More Top Picks Best Hoverboards
player ready...Gov. Mike Pence touted the state’s economic progress at the Gary Chamber of Commerce’s luncheon Wednesday afternoon, but one group expressed concern that Gary resident aren’t seeing the benefit of new jobs.
Pence focused on how the state’s unemployment rate has dropped and how Indiana has focused its efforts on creating a business-friendly environment by cutting taxes.
He noted the state added 60,000 workers in the last year and that the state’s Economic Development Corp. has added 38 projects in Northwest Indiana, which brought $33 million in investment to the region.
Part of the state’s efforts have been in advertising in other states and areas looking at possible tax increases, Pence said, pointing to ads they’ve run in Chicago after the city’s Mayor Rahm Emanuel proposed raising taxes.
“We love to compete for jobs,” Pence said.
He also argued that Gary’s unemployment rate is at 5.4 percent, down from 10.4 percent when he took office.
“The best is yet to come for Gary, Indiana,” Pence told the crowd to applause.
However, officials with the Northwest Indiana Federation of Interfaith Organization passed out to people attending the lunch an open letter addressed to Gov. Pence, arguing that the city’s unemployment rate is actually much higher at 40 percent when the chronically unemployed who no longer receive unemployment are included.
“We wanted to use every opportunity to bring these issues of local hiring to the governor’s attention,” the Rev. Cheryl Rivera, executive director of the group, said.
The group is focusing specifically on the joint project by Indiana University Northwest and Ivy Tech Community College to construct a new academic building. Rivera said the group was in talks with IUN and Ivy Tech to ensure some of the jobs would go to Gary residents but said it was never put in writing. They’re still trying to find out the ZIP codes of all the employees who were hired to work on the project, she said.
Rivera said she wants to see a state law requiring at least 30 percent of jobs in areas with high unemployment to go to local workers.
“It’s is immoral,” she said for the jobs to go outside of such communities.
Gary Mayor Karen Freeman Wilson, who has also said she doesn’t think the city’s official unemployment rate reflects the full picture, said the city is working with state and federal officials to fight it.
As for state efforts to ensure some jobs go to local employees, requiring a percentage of jobs will put off some state legislators, the mayor said, but other efforts can focus on requiring that some of the subcontractors be local companies.
“If they’re local, they’ll have more of a chance to hire locally,” she said.
Along with the state’s economic numbers, Pence also covered changes the state has made to education, infrastructure, drug abuse and health care. He referred to the plan announced last week to provide $1 billion to road and bridge repair across the state.
“I’ve always said roads mean jobs,” he said.
He continued to express support for the state’s charter schools and voucher system, saying that the voucher program gives students from low-income families a better chance.
As for drug abuse, the governor said that although he wants to continue to be tough on drug dealers, Indiana also needs to help addicts with treatment options.
“The truth of the matter is… we know we’re not going to arrest our way out of it,” he said.
State Sen. Earline Rogers, D-Gary, said after the speech that she thought the governor brought a positive message to the area and that it’s up to officials to ensure needed changes happen.
More Top Picks Ratings
Rogers referred to the governor’s Regional Cities Initiative, a project to have various regions in the state, including Northwest Indiana, come up with region-wide plans for state funding. Rogers said Northwest Indiana will have better credibility if area lawmakers can prioritize needs for the region as a whole instead of for just individual cities.