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Terminated Lake employees could collect 79 weeks of benefits

Shrinking local government comes at a cost.

Dante Rondelli, the council’s finance director, said Tuesday he is budgeting between $1.5 million and $2 million to pay unemployment benefits that federal law mandates must be paid for as many as 150 employees whose jobs are planned for termination.

The council is in the midst of responding to state-mandated tax cuts and reduced collections associated with an underperforming economy by cutting its 2010 spending levels by 15 percent, primarily through job cuts.

Rondelli said the people who lose those jobs don’t just vanish as a public responsibility. “The federal government mandates us to pay unemployment benefits,” he said.

Valerie Kroeger, assistant communications director for the Indiana Department of Workforce Development, said people who lose their full-time jobs through no fault of their own are eligible for unemployment benefits ranging from $75 to 415 per week for 79 weeks. “The average benefit is about $300 she said.”

Rondelli urged the council cut the cost of reducing payroll by eliminating jobs that already are vacant and for which no benefits need be paid. He said job turnover typically creates between 30 and 40 vacancies within the county’s more than 1,600 full-time jobs.

County Councilwoman Elsie Franklin, D-Gary, agrees. “I have this thing about not laying off people and the misery that causes,” she said. “We need to start with the vacancies because we are not going to fill them, and it’s not hurting anybody. Councilwoman Christine Cid, D-East Chicago, echoed, “That would be the easiest.”

However, Lake County Councilman Tom O’Donnell said the strategy has its own risks. “What if that vacancy happens to be a court (stenographer) and that’s the court’s only (stenographer)? He said the court might well issue a mandate requiring the council to fill that position.

Although the county has been under a hiring freeze for more than a year, the council has given elected officials and department heads permission to fill more than 90 vacancies during that time period.

A trade group from Taiwan signed a letter of intent Friday to buy Indiana corn and soybeans, according to the Indiana State Department of Agriculture.

Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman and delegates from Indiana agricultural trade groups and the Taiwan Agricultural Trade Goodwill Mission met in Indianapolis to sign the agreement. The multimillion-dollar deal is part of a larger by Taiwan from the Midwest over the next year. The value of the deal wasn’t disclosed.

Taiwan is the seventh-largest export market for U.S. agriculture, the news release said. Since 1998, the county has bought more than $5.5 billion in corn and $4 billion in soybeans from the United States.

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Indiana is a top place to do business; home sales in the state’s northwest region rise and the RDA debate continues at a public symposium. Top young entrepreneurs recognized; ethanol plant searches for a home and Indiana’s casino tax rate is highest in Midwest. Valparaiso University recognizes Gandhi, MLK at new diversity centers; and hefty baggage fees now standard on Europe-bound flights.—Pat Colander, Editor and Associate Publisher, BusINess magazine, serving Northwest Indiana & Chicagoland

BusINess story of the week

• Indiana’s business tax climate improves
Indiana moved up two slots and now ranks as the 12th best business-tax climate in the United States, according to a new analysis by a nonpartisan foundation. Illinois ranks 30th. nwi.com

what’s news

• National home sales dip, as local figures edge up
Although home sales dipped last month across the nation, the number of homes sold in Northwest Indiana actually rose compared with numbers posted in July. The real-estate market may have hit bottom, according to one local realtor. nwi.com/inbusiness

• RDA symposium aims to clear up ‘confusion, misinformation’
The future of the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority was on trial last week at a Times symposium at the Porter County Expo Center. No clear verdict was rendered, but plenty of evidence was laid before the people’s court by boosters and skeptics. nwi.com/inbusiness

• Ethanol plant future at a ‘stalemate,’ C.P. mayor says
Lowell’s apparent decision to remove itself from the running as the site of an ethanol plant in Lake County has not impacted Crown Point’s status as a possible location site, Mayor David Uran said Friday. nwi.com

• BusINess names ‘20 under 40’ list of exemplary entrepreneurs, leaders
A new generation of leaders stands poised to take Northwest Indiana into a future full of promise, according to one of the region’s longtime leaders, who spoke at The Times’ BusINess magazine’s “20 Under 40” reception late last week. nwi.com/inbusiness

this week on our website

• 20 Under 40 BusINess e-edition
Now in the right-hand column of the home page on our website, check out the live, full-color, all-content version of the newest issue of BusINess magazine. nwi.com/inbusiness

• IOC selection of Olympic host could impact region significantly
The International Olympic Committee is scheduled to meet Friday in Copenhagen to announce the results of its vote for the site of the 2016 Summer Games. Chicago could be the first U.S. city to host the Olympics since Atlanta in 1996, but it faces strong opposition from fellow candidates Rio de Janeiro, Madrid and Tokyo. nwi.com/inbusiness

• Steelmaker plans repairs on blast furnace
U.S. Steel Corp. may quicken the pace of repair plans for its No. 14 blast furnace at Gary Works, which could mean changes for metal production employees, according to a local union official. nwi.com/inbusiness

• Networking group to meet at The Times
NWI Professional Referral Organization recently opened its fifth chapter in Munster. Meetings will be held every Friday at 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. at The Times Media Co., 601 W. 45th Ave., Munster. There will be networking before and after the meeting. nwi.com/inbusiness

beyond the region

• INDIANAPOLIS—Indiana’s effective casino tax rate highest in Midwest
Indiana’s state pension funds suffered a 20 percent investment loss during the past year, but the plans remain sound with liabilities still more than 90 percent funded, pension officials said last week. nwi.com

• WASHINGTON—Disappointing economic stats signal bumpy recovery
Federal data on durable goods orders and new home sales released Friday are a reminder that the path to an economic recovery will be slow and bumpy. The reports “are a wake-up call for anyone expecting a smooth transition to a strong economic recovery,” said one economist. nwi.com

upcoming and interesting

• VU center named for peace icons Gandhi and King
Mohandas Gandhi’s charge to “be the change you want to see in the world” was invoked last week as Valparaiso University dedicated its new multicultural center, which will provide services, educational programs and support to students of color and international students in Harre Union. nwi.com

• Baggage fees join your overseas flights
Fees to check bags on international flights are creeping in and may be here to stay: in the past three months, the big U.S. carriers have added $50 fees to check a second bag on flights to Europe. yahoo.com

In this photo taken on Sept. 21, 2009, a tour boat passes under an 2016 Olympic banner spanning the Michigan Ave. bridge in Chicago, one of four sites being considered for the 2106 Games. Chicago's strength lies in its simplicity, a compact plan that keeps athletes close to their venues and President Barack Obama, a charismatic and well-regarded figure internationally whose permanent home—not where he currently lives—is a short walk from the planned Olymnpic stadium. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato.)

The final countdown is under way, as the world will learn later this week if Chicago is going to host the 2016 Olympics.

The International Olympic Committee is scheduled to meet Friday in Copenhagen to announce the results of its vote for the site of the 2016 Summer Games. Chicago could be the first U.S. city to host the Olympics since Atlanta in 1996, but it faces strong opposition from fellow candidates Rio de Janeiro, Madrid and Tokyo.

The IOC decision certainly will affect Chicago, but there’s also much at stake for Northwest Indiana, said Michael Murnane, director of ethnic and regional outreach for Chicago 2016, the organization that’s spent the past couple years working to generate support for Chicago’s bid.

“It’s not a Chicago Olympic Games, it’s a regional Olympic Games,” said Murnane, who has made presentations to community leaders throughout Northwest Indiana and other areas around Chicago. “We’re the United States representative, and we don’t want the perception that this is just Chicago doing this for Chicago. It has Chicago’s name because that’s where it will be hosted, but this is a regional event.”

If Chicago is selected, Murnane said the region could benefit from significant business opportunities aside from the expected surge of customers for local hotels and restaurants.

“We’ll probably look to Northwest Indiana to see what the interest is for some park-and-ride facilities,” he said. “Also, training facilities (will be needed). There are several colleges and community colleges (in the region). There were 202 countries that competed in Beijing, and each country has 40 to 60 Olympic and Paralympic teams. There will be a lot of people looking for provided practice facilities. The city of Chicago does not have the capacity to host all the private practice facilities.”

But not everyone wants the Olympics to be brought to Chicago. Tom Tresser, of No Games Chicago, a grassroots activist group that opposes Chicago’s bid, dreads the prospect of an Olympics bust.

“We think it has the potential to bankrupt the city, ruin our credit rating and raise our property taxes, because historically, the Olympic projects go way over budget,” Tresser said. “It just spells disaster for taxpayers.”

Murnane, however, insists Chicago’s 2016 budget is sound, citing the findings of a third-party audit as evidence.

“I think it’s good that things are monitored and checked, but I think their concern is probably more on the cautious side than it needs to be,” Murnane said. “Olympic Games in the United States have made money. They’ve all made a profit, and we don’t want to be the first one that doesn’t.”

No Games Chicago also questions whether proposed Olympic venues will be built at the expense of public parks, Tresser said. Chicago 2016’s plan calls for five new structures, including an Olympic Stadium in Washington Park that will seat about 80,000, and 11 temporary installations to be built. Eleven existing sports venues are included in the proposal.

There’s also an overwhelming concern the city’s transportation system won’t be able to support an influx of large crowds.

“Our infrastructure, most notably our mass transit, is just not up to the task,” Tresser said. “It barely works for us today. How can it handle an extra million people?”

A new fleet of buses would be used to double the city’s transportation system, Murnane said, adding that Chicago 2016’s safety plans have been in development with the assistance of federal agencies for more than two years.

“This could be the next great thing to happen to the city of Chicago,” Murnane said. “It’s not just jobs, not just economic development, but . . . there’s the civic pride of being an Olympic city.

“And it’s not just the city. It becomes the area around it. There will be volunteers from Hammond, Ind., and all parts of Northwest Indiana that work on the Olympic Games in Chicago, and they’ll never forget that.”

2016 Olympics Bid City Capsules

Chicago

The IOC said Chicago’s proposed financing presents a risk. The city set a $750 million cap on guarantees to cover a shortfall in the organizing budget.

Overall, the budget is “ambitious but achievable.” Chicago must generate $1.83 billion in revenue from sponsors.

The bid placed a “heavy financial reliance” on the organizing committee to deliver infrastructure and temporary venues.

However, Chicago demonstrated “thorough planning and a full understanding of the complexity” of its venue plan, including temporary arenas in public parks.

The IOC questioned the ability of Chicago’s public transport links and traffic control plans, especially around McCormick Place.

Although the Olympic site was compact, it relied on a “significant increase” in the capacity and use of public transport, including doubled peak-time demand on the rail system. This could be a “major challenge.”

On security, the IOC welcomed the federal government taking “full financial and operational responsibility.” But it called for a clearer description of how the city and organizing committee would share roles and responsibilities to ensure the committee was not overburdened trying to deliver infrastructure.

Madrid

Madrid enjoys the strongest public backing in IOC polls, with 84.9 percent of residents supporting the bid and only 2.8 percent strongly opposed.

But the bid team suffered from showing the IOC it did not fully understand the roles and responsibilities of delivering a complex, multisports event.

The confused management structure “could result in organizational and financial challenges,” the IOC said.

Madrid’s concept is “highly compact” and efficient with 23 of 33 venues in place and two more venues already being built.

The IOC questioned whether Spanish anti-doping laws complied with the World Anti-Doping Agency code. The issue was “important” to resolve.

Rio de Janeiro

Rio has “strong” public support in IOC polling, with 84.5 percent of residents in favor of the bid and only 4 percent strongly opposed.

City, state and federal governments have guaranteed to finance the infrastructure costs and cover any potential shortfall in the organizing budget.

Brazil’s hosting of football’s World Cup in 2014 will “accelerate infrastructure delivery” in Rio. However, hosting the world’s two biggest sports events within two years presents a “challenge” to marketing and communications strategies.

Rio has accommodation issues with a shortage of hotel rooms. It plans to use four villages and six cruise ships to house people.

With public safety and crime levels a concern, Rio is praised for achieving positive results from engaging communities in social and sports programs.

Tokyo

Praise and criticism for Tokyo follow consistent themes: Financing is secure, but public support is relatively low.

The city government has financially guaranteed the games and set aside a $3.7 billion reserve fund.

National and city governments have guaranteed to finance infrastructure and cover any potential shortfall in the organizing budget.

Tokyo has the lowest public backing in IOC polls, with 55.5 percent of residents supporting the bid and 7.8 percent strongly opposed.

Tokyo also faces challenges to control traffic around the athletes’ village and Olympic Stadium, and there’s concern about the size of land area available to build the Olympic Village.

– By Graham Dunbar, AP Sports Writer

A new generation of leaders stands poised to take Northwest Indiana into a future full of promise, according to one of the region’s longtime leaders.

“We need a new generation of leadership who are even more effective, who come to leadership not by default, but by design,” said Regional Development Authority Chairman Leigh Morris during his keynote speech Thursday night at The Times BusINness magazine’s “20 Under 40″ reception. A former hospital administrator and mayor of La Porte, Morris is also deputy commissioner for the Indiana Toll Road.

Hosted by The Times’ publisher Bill Masterson Jr., the gala event at the Innsbrook Country Club honored 20 individuals from business, government, social service and the law who contribute to the betterment of Northwest Indiana.

“This is the strongest group of individuals we’ve ever had. We had over 100 nominations this year,” Masterson told the more than 200 guests. “You are the cream of the crop.”

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Morris said young leaders face a changing landscape in Northwest Indiana, including the loss of good-paying jobs, the closing of businesses and a shifting socioeconomic climate.

Older urban areas have taken the brunt of these changes, but, “no area is immune,” Morris said. If community and business leaders don’t work together, “we can be left out. We have a shared destiny in Northwest Indiana.”

The need for leaders committed to the region’s future “has never been more important, and, some say, in shorter supply,” Morris said. “I believe Northwest Indiana has superb potential for further growth. It’s that new generation of leadership we’re celebrating tonight.”

Morris challenged these young leaders to make the region a better place to live, work, play and learn.

“We have a great region, but we can make it better. We have some great schools, but we can make them better,” he said. “Will we do what’s needed to do those positive things?”

If area leadership doesn’t embrace a regional approach, mediocrity is the best we can hope for,” Morris said. “That’s not good enough for Northwest Indiana.”

Those honored as the 2009 BusINess magazine’s “20 Under 40″ include the following:

* Jim Arnold, 39, of Valparaiso. A dentist, Arnold returned to Northwest Indiana after graduating from the Indiana University School of Dentistry. His practice, Smiles by Arnold & Associates, has offices in Valparaiso and Chesterton. He also participates in the World Institute for Dental Education and has trained dentists in India on two visits there.

* Julie Basich, 40, of Valparaiso. As general manager of Fair Oaks Farm, Basich oversees the 32,000-cow operation and the eco-friendly practices of 21st century farming. The farm attracts 400,000 visitors annually who learn about dairy farming up close and personal.

