation season winds down
Prices at gasoline stations across the country should keep dropping as travelers hit the road for late-summer trips. nwi.com/inbusiness

• Pack, parcel and personal touch
In 2008 Phillip Weis opened Highland Pack & Parcel on Kennedy Avenue. The business offers professional packing and shipping options, mailbox rental, copying, printing, faxing, laminating, banners, posters and more. nwi.com/inbusiness

• Building with the sun
Commitment to sustainability is on full display as INTAC, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 697, and the Joint Apprenticeship and Training Center’s 40,000-square-foot facility in Merrillville is being constructed. nwi.com/inbusiness

beyond the region

• INDIANAPOLIS—Gov. Daniels requests $434M in stimulus cash
Despite being repetitively critical of the latest stimulus package, Gov. Mitch Daniels officially applied for $434 million in federal stimulus money on Friday. He asked for $207 million in extra Medicaid funding and $227 million for K-12 schools, which Indiana is eligible for under new legislation. indy.com

• WASHINGTON—Economy edges closer to stalling, government says
The economy turns out to be weaker than we thought, and the outlook for the rest of the year is now looking dimmer. New numbers show the economy struggled this spring, growing at a meager 1.6 percent annual pace. nwi.com

upcoming and interesting

• Whiting hosts alternate power race
Three vehicles powered by a source other than an electric motor or internal combustion engine “raced” through the streets of Whiting Saturday morning, part of the Alternate Power Initiative sponsored by the city of Whiting and the BP Whiting Business Unit. nwi.com/inbusiness

• GAO reports four companies control 90 percent of wireless market
Consolidation over the past decade has left just four big carriers in control of most of the wireless market, making it harder for small and regional companies to compete, according to a government report released Thursday. nwi.com

Robert Evans, of Portage, sets out from the pavilion in Whiting Park as he begins the Alternative Power Initiative five-mile race in his compressed air-powered car. The idea was to build a vehicle not powered by gasoline, fuel cells or solar power to encourage innovative thinking in developing new fuel technologies for automobiles. (Photograph by The Times.)

Downtown streets welcomed local innovators Saturday and the unique alternate-fueled vehicles they invented for what will become an annual five-mile endurance race featuring environmentally friendly transportation.

The Alternative Power Initiative was sponsored by the city of Whiting and the BP Whiting Business Unit. Three teams participated in the race that required using a vehicle powered by a source other than an electric motor or internal combustion engine.

“These inventors have come here to help us out and show us the way of the future,” said organizer Bill Halliar. “The challenge is to build a vehicle to go five miles through the streets of Whiting like a typical person would. The catch is it has to run on an alternative fuel of some sort.”

No participant completed the full five-mile route to win the $7,000 first prize, but Syed Karim Jr., of Chicago, raced his three-wheeled, compressed carbon dioxide-powered vehicle 1.2 miles and won $300.

“Next year I won’t have any problem with five miles,” Karim said. “There’s a lot of learning that goes along with this. It was fun.”

Karim, 33 had some help designing the alternate-powered vehicle with his father, Syed Karim Sr., who has a background in design.

“He comes up with these ideas and asks me for help,” the elder Karim said. “He’s been coming up with new things since he was in second grade. He’s an out-of-the-box thinker.”

Robert Evans and his go-kart chassis with a scuba tank attached was powered similar to Karim’s vehicle and finished just short of a mile. The Portage resident netted a $200 award for a better-than-expected performance.

“It was slow but I kept pushing,” Evans said. “I still had air in the tank but I came upon a hill.”

The third participant, Paul Valente, of Hammond, wasn’t eligible for an award with his invention but still raced the route in a vehicle he said runs on fuel vapor.

“In a nutshell, it runs on fumes,” he said.

Also on hand was John Davies, managing director of the Society of Innovators, an organization launched by Ivy Tech Northwest and other local partners.

“This is another example of where Northwest Indiana rises to the challenge of inspiring innovative thinking about some of the most daunting problems of energy,” Davies said. “This is important, it’s being done here and it’s fun.”

From the BusINess inbox—The BusINess editors are committed to keeping you informed about the latest news in NWI. Here’s today’s submission from Spero W. Valavanis AIA, LEED AP:

POWER ON! Commitment to sustainability is on full display as INTAC, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 697 and the Joint Apprenticeship and Training Center 40,000 sf facility in Merrillville is being constructed. With the accelerated installation of photovoltaic “solar” panels early in construction, they began providing the power for the facility’s construction, which we believe is a first.

Construction managers, Berglund Construction, is teaming with architects, design organization and engineers, RL Millies and Associates, to design and construct the sustainable facility. This collaborative effort with Local 697 and the JATC resulted in the idea to accelerate the installation of the photovoltaic system and install it with JATC apprentices as part of their training. NIPSCO was also a key team member providing permanent power during construction allowing connection of the solar panels to the grid. The building will function as a living laboratory & classroom with a goal of US Green Building Council LEED Gold Certification.

It will continue to harness the power of the sun when the building is completed, supplementing permanent power as well as feeding excess power into the central electrical grid. This will result in reducing the reliance and use of un-renewable resources.

