Articles
Governor Daniels' Weekly Update: 7/2/08
A look at news and events in the Daniels Administration
Volume 2, Issue 87
June 23 - 29, 2008
One-stop disaster assistance centers to transfer services
June 26, 2008- The state will continue efforts to assist victims of recent severe storms but is beginning to close the one-stop disaster assistance centers that were opened within days of flooding and tornadoes in the central and southwestern areas of the state from May 30 to June 7.
We are very thankful to our community partners at the American Red Cross and Salvation Army for everything they have done, as well as to school corporations and other groups that have opened their buildings for us to use," said Governor Mitch Daniels. "Our work is by no means complete, but we are well on our way to recovery."
For the first time, the state created the centers by bringing together teams from the state Department of Health, Workforce Development, FSSA, Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV), Department of Insurance, Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority, Department of Agriculture, and the Office of Technology to offer state services to storm victims in one place. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Red Cross and Salvation Army also have offered services in the same locations.
"Thousands of Indiana citizens are well on their way to recovery because of the unique cooperation between the state of Indiana and the FEMA one-stop shops for disaster victims," said Mike Smith, FEMA's federal coordinating officer for Indiana. "This commitment shows the willingness of the state to do whatever it takes to help its citizens recover and is to be commended and emulated."
At the centers:
-Nearly 800 state employees worked more than 40,800 hours since the effort began two weeks ago. At the centers, the state offered 134 laptops and 80 phones so victims could apply for federal assistance
-Over 40 percent of all Indiana FEMA applications to date have been processed at one of the state's centers.
-188 Hoosier flood victims found temporary and permanent housing through the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority.
-$3.3 million of disaster food stamp relief was provided to over 9,592 Hoosier households.
-763 Hoosiers signed up for disaster unemployment insurance.
-3,072 tetanus immunizations were given and 4,287 well water testing kits were delivered through state health officials
-BMV's mobile unit visited the centers and helped 320 individuals reprint licenses and reinstate vehicle titles lost in the disaster.
Department of Correction Commissioner Donahue to depart
June 24, 2008- Governor Mitch Daniels has accepted the resignation of Indiana Department of Correction Commissioner J. David Donahue, who plans to return to his home state of Kentucky later this summer.
"Dave's decision to return to Kentucky is based on family considerations, and I accept and respect his choice. But I do so reluctantly, because I am convinced that Dave Donahue is the finest corrections commissioner in the country, and he'll be impossible to replace," said Daniels.
Donahue has transformed the department into a model agency focused on public safety and preparing offenders for successful reentry into their communities. Among his accomplishments since 2005 are:
-Pressing for changes in state law that now require sex offenders to undergo treatment before they can take advantage of good time credit opportunities.
-Instituting the Statewide Automated Victim Notification System (SAVIN).
-Opening the first of its kind Plainfield Re-entry Education Facility to focus solely on preparing short-term offenders for re-entry into their communities.
-Studying and measuring how Correction programs affect recidivism rates.
"When I accepted this assignment, the governor challenged me to 'measure up and follow up', because, as he says, 'if you aren't keeping score, you're only practicing'. I think my most important impact on the department has been to instill that concept into our culture, and that has made the Indiana Department of Correction a finer institution," said Donahue.
Donahue has accepted a position to join a reform effort of the Kentucky criminal justice system. He will be the warden of the Kentucky State Reformatory, the state's largest, and serve as an adviser to the Kentucky Criminal Justice Council.
The governor named LaPorte native and Department of Corrections veteran Edwin Buss as Donahue's successor.
"I earnestly hoped this vacancy would never occur, but as you'd expect from Dave Donahue's phenomenal performance, we had a new commissioner in the waiting," said Daniels.
Buss, 42, has been superintendent of the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City since 2005. He was the superintendent at the Westville Correctional Facility from 2002-2005, where he improved the operations of the state's largest prison.
"There are greater expectations today in the Department of Correction than I've experienced in my 21 years. It gives you a sense of pride when you meet those expectations," said Buss, who said he will continue efforts to improve recidivism rates in the department and expand community collaborations.