* Denise Bergunder, 33, originally of Schererville. Indiana regional director for Starbucks Coffee Co., Bergunder oversees operations at all 105 stores in the state, including the 11 stores in Northwest Indiana. Helping employees succeed is a major part of her job. Bergunder also has led the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in Indianapolis.

* Rick Calinski, 31, of Hammond. Promoted to various city positions since 2004, Calinski currently serves as chief of staff for Mayor Thomas M. McDermott Jr.

His projects have included putting together the deal that brought Cabela’s to Hammond. Calinski is dedicated to retaining businesses and keeping jobs in Hammond.

* Tom Collins Jr., 33, a Hobart native. He oversees retail operations of his grandfather’s Luke Oil empire that today includes 20 convenience stores, 25 retail locations and 10 car wash facilities. As vice president of retail operations, Collins also points with pride to County Line Apple Orchard, which he helped develop and which hosts 250,000 visitors a year, including 2,000 school tours.

* Bill Dwyer, 38, of Dyer. His own dyslexia helps him inspire others facing life’s hurdles in his position as chief operating officer of Campagna Academy in Schererville. One of his projects was construction of the $9 million Hope Center that opened this year and now accommodates up to 48 boys and girls at a time. Dwyer also helps others as a coach, teacher and volunteer.

* Heather Ennis, 38, of Porter. The executive director of the Chesterton Duneland Chamber of Commerce has focused on economic development with an updated website during her first year on the job. The site features complete inventories of available properties, infrastructure information and zoning.

* Jennifer Klapak, 35, of Whiting. A lifelong Whiting resident, Klapak has kept a part of the city’s history alive as owner of the Whiting Dairy Queen. In addition to mentoring teenagers who work at the store, she coaches volleyball at Griffith High School and is a substitute teacher in the Hammond schools.

* Kris Krouse, 30, of Valparaiso. His love of the great outdoors led Krouse to become involved in the environmental movement. Today, he helps conserve the environment as executive director of the Shirley Heinze Land Trust that protects and restores ecologically significant natural areas. Krouse also serves as a mentor to Michigan City high school students as part of the Rotary Club’s STRIVE program.

* Douglas Lewis, 38, of Highland. A self-professed cheerleader for Highland, Lewis connects with town residents and fellow business people through a variety of civic and professional activities. He also takes his knowledge about how money and the markets work to help people manage their funds as financial advisor with Edward Jones in Highland.

* Mark Lopez, 35, of Schererville. Being part of the political arena since 1996 has given Lopez opportunities to make Northwest Indiana a better place. As chief of staff for U.S. Congressman Pete Visclosky, he splits his work time between Washington, D.C., and Northwest Indiana. When his schedule permits, Lopez concentrates on his sons’ school and sports activities.

* Johnny Mathis Jr., 37, of Valparaiso. Mathis launched a company with a new concept in 2003 and today, Livemercial creates more than $1 billion in online sales through micro-sites. His company also works closely with Opportunity Enterprises, a Valparaiso-based organization that helps those with disabilities enrich their lives through employment and other services.

* Bill McCall, 38, of Crown Point. Co-owner of A Conservative Café in the county seat, McCall is working to franchise his coffeehouse business.

He’s developed marketing campaigns that have resulted in articles about A Conservative Café published in numerous major magazines and radio and TV broadcasts.

* Daniel McGuire, 28, of Valparaiso. Since middle school, McGuire has been involved with the Valparaiso Department of Parks and Recreation. Today, he manages facilities and staff throughout the city’s park system and helps plan special events as recreation program services coordinator. McGuire has also upgraded the department’s computer communications systems as IT coordinator.

* Don Mikrut, 40, of Schererville. During his seven years as CEO of The Cars Collision Group, Mikrut is credited with keeping the business profitable. He’s also helped grow the Schererville-based company into a $72 million operation with 28 service centers in Indiana, Illinois and Colorado. Mikrut also focuses on family and learned how to ice skate so he could coach his son in hockey.

* Ashley Miller, 25, a Valparaiso native. Miller grew up in her family’s Valparaiso-based business, Indiana Furniture Showcase. Today, she serves as chief executive officer and has helped transform the business. The store’s new “Designer Showcase” features high-end custom furniture and the computer system has been upgraded during her tenure as CEO.

* Timothy Rice, 37, of Jackson Township. President and a partner in Lakeside Wealth Management Group in Chesterton, Rice has helped increase the firm’s assets almost ten-fold, making Lakeside the largest independent advisory firm in Northwest Indiana. He also serves on community organization boards and is a donor to the Duneland School Foundation.

* Julie Rosenwinkel, 39, of Schererville. A nearly lifelong interest in the law has led Rosenwinkel to her post as attorney and partner with the firm of Kreig Devault LLP in Schererville. Her practice focuses on representing health care providers on a variety of issues, including defending them against malpractice claims. She is active in the Lake Central Education Foundation and in her daughter’s Girl Scout troop.

* Rick Soria, 37, of Valparaiso. An early interest in funeral service has turned into a career helping others enter that industry for Soria. In 2002, he developed the Mortuary Science Program at Ivy Tech’s East Chicago campus, which has earned full accreditation. Today, he oversees that and other programs as dean of the School of Public Service at Ivy Tech Community College in Northwest Indiana.

* Jeff Strack, 39, a Griffith native. Strack is a member of the third generation to carry on the supermarket legacy of his grandfather, Ernie Strack and partner Nick Van Til Strack. As vice president of operations for Strack & Van Til, he has helped grow the SVT brand to 29 stores from 10, a growth that includes major expansion from Northwest Indiana into Illinois.

Strack is active in the SVT charitable giving fund and is on the Purdue Calumet Advisory Board.

A rendering is shown of the complex for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 697 and the National Electrical Contractors Association, which will be located at 73rd Avenue and Mississippi Street in Merrillville. Karl Krizmanic, service coordinator with the union and contractors association, said the goal is for construction to be finished when the apprentice school opens for classes in fall 2010. (Image provided.)

An electrical workers union and electrical contractors association will break ground Tuesday morning on a joint training and administration center in Merrillville.

The complex for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 697 and the National Electrical Contractors Association will include union and benefits offices, a credit union and an apprentice school. The complex will be located at 73rd Avenue and Mississippi Street. The groundbreaking is scheduled for 11:30 a.m.

Karl Krizmanic, service coordinator with union and contractors association, said the goal is for construction to be finished when the apprentice school opens for classes in fall 2010.

Krizmanic said U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-Ind., is expected to speak at the event and Lake County and Merrillville town officials are expected to attend.

The complex will site on 18 acres of land, but eight acres of woodlands will be preserved. He said that the groups will work with the Save the Dunes Council to maintain the preserved property, which includes a pond. Trees that need to be cut down for development will be processed at a mill into interior wood siding and the extra wood will be donated to the woodshop class at Merrillville High School, he said.

An executive summary of the project said that the 40,000-square-foot complex would be the first privately owned Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-certified building in Lake County. The U.S. Green Building Council developed the LEED certification recognizing buildings or communities for implementing design features or operations that produce energy savings, reduce emissions, and other metrics that reduce environmental impact. Once the building is finished, public tours will be held to show off the building’s green features.

Helena Robertson, co-owner of Global Green Pals at left, poses with some of her company's eco-friendly dolls, along with Opportunity Enterprises market manager Julie Dessauer, center, and OE employee Rick Witmer. The Global Green Pals will be packaged and shipping by Opportunity Enterprises. (Photograph by Jon L. Hendricks/The Times.)

Malini Goel and Helena Brasovan Robertson used to play with Barbies and Cabbage Patch Kids when they were 4—and more than three decades later, they’re still playing with dolls.

“The big joke is, we never stopped,” said Robertson, 38, of Orland Park, Ill., who graduated from Munster High. The two grew up on University Drive and went to Elliot Elementary.

“There was only a house between us, but the distance felt enormous,” Goel said.

“We used to go to each other’s houses for dinner. It was all ‘girl talk,’ and as we got older we listened to Duran Duran and Rick Springfield and had slumber parties.”

Goel graduated from Morgan Park Academy in Chicago. The lifelong friends drifted apart. Goel began working at the United Nations as an environmental consultant; Robertson’s career included doll development for the craft and hobby industry.

The gal pals serendipitously reconnected two years ago when Robertson was at Midway Airport and heard Goel’s voice. It was the beginning of a business partnership. “We have a perfect marriage of skills,” Goel said. “She knows all the things I don’t.”

The environment has always been at the forefront of Goel’s life, so she founded Global Green Pals, a line of five eco-friendly, educational dolls aimed at teaching children the importance of environmental stewardship.

Goel trademarked the doll’s names, which include Clean Air Kate who fights pollution and Pink Coral Laurel who protects earth’s oceans. The series eventually will include an additional 25 characters.

Robertson said U.S. spending for toys, dolls and games is expected to increase by 12.8 percent between 2009 and 2013. By then, retail sales are estimated to reach $62.2 billion.

Consumer demand for eco-friendly products has grown to $120 billion market worldwide. While Robertson said she’d be thrilled to capture 1 percent of that market, the company business plan forecasts sales of $5 million by 2013.

Goel said start-up costs were significant but financed with personal savings and other investments. GGP produced 5,000 dolls and had preorders of about 300, which began shipping Sep. 10. The retail price is $29.95 each.

Dolls are warehoused, packaged and shipped from Opportunity Enterprises in Valparaiso. Goel partnered with the nonprofit because Goel’s dad is a quadriplegic, and the firm creates opportunities for people with disabilities.

Entrepreneurship is far different from a corporate job. “To get a product from concept through execution, there are so many things involved,” Goel said. “An idea is great, but an idea in the mind is useless—unless you bring it to life.”

Robertson knew consumers were leery of plastics and toxins. Each of the 12-inch soft dolls are made of 100 percent organic cotton and stuffed with recycled materials. They use minimal packaging and have been recognized for being eco-friendly.

Goel explored manufacturers in the United States, Europe and China before finding a green-certified facility in South Asia that met her standards. Robertson said the trend in toys is moving back to dolls away from bears and action figures, and competition is steep.

Robertson hopes the dolls can help inspire a new generation of eco-ambassadors. “Our dolls’ characters try to be real kids—their stories are inspiring and there are actions and small steps children can actually take to help our planet.”

The company also contributes 1 percent of its sales to environmental groups around the world.

“Our dolls come with a positive message, and there’s value beyond just numbers,” Goel said. “If I can do something good for the environment, children and business—I’m happy.”

Open house and for sale signs dot a lawn at a home for sale in Portage. The total number of residential sales in the five-county area dropped nearly 16 percent over August of last year, according to according to data from the Greater Northwest Indiana Association of Realtors. (Photograph by Jon L. Hendricks/The Times.)

Home sales dipped last month across the nation. However, the number of homes sold in Northwest Indiana actually rose compared with numbers posted in July and are close to June’s figures.

Those numbers reflect that the real estate market may have hit bottom and is headed up, according to one local Realtor.

The total number of residential sales in the five-county area dropped nearly 16 percent over August of last year, according to according to data from the Greater Northwest Indiana Association of Realtors. But the number of homes increased to 719 from July’s total of 649. In June, the number of homes sold in this same area was 729.

“We’re experiencing gains over the previous month,” said Nancy Echterling, a broker with Coldwell Banker in Highland. “It’s not a gain compared with our high for sales in 2007, but the rate of decline is dropping.”

Also of note, Echterling said, is the price paid for homes in Northwest Indiana. While the price declined, it dropped at only 2.7 percent, one of the lowest declines in the last two years.

“Actually we had a much larger drop in prices, 15 percent, in 2007 to 2008,” she said. “This small decline in price may indicate that we’ve reached the bottom (in pricing) and may be going up.”

Nationally, home resales declined unexpectedly in August after a four-month streak of gains. Sales dropped 2.7 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.1 million homes sold in August. Those numbers were 5.24 million in July, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday. Compared with a year ago, however, home sales are up 3.4 percent.

The results surprised analysts, who had expected sales to rise to an annual pace of 5.35 million, according to Thomson Reuters.

“We suspect it is just a temporary blip in the improving trend rather than a sign of renewed weakness,” wrote Paul Dales, U.S. economist at Capital Economics.

The wild card is the $8,000 tax credit for new homeowners, which is set to expire on Nov. 30.

First-time buyers have purchased almost one in three homes in August. Together with investors snapping up foreclosures, they have provided most of the momentum in the market this year.

Echterling said locally, that tax credit has boosted home sales, too. But time is running out to purchase a home in time to close before Nov. 30.

“If you’re in the market to buy a home, you need to hurry. To close by the deadline, you need to have found your home at the latest by the first two weeks of October,” she said.

“We’re seeing a higher showing volume as people are trying to get in by that deadline.”

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Majestic Star Casino employee Patrick Mooney said he and other hospitality workers hope to get a lot of attention after announcing plans for a protest in Chicago on Thursday.

Mooney, a bartender on the Majestic Star I, said at least 200 union workers, including some from Northwest Indiana casinos, will be part of a civil disobedience protest in front of the Park Hyatt near Michigan and Chicago avenues at 4:30 p.m.

Mooney, 52, said people planning to be involved in the protest went through training on how not to cause a disruption and he plans not to fight police.

Unite Here Local 1 spokeswoman Annemarie Strassel said the protest is in support of other union members who have been negatively affected by the economy and corporate layoffs and for a positive outcome in upcoming contract negotiations. Local 1 represents more than 15,000 hospitality workers in the Chicago area.

Strassel said the Chicago-based Hyatt location is important because the hotel chain chose to lay people off in the city and in Boston and the hotel chain fired long-term housekeepers and replaced them with low-wage workers from a subcontractor.

The unionized employees’ current five-year pact ends Oct. 31. Contract negotiations haven’t started yet, but Mooney said he wanted to get involved in the action today because he wants to show people that employees have power in contract bargaining. Mooney, the Local 1 union steward at the casino, said the union represents between 150 and 200 employees between the two Majestic Star vessels in Gary.

“We don’t want to get locked into a five-year contract when they cry poor and when the economy (improves and they’re prospering), we’re sitting stagnant,” Mooney said.

Natalie Rhoads, bartender at Ameristar Casino in East Chicago, plans on attending the event because she is working to have a better future for her son.

Rhoads, 29, of Crown Point, said the riverboats are cutting employees’ hours in difficult economic times and forcing some employees to part-time status. When moving some employees to part-time work, she said they are losing their health insurance and other benefits. Rhoads said the casinos made promises to commit to full-time work opportunities in union contracts, but they have been disregarding those promises since the economic downturn. Rhoads is one of the Local 1 union stewards at Ameristar and she said between 120 and 150 people are represented by the local.

“They are choosing to use that excuse, ‘bad economy, bad economy, bad economy,’” Rhoads said. “They’re cutting our benefits and full-time job opportunities to make them look good. That’s very wrong I think.”

A federal bankruptcy judge in Delaware has approved the Tribune Co.’s sale of the Chicago Cubs.

