SCEDF Blog

The U.S. unemployment rate remained at 3.7% for the month of November, which matched the October rate.  While 155,000 jobs were added during the month, that number fell below the estimate of 198,000 that was expected.  Manufacturing jobs did increase by about 27,000 for the month....

The Indiana Depratment of Education Office of eLearning has announced the 2018-2019 Innovation Planning Grant awardees, which includes the North Judson-San Pierre School Corporation. The intent of these $30,000 grants is to incentivize the thoughtful and informed planning within public school corporations interested in creating or increasing the potential of digital learning in their classrooms. Awarded districts have participated in a Future Ready School Summit, and have committed to evaluatin...

While the national unemployment rate was unchanged for the month of October at 3.7%, the State of Indiana also stayed the same at 3.5%.  The story was different for Indiana counties, as 91 out of 92 counties saw a dramatic increase in their unemployment rates averaging 0.06% across the board.  Starke County was no different, as the rate changed 0.05% from an adjusted 3.6% rate in September to 4.1% in October.  

Three governmental entities in Starke County were part of the recently announced 280 communities that will receive a total of $100 million as part of the Indiana Community Crossings Program.  A total of 444 communities statewide applied for funding in this grant cycle. As announced, Starke County will receive $454,002.00, the City of Knox will receive $346,138.07, and the Town of North Judson will receive $93,010.50....

Despite adding 250,000 jobs in October (60,000 more than what analysts had predicted), the national unemployment rate remained at 3.7% for the month of October....

It was a mixed bag for the month of September as far as what happened with unemployment rates.  Nationally, the rate went from 3.9% in August to 3.7% in September, with an additional 134,000 jobs created that month.

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...