Buss began his career as a correctional officer at the Indiana State Prison in 1987 and by 1994 at the Lakeside Correctional Facility in Michigan City had been promoted to the highest rank for a uniformed officer. He joined the administrative ranks in 1997 when he was named a correctional unit team manager, responsible for three housing units and 1,850 inmates at the Indiana State Prison, then served as assistant superintendent of operations/programs from 1998 to 2001.
Alcoa to add to its southwest Indiana workforce
June 24, 2008- Alcoa Generating Corporation, the power supplier to Alcoa's (NYSE: AA) smelting and fabricating operations in Warrick County, will continue to expand its operations in Newburgh, creating 10 new jobs by the end of the year.
The company, which provides more than 740 megawatts of electricity to Alcoa's 9,000-acre southwestern Indiana aluminum production complex, is investing more than $600 million to upgrade its equipment and employee training program to increase the environmental performance and power efficiency of the facility.
"We continue to outrun our neighboring states in recruiting new job-creating investment from great global companies like Alcoa," said Nathan Feltman, Secretary of Commerce and chief executive of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation. "Decisions like the one Alcoa is making to continue to invest in Indiana reflects a growing confidence in the business climate of our state."
The FORTUNE 500 company, which employs more than 4,000 at four Indiana locations, plans to hire power plant operators, coal handlers and maintenance personnel as part of the expansion.
Automotive supplier to grow its Elkhart operations
June 27, 2008-The Indiana Economic Development Corporation has announced it will award training assistance to Tenneco Inc., (NYSE: TEN) a global manufacturer of automotive emission control and ride control systems, to expand its Indiana operations in Elkhart, creating approximately 60 new jobs.
The FORTUNE 500 company plans to invest nearly $6 million to add two new catalytic converter manufacturing lines to its 81,000 square-foot Hoffman Street facility that currently manufactures a variety of automotive parts ranging from muffler and converter stampings to hydroformed exhaust products and catalytic converters.
"Tenneco is continuing to provide quality opportunities for Hoosiers all around our state," said Nate Feltman, Secretary of Commerce and chief executive officer of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation. "We couldn't be more pleased that they are renewing their commitment to Indiana and investing in further opportunities for the Elkhart community."
IN THE NEWS
'Honda's plant in Greensburg gearing up to open'
WISH-TV 8
June 27, 2008
By Jay Hermacinski, Edited by Hyacinth Williams
GREENSBURG, Ind. (WISH) - Two years ago, Governor Mitch Daniels announced Honda's plans to build an automotive plant in Greensburg.
That plant is now just months away from opening. And, the first round of new employees has already started their training.
Sitting on 1700 acres of former farmland - Honda's brand new $550 million plant will open for business this fall.
"All the processes of making a car will be done here including stamping, welding, painting, all the plastics, all the assembly. The only part we won't do here is the engine and that will be brought to us from Honda's plant in Ohio," said Andrew Stoner.
With the building in place, the focus now is installing robots for welding and stamping. The plant is already producing bumpers for the Honda Civic.
Out of 30,000 applications, 2,000 people will be employed at the plant.
So far, Honda has hired 500 men and women. The plan is to hire another 500 before the end of the year. Job training is already underway at a Honda plant in Ohio.
"They train on building a Civic at that location and gain experience of working on the machines. Learning the processes and learning how to build a car if they haven't worked in manufacturing before," said Stoner.
While the plant gears up for production, the town of Greensburg is gearing up to meet the demands of the 2,000 employees.
Indiana's Tower Tree City plans to grow right alongside the Honda plant. Storie's Restaurant in the downtown area has already benefited from the plant. Many of these customers work construction out at the plant and drive into town for some good home cooked food.
Owner Don Storie said business is good and will only get better once the plant is up and running.
"If anything it's created more jobs around here. Looks like it will be that way for several years," said Storie.
The plant will hit full production sometime in 2009 with 2,000 employees turning out 800 Honda Civics each day.
