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Our Senior VP and editor of BizVoice Tom Schuman explains what’s in the March/April edition. If you’re interested in higher education, corporate social responsibility or Vanderburgh County, we have information you can’t miss.
This issue also focuses on the “Outstanding Talent” driver of the Indiana Chamber’s Indiana Vision 2025 plan.
Read BizVoice online today.
Columbus Regional Hospital’s Beth Morris details recent county wellness initiatives. Also see my related article in BizVoice magazine about these federally funded programs taking place in Bartholomew and Vanderburgh Counties.
UPDATE: And here’s a little more on why a wellness push in Vanderburgh County is quite timely.
Alcoa and the universities of Evansville and Southern Indiana took part in a nationwide recycling contest, with great results for those institutions and the community:
The University of Evansville and the University of Southern Indiana recycled more than 67,000 pounds of material during the 8-week long RecycleMania contest, which was sponsored nationally by the Alcoa Foundation.
In total, 630 colleges and universities competed in the nationwide contest, which is meant to bolster on-campus recycling rates. This year, 91 million pounds of recyclables and organic materials were recovered during the challenge, which prevented the release of nearly 270 metric tons of carbon dioxide. That’s equivalent to the annual emissions from 53 million passenger cars.
Locally, Alcoa Warrick Operations encouraged the two universities in this challenge through the donation of recycling bins and a $1,500 prize to the school that performed the best on a per capita basis.
The University of Evansville won the local contest, collecting 15.45 pounds of waste for every student, compared to USI’s 5.64 pounds per student. The University of Evansville also finished first in the state of Indiana among the 10 Hoosier schools, and it also placed in the top tier of schools nationwide on a per capita basis, finishing 119th out of 630 schools.
“By building the first two LEED-certified buildings in Vanderburgh County, the Schroeder Family School of Business Administration Building and the Ridgway University Center, the University of Evansville has proven itself to be a community leader on issues of sustainability,” said UE President Thomas A. Kazee. “We’re proud to continue that role with our outstanding performance in RecycleMania.”
The University of Evansville also finished 29th as the Grand Champion – an achievement based on both source reduction and recycling.
The University of Southern Indiana won in one state-wide category to see which school could divert the largest amount of food service organics per person.
Todd Wilson, an assistant Vice President at USI , said the university increased its recycling during the RecycleMania program. “And we plan to keep up that trend year-round.”
“We’d like to offer our congratulations to UE on their win in the competition,” Wilson said. “But it’s a win-win-win for USI, UE, and the community, as less material went into the waste stream as a result.”
Paula Davis, President of the Alcoa Foundation, said the program was a great success nationally, encouraging tomorrow’s leaders to focus even more on sustainability and waste reduction.
Population statistics for Indiana counties in 2010 don’t reveal many surprises. For those interested, we’ll list the top 10 below.
I came across some recent numbers, however, that included businesses, sales and employees by county. Among the items that jumped out: Elkhart, while sixth in population, number of businesses and employees, generated the third highest sales total.
Here’s the numbers; draw your own conclusions.
Top 10 in population:
1. Marion: 892,403
2. Lake: 501,248
3. Allen: 356,857
4. Hamilton: 280,425
5. St. Joseph: 271,159
6. Elkhart: 202,892
7. Vanderburgh: 176,122
8. Tippecanoe: 168,650
9. Porter: 165,244
10. Hendricks: 143,458
Top 10 in businesses (ranked by number of employees)
COUNTY BUSINESSES EMPLOYEES SALES
1. Marion 33,788 633,691 $157,929,646
2. Allen 12,540 197,661 $48,525,593
3. Lake 15,207 176,748 $37,617,188
4. St. Joseph 9,146 135,683 $24,793,763
5. Vanderburgh 7,432 131,769 $24,693,842
6. Elkhart 7,137 122,835 $38,245,084
7. Hamilton 9,350 115,316 $24,953,277
8. Tippecanoe 4,871 88,321 $22,935,115
9. Monroe 4,608 62,571 $11,051,280
10. Porter 5,362 58,493 $15,312,321
RJ Gerard is communications director for the Indiana Democratic Party.
Indiana went Democratic blue in 2008 for the first time in 40 years because like the rest of America, Hoosiers wanted change. The Indiana Democratic delegation has worked feverishly to bring that change to Indiana. And while the upcoming primaries should not bring any significant surprises for Democrats, the Indiana Democratic Party is poised to field a solid slate of candidates from federal to local elections this fall.
Democrats are keenly focused on holding on to all of their Congressional seats at the federal level, and feel it’s critical to maintain control of the Indiana State House of Representatives. Equally important is the Indiana U.S. Senate race, which will be in the national spotlight with former Vanderburgh County Sheriff and U.S. Congressman Brad Ellsworth working hard to replace retiring Sen. Evan Bayh.
Hoosiers saw change become reality with the passing of health care and insurance reform. Showing courage and leadership, all Hoosier Democratic members of Congress, including Sen. Bayh, voted for the measure, while the entire Republican delegation voted against it.
This one issue provides insight into this upcoming election; whether to continue on the path of hope and change, or turn back to the failed policies of the past.
Repealing health care reform would be disastrous for Hoosier families; 820,000 Indiana residents would lose health care, 76,800 small businesses would lose existing tax credits and appalling insurance practices of the past – such as denying coverage due to preexisting conditions – would be reinstated.
Let us not forget that it was the Republican Party, during eight years of GOP control, that turned record surpluses into record deficits and favored the special interests and lobbyists over the interests of ordinary Hoosiers.
Even today, Hoosier Republicans are still standing with Wall Street and opposing the reforms that would protect Americans and prevent future bailouts. To the contrary, Indiana Democrats are looking out for Hoosier families and demanding accountability from Wall Street.
In response to these failed Republican policies of the past, President Obama and Hoosier Democrats have provided tax cuts to 95 percent of working Americans through the Recovery Act, tax cuts to small businesses and instituted polices that are helping to get our deficit under control, turn our economy around and create jobs.
The Indiana GOP and its candidates represent the failed ideas of the past. The time for change has come. Hoosier Democrats are working diligently to make sure it happens.
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EDITOR’S NOTE: Out of respect for our guest bloggers, we will not be allowing anonymous comments on their blogs this week. Additionally, the Indiana Chamber does not necessarily share the opinions of our guest bloggers.