The judge on Thursday authorized Tribune to enter into transactions to sell the team to the family of billionaire Joe Ricketts, founder of TD Ameritrade. The family agreed to buy a 95 percent stake in the team and its Wrigley Field home for $845 million.

The deal also needs approval from Major League Baseball.

The Tribune plan calls for a separate bankruptcy filing by Chicago National League Ball Club, an affiliate not involved in the company’s Chapter 11 case. The CNLBC bankruptcy should last only a few days but is needed to ensure that sale is free of all liens and claims, and that contracts can be assumed and assigned.

NWI Professional Referral Organization recently opened its fifth chapter in Munster. Meetings will be held every Friday at 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. at The Times Media Co., 601 W. 45th Ave., Munster. There will be networking before and after the meeting.

PROs is a group of Business Professionals committed to growing their businesses and the businesses of members through qualified referrals, introductions and networking. PROs follows a non-compete policy allowing only one business per category in each group.

PROs also offers the meetings in Merrillville, Schererville, Crown Point and Valparaiso.

For more information contact Jacki Kennedy at 219.322.4887 or Jacki@Kennedy2000.com.

A rider exits a Hammond Transit bus in June 2008. The city bus agency has faced the budget ax for more than a year. On Monday, the Hammond City Council voted to transfer operations to the Northwest Indiana Regional Bus Authority on Jan. 1. (Photograph by John J. Watkins/The Times.)

The beleaguered Hammond Transit System will become the first in the region to be managed and operated by the Northwest Indiana Regional Bus Authority.

In a special session Monday night, Hammond City Council members voted 6-3 to transfer administration of the system to the regional agency, infusing it with $900,000 in casino-generated revenues for each of the next two years. Just three hours before the Hammond council convened, the RBA’s board of directors voted 13-0 to commence negotiations with the city.

“This is, I think, the last opportunity we have in Northwest Indiana to bring the area together and start to regionalize transit,” RBA interim President Stephen Adik said.

Speaking to City Council members, Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. said without a transfer to the RBA, buses in his city would stop running.

“We have no other plan,” he said.

Some council members though, questioned whether the plan is worth $1.8 million.

“For years I’ve seen buses with no people on them, and it seems like a waste of money,” At-large Councilwoman JoAnn Matonovich said, questioning how the RBA, with a lack of a track record, will improve service.

The transfer will take effect Jan. 1.

RBA Director Tim Brown said with just three months to get a plan together, the current proposal looks a lot like what Hammond Transit is currently operating. He said the RBA will begin looking for an operator for the system and start looking at routes that will take residents to places in Hammond they want to go and outside the city limits.

Raymond Fletcher, a Hammond resident who uses public transportation, said he’d rather see the city improve the system it already has in place than transfer it to the RBA.

“What I see is Hammond being sold out, and it hurts me,” Fletcher said.

Those sentiments were echoed by Teresa Torres, director of the disability rights group Everybody Counts Inc. She said McDermott and council members have been using “scare tactics” to push the plan through without public hearings.

“All I’ve heard is let’s use Hammond as a guinea pig and see if it works,” she said.

Everybody Counts and Hammond Transit previously agreed to terms of a consent decree giving the advocacy group input on ways to improve the system. The group said those terms haven’t been met, and it plans to ask a judge to find the city in contempt later this week.

Council President Homero “Chico” Hinojosa, who along with Councilman Al Salinas sponsored the resolution, said with the transfer he sees services improving in the near future.

“With $900,000, we’re going to have buses in the city of Hammond,” Hinojosa said. “This will be the start to get regional busing going. Hopefully East Chicago will join in.”

How they voted

Council members Bob Markovich, Kathleen Pucalik, Al Salinas, Kim Poland, Homero “Chico” Hinojosa and Anthony Higgs voted in favor of the transfer. Council members Dan Repay, JoAnn Matonovich and Mark Kalwinski voted against it. Repay and Matonovich said they wanted to go through the city budget before making a decision, and Kalwinski said gaming dollars were intended for infrastructure projects only.

Leigh Morris, chairman of the RDA, talks Tuesday about the benefits of the organization at The Times symposium at the Porter County Expo Center in Valparaiso. (Photography by John Luke/The Times.)

The future of the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority was on trial Tuesday night with no clear verdict rendered but plenty of evidence laid before the people’s court.

A symposium on the RDA at the Porter County Expo Center drew 300 people, who listened as three RDA boosters and three skeptics debated whether it will be the region’s savior or its undoing.

“The only way we can succeed as a region is to think of our region as whole,” said Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr., an outspoken proponent of the RDA.

“The way we fall into traps is if we think only of our city and our town.”

Porter County Commissioner Bob Harper maintained the RDA’s projects such as the South Shore extension will lead to tax hike after tax hike.

“(The RDA) was sold as being able to do everything, and it didn’t even have the money to do one of them,” Harper said.

About 300 people from throughout the region gather Tuesday at the Porter County Expo Center for The Times symposium on the pros and cons of the RDA. (Photography by John Luke/The Times.)

Tuesday night’s symposium was put on by The Times to clear up “confusion and misinformation” swirling around the RDA since the Porter County Council’s April vote to withdraw from the organization, Times Opinion Page Editor Doug Ross told the audience before it commenced.

In addition to McDermott, the RDA proponents on the panel were RDA Chairman Leigh Morris and Mark Reshkin, a retired Indiana University Northwest professor. In addition to Harper, skeptics on the panel were Lake County Council President Larry Blanchard and Porter County Farm Bureau President Jack Rust.

Dan Lowery, host of “Lakeshore Focus” on Lakeshore Public Television, was the moderator. He asked the panelist questions that had been submitted earlier by Times readers.

The RDA was established four years ago under legislation passed by the Indiana General Assembly. It is charged with improving regional bus service, expanding the South Shore commuter railroad, improving Gary/Chicago International Airport and implementing the Marquette Plan for lakefront development.

It is funded with $14 million per year in casino money in Lake County contributed by Hammond, East Chicago, Gary and the county government. Until the vote to withdraw, Porter County contributed $3.5 million per year raised by its local income tax. The state of Indiana contributes $10 million per year raised by the lease of the Indiana Toll Road.

Morris pointed out that already hundreds of millions of dollars in federal and state financial commitments have been landed for the RDA’s “transformational projects.” He maintained those projects will allow Northwest Indiana to compete successfully when it comes to landing new businesses and the jobs they bring.

“The idea behind the RBA is to bring all of Northwest Indiana up, both its economy and quality of life,” Morris said in response to a question on what it will mean if Porter County is not a part of the RDA. “Lake County alone just doesn’t cut it.”

Rust, of the Farm Bureau, had a very succinct answer to the same question.

“It just means, as far as I’m concerned, we won’t have to pay more money to the RDA.”

Porter County has now taken its effort to cut off funding to the RDA to court. The Indiana attorney general’s office is arguing the case for the RDA and maintains Porter County cannot leave the organization.

The RDA skeptics at Tuesday night’s seminar based much of their opposition on the issue of taxes, arguing the RDA could not be separated from the Nov. 3 referendum to create a regional transportation district. If approved by voters, the district could impose an income tax of up to 0.25 percent to fund South Shore commuter rail expansion and regional bus service.

Morris made the point several times that the RDA itself has no authority to impose taxes of any kind.

Those in the audience like Porter County farmer Debbie Morrow said they learned a thing or two about the RDA. In her case, she said she didn’t know it was involved with the development of Gary/Chicago International Airport.

But as a farmer, she said she opposed the South Shore expansion because of the effect it would have on farmland.

Jack Bell, attending with his wife, Nancy, said Morris’ statement that the RDA doesn’t have the ability to tax was very important to him.

“I wasn’t a big RDA fan before I came here,” Bell said. “But I changed my opinion to be honest.”

Union official unclear about possible work stoppages

U.S. Steel Corp. may quicken the pace of repair plans for its No. 14 blast furnace at Gary Works, which could mean changes for metal production employees, according to a local union official.

United Steelworkers Local 1014 President Jerry Littles said he was told by Plant Manager Jim Gray the company anticipates taking down the blast furnace and repairing it in December, which is at least two months earlier than company officials originally planned. Plans aren’t concrete yet, but Littles said he is preparing his members by telling them to spend their money diligently this holiday season in the event of a work stoppage. The repairs could take between 90 and 120 days, he said.

“Right now, everything is up in the air,” Littles said. “These are things that the company has talked about doing. . . . I can’t say it is going to happen. Right now, we’re prepared for it.”

Littles said if the blast furnace shuts down, there would be maintenance people working on the blast furnace, and he hoped that some of the people working on the production side would be transferred to other parts of the mill.

An 18-inch-by-3-foot hole burned through the furnace’s hearth in April, causing production to halt earlier this year. The Times reported in April the $300 million blast furnace was unveiled in April 2006 and had a 20-year life expectancy.

Speaking during a quarterly conference call with analysts in July, U.S. Steel CEO John Surma said the refractory lining failure was repaired and that the company had a longer-term repair plan for the blast furnace. Surma said in the meantime, the furnace had been operating at a lower level than previous years.

“It’s a fairly specialized process with some important design, a lot of technology in this,” Surma said. “We want to make sure we get it right.”

U.S. Steel spokesman Erin DiPietro didn’t comment further.

Littles said U.S. Steel officials are being cautious, and he would prefer the appropriate repairs are made instead of having something catastrophic happen.

“I would rather have a stable furnace for people working around it than to (continue) working around an unstable furnace.”

The No. 14 blast furnace has a peak daily production capacity of 9,200 tons of hot metal. All four Gary Works blast furnaces are operating, but the company didn’t disclose individual furnace production statistics. Littles said the No. 14 blast furnace is capable of churning out more iron than the other three furnaces combined, and taking it out of commission would “significantly” reduce its iron-making capacity.

Steel analyst Michelle Applebaum said it makes sense for U.S. Steel to move up the time of scheduled repairs, because the business for flat-rolled products slows down in December and is strong in February through May. Flat-rolled products usually are used in automobiles and appliances.

Estimated raw steel production in the Northwest Indiana/Chicago area—the nation’s second-largest steel producing region—was 409,000 tons during the week ending Sept. 19 up from the 388,000 tons produced the week prior, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute.

Production in the Southern District, the nation’s largest steel-producing region, was 464,000 tons during the same period.

Domestic mills produced 1.39 million tons of steel last week, down 31.3 percent from the 2.02 million tons made during the same period in 2008. U.S. steel mills operated at 58.1 percent capacity last week versus 57.5 percent capacity during the previous week.

For the year to date, U.S. steel mills produced 41.9 million tons of steel versus 80.2 million tons during the comparable 2008 period.

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Unemployment rates fall; IOSHA fines ArcelorMittal in worker death; liquor laws and EPA regulations reconsidered. Steel production is up; state pension funds hit in market collapse and there's never been a better time to borrow, if your credit is good. Crown Point will extend bike path and Oz Fest boosts PC economy.—Pat Colander, Editor and Associate Publisher, BusINess magazine, serving Northwest Indiana & Chicagoland

BusINess story of the week

• Indiana, Illinois unemployment rates fall sharply
While still above the national average, Indiana and Illinois had two of the largest drops in their unemployment rates in August of any state in the country, according to government data released Friday. Lake and Porter county rates dropped as well, falling to 10.1 and 8.7 percent, respectively. nwi.com

what’s news

• IOSHA issues fines to ArcelorMittal in steelworker death
Indiana’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has fined ArcelorMittal $12,250 after the agency found four “serious” violations related to the investigation into the July death of an Indiana Harbor East employee. The worker died of blunt force trauma while working in the 80-inch hot strip mill, according to the Lake County coroner’s office, which believes the death was an accident. nwi.com

• Legislative panel hears from both sides on Sunday liquor issue
State Sen. Phil Boots said last week he will introduce legislation legalizing Sunday liquor sales and permitting non-liquor stores to sell cold beer. “It’s time to modernize Indiana’s antiquated alcohol beverage laws,” said Boots, R-Crawfordsville. nwi.com

• EPA to reconsider last year's national smog rules
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said last week it will reconsider the 2008 national smog standards to ensure they are scientifically sound and protect human health. A spokeswoman for the American Iron and Steel Institute said the steel industry has been a leader in improving air quality in and around its steel plants. nwi.com

• Local steel production rises 4,000 tons
Estimated raw steel production in the Northwest Indiana/Chicago area—the nation’s second-largest steel producing region—was 388,000 tons during the week ending Sept. 12, up from the 384,000 tons produced the week prior, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute. nwi.com/inbusiness

this week on our website

• Times Media Co. set for a stable 2010
Increased operational efficiencies and voluntary employee buy-outs will allow The Times Media Co. to meet its budget projection for fiscal 2010, Publisher Bill Masterson Jr. said Tuesday. “I feel good about where we are. We will be in good shape in the new year,” Masterson said during one of three similar meetings with employees. nwi.com/inbusiness

• High-speed rail star of Obama sustainable plan
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood came to Chicago on Thursday to deliver a message that could have big implications for Northwest Indiana. “High-speed passenger rail is coming to America, and that’s the biggest part of building sustainable and livable communities,” he said in sparking the biggest applause of the afternoon at the annual luncheon of Chicago’s Metropolitan Planning Council. nwi.com/inbusiness

• Retail sales rise more than expected in August
Retail sales jumped in August by the largest amount in more than three years, spurred by widespread gains beyond the expected increases of auto sales from the government’s Cash for Clunkers program. nwi.com/inbusiness

• The Times to host job fair today at Avalon Manor
The Times will host a Job Fair from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 22 at Avalon Manor, 3550 U.S. 30. A variety of employers from throughout the region will attend. Job-seekers are encouraged to dress in professional attire and to bring resumes. nwi.com/inbusiness

beyond the region

• INDIANAPOLIS—State pension funds took hit during market collapse
Indiana’s state pension funds suffered a 20 percent investment loss during the past year, but the plans remain sound with liabilities still more than 90 percent funded, pension officials said last week. nwi.com

• WASHINGTON—Government helps keep loans cheap—if you can get credit
As interest rates remain at historic lows, it’s a good time to borrow money for a home, car or small business—if you have good credit. Everyone else need not apply. The question is, when will credit return to normal—not too loose, not too tight and not propped up by the government? nwi.com

upcoming and interesting

• Oz fest working magic on local economy
Organizers of the Chesterton Wizard of Oz Festival, which took place over the weekend, believe the event helped the town’s economy for many months to come. “‘The Wizard of Oz’ will never get old and it has a strong family appeal for visitors and local people,” said Lorelei Weimer, executive director of the Porter County Convention, Recreation and Visitor Commission. nwi.com/inbusiness

• C.P. Mayor reveals plans for bike path’s extension by fall 2010
The last parcel of land has been acquired by Crown Point, and construction of the city’s extension of the Erie-Lackawanna bike trail likely will begin in the spring, Mayor David Uran told city residents at a public forum Wednesday night. nwi.com

Joe Primiani, above, mixes pigment and other additives to raw plastic to create a red colorant for plastic decking lumber at Plastic Color Corp. in Calmet City. The colorant is then extruded into strings, below, that are cooled in a water bath, then cut into pellets. (Photograph by Tony V. Martin/The Times.)