In addition to supplying green power to the facility, unique and sustainable building features:

• Glass enclosed electrical and technology service rooms in the main lobby with video displays to monitor building performance as well as internet connection monitoring solar panel power output.

• Coordination with Save the Dunes Council in preservation of the native habitat, reduction of storm water quantity and improvement of storm water quality.

• Forestry stewardship management and harvesting of on site hardwoods to be included in the building construction.

• Site plug-ins for electric vehicles.

• A high percentage of recycled and regional materials.

• Healthy building features include increased ventilation, low VOC paints, caulks, and adhesives, as well as daylighting and views for occupants.

Prices at gasoline stations across the country should keep dropping as travelers hit the road for late-summer trips.

The national average pump price has declined for 17 days in a row, reaching $2.682 for a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline on Friday, according to AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service. The price is 6.3 cents lower than a month ago and about 6.2 cents higher than it was last year at this time.

Motorists in the West are paying the most for gas, ranging from $2.815 to $3.521 a gallon. The cheapest prices are in Texas, parts of the Midwest and the Gulf Coast area, where the range is $2.446 to $2.537 a gallon.

The price pullback comes after a plunge in wholesale gasoline prices earlier this month continues to filter into the retail market. In addition, supplies of both oil and gasoline are plentiful, while overall demand for energy products remains lukewarm.

“There’s no question that after Labor Day, (the pump price) will drop off appreciably,” said Tom Kloza, publisher and chief oil analyst at Oil Price Information Service.

Hamza Khan, an energy analyst with The Schork Report, expects the pump price to average around $2.30 a gallon by the end of September. It hasn’t been that low since May, 2009.

In other trading, oil and other energy prices were mixed after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke called the economic outlook “inherently uncertain.”

His comments came shortly after the Commerce Department said the nation’s gross domestic product grew at a 1.6 percent annual rate from April to June, down from an initial estimate of 2.4 percent and much slower than the first quarter pace.

With many consumers worrying about high unemployment, the housing market and overall spending, an economic growth rate of less than 2 percent will do little to boost energy demand, MF Global energy analyst Mike Fitzpatrick said in a research note.

Benchmark crude for October delivery rose 54 cents to $73.90 in midday trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Meanwhile, natural gas continued to slide as the contract for September delivery lost 9.3 cents at $3.724 per 1,000 cubic feet. It reached a record low for the year of $3.704 earlier in the day.

With the September contract expiring Friday, many traders have shifted to the October contract, where the price slipped 8.7 cents to $3.756 per 1,000 cubic feet.

In other Nymex trading in September contracts, heating oil added 1.68 cents at $2.0260 a gallon and gasoline gained 1.46 cents at $1.9231 a gallon.

In London, Brent crude rose 74 cents to $75.76 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

Associated Press writers Pablo Gorondi in Hungary and Eileen Ng in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, contributed to this report.

Chef Felipe Escamilla prepares Huevos Rancheros at Restaurante Tenochtitlan, in Blue Island, Ill. The restaurant buys its eggs from local area producers and has not been affected by the recall of more than a half-billion eggs from two Iowa farms linked to as many as 1,300 cases of salmonella illnesses. (Photograph by The Times.)

Eggs sunny side up still are on the menu. But restaurants nationwide are more closely watching egg suppliers and reminding diners of the dangers of undercooked food after a massive recall tied to a salmonella outbreak.

“If someone asks for eggs over easy, what do you do, put a skull and crossbones on their table?” said Louis Tricoli, who owns three Wisconsin restaurants with his family, including one where nearly two dozen people were sickened in late June after likely eating the now-recalled eggs. “Undercooked beef, undercooked pork, chicken, eggs, anything you ask to be undercooked, it’s at your own risk.”

And so, instead of taking eggs off the menu, many restaurateurs are relying on long-standing menu warnings about the dangers of eating undercooked food. And waitstaffs are fielding questions from concerned guests worried that what they’re being served may not be safe.

In Northwest Indiana, which hasn’t been hit with any outbreak caused by the tainted eggs, restaurant diners don’t seem to have a lot of concern about the safety of the eggs they’re being served.

“Our food distributor provided us with an affidavit saying our eggs are safe,” said Erin Butowski, a kitchen manager at Portage’s Egg On Your Face, where a “few” customers have asked about the restaurant’s egg supply.

“It was just a few,” Butowski said.

At Round the Clock in Schererville, customers haven’t seemed concerned about the egg recall.

“Nobody’s asking,” assistant manager Voula Kollintzas said. “We were surprised. They didn’t say nothing (about it) to us.”

A few customers, one or two a day, have asked employees of The Commander Restaurant in Munster about the safety of its eggs, hostess Helen Mantis said.

“We tell them that they’re safe,” she said. “Our purveyors (U.S. Foods and Sysco) tell us they’re safe.”

Mantis has noticed a few—”very, very few”—ordering skillets without the eggs that usually top the dish.

“I guess they don’t want to take any chances,” Mantis said.

