The Indiana Department of Workforce Development (DWD) has released unemployment figures for the month of February.  Previously, the Bureau of Labor Statistics had issued its report as to national unemployment, finding the rate to be 8.9%.  The State of Indiana rate is now 8.8%, while Starke County's rate rose by one-tenth of one percent up to 12.2%.  Starke County was one of 27 Counties around the State to record an increase over the January figures.  Around the State, the rates were as high as 13.7% in Vermillion County to as low as 5.7% in Davies County.

Indiana continues to have the lowest rate of the Midwestern states that surround it.  For the month, Illinois came in at 8.9%, Ohio at 9.2%, and Michigan and Kentucky at 10.4%.

The Northwest Indiana Small Business Development Center (NWISBDC) has announced an upcoming 4-part workshop on how to write a business plan.  The cost of this series is $175.00 to attend all four sessions, or $50.00 to attend each session individually.  The workshop sessions will be held on four consecutive Saturdays, beginning on April 23, 2011.  They will be held at the Purdue University Calumet Academic Learning Center Room 233, located at 9900 Connecticut Avenue in Crown Point.  Additional sessions will be held on April 30, May 7 and May 14.  The link below will take you a flier containing additional information concerning this workshop.

Starke County Economic Development Foundation (SCEDF) and the Northwest Indiana Small Business Development Center have established a partnership whereby SCEDF will provide business advising services on behalf of NWISBDC in Starke and Pulaski Counties.

Business Plan Workshop Flier.pdf (384.50 kb)

The Northwest Indiana Small Business Development Center (NWISBDC) has announced its schedule of upcoming workshops designed to assist would-be entrepreneurs and existing businesses in a variety of areas.  Workshops include subjects like QuickBooks, Business Plan Writing, Identity Theft, and Launching Your Own Business.  For additional information about any of these subjects, please click on thie link found below, or visit the website of NWISBDC at http://isbdc.org/location/northwest-isbdc/.

NWISBDC and Starke County Economic Development Foundation (SCEDF) have established a partnership whereby SCEDF will provide business advising services in Starke and Pulaski Counties on behalf of NWISBDC.  Additional information regarding this partnership can be found on the website address found above.

2011 Workshops One Pager.pdf (44.91 kb)

The Starke County Economic Development Foundation (SCEDF) was the contact point for the recent visit to Starke County of a reporter and a producer/cameraman from the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) World News on the topic of an issue always at the forefront in the Hoosier State – time zones.  The BBC is doing a story on time zones around the world and how they affect the way people live their lives, highlighting areas where there are a number of time zones in a small area.  Starke County and Indiana will be the focus of that part of the report talking about time zones in America.

Reporter Rajini Vaidyanathan came to Starke County from Washington D.C. together with Ramon Goni, a cameraman from New York City, based on some preliminary research she had done on the State of Indiana having more than one time zone and in turn, Starke County, because of the fact that the County has been in and out of both the Eastern and Central time zones on more than one occasion.  Vaidyanathan contacted the SCEDF office on Tuesday late morning, discussed what she was hoping to do, and she arrived the next morning to film the story, relying on contacts supplied to her by SCEDF.  While in Starke County, the BBC crew filmed Charles W. Weaver, Executive Director of SCEDF who obtained permission to do such filming in the Starke County Courthouse clock tower, climbing 144 steps to get there.  While in the clock tower, the gears of the clock as well as its face were filmed in the background of the interview with Weaver, who was asked, among other things, to try and explain to an international audience how literally, one could go five minutes down the road and find themselves in a different time zone.

SCEDF also facilitated the BBC crew in meeting with the local radio station where they filmed and interviewed station representatives about how they deliver the news across two time zones, and also helped arrange the crew being able to ride a school bus from Starke County to the Culver schools while interviewing a student on what it is like to live in one time zone and attend school in another.  The Culver school system is unique in that it not only straddles four different counties, but also one of the three counties (Starke) is in the Central time zone, while the other three are in the Eastern time zone.

The finished product will air on the BBC website, where there will be a world map showing time zones, and a click on the American part of the map will allow someone to watch the video that was filmed in Starke County.  The tentative date of airing is March 24^th or 25^th, and the BBC World News website can be found at www.bbcnews.com.

The Indiana Supplier INsight database has reached its first anniversary by announcing that more than 6,000 Hoosier businesses have registered their business on this website plus an additional 288 out-of-state firms have also registered.  More than 1,800 of those who have registered are diversity firms, thus making this database one of the best sites to find women and miinority owned businesses.

The website database is a free service that stores information on registered businesses, and allows users to access the platform online to search for Indiana suppliers, using categories like capability, location, industry classification, and women or minority owned certifications.  At the same time, suppliers can search for procurement opportunities that match their area of expertise and express interest in submitting a bid.  Companies who register are also invited to workshops on topics such as pursuing state and federal contract opportunities.

Companies who wish to register can visit www.ConexusIndiana.com and click on the "Indiana Supplier INsight" link of the left side of the homepage.

The Indiana Department of Workforce Development (DWD) has issued its report on monthly unemployment rates for the State and each individual County for the month of January, 2011.  While the State of Indiana reported a .4% drop in its rate, from 9.5% to 9.1%, Starke County saw its rate increase from 11.3% to 12.1%.  The State rate is its lowest since January of 2009, while the Starke County rate is near where it was in July of 2010.  Most Counties that are contiguous to Starke County saw increases in January, with only St. Joseph County seeing a decrease, and then only a .1% decrease at that.

As far as neighboring States are concerned, Ohio dropped .1% from 9.5% to 9.4%, Michigan dropped .4% from 11.1% to 10.7%, Kentucky saw an increase of .1% from 10.3% to 10.4%, and Illinois saw a decrease of .2% from 9.2% to 9.0%.

During the month of February, the U.S. Department of Labor has announced that 192,000 jobs were added, which nearly equaled an expected total of 196,000.  In addition, the unemployment rate for the country fell from 9.0% to 8.9% for the month.  This is the third consecutive month that the rate has decreased, beginning with a 9.8% rate for November of 2010.