Although it’s corporate headquarters sits in a nondescript industrial area of Calumet City, Plastics Color Corp. is a company with a global footprint.

The company combines color, which it formulates to its customer’s needs, with clear plastic resins to create a raw material which the customer uses in products that span all facets of the plastic industry—from tubes to toys, syringes to shavers.

“We do compounding of plastics additives and color into various polymers,” Joe Byrne, PCC vice president of sales and marketing, said. “In some case, we improve them for performance and make them more cosmetically appealing. Our products are in almost any consumer goods you touch that’s plastic.”

The 40-year-old, privately-held company has been headquartered in Calumet City since 1982 when it purchased American Thermo Plastics and relocated its offices from New Jersey. PCC also has operations in Asheboro, N.C., and Nanjing, China.

PCC handles liquid color orders in China at the same time it fulfills food-contact requirements in the United States, Canada and Europe.

“Ours is a true vision of partnership,” PCC President Douglas Borgsdorf said. “We can address customers’ specific needs and service customers anywhere. We actually immerse ourselves into customers’ operations, creating solutions to everything from the product itself to the packaging to the storage.”

Of its total 85-member U.S. work force, PCC has 45 employees at the local facility, which provides colorants for the commodity plastics market, including for signage, wire and cable.

The company has annual sales that range from $30 million to $50 million, Byrne said.

In 2008, PCC’s North Carolina plant introduced its “plant within a plant” production and research and development facility where it can maintain strict quality control and security.

The unit is a fully functioning manufacturing unit that operates alongside PCC’s traditional production platforms as a separate, self-contained operation. It allows the company to apply and evaluate the most advanced manufacturing techniques, including just-in-time production, under actual conditions.

“Plant within a plant isn’t brand new in concept, but not all companies do it,” Byrne said. “It’s an attempt to service a different type of customer . . . Anyone who needs to control cross contamination, such as the medical and pharmaceutical industries. If they don’t require it today, they will in the near future.”

Retail sales jumped in August by the largest amount in more than three years, spurred by widespread gains beyond the expected increases of auto sales from the government’s Cash for Clunkers program.

And while inflation at the wholesale level also rose last month as gasoline prices surged the most in a decade, the retail sales report is a sign that consumers may be less cautious about spending as the economy recovers. Consumer spending is closely watched because it accounts for about 70 percent of the nation’s economic activity.

Economists were encouraged by the reports, but warned that jobs remain scarce and credit tight, making it difficult for consumers to mount sustained increases in spending.

“Big gains may be short-lived as the weak labor market will weigh on consumers into next year,” Adam York, an economist at Wells Fargo Securities, wrote in a note to clients.

The Commerce Department said Tuesday that retail sales rose a seasonally adjusted 2.7 percent last month, after falling 0.2 percent in July.

That’s the largest gain in three-and-a-half years and beat analysts’ expectations of a 2 percent increase, according to a survey by Thomson Reuters.

Excluding autos, sales rose 1.1 percent, ahead of an expected 0.4 percent jump. Excluding autos and gas, sales rose 0.6 percent, the most in six months.

Wall Street moved mostly lower in midday trading. The Dow Jones industrial average lost about 10 points, and broader indexes were mixed.

In a separate report, the Labor Department said wholesale prices rose 1.7 percent in August, more than double the 0.8 percent rise economists expected. Wholesale prices had fallen by 0.9 percent in July. Both months were heavily affected by energy prices.

Excluding volatile energy and food costs, core inflation as measured by Producer Price Index posted a more modest 0.2 percent increase, close to the 0.1 percent advance economists expected. The index tracks the prices of goods before they reach store shelves.

While many analysts believe the economy is staging a recovery in the current July-September quarter, the rebound is not expected to trigger inflation pressures because the labor market remains weak.

The Commerce Department report showed that auto sales soared 10.6 percent last month, the most in almost eight years, due mainly to the clunkers program. Gas station sales rose 5.1 percent, as prices at the pump rose. Economists expected increases in both categories, but sales also rose at electronics and appliance stores, department and sporting goods stores.

The clunkers program, which ended last month, provided consumers with rebates of up to $4,500 if they traded in older gas-guzzlers for new, more fuel-efficient models. The incentive boosted car sale 30 percent in August, after a 2.4 percent rise in July.

Many economists expect consumer spending to increase in the current July-September period, after it fell in the second quarter, mostly because of the clunkers program. That could cause the economy to grow by as much as 3 to 4 percent in the third quarter, many economists expect, helping to end the worst recession since the 1930s.

But analysts worry that without consistent consumer spending growth, the recovery could weaken next year, as government stimulus efforts end.

Unemployment continues to rise, holding down wages and limiting the ability of consumers to spend. The unemployment rate, currently at a 26-year high of 9.7 percent, is expected to hit 10 percent by the end of this year and keep rising to around 10.3 percent next spring.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Tuesday said the recession is “very likely over at this point.” The economy likely is growing now, but it won’t be sufficient to prevent the unemployment rate from rising, he added.

Drugmaker Eli Lilly & Co. said Monday that it will cut 5,500 jobs over the next two years, 14 percent of its work force, as it restructures the company into five units.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Tuesday that the economy has improved in the past year but acknowledged in an interview on ABC’s “Good Morning America” that the job market remains weak.

“I would say there’s no recovery yet,” he said. “We define recovery … as people back to work, people able to get a job again, businesses investing again … and we’re not at that point.”

The Commerce Department also reported Tuesday that business cut their inventories 1 percent in July, the 12th straight decline and slightly more than economists expected. Still, sales posted the first back-to-back gains in a year, providing hope that companies soon will switch from trimming stockpiles to increasing their orders.

Other recent economic reports also have been positive. Last week, the Federal Reserve said in a regional survey that the economy is stabilizing or improving in the vast majority of the country.

Meanwhile, President Barack Obama on Monday credited his administration and the $787 billion stimulus package rammed through Congress in the first days of his taking office for helping to prevent an even worse economic downturn.

“And though I will never be satisfied while people are out of work and our financial system is weakened, we can be confident that the storms of the past two years are beginning to break,” Obama said in a speech on financial reform in New York.

The nation’s gross domestic product, the broadest measure of the economy’s output, fell 5.5 percent in last year’s fourth quarter and the first three months of this year, the worst six-month showing in nearly 50 years.

But in the April-June quarter the decline slowed to 1 percent and many analysts expect the economy will grow in the second half of this year.

The Times will host a Job Fair from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 22 at Avalon Manor, 3550 U.S. 30. A variety of employers from throughout the region will attend.

Job-seekers are encouraged to dress in professional attire and to bring resumes.

For more information on how to become a sponsor or exhibitor, call 219.933.4086. Job-seekers can register at nwi.com/jobfair.

A pair of ruby slippers is on displayed at the Oz Museum in downtown Chesterton, which is gearing up for this weekend's Wizard of Oz Festival. The popular event, which starts today and ends Sunday, is back in Chesterton and is benefitting local businesses. (Photography by Jon L. Hendricks/The Times.)

Organizers of the Chesterton Wizard of Oz Festival, which takes place this weekend, say they hope to help the economy this weekend and many months to come.

Machelle Blount, president of the festival’s organizer, Duneland Business Initiative Group, said, “It’s definitely a positive impact, not only on our local economy and bringing people into town who will quite possibly come back to visit again or purchase a home or business in the future, and local residents are really excited to have this festival back in town.”

Lorelei Weimer, executive director of the Porter County Convention, Recreation and Visitor Commission, said a report conducted on the festival when it was located in Chesterton revealed the festival does have an impact on the local economy.

“The Wizard of Oz will never get old and it has a strong family appeal for visitors and local people.

“Our study revealed that the Oz festival drew $3 million into the local economies, and of all of the festivals in the region, the Oz festival is the No. 1 festival that brings in the highest percentage of outside area visitors,” Weimer said.

“In fact, 71 percent of the attendees came from outside of Porter and LaPorte counties and 24 percent of those we surveyed stayed in a hotel.”

Museum owner Linda Spry, right center, shows visitors Linda and Dennis Anfuso, left, along with Oz fest committee member Terry O'Donnell, right, through the museum Thursday. (Photography by Jon L. Hendricks/The Times.)

Local hotels are noticing an impact from the festival.

“We are getting higher than normal reservations, and we’re pretty close to being sold out,” said Mitch Mkuta, front desk clerk at the Spring House Inn.

Chesterton/Duneland Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Heather Ennis said they too have a good idea of the economic impact to come.

“We’ve had people stopping in and have had a ton of phone calls from people looking for information on the Oz festival, places to stay, places to eat, and we’ve just had a lot of traffic,” Ennis said. “We really appreciate the efforts of the Duneland Business Initiative.”

Blount said the impact also is seen in something that is less tangible but more powerful than dollars.

“It’s unbelievable the community outreach we’ve had, with businesses helping other businesses, kids coming to help, everyone getting involved to make it work,” she said. “You don’t see that too often, and it’s been amazing.”

Cabinet members, Mayor Clay, others attend annual planning group luncheon in Chicago

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood came to Chicago on Thursday to deliver a message that could have big implications for Northwest Indiana.

“I want to talk about high-speed rail,” the former Illinois congressional representative told a panel moderator as he ignored her question in front of 1,000 people at Chicago’s Hyatt Regency.

“High-speed passenger rail is coming to America, and that’s the biggest part of building sustainable and livable communities,” he said in sparking the biggest applause of the afternoon at the annual luncheon of Chicago’s Metropolitan Planning Council.

The Indiana Department of Transportation three weeks ago applied for $71.4 million in federal funds to build an Indiana Gateway for high-speed rail just north of Gary/Chicago International Airport.

Gary Mayor Rudy Clay, listening in the audience, said some people have it backward when they say that a Chicago-to-Detroit high speed rail line should have a stop at Gary/Chicago International Airport.

“That’s where they need to start from,” Clay said. “If Chicago gets the Olympics in 2016, the airport will be the economic engine for all of Northwest Indiana.”

LaHood was one of two Obama Cabinet members serving on the panel that took questions submitted by the audience. With LaHood was U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson, along with White House Office of Urban Affairs Director Adolfo Carrion and Housing and Urban Development Senior Adviser Shelley Poticha.

The four were kicking off a nationwide tour to gather ideas for President Barack Obama’s sustainable cities initiative that will take them to Denver, Los Angeles, Atlanta and other cities in the coming weeks.

Clay and Gary Common Council President Ronier Scott also were enthusiastic about the panel’s emphasis on getting money directly to cities and communities. The city of Gary has several pending applications for stimulus funding from HUD.

“Basically their whole focus will be on cities just like Gary,” Scott said.

Clay and Scott were at the luncheon as part of The Times-sponsored One Region/One Vision initiative, which also includes the Metropolitan Planning Council.

The Indiana Gateway for high-speed rail would be a key link in a Chicago-to-Detroit high-speed corridor that would cut the current six-hour Amtrak trip to just four hours.

It is part of an overall plan put together by eight Midwest governors, including Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels.

Estimated raw steel production in the Northwest Indiana/Chicago area—the nation’s second-largest steel producing region—was 388,000 tons during the week ending Sept. 12 up from the 384,000 tons produced the week prior, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute.

Production in the Southern District, the nation’s largest steel-producing region, was 495,000 tons during the same period.

Domestic mills produced 1.37 million tons of steel last week, down 32 percent from the 2.02 million tons made during the same period in 2008. U.S. steel mills operated at 57.5 percent capacity last week versus 56.2 percent capacity during the previous week.

For the year to date, U.S. steel mills produced 40.6 million tons of steel versus 78.2 million tons during the comparable 2008 period.

Increased operational efficiencies and voluntary employee buy-outs will allow The Times Media Co. to meet its budget projection for fiscal 2010, Publisher Bill Masterson Jr. said Tuesday.

“I feel good about where we are. We will be in good shape in the new year,” Masterson said during one of three similar meetings with employees.

Masterson said changes to the newspaper’s delivery system and press runs “will save us big dollars.”

Those savings, along with a five-day employee furlough in the first fiscal quarter, meet an expense-reduction target for the company’s fiscal year beginning Oct.1.

“Unlike others, there are no layoffs planned at The Times,” he said. “We are investing in the people of Northwest Indiana.”

Masterson said the company—with its newspaper, website and specialty publications—has weathered the recession, “and we are headed back up.”

Three employees opted for a voluntary buy-out, including early retirement by Deputy Executive Editor Donald Asher. A 14-year veteran of The Times, Asher previously served as general manager of the company’s Porter County operations.

He will continue as a member of newspaper’s editorial board.

Masterson said innovation is playing a part in the company’s ability to “better our bottom line while better serving the public.”

For instance, he said, many participants in the classroom Newspaper in Education program have switched from the print version to the e-edition of The Times, thus saving great amounts newsprint and reducing the company’s cost.

In other cost-saving measures, the company has relocated its Munster call center and moved building maintenance in-house.

“We are not closing any offices,” Masterson said, “We will continue to be accessible and active in the communities we serve.”

The Times maintains offices in Munster, Crown Point, Valparaiso, Portage and Indianapolis.

Masterson said the company is being “proactive to do all we can to build revenue.” The Munster operation this year began accepting customer phone calls for other newspapers of Iowa-based Lee Enterprises, parent of The Times.

“While others are outsourcing, we are in-sourcing and keeping jobs here,” Masterson said. “As I see our position for the future, we are on the leading edge.”

Seeking to cut costs and bring new drugs to market more quickly as its best-sellers go off-patent, drugmaker Eli Lilly & Co. said Monday it will eliminate 5,500 jobs over two years and reorganize into five business units.

The Indianapolis company said it will reduce its work force by nearly 14 percent, to 35,000 from the current 40,500, by the end of 2011. The new total excludes hirings in high-growth emerging markets and Japan.

Lilly hopes to cut annual costs by $1 billion per year over the same time, and will organize itself into the following units: cancer, diabetes, established markets, emerging markets, and Elanco, its animal health business.

According to Lilly’s website, its drugs get to the market 10 to 15 years after they are discovered, and testing and discovery costs $800 million to $1.2 billion for successful drugs. Lilly has only received approval for one new drug since 2005. That was the blood thinner Effient, which reached the market in August after an 18-month FDA review.

Key Lilly products like the anti-psychotic drug Zyprexa will lose patent protection starting in 2011, with three other drugs—antidepressant Cymbalta, Humalog insulin and cancer drug Gemzar—losing protection in 2013. CEO John Lechleiter believes the company’s best path to profit growth involves focusing on its early and mid stage drug candidates.

