In Business

Various awards for Turning Technologies sit on display at its downtown office in Youngstown, Ohio. Turning Technologies produces software and hand-held devices used in school classrooms and business boardrooms in testing or audience engagement. Many business leaders mention the company among the city's gems. (Photograph by Tim Hunt/The Times)

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio | Convincing people this city is open for business has been a battle during the last several decades.

The economic effect of the decline in manufacturing jobs since the 1970s has rolled through the area, accelerating a decline in industry-dependent businesses and those relying on workers’ incomes.

Investing in declining urban areas can be a tough sell, despite a glut of available real estate and a labor pool clamoring for opportunities.

But in the last few years, the city and region have been able to secure major job commitments from a steel company, a call center operator, a software developer and other employers.
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Gary city worker Antoine Brown, 38, Brown poses for a portrait on his recycling route. The Teamsters Local 142 member says he and other union members are fighting for survival. Attempts to weaken labor unions have roiled Democrats in Indianapolis and Madison, Wis., leading them to flee to Illinois rather than vote on the measures. (Photograph by Jonathan Miano/The Times)

City of Gary employee Antoine Brown worries about the American Dream becoming unattainable for many families.

Brown said he and other workers struggle to avoid thinking about not receiving a pay raise in five years and how budget cuts could further reduce salaries and personnel.

But Brown is one of the lucky ones. He’s still employed.

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Ray LaHood, U.S. Secretary of Transportation, listens to U.S. Rep., Pete Visclosky, D-Ind., talk to media Thursday after the Rail Delivers Jobs summit at Sand Creek Country Club in Chesterton. (Photograph by Jon L. Hendricks/The Times.)

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood made an impassioned pitch Thursday to 300 Northwest Indiana business leaders to become partners with the Obama administration when it comes to high-speed rail.

“If Indiana gets its act together, you could be a dominant player in this plan in this region of the country,” LaHood told them at a Rail Delivers Jobs summit in Chesterton.

Getting the five-year reauthorization of the federal transportation bill passed by Congress, with the Obama administration’s $53 billion request for high-speed rail intact, will be key to getting the job done, LaHood said.
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Last week’s JobsSunday feature focused on what job candidates could do to re-energize and re-focus their attitude through their job search techniques.

This week the focus is on the opposite—what job candidates should make sure they avoid as they look for work.

The phrase “shoot yourself in the foot” didn’t create itself. Although it didn’t originate with job seekers, it might as well have.
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Tim Roper, of Smith Auto Group, speaks at The Times Board of Economists luncheon Feb. 9 at the Radisson in Merrillville. Roper said when serious job creation finally starts, buyers will return to auto showrooms. (Photograph by Jon L. Hendricks/The Times.)

Northwest Indiana business executives are seeing the signs of a sustained—yet slow—economic recovery in the region this year.

But the 22-member Times Board of Economists is split on how quickly challenges such as elevated unemployment will be resolved to provide a boost for sectors such as manufacturing, entertainment and real estate.
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In this Jan. 26, 2011 photo, workers talk as they work on a diesel truck engine on the Volvo truck assembly line at the Volvo plant in Dublin, Va. The work force was more efficient last year with productivity rising at the fastest pace in eight years while labor costs fell for a second straight year, something that hasn't happened in nearly five decades.
(AP Photo/Steve Helber)

The work force was more efficient last year with productivity rising at the fastest pace in eight years. Labor costs fell for a second straight year, something that hasn’t happened in nearly five decades.

Productivity, the amount of output per hour of work, rose a strong 3.6 percent in 2010 after a 3.5 percent gain in 2009, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Both years represented the best showing since 2002. Labor costs dropped 1.5 percent last year after a 1.6 percent decline in 2009.
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Indiana’s unemployment rate dropped 0.3 percent to 9.5 percent in December.

December’s jobless rate decreased 0.2 percent from one year ago. The last time Indiana’s unemployment rate was at 9.5 percent was February 2009, according to the Indiana Department of Workforce Development.

“Indiana’s unemployment rate is at its lowest level in almost two years,” said Mark W. Everson, commissioner of the Department of Workforce Development. “Over the course of 2010, we saw growth in manufacturing and professional and business services, partially offset by declines in construction.”
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A local, for-profit hospital contributed 240 jobs and a total economic impact of more than $44.8 million in 2009, according to an economic vitality report released Tuesday.

Franciscan Physicians Hospital, 701 Superior Ave., is a 63-bed facility partially owned by physicians and partially owned by the Franciscan Alliance Northern Indiana Region, formerly known as the Sisters of St. Francis Health Services. The report released by the hospital Tuesday was created by the Indiana Hospital Association, said hospital spokesman Andrew Mullins.
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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 Indiana Economic Development Corporation:

Waste Revelation, LLC, a waste, recycling and reuse management cost consulting firm, announced Thursday plans to expand its operations here, creating up to 11 new jobs by 2013.

The ten-year-old company initially plans to invest $1.2 million to renovate 12,600 square feet of space in a vacant building in downtown Valparaiso.
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The nation’s economy added 103,000 jobs in December and the unemployment rate dropped to 9.4 percent last month, its lowest level in 19 months.

But the job growth fell short of expectations based on a strengthening economy. And the drop in unemployment was partly because people stopped looking for work.

Private employers added a net total of 113,000 jobs last month and the government shed 10,000 jobs, the Labor Department said Friday.
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