SCEDF Blog

The Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) has announced that SR 8 between US 421 and SR 39 in LaPorte County, just west of Starke County, has been reopened.  The road has been closed since February of this year when heavy flooding in that area damaged the road.  While shut down, INDOT also moved up a bridge project in that area so that both projects were being worked on at the same time....

Area Development Magazine is out with its 2018 Survey of Top States for Business, finding Indiana to be the highest rated Midwestern State at #9.  The first 8 slots were all located in the South or Southeast section of the United States.  Indiana was higher than Ohio at #11 and Michigan at #18.  Indiana scored highest in the categories of favorable utility rates at #3, and overall cost of doing business at #5....

The State of Indiana Department of Transportation has awarded a $300,000 grant to the Chesapeake and Indiana Railroad (CKIN) to help upgrade a three mile segment of track in LaPorte County, which will aid in the replacement of ties, rail, a bridge, cross-ties and adding ballast to a segment of track in Wellsboro. The grant was awarded under the Industrial Rail Service Fund, and was one of eleven railroads to receive funding under that program.

Starke County, like 86 other Indiana Counties, showed a small increase in its unemployment rate for August, going from 4.3% in July to 4.4% in August.  The state of Indiana saw a similar rise, as reported last Friday. The labor force in the county dropped for the second consecutive month, after increasing in each of the previous six months....

The unemployment rate in Indiana in August was reported to be 3.5%, up from 3.4% in July, but still below the national unemployment rate of 3.9%.  During the month, the labor force for the state increased by 11,085 and private-sector employment was also up by 3,600.  In comparison to its neighboring states, Indiana continues to have the lowest rate of unemployment, followed by Illinois at 4.2%, Michigan and Kentucky at 4.3%, and Ohio at 4.6%....

The Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) just recently announced 217 grants to 181 airports across the United States.  One of those airports was the Starke County Airport which will receive a grant for $882,900 to extend runway 18-36 from 4,400 feet to 5,001 feet.  In addition, a portion of the grant will upgrade the Runway End Identifier Lights and the Taxiway Connector Lights to Light Emitting Diode (LED).  The Precision Approach Path Indicators will also be replaced with new Quartz l...

Starke County was today named as one of five recipients of a Broadband Readiness Planning Grant from the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs (OCRA).  The County will receive a minimum of $50,000 to develop a plan that will educate, create, and identify ways to improve broadband speeds in the County, including the communities of Hamlet, North Judson, and Knox.  Each of the five recipients will be part of a pilot program that will educate and shape how broadband can be establi...

Despite the addition of another 201,000 jobs during the month of August, the national unemployment rate remained at 3.9% for the month.  While manufacturing jobs fell by 3,000 during the month, the total number of new jobs exceeded what was expected by the experts....

The Starke County unemployment rate was unchanged for the month of June, holding at 4.3% for the second month in a row. ...

Starke Hospital located in Knox, Indiana and LaPorte Hospital located in LaPorte are no longer affiliated with Indiana University Heath in an agreement announced on Wednesday of this week.  Indiana University Health had previously held a minority interest in a joint venture that included the two hospitals.  According to representatives of the hospitals, the main change that will be seen is the signage, brochures, and other materials will no longer include the logo and reference to Ind...

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics issued its monthly unemployment rate report for the states today, with Indiana reporting a rate of 3.4%, up from the June rate of 3.3%. This July rate remains well below the national rate of 3.9%, and Indiana also has the lowest rate of its contiguous states, with Illinois at 4.2%, Kentucky and Michigan at 4.3%, and Ohio at 4.6%.  Indiana 's labor force had a net increase of 15,564 people over the previous month and has experienced an increase of 67,519...

U.S. News and World Report has issued its annual affordability report in which it ranks each state in terms of the costs of daily life and housing as well as how much money households have available in each state.  Indiana finished overall as #2 in such rankings on the basis of its #7 ranking for cost of living and #3 ranking for housing affordability among all states.  Indiana was higher than Michigan (#4), Kentucky (#8) and Illinois (#22)....