Lilly is not planning an acquisition on the scale of Pfizer’s $68 billion purchase of Wyeth, or Merck’s $41 billion deal for Schering-Plough. But the company bought cancer drug maker ImClone Systems for $6 billion last year to acquire the cancer drug Erbitux and help balance the revenue it would lose when Zyprexa, Cymbalta, Humalog and Gemzar faced generic competition. The products were Lilly’s four best-sellers in 2008, with combined revenue of $10.85 billion—more than half the company’s total.

The move will leave the developer of Prozac without a separate division devoted to mental health, as the neuroscience business will be part of the established markets unit, the largest of the five businesses. Spokeswoman Angela Sekston said mental health is still a priority for the company.

“We’re not walking away from our presence in that field,” she said. “We’re going to maintain a strong research presence, absolutely, in neuroscience.”

The company’s pipeline includes drugs for Alzheimer’s disease, depression, and alcohol addiction, but those are outnumbered by potential treatments for cancer, osteoporosis, and diabetes.

Sekston said there is more room for growth in the diabetes market, as incidents of the disease, which is associated with other health problems, are exploding. The company launched the diabetes drug Byetta in 2005, but sales dropped by almost a third last year due to safety concerns. Lilly is working on a once-a-week version of the drug.

Lilly’s drugs in late-stage development include potential treatments for cancer, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s disease.

The company said it hopes to make some of the reductions through retirements and attrition, but couldn’t speculate on how many of the cuts will be made that way.

It suggested most of the reductions will be in the U.S., including Indiana, where Lilly employs about 13,600 people.

The reorganization builds on the ImClone purchase as former ImClone CEO John Johnson will lead the new oncology business. Enrique Coterno, currently the head of U.S. operations, will lead the diabetes business. Bryce Carmine, who is in charge of global marketing and sales, will lead the established markets unit, and intercontinental region head Jacques Tapiero will be in charge of emerging markets. Those appointments are effective Nov. 1.

Elanco head Jeffrey Simmons will keep his post. The company also said Tim Garnett and Tom Verhoeven will lead a Development Center of Excellence within its research laboratories, which will be focused on streamlining drug development.

The company also backed its annual guidance, calling for a profit of $4.14 to $4.24 per share, or $4.20 to $4.30 per share excluding one-time costs. Analysts on average expect $4.28 per share, according to Thomson Reuters.

In afternoon trading, shares of Eli Lilly rose 25 cents to $33.07.

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Visclosky joins with steel producers to restrict imports; Gov. Mitch Daniels reports progress in Asian trade mission and Porter County unanimously approves $12.4 million tax abatement for Porter Hospital. Casino revenues are down, more lawyers may get involved in Porter County RDA fight, V-P Biden quietly attends wake in M'ville Friday night and a health care clinic that won't deal with insurance companies opens NWI locations.—Pat Colander, Editor and Associate Publisher, BusINess magazine, serving Northwest Indiana & Chicagoland

BusINess story of the week

• Visclosky, industry officials fight to restrict steel imports
Testifying before the U.S. International Trade Commission last week, U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky urged the panel to extend restrictions on imports of certain types of steel products from China, Russia and Ukraine. Visclosky, D-Merrillville, said restrictions on cut-to-length carbon steel plate should be maintained to protect trade laws and domestic manufacturing. nwi.com

what’s news

• Governor optimistic about opportunities after Asia trip
Gov. Mitch Daniels said visiting Hangzhou in the Zhejiang—a province with a population of 47 million—last week was the most important part, so far, of his Asian trade mission. Also, Daniels and Purdue University Vice Provost Victor Lechtenberg met with representatives of the Zhejiang Agricultural Bureau, which oversees imports of U.S. produce. The Governor is scheduled to return to Indiana tomorrow. nwi.com/inbusiness

• Council OKs hospital abatement
Citing the need for more jobs, a quality health care facility and a general boost to the local economy, the Porter County Council unanimously approved $12.4 million in tax breaks over a 10-year period tax abatements for the new Porter hospital. nwi.com

• Casino revenues down across NWI
Revenue at casinos across Northwest Indiana dropped an average of 10 percent compared to a year ago, according to figures the Indiana Gaming Commission released last week. The five casinos along Lake Michigan took in a total of $97.42 million, compared with $108.21 million in August 2008. nwi.com/inbusiness

• More lawyers may get involved in Porter County RDA fight
Auditor James Kopp said he wants to leave it up to a judge to decide whether he and Treasurer James Murphy should be making the $3.5 million annual payment while the courts decide whether the county can withdraw from the RDA. The county makes four payments of $875,000 a year to the RDA and the July 31 payment was not made, he said. nwi.com

this week on our website

• Doctor claims health care reform bill is a clunker
Alexander Stemer, M.D., president and CEO of Medical Specialists Centers of Indiana, believes the health care plan will hurt more than it helps. nwi.com/inbusiness

• Green Homes on Parade
September 18 through 27, Porter County Builders Association will host the nation’s first Green Homes on Parade at The Village in Burns Harbor. Visitors can learn about what makes a home “green” and about living green in the nation’s first green certified community. nwi.com/inbusiness

• Bill Masterson Jr.—Nita has big shoes to fill with Mazer’s departure
This week, Dan Nita has taken over as general manager of the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond while former manager Rick Mazer holds meetings in Las Vegas. Mazer is the newly promoted regional president of HIFOB, the acronym for Harrah’s, Imperial Palace, Flamingo, O’Sheas and Bill’s casinos, which he will oversee in Vegas. nwi.com/inbusiness

• Valparaiso University enrollment rises to highest level since 1983
Valparaiso University’s fall enrollment has reached its highest level in more than 25 years, including record enrollment in its programs for graduate and law students. nwi.com/inbusiness

• Colleges swamped with new students, laid-off workers
A higher-than-expected number of new students prompted PUC to close fall-semester admission for new undergraduate students at 4 p.m. Aug. 28. Classes started Aug. 31. nwi.com/inbusiness

• Ivy Tech enrollment reaches record 110,000 in fall
Ivy Tech officials say 110,359 students were enrolled on the first day of classes Monday. That’s an increase of 24,560 students over last fall, or a 28.6 percent jump. nwi.com/inbusiness

beyond the region

• INDIANAPOLIS—Sloppy accounting pays off for Gary mayor
Gary Mayor Rudy Clay was paid $55,961.57 by the Gary Sanitary District three weeks before Christmas last year to make up for three years of underpayments, a state audit found. Calculating errors by the Sanitary District led to Clay’s getting an additional $2,803.53 in April, for a total of $58,765.10 in underpayments since Clay took office April 7, 2006. nwi.com

• WASHINGTON—U.S. puts duties on steel pipe from China
The U.S. Commerce Department said last week it set preliminary duties as high as 31 percent on steel pipe from China, affirming concerns domestic producers raised that the products were being subsidized by the Chinese government. Four Chinese firms received countervailing duty rates between 11 percent and 31 percent and all other Chinese producers and exporters will receive a 21.33 percent duty rate. nwi.com

upcoming and interesting

• Company offers affordable health care without insurance
Hoosier Healthcare Health eAccess program charges $25 per month for discounted medical services, unlimited access to physicians and practitioners, and discounted prescriptions through Fagen Pharmacy. The program does not work with insurance companies or other middlemen and there are no deductibles, co-pays or appointments necessary. nwi.com/inbusiness

• Biden quietly attends wake in Lake County
Far from the roar of national politics, Vice President Joe Biden quietly honored a Merrillville man in the region Friday night. Biden, along with his wife, Jill, paid a brief, unannounced visit to the area to attend the wake of John Pupillo, the father of Biden’s head Secret Service guard, Dale Pupillo. At Rendina Funeral Home, the Bidens—escorted by a hefty security detail—paid their respects for about two hours, chatting with Pupillo’s family and friends. nwi.com

Gov. Mitch Daniels, right, concludes his final day of business last week on the China portion of his Asian economic development mission in Hangzhou, China. Daniels and an Indiana delegation, including Valparaiso Mayor Jon Costas, hosted receptions for Chinese companies and met privately with Chinese executives trying to convince them to expand their businesses to Indiana. The delegation now is in Japan and will return to Indiana on Wednesday. (Photograph courtesy of Governor Mitch Daniels' office.)

If success in business depends on who you know, then Gov. Mitch Daniels set his sights on a prime opportunity when he spent last week making connections for Indiana in China, the world’s most populous country.

“We only have one goal on any of these trips, and that’s to in-source jobs to Indiana,” Daniels said from China through a video on Youtube.

To that end, Daniels hosted receptions for Chinese companies and met privately with Chinese executives trying to convince them to expand their businesses to Indiana.

“End to end we were seeing businesses that have a serious interest in the United States market and in bringing jobs and investment there,” Daniels said. “I think there’s a lot of jobs and business to be had.”

The governor said visiting Hangzhou in the Zhejiang province last week was the most important part, so far, of his Asian trade mission.

Zhejiang, with a population of 47 million, is located on the east coast of China, south of Shanghai. Former Republican Indiana Gov. Robert Orr signed a sister-state agreement between Indiana and Zhejiang in 1987.

“I don’t know if he saw what they’d become. Maybe it was a stroke of luck,” Daniels said of Orr’s agreement. “But we couldn’t pick a better partner in terms of a part of China where businesses are growing at a rate that will lead them to eventually create jobs, I believe, in our state.”

In addition to Hangzhou businesses, Daniels and Purdue University Vice Provost Victor Lechtenberg met with representatives of the Zhejiang Agricultural Bureau, which oversees imports of U.S. produce.

“Agriculture in Zhejiang is much more diversified than in Indiana, but there remains a need in Zhejiang for many of the agricultural products that are produced in our state,” Lechtenberg said. “So I think there is great potential and opportunity for future trade.”

Daniels attended a reception last week celebrating the 22nd anniversary of the sister-state relationship, hosted by Zhejiang Party Secretary Zhao Hongzhu. He also met with Zhejiang Gov. Lu Zushan.

Earlier in the week, Daniels visited the Chinese facilities of Indiana-based companies Cummins Inc. and Eli Lilly and Co. in Shanghai.

Democratic House Speaker Pat Bauer, of South Bend, last week marveled over the Republican governor’s plan to visit jobs that had left Indiana.

But Daniels told an Indianapolis television station through an Internet interview from China that Bauer “never has understood where jobs come from” and that the state would have few jobs left if it followed the speaker’s policies.

The governor and the rest of the Indiana delegation, including Valparaiso Mayor Jon Costas and NIPSCO executive Donald Babcock, are now in Japan, where they’ll meet with executives from Japanese companies that have already opened Indiana facilities, including Toyota and Subaru. They also will visit Indiana’s sister state in Japan, Tochigi Prefecture.

This 10-day Asian trade mission is Daniels’ fifth job-hunting foreign trip since becoming governor in 2005. The trip is paid for by private donations to the Indiana Economic Development Foundation and is not using tax dollars.

The delegation is scheduled to return to Indiana on Wednesday.

Crown Point business helps beer-, wine-making hobbies supplied

Bob Heinlein shows the wide variety of specialty grains he has available for creating different kinds of beers at his Crown Point store. On Friday, Heinlein opened the brick-and-mortar store for his online business, Kennywood Brewing supplies. The business serves the hobbyist beer brewer and winemaker. (Photograph by Tony V. Martin/The Times.)

Bob Heinlein started brewing his own beer as a hobby 11 years ago. That hobby has turned into a Northwest Indiana business that helps others create the perfect brew or wine.

“There are no alcohol sales here. We don’t sell beer or wine. We sell the equipment and mixes that help people make their own,” Heinlein says.

Kennywood Brewing Supply started six years ago in an addition to Heinlein’s home. “At first we sold supplies online. That evolved into people asking if they could stop by to pick up their supplies to eliminate shipping costs,” he says. “Then we started setting up appointments.”

On Friday night, a new Kennywood Brewing Supply opened its doors on the Courthouse Square in Crown Point in a small shop at 3 North Court St. Customers can visit and buy beer- and wine-making supplies from 5:30 to 8 p.m. on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays; and from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays. The shop is closed on Sundays through Tuesdays.

There’s something special about brewing your own beer or making your own wine, Heinlein says.

By law, each household can make 200 gallons of beer and 200 gallons of wine for their own consumption.

“It used to be that a household could make 200 gallons of wine, but not beer. President Jimmy Carter (had that law) repealed to allow people to brew their own beer,” Heinlein says.

For years, Heinlein created his own beer-making kits. Now the kits are manufactured and sold in boxes that include malt extract, hops, yeast and even bottle caps.

Kits are available to brew 28 styles of beer, Heinlein says, and Kennywood Brewing Supply offers 25 varieties of hops and 50 types of straining yeast. Customers can also buy bags of grain. Each kit makes five gallons of beer, which represents two cases and one six-pack of finished brew.

Seasonal beers, including stouts for winter and light ales for spring, can also be brewed at home with supplies from Kennywood.

Equipment home brewers need is also available there, including bottles, kegs, faucets, carbon-dioxide canisters for making draft beer, and copper coils with plastic tubing that cools down the boiled mixture of malt, sugar and hops known as “wort” so yeast can be added.

Most of the world’s beer is based on the water available locally, but home brewers can also buy additives at Kennywood that will replicate the water from a specific region of the world.

Brewing beer dates back millennia, Heinlein says. “The world’s oldest recipe was for beer,” he says. “We have books of recipes and recipes we’ve created.” Two of Heinlein’s own beer creations have won silver medals in national competitions sponsored by the American Homebrewers Association.

The basic set up to brew beer at home costs between $75 and $125, Heinlein says.

In addition, Kennywood offers wine-making kits, which feature various fruit juices and which will each create six gallons or 30 bottles of wine.

“Grapes are available once a year, but the kits are around all year,” Heinlein says.

Among the wine-making supplies customers will find at Kennywood are fermenting pails, glass carboys, wine bottles and corks. Equipment and supplies to make wine cost about $125, he says.

A variety of chemicals are also sold here to clean and sanitize equipment.

“Everything that comes in contact with beer or wine has to be sanitized,” Heinlein says. “These are food-grade sanitizing products.”

Those who want to create beer or wine “Made in Northwest Indiana” will find an advocate in Bob Heinlein and Kennywood Brewing Supply.

“I got my first beer-making kit from my father as a birthday present for my 40th birthday. That was 11 years ago,” he says. “Now it’s become a life passion. I love the hobby and the people in it.”

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 the Porter County Builders Association:

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 Valparaiso University:

Valparaiso University's fall enrollment has reached its highest level in more than 25 years, including record enrollment in its programs for graduate and law students.

A total of 4,070 students are enrolled at Valpo, the highest total since 4,190 were enrolled in 1983 and an increase of more than 2 percent from last year's fall enrollment.

“Seeing increased enrollment in each of Valpo's divisions—undergraduate, graduate and law—during a challenging economy is an indicator that students and families know the high value of a Valpo education,” said President Mark A. Heckler.

“They tell us that they are attracted to Valpo because of our strong track record of retaining and graduating students in a timely manner due to the individualized attention they receive from our faculty and staff.