“For the most part, the recall isn’t causing us a problem.”

At Jelly Pancake House in Merrillville, some customers have asked about the safety of the eggs and been assured they are safe.

“We checked with our distributor to make sure,” manager Steve Strogilos said. “People have ordered things without eggs. It was just a few and its getting less every day.”

Two Iowa farms, Wright County Egg and Hillandale Farms, recalled about 550 million eggs last week after learning that salmonella may have sickened as many as 1,300 people.

But outside of such outbreaks, salmonella occasionally is present in the roughly 80 billion eggs sold in their shell in the U.S. each year. The harmful bacteria typically contaminate one out of every 10,000 to 20,000 eggs.

That risk always is there for people who like eggs that aren’t cooked until the yolks are solid, said Benjamin Chapman, an assistant professor specializing in food safety at North Carolina State University. “It’s difficult to say if the risk is any different than it was two weeks ago or two years ago.”

A spokesman for the National Restaurant Association said he hadn’t heard of any restaurants dropping eggs from the menu entirely, or switching to pasteurized eggs, which are unshelled eggs heated to kill bacteria. Pasteurized eggs generally can be only scrambled or used as an ingredient.

Restaurants need to store eggs below 45 degrees in order to slow growth of salmonella, Chapman said. They also should cook them past the 145-degree mark, when yolks are no longer runny.

Lawrence Yun, chief economist of the National Association of Realtors, displays a slide and speaks at the Greater Northwest Indiana Association of Realtors annual membership meeting Wednesday at Avalon Manor in Merrillville. (Photograph by The Times.)

The chief economist of the National Association of Realtors predicts a modest recovery from the recession, with the national unemployment rate reaching normal levels in about four or five years.

Speaking at the Greater Northwest Indiana Association of Realtors annual membership meeting Wednesday in Merrillville, economist and Purdue graduate Lawrence Yun, who appears regularly on CNBC and the BBC, predicts mortgage rates will rise to 5.7 percent in 2011, 6.2 percent in 2012 and “higher in later years.”

Yun said the jobs are starting to come around, but only after massive job cuts during the recession. The unemployment rate, at 9.5 percent, according to Yun, may rise to 10 percent in the short term, and two years from now he predicts it will slide to 8 percent.

“Still high,” Yun said.

Yun said one reason is because jobs not only will need to be found for people who became unemployed during the recession but also for high school and college graduates.

“And only in four or five years it may be back to normal (around 6 percent),” Yun said.

Yun talked about business spending, which has not come around even though corporate profits are at near record highs.

One possible reason, Yun said, is that policy changes in Washington have resulted in businesses being concerned about their futures.

“Another view is it’s not really the Washington policy changes, but it’s just that consumers are holding back so businesses are not building as much.”

Yun believes home sales during spring 2011 should match up with previous years.

“If that’s the case, we can affirmably say the housing market is back on track,” he said.

Yun has been with the National Association of Realtors since 2000. He previously worked as an economic consultant to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the U.S. Department of Education.

Phillip Weis, owner of Highland Pack & Parcel, works with customer Rich Dull, of Munster. The businessl is an independent shipping, packing and office supply store. (Photograph by The Times.)

After 12 years in management and operational roles in retail, it was time for Phillip Weis to start his own business.

In 2008 Weis opened Highland Pack & Parcel on Kennedy Avenue. The business offers professional packing and shipping options, mailbox rental, copying, printing, faxing, laminating, banners, posters and more.

Weis originally opened the business as a pack and parcel, but it quickly morphed into a full business center.

“I wanted to get out of the corporate atmosphere,” Weis said. “I’ve always enjoyed being artistic, and I have a background in graphic design. I’ve created this concept and have enjoyed it ever since.”

Weis, a graduate of Highland High School, believes a personal touch and competitive prices and services can distinguish him from competitors like Staples and UPS.

“I know customers by their first names, I know their kids, their dogs,” he said. “I know a lot about their lives and their needs from not only a personal standpoint but from a business standpoint. It’s nice to have that engagement with customers, I love it.”

Weis said he was a trendsetter in the business of offering customers 25-cent color copies, a promotion he noticed competitors doing several weeks after he started it when his business opened.

“People enjoy the service and the quality and range of our products,” Weis said.

“They refer us to friends and family and that’s helped us tremendously. We’re also known as the international shipping experts. We do a lot of international shipping here.”

Weis is Internet-savvy and customers can do business with Highland Pack & Parcel via its website (”Web to print”). He also uses social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter to advertise special offers or announcements.

“Any business in my opinion nowadays that does not do that is kind of losing out,” he said.

Despite opening the store at the cusp of the recession, Weis is happy with where it stands.

“We’re growing every single day,” he said. “If I had opened five years ago I may be singing a different tune right now. We can’t go anywhere but up.”

As far as future plans for the business, Weis said he knew when the store opened, it had to look like a franchise to be taken seriously. So his dream is to possibly open up two or three other stores in the region and turn it into a business-center franchise.

Highland Pack & Parcel is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sundays. Hours are extended during the holiday season in December.