''Limitless' prospects for local steelmaker'
The Journal Gazette
June 27, 2008
By Jenni Glenn
By the numbers
-108 Millions of tons of steel U.S. manufacturers produce annually
-25.8 Millions of tons of steel Indiana manufacturers produce annually
-16 Million of tons of steel produced in Ohio each year, the second most after Indiana
-550 Millions of tons of steel China produces annually - the most in the world
-23,000 Number of Indiana workers employed in the steel industry last year
COLUMBIA CITY - Steel Dynamics Inc.'s chairman and chief executive expects the steel manufacturer's revenues to soar to record heights this year.
Keith Busse discussed the steel industry's outlook during the Indiana Economic Development Corp.'s quarterly meeting, which took place at SDI's Columbia City mill Thursday. The company will likely earn $8 billion to $9 billion this year - about double last year's revenues without including new subsidiary OmniSource Corp. - because of high global steel demand, he said.
Steel Dynamics is preparing to start production at its second mill in Columbia City in a few weeks. Between that $200 million investment and the company's 6,800 employees, Gov. Mitch Daniels said the company is a valuable contributor to the state's economy.
"We are so excited by what appear to be limitless possibilities ahead for Steel Dynamics," Daniels said.
Indiana is the nation's top steel-producing state, manufacturing 24 percent of the nation's steel, Busse said. The state manufactures 25.8 million tons a year. Indiana's steel industry employed about 23,000 people last year, he said.
Busse, elected chairman of the American Iron and Steel Institute trade group last month, sees room for industry growth. Domestic steel companies can't produce enough to meet U.S. demand, even during a recession, he said. The U.S. market uses 130 million to 135 million tons a year when the economy is not in a recession, but domestic steel manufacturers produce only 108 million tons annually. Foreign buyers, encouraged by the weak dollar, are scooping up some of that supply, he said.
Strong demand and the rising costs of materials such as scrap metal are forcing steel prices to rise, Busse said. Hot rolled steel prices jumped to $1,030 a ton in May, SDI spokesman Fred Warner said. The price nearly doubled since January, when hot rolled steel was selling for $550 a ton. Industrial scrap metal prices nearly tripled in the same period, he said.
Having enough energy to produce additional steel could present future challenges for manufacturers, Busse said. He wants to see the state maximize its energy resources with clean coal plants and wind farms, but Busse said nuclear plants would provide the best solution. Without sufficient available energy, he said steelmakers will be reluctant to invest in more production capacity.
"I think if we're continuing to become a growing industry," Busse said, "we need to know where our next meal is coming from."
The state is addressing energy issues, Daniels said. A clean coal plant is being built in southern Indiana, and Orion Energy LLC built a wind farm in Benton County.
Steel manufacturers also could be hamstrung if the federal government enacts carbon dioxide emissions taxes, Busse said. That would increase the costs of automobiles and other products that contain steel, he said.
'Toll Road lease still a good idea'
The Goshen News
June 27, 2008
Editorial
Although the opposition contends the jury's still out on Indiana's Toll Road lease, one year later it still looks to be a good idea.
Hoosiers had difficulty wrapping their minds around the concept of a 75-year lease to a foreign consortium.
But the upfront payment of $3.8 billion is helping to build a bunch of road projects which would not have been possible without some other infusion of cash.
House Speaker B. Patrick Bauer has complained that lawmaker's "hands are tied for four generations," and suggested there will be a continuing public outcry as tolls increase.
But lawmakers either couldn't or wouldn't raise tolls adequately to maintain the road and provide the state with an additional source of revenue for infrastructure projects.
Most consumers expect the cost of doing business will rise annually, but officials seeking re-election declined to approve toll increases, perhaps because it was akin to a tax hike.
The new Toll Road operators have inspired some complaints. Drivers have questioned toll booth lines, dirty restrooms and even an advertising mascot. But the prior operation was not without some concerns, either.
A large portion of the lease funds will be spent to improve public roadways. While officials in other states are eyeing gas taxes and other tax hikes to take adequate care of their roadways, Indiana is maintaining and building infrastructure at a record pace. And with a state economy that depends on transportation facilities, certainly this is plus for future development.
Opponents may complain the Toll Road lease mortgages the future, but it's really an investment in the present to create assets in the future.