“They also convey that the added value of a Valpo experience rests in its compelling education experience, both inside and outside the classroom, that will prepare graduates for lifelong personal and professional success.”

Valpo's graduate programs continue to grow, with 579 students enrolled in graduate studies this fall, an increase of more than 16 percent from the record 498 students enrolled in fall 2008. Increased graduate student enrollment has been driven by the recent launch of new master's programs in international economics and finance, digital media and sports media, as well as the expansion of Valpo's existing graduate programs.

The School of Law also set a new enrollment record with 599 students this fall, topping the previous high of 596 students set last year.

Enrollment in undergraduate programs totals 2,892 this fall, including 845 new students, up from 2,885 in fall 2008. Among new students, Valpo experienced growth in enrollment of first-time freshmen students and transfer students from 2008 to this year.

Gender balance among Valpo's students remains virtually the same as a year ago, with women making up 52 percent of the student body. Fourteen percent of Valpo's freshmen are members of an ethnic minority, up from 13 percent last year. Members of traditionally under-represented minorities compose 27 percent of Valpo's first-year law students.

The typical freshman had a score of 1144 on the SAT (critical reading and mathematics sections), which is 128 points higher than the national average of 1016 for high school seniors taking the test last year, and a 3.28 high school grade point average on a 4.0 scale.

Valpo's students come from 44 states and Washington, D.C., as well as 37 countries on six continents. This year's freshman class includes students from 28 states and 14 countries in addition to the United States.

This summer, Valpo set a new record in enrollment for its summer sessions due in large part to a greater variety of online courses made available to students. A total of 1,883 students enrolled in 2009 summer courses at Valpo, an increase of more than 15 percent from last year's summer enrollment of 1,635 students.

People play slots at the Blue Chip Casino in Michigan City. The five Indiana casinos along Lake Michigan took in a total of $97.42 million, compared with $108.21 million in August 2008. (Photograph by John Luke/The Times file photo.)

Revenue at casinos across Northwest Indiana dropped an average of 10 percent compared to a year ago, according to figures the Indiana Gaming Commission released Wednesday.

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However, that downturn is typical of the last full month of summer, according to Ed Feigenbaum, the publisher of Indianapolis-based Indiana Gaming Insight newsletter.

“Last August’s numbers were the result of the grand reopening of the gaming platform at the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond,” Feigenbaum said. “There was pent-up demand from July and anticipation of what that new platform would be. People wanted to see what the buzz was all about.”

That interest in the newly remodeled Horseshoe spilled over into the region’s other casinos, Feigenbaum said.

This year, the historic trend of revenue declines in August returned, he said.

“We usually see a drop from July to August,” he said.

“Obviously the economy is playing a role, but revenues in August are historically less.”

However, Feigenbaum said the statewide revenue decline is “a little disappointing.”

The five casinos along Lake Michigan took in a total of $97.42 million, compared with $108.21 million in August 2008.

Blue Chip in Michigan City had $15.37 million in revenue, a decline of 7.1 percent from a year ago. Even Horseshoe, which has posted revenue gains each month of 2009, saw a 9.2 percent decline in revenue to $42.15 million in August 2009 from $46.44 million a year ago.

The worst showings were at the two Majestic Star casinos in Gary and Ameristar Casino in East Chicago. All three saw a double-digit drop in revenue.

Majestic Star I’s August-to-August revenues were down 13.2 percent to $9.57 million from $11.03 million in 2008. Majestic Star II dropped to $7.48 million for August 2009 from $8.59 million a year ago, for a decline of 12.8 percent.

Ameristar’s revenues dropped to $22.85 million in August compared to $25.60 million in the same month a year ago.

Adjusted gross receipts for Illinois’ nine riverboats were down 9.75 percent overall in August as compared to the same month last year, according to revenue figures from the Illinois Gaming Board.

August 2009 casino revenues

CASINO AUGUST REVENUE % CHANGE FROM 2008
Ameristar $22.85 million down 10.7 percent
Blue Chip $15.37 million down 7.1 percent
Horseshoe $42.15 million down 9.2 percent
Majestic Star I $9.57 million down 13.2 percent
Majestic Star II $7.48 million down 12.8 percent
Combined $97.42 million down 9.97 percent

The Valparaiso Hoosier Healthcare Clinic, located at 2590 Morthland Drive, is now open and will be serving patients for $25 a month, allowing people to bypass insurance companies.

Hoosier Healthcare co-owner Donald Kiger went to see his physician in May for an annual test. About three hours and $250 later, Kiger left the office thinking there had to be an easier way to get preventive health care.

“There’s a big market out there that’s not being developed,” said Kiger, company CEO and president. “We already had the clinic. We already had the experience. Why not build?”

And build he did.

Now Hoosier Healthcare’s traditional occupational health center has opened its doors to the public. Its new Health eAccess program charges $25 per month for discounted medical services, unlimited access to physicians and practitioners, and discounted prescriptions through Fagen Pharmacy. Kiger said there are no other health care models like Health eAccess in the Midwest.

More than 200 patients have signed up for the program since it began in June. There are now locations in Portage and Valparaiso, with plans to open additional Porter County clinics.

The program does not work with insurance companies or other middlemen. There are no deductibles, co-pays or appointments necessary. Those not part of the Health eAccess program pay $75 for a walk-in visit.

Nurse Practitioner Debra Gaul looks over a patient file Tuesday at the Valparaiso branch of Hoosier Healthcare. (Photography by Kyle Telechan/The Times.)

Additional services beyond office visits, such as X-rays, hearing tests and injections, cost a small fee. Kiger said the cost is much lower than at other health care providers, because the program does not deal with insurance, Medicaid or Medicare.

Kiger said Health eAccess’s for-profit model is the future of health care, and its startup is timely, given that leaders and policy-makers in Washington, D.C., are debating public programs and nonprofit cooperatives as potential pieces of national health care reform.

But Samuel Flint, an assistant professor of public affairs at Indiana University Northwest, said this model would help only a niche group of patients receive affordable care and is by no means a systemic solution. He said it just provides another health care option.

“The unfortunate part is the health care system is so fragmented,” Flint said. “We need to reduce the fragmentation and duplication. . . . We need to move toward a more comprehensive, uniform, electronic system.”

Some patients see superior care

Kiger believes the Health eAccess program is the kind of grassroots innovation that will change health care in the United States.

“I believe health care reform is not going to change by regulations,” Kiger said. “It has to change by the patient model and how a patient accesses health care.”

Exam rooms at the Valparaiso Hoosier Healthcare Clinic are stocked and ready for patients. (Photography by Kyle Telechan/The Times.)

Patient Lynn Wellsand, who has muscular dystrophy, agrees. She and her husband have catastrophic insurance that would cover them in extreme, unexpected circumstances, such as if they were diagnosed with cancer, but they do not have health insurance. Wellsand said she went to the Hoosier Healthcare clinic to get a prescription refilled and ended up joining the monthly program in July.

“I wasn’t just a patient’s name; I seemed to be a person,” Wellsand said. “It made me feel like they take my health seriously.”

She said the care and attention she was given, including a nurse practitioner’s follow-up phone calls to check on how she was doing, inspired her to take better care of herself.

“I (had given) up checking my blood sugar every day,” Wellsand said. “Now I’m faithfully testing my sugar.”

Dr. Dean A. Shoucair, Hoosier Healthcare co-owner, medical director and medical review officer, said Health eAccess patients get more time with their practitioner or physician than patients at traditional primary-care offices, where low insurance reimbursement rates can force doctors to see up to 40 patients each day.

Catherine More, a radiologic technologist at the Valparaiso Hoosier Healthcare Clinic, demonstrates Tuesday the clinic's on-site X-ray machine. (Photography by Kyle Telechan/The Times.)

“I want to make sure the person is taken care of,” Shoucair said. “I’m their advocate.”

Shoucair said the clinic’s one-stop-shop model also saves patients money. A suture that would cost about $750 in an emergency room would cost about $125 through the Health eAccess program, he said.

Small businesses embrace low-cost approach

Some area small businesses such as Family Mobile Medical Services in Merrillville are using the Health eAccess program as a way to offer its 150 employees affordable health care. Not having to keep track of premiums and deductibles is a plus for them.

“It allows us to offer our employees some sort of health plan,” said Hilary Anderson, assistant to the company’s president.

Anderson said the company’s insurance rates were increasing about 40 percent each year.

“This year when it went up, it sort of priced us and our employees out of health insurance,” she said.

In the past, the company was paying about $170 per month, per employee, for health insurance, Anderson said. Now it pays about $20 per employee for the Health eAccess program.

Programs like Hoosier Healthcare’s are great at offering more access to health care, but it cannot replace insurance coverage, said Leigh Westergren, employee-benefit specialist with Anton Insurance Agency, with locations in Valparaiso and Chesterton.

“The Health eAccess program is going to provide an opportunity for people to come in off the street and see someone and not have to wait,” Westergren said. “But as far as a health-insurance program, it is a provider, not an insurance program.”

Westergren said it would be a great supplement for catastrophic insurance or for people with a high-deductible plan, where they have to pay thousands of dollars out of their own pocket before insurance reimbursements kick in.

“People can see someone for something minor, and they don’t have to freak out about it because they have to pay until they reach their deductible,” Westergren said.

A live video feed of Barnes & Thornburg LLP’s next Life Science Lunch Series seminar, “Neuroscience Research Preview,” is set for 10:30 a.m. to noon at the Hammond Innovation Center (5209 Hohman Ave, Hammond) and the Purdue Technology Center (9800 Connecticut Dr, Merrillville).

The program will explore the many aspects of the industry and new research topics, and participants will hear from a company working in the field. Speakers include John Hixon, senior director, global new product planning—Neuroscience, Eli Lilly and Company

For more information or to register, visit btlaw.com or contact Jodie Daugherty at Jodie.Daugherty@BTLaw.com or 317.261.7922. To register at the Hammond INnovation Center, call 219.750.1200 or e-mail innovate@calumet.purdue.edu. To register at the Purdue Technology Center, contact Lynette Cieslak 219.644.3680 or email ljcieslak@prf.org.

The neuroscience sector has long been recognized as one of Indiana’s most strategic areas with demonstrated strengths in research, drug and device development, and patient care. We will explore the many aspects of the industry, learn about new research topics, and hear from a company working in the field.

Jillian Cawthon, on left, from Hobart and her lab partner Christina Avgerinas, from Munster, work Wednesday on a lab problem while at Purdue University Calumet. Cawthon is a returning student back to school after living three years in Washington D.C. with her husband in the military. (Photograph by Tony V. Martin/The Times.)

Janaya Hood found herself driving up and down each aisle of the parking lot at the Student Union and Library building at Purdue University Calumet in Hammond, searching for a parking space.

Not one was free.

The Michigan native who lives in a campus dormitory said it was clear this school year the parking lot and classes were full.

Hood, a sophomore majoring in biological sciences, said her classes also are full.

“A friend of mine told me there are 10 extra people in one of her classes, and there aren’t enough seats at all,” she said Thursday.

Sophomore Marylin Biddle, 25, of Hammond, said it’s the same thing every year.

“At the beginning of school, it’s always really crowded, but by the fourth week of school, it has thinned out some,” the sociology major said.

A higher-than-expected number of new students prompted PUC to close fall-semester admission for new undergraduate students at 4 p.m. Aug. 28. Classes started Aug. 31.

Ralph Rogers, PUC vice chancellor for academic affairs, said many of the traditional, new-student class sections are at or near capacity, as the campus experienced unprecedented demand this fall.

Officials at colleges and universities in Northwest Indiana attribute the surge in enrollment at PUC and other institutions to the lackluster economy, as laid-off or underemployed workers join traditional students in the classroom.

The unemployment rate last month in Indiana was 10.7 percent compared with 5.6 percent at the same time a year ago.

Melisha Henderson, vice president for student affairs/director of human resources at Calumet College of St. Joseph, said the school suggested “those students who we have turned away for the fall, enroll in the spring.”

Ivy Tech Community College has seen unprecedented growth across its 23 campuses, and college leaders have been worried about possibly having to limit enrollment. For the past five years, Ivy Tech has grown at a phenomenal rate. This past summer, the college’s enrollment shot up 33 percent across the state.

More than 110,000 students take classes at Ivy Tech’s campuses statewide.

Karen Williams, a spokeswoman for Ivy Tech College Northwest, said the school hasn’t turned away any.

As of Sept. 2, Ivy Tech Northwest had 9,324 students enrolled, compared with 6,843 in the fall of 2008.

Officials at Valparaiso University, and Prairie State College and South Suburban College in Illinois also said their enrollments increased.

Jennifer Stoner, spokeswoman for Prairie State College in Chicago Heights, said school enrollment is up more than 12 percent this fall, and the college is making every effort to serve students.

“This is something the entire college, every faculty member and dean, is working on to accommodate our student body,” Stoner said.

Patrick Rush, spokesman for South Suburban College in South Holland, said administrators anticipated a 20 percent jump in enrollment, though final figures weren’t yet available.

“We hope to see the enrollment continue to rise to ensure the growth of our programs, and we are committed to providing all of our current and new students with high-quality services and facilities,” he said.

Enrollment by the numbers for the last five years at local college and universities.

President Barack Obama addresses a joint session of Congress on health care at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, on Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2009. (AP Photo/Jason Reed, pool)

Retired bread truck driver Anthony Lickwar favored health care reform even before watching President Barack Obama’s televised speech Wednesday.

Afterward, “I’m even more in favor of it,” the 73-year-old Griffith resident said.

Others from across the region, including several health care professionals, were less enthusiastic in their reactions.

“I’m skeptical,” said Gene Diamond, CEO of Sisters of St. Francis Health Systems Northern Region, with hospitals in Hammond, Dyer and Crown Point.

Diamond said Obama did a good job delivering the speech.

“He’s a formidable speech maker. He outlined some fundamental truths that we have to contend with within the current health delivery system,” Diamond said

“There were some questionable statements made in the context of the speech,” Diamond said.

Key among them was how the costs of the reform will be covered, Diamond said.

“He indicated that pre-existing conditions must be covered. That’s a laudable goal,” Diamond said.

But if all pre-existing conditions are covered, wouldn’t everyone wait until they got sick to buy insurance? Diamond said.

“The risk pool would be horrible. It’s going to be interesting to see how he threads the needle there.”

Kurt Johnson, president and CEO of Ingalls Health System in Harvey, Ill., said his response was mixed.

“I live day to day in the environment where a large number of patients have no health insurance or are underinsured,” Johnson said. “I deal with their struggles every day.”

Johnson said access to insurance for the millions now uninsured would benefit hospitals, and, “I favor some of the consumer protection that’s being proposed,” including an end to denial of insurance for those with pre-existing conditions.

“Where I’m having this huge disconnect is where this plan will be funded,” Johnson said.

Cuts to the current Medicare system to fund reform “would be catastrophic,” Johnson said.

