In Business

Add that big packet of tax forms arriving in your mailbox just after New Year’s Day to the list of items replaced by technology.

The Indiana Department of Revenue announced Wednesday it will no longer mail state income tax forms to Hoosier households.

“Looking at that from a cost-effective standpoint we’re not going to do that,” said Stephanie McFarland, revenue department spokeswoman.
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Data on Indiana corporations now are as close as your Internet-enabled telephone.

Secretary of State Todd Rokita’s Business Services Division has launched a new mobile application that allows users to look up a corporation’s address, registered agent and officers, and view an up-to-date list of documents filed by the company.
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Lake County taxpayers have reason to be thankful this holiday season, Councilman Larry Blanchard said.

The state-imposed freeze on the property tax levy—the total amount of taxes local and county government can collect—spared the businesses and homeowners from having to pay an additional $43 million this year, according to Blanchard’s calculations.

He said the freeze is projected to produce even more savings—$65 million—in the new year.
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Gov. Mitch Daniels is ready to sign a statewide smoking ban into law if the General Assembly sends it to him.

“I would definitely sign one and there seems to be growing momentum for one,” Daniels said.

State Rep. Charlie Brown, D-Gary, plans again to sponsor legislation in January that would prohibit indoor smoking statewide.
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Three business leaders from Northwest Indiana have been named to the Indiana Chamber of Commerce board of directors.

• Michael Rippey, president and CEO of ArcelorMittal Steel USA in Burns Harbor

• Jill Ritchie, manager of public policy and government affairs at U.S. Steel Gary Works in Gary

• Jimmy Staton, president of NiSource in Merrillville
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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 Indiana Secretary of State Todd Rokita:

Indiana Secretary of State Todd Rokita announced yesterday that the complete, official results for the 2010 General Election are posted online at in.gov/sos/elections/2983.htm.

“Indiana and the 30,000 poll workers executed another smooth, successful election,” Rokita said. “We can now confirm that voter turnout was 41 percent, and 14 percent of those voters cast absentee ballots. All of this information and more can be found in the easily accessible, printable document on the Election Division’s website.”

Rokita also noted statistics showed Hoosiers took advantage of the state’s numerous resources to help prepare them for Election Day. For example, more than 300 individuals contacted the Hoosier Voter Hotline on Election Day with questions from their polling locations to voter registration status. Additionally, the helpful Election Day website, IndianaVoters.com, garnered more than 130,000 visits leading up to Election Day—more than 64,000 visits on November 2. The web tool “Who’s on your ballot?”—an online resource showing the names of candidates and public questions that will appear a voter’s ballot—garnered more than 30,000 page views.

For the complete listing of the official results, visit in.gov/sos/elections/2983.htm.

The Times Media Co. has hired Damian Rico to direct content development of its “community.com” websites, the first of which launched last week as CrownPointCommunity.com.

Among Rico’s many tasks as community online director will be building relationships with businesses, schools, governments and other groups to show them how they can get connected with others through The Times community.com websites, according to Times Publisher Bill Masterson Jr.
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A record number of Americans will be eligible to retire next year, putting an unprecedented amount of stress on our nation’s health care system and challenging many social service programs, businesses and units of government. Whether or not these “golden years” are tarnished by out-of-control health care costs and shortages in services depends greatly on our understanding of and preparation for what lies ahead.

Nearly 77 million Americans who were born between 1946 and 1964—referred to as baby boomers—will enter their retirement years starting in 2011 and are expected to live longer than previous generations. Baby boomers will be part of the fastest growing segment of the population for the next 30 years and will most likely need long-term health care service options after age 85.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, by 2020 the number of people across the nation age 85 and older will increase by more than 40 percent. By 2050, estimates show another 118 percent increase in that age group. Read the rest of this entry »

The economy grew a little faster over the summer than the government first thought. That modest pickup wasn’t nearly enough to significantly lower the nation’s high unemployment rate, and the Federal Reserve doesn’t expect the economy to improve much over the next couple of years.

The economy expanded at a 2.5 percent in the July-September quarter, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday. That was up from the 2 percent pace initially estimated, and better than the 1.7 percent growth rate in the April-June quarter.

Stronger spending by U.S. shoppers and better overseas sales of U.S. goods were the main forces behind an upward revision.
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Seth Warren, CEO of St. James Hospital, spearheaded a revitalization of the two-campus health care facility.
(Photograph by Tony V. Martin.)

Seth Warren took over the helm of St. James Hospital in February 2008 and has spearheaded a revitalization of the two-campus health care facility that had become a financial liability for the Mishawaka-based Sisters of Saint Francis Health Services Inc.

The President of St. James Hospital and South Suburban Chicago Regional CEO talks frankly about the challenges the hospital faced.

“Our financial picture was bleak. We were averaging a $20 million loss per year. At the same time our reputation suffered, and our satisfaction scores were not stellar,” Warren says. As a third generation hospital administrator, Warren grew up learning about health care’s organizational and financial aspects. His mother, a registered nurse, also taught him to focus on patient care, he says.

Warren honed his skills during tenures at hospitals and as a consultant before joining SSFHS in 1998. He has continued to rise through the SSFHS ranks, starting as manager of operations at the order’s St. Francis Hospital & Health Centers in Beech Grove, Indiana. His career with the Sisters of Saint Francis Health Services Inc. has taken him to other Indiana-based SSFHS hospitals in Mooresville, Michigan City and Crown Point as director of operations, executive director, CEO and president.
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