“My No. 1 fear about what he’s proposing is that current Medicare beneficiaries will see dramatic reductions in their coverage and their benefits,” Johnson said.

Alex Stemer, president and CEO of Medical Specialists Center of Indiana, with facilities in Porter County, said he, too, worries about how the reform plan would be funded.

“Obama said he would not pass a plan that will add a (dime) to our deficit,” Stemer said.

If spending cuts are to fund the plan, as Obama proposed, “where are the cuts going to come from,” Stemer said.

“The president has written a check he can’t cash,” Stemer said.

Lickwar, whose health care is covered by Medicare and a supplemental insurance policy, said his concern is for those who don’t have health care coverage, especially for single-parent families.

Often for them, “it comes down to having to choose between paying rent, utilities and everything else you have to have to survive, or for health care,” he said.

Aria and Rick Mazer, in the Seven Stars Lounge at the Horseshoe Casino, have relocated to Las Vegas after proving their leadership and affinity to Northwest Indiana. (Photograph courtesy of The Times.)

They say some of the most profound changes go unnoticed for years until people have a chance to reflect on what was and what is.

This week, Dan Nita has taken over as general manager of the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond while former manager Rick Mazer holds meetings in Las Vegas. Mazer is the newly promoted regional president of HIFOB, the acronym for Harrah’s, Imperial Palace, Flamingo, O’Sheas and Bill’s casinos, which he will oversee in Vegas.

Rick was the first businessperson I met almost three years ago. Just days after my arrival he invited me along with Pat Colander and Jeff Kumorek to dinner in the Horseshoe Casino’s fine-dining restaurant. He wanted to welcome me to the area while checking to see what type of person I was and the commitment I would have to Northwest Indiana.

We spent the evening discussing politics, initiatives and causes while enjoying one of the best steaks I have ever had—and considering I hail from Oklahoma, that’s saying a lot!

But the conversation during dinner told me a lot about Rick, something his actions would reinforce over the following three years. What I’ve learned is he doesn’t like cheap, he doesn’t play games, everyone is welcome at his table regardless of social status, and he cares deeply about Northwest Indiana.

I met Rick a few weeks later when I hadn’t expected to see him. Dressed in my favorite outfit of blue jeans, boots, shirt and ball cap, I went to his casino on a Friday after 6 p.m. I assumed Rick was gone for the weekend, but I wanted him to know I had patronized his establishment, so I told an employee to please tell Rick Mazer that I had been there. The next thing I knew I was summoned to a room where Rick, dressed as always in a suit, was having a get-together with friends and local business people from the area. He made sure I met every single person that night to know who they were and what they did.

It’s Rick’s way. He is a people person who genuinely cares.

As I learned, Rick’s commitment to Northwest Indiana runs deep. I suspect that regardless of where he and his wife, Aria, end up, it always will. I add Aria because when it comes to philanthropical endeavors and caring about others, Aria can hold her own with her husband.

Let me share just a few examples of what this unique couple does for our community:

• Rick has been an active board member and past chair of the Lake Area United Way. He and Aria are the current co-chair of this year’s donation campaign which will hopefully not be impacted by his departure.

• He is on the board and past chairman of the Northwest Indiana Forum.

• Rick and Aria were honored with the Humanitarian Award earlier this year by the Sharre Zedek Hospital for their support. During the recognition they hosted a benefit auction generating $120,000 to $130,000 for the hospital.

• They have been active in the Michael J. Fox Foundation’s fight against Parkinson’s disease. Aria chaired the organization’s fundraiser the past few years.

• Both Rick and Aria have been involved with Angels on Assignment for a number of years with Rick receiving the “Arc of Angel Award” last year.

• The couple has been involved with the Haven House for battered women and children and in raising funds for the Toys for Tots campaign.

• The Arch Bridges gala and American Heart Association where Aria was once named “Woman of the Year” are among groups they support.

• Aria has spent several years on the South Shore Arts Association board.

• Rick is on the board for the Gary Crisis Center gala and a member of the board of TradeWinds for more than 10 years.

• He is chairman of the Casino Association of Indiana and a member of its board since inception.

• He is among the founding sponsors of the Northwest Indiana Race Relations Council which received seed money from Mazer and the Horseshoe Casino.

Such a record of caring and sharing is astounding, but that’s only one side of Rick Mazer. You see Rick actively participated in these worthy causes while overseeing the $500 million construction of a new casino boat in Hammond and the $80 million renovation of the company’s southern Indiana property. He employed close to 1,000 union tradesmen in building the new Hammond Horseshoe.

That enabled him to raise Horseshoe’s employment count in Lake County to over 2,500 people with a payroll of $80 million to $100 million annually.

As accomplished as he is as a community leader, Rick is also a success in his career.

So it is with mixed emotions that I and Northwest Indiana say goodbye to Rick Mazer. One needs to be happy for such a deserving person to be given such a deserving promotion, but the void that will undoubtedly be left by both Rick and Aria will be felt for years to come.

Even so, their leaving provides me a new opportunity, getting to know Dan Nita. Just as Rick welcomed me, I welcome Dan to his new home in Northwest Indiana. I look forward to getting to know Dan and working with him in the community.

Maybe we, too, can start over a steak dinner and discussion of politics, initiatives and causes that are important to Northwest Indiana.

Bill Masterson Jr. is publisher for The Times Media Company, which publishes BusINess magazine.

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 the Alzheimer’s Association:

On September 12, the Alzheimer's Association will host a special screening of “Caregivers,” one of the documentaries in the HBO series The Alzheimer's Project followed by a group discussion and Q and A session. The screening will take place at the Harrah’s Horseshoe (777 Casino Dr, Hammond) beginning at 1 p.m. This screening is being held in conjunction with the Harrah’s Foundation and Harrah's Horseshoe Casino.

The free screening event will be an opportunity for those without access to the film to be able to view the documentary. The screening will include viewing of the film which is approximately one hour in length. Following the viewing, attendees will be able to ask questions, discuss the film and share their own personal experiences during the group discussion. This discussion will be lead by professionals in the health care and long-term care fields.

“Caregivers” is a collection of five portraits, each of which highlights the sacrifices and successes made by people experiencing their loved one’s gradual descent into dementia.

As “Caregivers” director Bill Couturié explains: “Not only is it very expensive to pay for care in a nursing home, but the patient is someone you love a lot—a mother, father, spouse. This is someone who has taken care of you, and so it’s only natural to want to take care of them. It’s not uncommon for the caregiver to die before the patient. It’s a 24/7 job and often the caregiver has no help. But it’s a long haul, you can’t live like that and survive. Caregivers must be able to find some respite.”

During the screening, attendees are welcome to pick up information on the upcoming Memory Walk. Hidden Lake Park in Merrillville will be site of the Memory Walk on Sept. 19 with registration beginning at 11 a.m. and the walk beginning at noon.

Today, approximately 5.3 million Americans have Alzheimer's disease, including 120,000 Hoosiers. Every 70 seconds, someone develops Alzheimer's disease, making Alzheimer's disease the 7th leading cause of death. The direct and indirect costs of Alzheimer's disease and other dementia amount to more than $148 billion annually.

The Alzheimer's Association is the world leader in Alzheimer's research and support. Having awarded more than $150 million to nearly 1,300 research projects, the Alzheimer’s Association is the largest private funder of Alzheimer research. The Association's vision is a world without Alzheimer's disease. For more information about Alzheimer’s disease, call 800.272.3900 or visit alz.org/indiana.

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 the Alzheimer’s Association:

On September 12, the Alzheimer's Association will host a special screening of “Caregivers,” one of the documentaries in the HBO series The Alzheimer's Project followed by a group discussion and Q and A session. The screening will take place at the Harrah’s Horseshoe (777 Casino Dr, Hammond) beginning at 1 p.m. This screening is being held in conjunction with the Harrah’s Foundation and Harrah's Horseshoe Casino.

The free screening event will be an opportunity for those without access to the film to be able to view the documentary. The screening will include viewing of the film which is approximately one hour in length. Following the viewing, attendees will be able to ask questions, discuss the film and share their own personal experiences during the group discussion. This discussion will be lead by professionals in the health care and long-term care fields.

“Caregivers” is a collection of five portraits, each of which highlights the sacrifices and successes made by people experiencing their loved one’s gradual descent into dementia.

As “Caregivers” director Bill Couturié explains: “Not only is it very expensive to pay for care in a nursing home, but the patient is someone you love a lot—a mother, father, spouse. This is someone who has taken care of you, and so it’s only natural to want to take care of them. It’s not uncommon for the caregiver to die before the patient. It’s a 24/7 job and often the caregiver has no help. But it’s a long haul, you can’t live like that and survive. Caregivers must be able to find some respite.”

During the screening, attendees are welcome to pick up information on the upcoming Memory Walk. Hidden Lake Park in Merrillville will be site of the Memory Walk on Sept. 19 with registration beginning at 11 a.m. and the walk beginning at noon.

Today, approximately 5.3 million Americans have Alzheimer's disease, including 120,000 Hoosiers. Every 70 seconds, someone develops Alzheimer's disease, making Alzheimer's disease the 7th leading cause of death. The direct and indirect costs of Alzheimer's disease and other dementia amount to more than $148 billion annually.

The Alzheimer's Association is the world leader in Alzheimer's research and support. Having awarded more than $150 million to nearly 1,300 research projects, the Alzheimer’s Association is the largest private funder of Alzheimer research. The Association's vision is a world without Alzheimer's disease. For more information about Alzheimer’s disease, call 800.272.3900 or visit alz.org/indiana.

Hanson Wang, vice manager of CIMC shows Mayor Jon Costas the galvanized steel frames that are on their way to their plant in Monon, Ind., for assembly in truck shipping containers.

Valparaiso Mayor Jon Costas is traveling with Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels’ trade mission to China and Japan this week. You can follow along in his exclusive blog for The Times at my.nwi.com/MayorCostasAsia/blog.

Check out BusINess’ weekly newsletter online or click here to subscribe and get the latest NWI business news delivered weekly, straight to your inbox.

Mortgage rates down, but still over 5 percent; jobs recovery slower than expected; bankruptcy filings are way up in Illinois and Indiana and there is a push on to legalize alcohol sales on Sunday. State will get over $3 million in Pfizer settlement; Indiana AG says Porter County cannot stay out of the RDA and Southwest Airlines will charge for early boarding.—Pat Colander, Editor and Associate Publisher, BusINess magazine, serving Northwest Indiana & Chicagoland

BusINess story of the week

• Mortgage rates edge down, still above record lows
Rates for 30-year home loans edged down last week, remaining close to record lows reached over the spring. The average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage was 5.08 percent, down from 5.14 percent a week earlier. Rates, while above the record low of 4.78 percent hit in the spring, are still at attractive levels for people looking to buy a home or refinance. yahoo.com

what’s news

• New jobless claims rise to 6.2 million
The Labor Department said the number of laid-off workers applying for benefits dipped to 570,000 last week from an upwardly revised 574,000. That was a weaker performance than the drop to 560,000 claims that economists expected. yahoo.com

• Bankruptcy filings rising in 2009
Indiana bankruptcies increased 28.4 percent and Illinois bankruptcies jumped 32.9 percent from Jan. 1 through June 30 compared to the first six months of last year. Bankruptcies filed at federal courts in Hammond, Fort Wayne, Lafayette and South Bend increased 40.2 percent in the first half of 2009 compared to a year earlier. nwi.com

• Porter Co. will fight to stay out of RDA
The Office of Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller has issued an opinion that Porter County’s April exit from the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority and a County Council vote to withhold its yearly payments of $3.5 million per year are illegal. nwi.com/inbusiness

• Indiana to share in Pfizer settlement
Pfizer, the world’s largest drugmaker, agreed to pay $1 billion in civil damages as compensation to Medicare, Medicaid and other federal and state healthcare programs harmed by the company’s conduct. Indiana’s Medicaid program will receive a settlement of $3,694,888.19. nwi.com

this week on our website

• Doctor claims health care reform bill is a clunker
Alexander Stemer, M.D., president and CEO of Medical Specialists Centers of Indiana, believes the health care plan will hurt more than it helps. nwi.com/inbusiness

• Local steel production rises 5,000 tons
Estimated raw steel production in the Northwest Indiana/Chicago area—the nation’s second-largest steel producing region—was 383,000 tons during the week ending Aug. 29 up from the 378,000 tons produced the week prior, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute. nwi.com/inbusiness

• State chamber accepting ‘Small Business of the Year’ nominations
The Indiana Chamber of Commerce is seeking the top small business in the state for its annual competition naming the “Indiana Small Business of the Year.” nwi.com/inbusiness

• Visitors bureau recognizes St. John, Valparaiso
The South Shore Convention and Visitors Authority Board of Directors recently passed two resolutions to recognize the Town of St. John and the City of Valparaiso. nwi.com/inbusiness

beyond the region

• INDIANAPOLIS—Daniels embraces student-centered school reform
Gov. Mitch Daniels last week embraced the possibility of education reform that focuses on growth in student achievement rather than forcing every student to meet a single standard. “Schools cannot control the students who show up, so we’ll be measuring them based on how much improvement they do or don’t bring to those students,” Daniels said after a meeting of Indiana’s Education Roundtable. “I think it’s a much more fair way to evaluate our schools.” nwi.com

• DALLAS—Southwest adds charge to board sooner
Southwest Airlines announced last week that customers can pay extra to reserve a spot in the boarding line right behind elite fliers and ahead of families and other travelers. The Dallas-based discount airline lost $37 million in the first six months of this year, and analysts expect that 2009 will be its first unprofitable year since the early 1970s. nwi.com

upcoming and interesting

• Push on for Sunday alcohol sales
Grant Monahan, who serves as spokesman for the Alliance of Responsible Alcohol Retailers, which is pursuing the changes, said the proposals are all about saving consumers money and providing them with greater convenience. Local liquor store owners disagree. nwi.com

• As Internet turns 40, barriers threaten its growth
Goofy videos weren’t on the minds of Len Kleinrock and his team at UCLA when they began tests 40 years ago on what would become the Internet. Neither was social networking, for that matter, nor were most of the other easy-to-use applications that have drawn more than a billion people online. While the Internet is more widely available and faster than ever, artificial barriers threaten to constrict its growth. usatoday.com

The South Shore Convention and Visitors Authority Board of Directors recently passed two resolutions to recognize the Town of St. John and the City of Valparaiso.

St. John recently ranked 48th on CNN/Money Magazine’s 2009 list of America’s best small towns. Resolution 2009-08-13 cited reasons for recognition including “marketable, friendly communities are what the hospitality product is based on.”

The City of Valparaiso was honored by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce’s 2009 Community of the Year.

“Communities such as St. John and Valparaiso are vital to the growth of tourism and economic development in the South Shore. We congratulate these communities on these prestigious awards,” Vic DeMeyer, president of the SSCVA Board of Directors, said in a news release.

For more information, visit southshorecva.com or call 219.989.7770.

The Indiana Chamber of Commerce is seeking the top small business in the state for its annual competition naming the “Indiana Small Business of the Year.” The honor is given to a Hoosier company that demonstrates best practices in business sustainability and growth, commitment to employees and a track record of community involvement.

The award is open to all Hoosier companies with 250 employees or less. Out-of-state parent companies are eligible to participate if at least 25 full-time employees are in Indiana. Nominations can come from an outside source or by self-nomination.

The application deadline is Sept. 30. Nomination forms are available online at indianachamber.com/awardsprograms. For more information about the nomination process, contact Cam Carter at 317.264.6892 or ccarter@indianachamber.com.

Finalists will be honored and the “Indiana Small Business of the Year” announced at the Chamber’s annual awards luncheon Nov. 10 at the Indiana Convention Center in downtown Indianapolis.

In this photo taken Sunday, Aug. 16, 2009, 2009 Focus sedans sit at a Ford dealership in Centennial, Colo. Two of Ford's vehicles—the Focus and Escape—were among the top selling cars under the clunkers program which was in effect for most of the month (Photograph by David Zalubowski/AP.)

New car buyers will not have to worry about being taxed on their Cash for Clunkers rebate on next year’s tax return, Indiana and Illinois tax authorities said.

Citing the legislation creating the program, Indiana Department of Revenue spokeswoman Stephanie McFarland said in a statement that the credit is not treated as income to buyers, therefore “Hoosier taxpayers will not be taxed on the rebate/voucher amount.”

The Illinois Department of Revenue also said on its website, “the $3,500 or $4,500 payment from the federal government to the dealer is not taxable for sales tax purposes because it is a direct government payment to the dealer.”

Illinois Department of Revenue spokeswoman Susan Hofer also said the purchase would not be treated as taxable income.

However, McFarland said the rebates amounts are considered taxable income for dealerships.

“The federal government is also treating it the same way for the businesses,” McFarland said in the statement. “If the rebate had come from an auto manufacturer to a dealership, it would also be considered taxable income to the business.”

Manufacturer and dealer incentives are also taxable for automobile dealers in Illinois.

Hofer also said that if car buyers bought a vehicle using a manufacturers’ rebate, buyers would pay a sales tax on the final price of the vehicle and income tax on the value of the rebate.

The Indiana attorney general has issued an opinion that Porter County’s April exit from the RDA and a County Council vote to withhold its yearly payments of $3.5 million per year were illegal.

In a blunt opinion issued Thursday, the Office of Attorney General Greg Zoeller said Porter County never had any option when it came to joining the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority because the county was required to do so by the 2005 statute creating the regional development group.

The RDA requested the attorney general’s opinion just days after the Porter County Council’s 4-3 vote to exit.

“The opinion indicates the Legislature put in place a very strong and important structure for Northwest Indiana to undertake transformational projects and efforts that require a regional approach,” said RDA Chairman Leigh Morris, just hours after receiving the opinion.

RDA opponents in Porter County saw the ruling differently.

“They are just trying to rewrite history,” said Porter County Council member Dan Whitten, one of those who voted to exit the RDA.

“Everyone always said Porter County opted into the RDA, including (Hammond Mayor) Tom McDermott,” Whitten said. “Now the attorney general is saying we never had an option.”

Four years before the vote to exit the RDA, the Porter County Council had voted 4-3 to join the RDA. Or so it thought.

Whitten said the county will go ahead with its lawsuit seeking approval of its April move to exit the RDA and to block county Auditor James Kopp and Treasurer James Murphy from transferring county funds to the RDA.

The attorney general’s office is representing the RDA in the case. Thursday’s opinion was contained in an advisory letter to Morris.

It was not clear Thursday if Gus Olympidis, Porter County’s appointment to the RDA, would retake his seat on the board in response to the attorney general’s opinion. Olympidis has not attended an RDA meeting since April in deference to the council’s vote.

Olympidis did not immediately return calls on Thursday.

Despite a public hearing and vigorous debate among Porter County Council members four years ago, the attorney general’s opinion stated the county’s participation in the RDA was “mandatory.”

It said the county was free to determine how it wanted to raise the $3.5 million annual contribution, but that the contribution also was mandatory.

The attorney general’s opinion also dealt with subsequent legislation that established a five-year minimum participation for counties that joined development authorities by saying that bill did not apply to the RDA. And the opinion stated legislation allowing individual municipalities in Porter County to join the RDA after Porter County’s exit was essentially meaningless because the county cannot exit in the first place.

State Rep. Chet Dobis, D-Merrillville, a key architect of the RDA legislation, said Thursday’s ruling was an important one for the RDA.

“It gives them the leeway to do the things they have been charged to do and makes sure the cash will be there to do it,” Dobis said.

RDA opponents were quick to point out the attorney general’s opinion is not binding.

“That’s just an attorney’s opinion,” Porter County Council member Bob Harper said. “It’s like you just went down the street and got an opinion.”

When asked about what role the opinion might play in the upcoming Nov. 3 referendum on forming a four-county regional transportation district, RDA Chairman Morris said there is no connection between the two.

“The RDA had no role in the creation of the regional transportation district or the referendum coming up,” Morris said.

Whitten and Harper said the regional transportation district legislation passed by the General Assembly in June was just another example of state government run amok.

“People need to go to the polls and they need to go to the polls angry,” Whitten said.

As a physician, I want every American to have access to great health care. As an employer who pays for health care and a father of six who consume it, I worry about health care accessibility and experience the problems of excessive costs. We can and should find ways for all Americans to have access to affordable medical care. The current system is proven to deliver the best care in the world. As we work to improve it, we should not risk wrecking it. The speed with which we are being forced to deal with the new health care plan feels very much like we are racing to a bad answer.

In an effort to prevent what has been labeled a crisis, our president has asked Congress to quickly pass sweeping health care reform. There is heated debate on multiple specific aspects of the bill, including the issues of single payer (now withdrawn), end of life counseling (now withdrawn) and health care rationing based on age, pre-existing conditions, etc . . . However, not much attention has been focused on more important concerns still present in the bill. Everyone should ask, “What will be the immediate impact on my ability to get health care?” and, “Will this bill improve health care for most Americans?”

Health Care Accessibility

If we accept that timely access to health care is important, the current bill will hurt most of us. Currently there is a shortage of primary care physicians. Young doctors do not want to enter this field due to heavy workloads, lesser compensation, and burdensome red tape brought on by insurance companies.

This shortage is expected to worsen as our population ages and we will have an instant crisis if we give 45,000,000 more individuals immediate and prepaid access to health care.

Practicing primary care doctors can handle only a few new patients a day. If many who have delayed visiting a doctor suddenly call for appointments, there will be no slots available for them or for established patients. If the current proposal is implemented, the waiting period for doctor appointments will immediately grow by months. In a speech President Obama made before the American Medical Association, he stated that more needs to be done to reward medical students who choose a career as a primary care physician. Even if such rewards are created and effective, it still takes seven years to create a primary care doctor from the day he/she starts medical school. Rushing to give people access, before we create doctors, effectively puts the cart before the horse, and demonstrates a major reason to carefully consider the pace of reform.

Excessive Costs

In contrast to the president's promise, his health care plan will dramatically increase costs. No attention has been given to the excessive charges made by manufacturers of drugs and medical equipment who unreasonably charge $5,000 for hip implants or $50,000 for a pacemaker/defibrillator. The government should first focus on bringing down costs to create good value for Americans. In addition, the costs associated with implementing the electronic medical record coupled with decreased access, and a drop in physician efficiency, have not been addressed at all. Finally, preventive care is a great idea, but it is more expensive, not cheaper.

Tort reform, which Indiana has, limits malpractice awards and has proven to control one part of health care expense. The new health bill totally ignores this essential element of cost control. While it does allocate money for “comparative efficacy” studies, the bill does not tell us when we can expect these studies to yield answers, or what we expect to do with the answers.

Crush the Clunker

Americans currently enjoy the best health care system on the planet. Arguments that other countries have longer life expectancy or less infant mortality ignore specific social problems we endure, like gun violence, our epidemic of obesity, and problems of drug addiction that may not be similarly prevalent in other countries. People travel to the US for health care because of the excellence of our services. Americans with health insurance do not want these services to be lessened. Beneficiaries who will gain access to health care under the new plan will want the type of care they now anticipate, not long waits and no appointments.

The new health care proposal promises much to many, but it will not improve health care for most Americans. While a minority will have more access, the majority will have less. The health care reform process can and should be slowed, carefully evaluated and implemented in a reasonable stepwise fashion. If we seek to improve health care for all, and make it more affordable, we must be careful and smart. The current plan is neither one. This plan is an inefficient, wasteful clunker. It should be crushed.

Estimated raw steel production in the Northwest Indiana/Chicago area—the nation’s second-largest steel producing region—was 383,000 tons during the week ending Aug. 29 up from the 378,000 tons produced the week prior, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute.

Production in the Southern District, the nation’s largest steel-producing region, was 446,000 tons during the same period.

Domestic mills produced 1.31 million tons of steel last week, down 39.3 percent from the 2.2 million tons made during the same period in 2008. U.S. steel mills operated at 54.9 percent capacity last week versus 54.7 percent capacity during the previous week.

U.S. raw steel output has increased for more than 10 consecutive weeks since the week ending June 20.

For the year to date, U.S. steel mills produced 37.8 million tons of steel versus 74.2 million tons during the comparable 2008 period.

Check out BusINess’ weekly newsletter online or click here to subscribe and get the latest NWI business news delivered weekly, straight to your inbox.

Lower prices and tax credit boost home sales; Chicago Cubs sale pending in bankruptcy court; consumer confidence shows signs of life and junk mail declines. Governor Mitch Daniels plans an Asian trade mission for next week; Disney buys 5,000 Marvel Comics characters and Mac’s OS Snow Leopard is critiqued.—Pat Colander, Editor and Associate Publisher, BusINess magazine, serving Northwest Indiana & Chicagoland

BusINess story of the week

• Federal tax credit, falling housing prices buoy sales
The $8,000 income tax credit combined with a drop in prices in the $150,000-$200,000 range has stimulated home sales in NWI. The credit is available to first-time homebuyers and to those who have not owned a home for at least three years. nwi.com

what’s news

• Tribune bankruptcy judge considers Cubs sale
The judge presiding over Tribune Co.’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy case heard a motion yesterday on a two-step process that hopefully will complete the sale of the Chicago Cubs baseball team to the family of billionaire Joe Ricketts, founder of TD Ameritrade. nwi.com

• Consumer confidence shows signs of life, though it may not lead to spending
The consumer and housing reports, along with President Barack Obama's reappointment of Ben Bernanke as Federal Reserve chief, sent the financial markets modestly higher. But economists warned that consumer confidence remains far below levels associated with a healthy economy and might not lead to the increased spending critical for a broad recovery. nwi.com/inbusiness

• As recession wears on, the mail’s a little lighter
Thanks to the economic downturn and rising shipping costs, junk mail volume was down 16 percent from last fall to this summer, on pace for the steepest annual decline in decades. nwi.com

• Sauk Village distribution center faring well despite shaky economy
Key intermodal rail yards are within 15 miles of it, and most of its three buildings are leased; LogistiCenter, the 325-acre business park and distribution center, has attracted several major tenants to fill one of its three facilities, bucking the area’s weak industrial market. nwi.com

this week on our website

• Indiana wants $71.4 million in stimulus for NWI high-speed rail
Indiana met a Monday deadline to apply for federal stimulus funds for a Northwest Indiana project that would be a key link in a proposed Chicago-to-Detroit high-speed rail line. nwi.com/inbusiness

• BusINess publisher—Newspapers are a key community cog
The newspaper business is not dead and regional cooperation is the key to regional advancement, according to Times Publisher Bill Masterson Jr. Masterson told members of the Lakeshore Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday although information is being delivered in different platforms, newspapers will be around “as long as we’re relevant in the lives of the people that read us.” nwi.com/inbusiness

• The Power of Print—15 Minutes of Fame
Brandon Griffin, who was chosen as one of BusINess’ 20 most successful business people under the age of 40, writes of “The Power of Print” in a recent blog post: "Another thing that cannot be replaced [by the Internet] is the feeling one receives when they see their picture or name in a local newspaper. This accomplishment puts a proud smile on the individual, and prompts the purchasing of several additional copies to be shared with their friends and family.” nwi.com/inbusiness

• Businesses learn social media to boost bottom line
More than 20 Valparaiso businesses are more savvy about using online tools to promote their companies, thanks to a presentation Tuesday by local social media experts, Valparaiso-based Livemercial. nwi.com/inbusiness

• NW Ind. town orders 2 furlough weeks for workers
Merrillville is requiring its employees to take five unpaid furlough days this year, along with five more in the first half of 2010. Town Council members voted Tuesday to approve the plan, which they said would save about $95,000. nwi.com/inbusiness

• Ivy Tech enrollment reaches record 110,000 in fall
Ivy Tech officials say 110,359 students were enrolled on the first day of classes Monday. That’s an increase of 24,560 students over last fall, or a 28.6 percent jump. nwi.com/inbusiness

beyond the region

• LOS ANGELES—Disney to buy comic book powerhouse Marvel for $4B
Disney will acquire ownership of 5,000 Marvel characters. Many of them, including the Fantastic Four and the X-Men, were co-created by the comic book legend Stan Lee. Disney said Marvel shareholders will receive $30 per share in cash, plus 0.745 Disney shares for every Marvel share they own. That values each Marvel share at $50 based on Friday’s closing stock prices. Marvel shares jumped $10.17, or 26 percent, to $48.82 shortly after the market opened. Disney shares fell 47 cents, or 1.8 percent, to $26.37. yahoo.com

• INDIANAPOLIS—Daniels releases itinerary for China and Japan in early September
Several Indiana mayors and university and business leaders will join Gov. Mitch Daniels on a trip to China and Japan next week, and the itinerary includes a meeting with Honda’s president and government leaders from both countries. indystar.com

upcoming and interesting

• Many of Snow Leopard’s refinements are subtle
Apple doesn’t need to make a vista-sized leap on Friday, when it migrates from its Mac OS X Leopard operating system to Snow Leopard. In that sense, Snow Leopard isn’t a must-have upgrade. There’s not much new in the sizzle department. Many feature enrichments are modest, such as the ability to highlight text from a specific column in a PDF. The fine Safari 4 Web browser is also included, but you don’t need Snow Leopard to get it. Apple does say the browser is faster and more crash resistant, and Snow Leopard should delight Mac fans, especially those who use Exchange at work. usatoday.com

• As Internet turns 40, barriers threaten its growth
Goofy videos weren’t on the minds of Len Kleinrock and his team at UCLA when they began tests 40 years ago on what would become the Internet. Neither was social networking, for that matter, nor were most of the other easy-to-use applications that have drawn more than a billion people online. While the Internet is more widely available and faster than ever, artificial barriers threaten to constrict its growth. usatoday.com