If you haven’t heard anything about wind energy in Indiana over the past year or so, then you haven’t been listening (or you’ve been too caught up in the "Jon & Kate Plus 8" saga, which is totally understandable).

But our friends at Inside INdiana Business offered an interesting article today in which an expert from Purdue University suggested the possibility exists that wind energy might even be more profitable than corn, at least for some Hoosier farmers.

A Purdue University Extension renewable energy specialist believes the wind industry is becoming a once in a generation opportunity for the Indiana agriculture community. Chad Martin will guide a session during this month’s WIndiana conference in Indianapolis. He says the base lease payment for farmers to put a turbine on their property has increased over the past few years to the $3,000 to $5,000 range per year per megawatt of production. Some are getting up to $10,000 a year per turbine. 

Also, feel free to read my piece in the July/August BizVoice magazine, which features the latest goings on with wind energy in Indiana.

On a related note, Brevini Wind USA  and VAT-Group USA will hold prospective windpower Supplier Conferences on July 23 in Muncie. To learn more or to be considered, check out work-one.org (see Brevini’s info here and VAT-Group info here).

Evansville is always an interesting locale. Residents there feel the disconnect from Central Indiana (it’s difficult to have a conversation without the Interstate 69 topic coming up, and I understand to some degree their frustration), but they don’t really have the big out-of-state neighbor (think Chicago, Cincinnati or Louisville) to turn to as an Indiana alternative.

I’ve had the opportunity to report on a number of intriguing stories out of the area known as the Pocket City, River City, Crescent City and probably a few other nicknames. I’m working on one for the next BizVoice magazine that focuses on plans for a new downtown arena and the economic development potential it brings.

Look for a major announcement on that project soon and some analysis in the upcoming BizVoice. Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel, by the way, says that on its own scale this development will be every bit as important to his community as the Lucas Oil Stadiums and Conseco Fieldhouses are to Indianapolis.

We’ve also compiled community feature sections from Fort Wayne, South Bend and Terre Haute in 2009 editions of BizVoice. There is plenty going on in all corners of the state and in many cities and towns in between. We enjoy bringing you the stories, hope you enjoy reading them and welcome your ideas for future topics.

The U.S. Chamber blog recently highlighted a piece by Joel Kotkin of NewGeography.com (and contributor to Forbes) in which the writer attempts to come to terms with just who is to blame for the epic fiscal spiral that is California. He makes some interesting observations, some of which will hopefully serve as red flags for the Hoosier State. Here are his five suspects:

1. Arnold Schwarzenegger

…Arnold quickly discovered his feminine side, becoming a kinder, ultra-green terminator…Yet over the past few years there’s been more destruction than creation. Employment in high-tech fields has stagnated…while there have been huge setbacks in the construction, manufacturing, warehousing and agricultural sectors. Driven away by strict regulations, businesses take their jobs outside California even in relatively good times. Indeed, according to a recent Milken Institute report, between 2000 and 2007 California lost nearly 400,000 manufacturing jobs. All that time, industrial employment was growing in major competitive rivals like Texas and Arizona….

2. The Public Sector

Who needs an economy when you have fat pensions and almost unlimited political power? That’s the mentality of California’s 356,000 workers and their unions, who make up the best-organized, best-funded and most powerful interest group in the state. State government continued to expand in size even when anyone with a room-temperature IQ knew California was headed for a massive financial meltdown. Scattered layoffs and the short-term salary givebacks now being considered won’t cure the core problem: an overgenerous retirement system. The unfunded liabilities for these employees’ generous pensions are now estimated at over $200 billion.

3. The Environment

Obama holds up California’s environmental policy as a model for the nation. May God protect the rest of the country. California’s environmental activists once did an enviable job protecting our coasts and mountains, expanding public lands and working to improve water and air resources. But now, like sailors who have taken possession of a distillery, they have gotten drunk on power and now rampage through every part of the economy.

In California today, everyone who makes a buck in the private sector–from developers and manufacturers to energy producers and farmers–cringes in fear of draconian regulations in the name of protecting the environment. The activists don’t much care, since they get their money from trust-funders and their nonprofits. The losers are California’s middle and working classes, the people who drive trucks, who work in factories and warehouses or who have white-collar jobs tied to these industries.

4. The Business Community

This insanity has been enabled by a lack of strong opposition to it. One potential source–California’s business leadership–has become progressively more feeble over the past generation…"The business community is so afraid they are keeping their heads down," observes Ross DeVol, director of regional economics at the Milken Institute. "I feel they if they keep this up much longer, they won’t have heads."

5. Californians

At some point Californians–the ones paying the bills and getting little in return–need to rouse themselves. The problem could be demographic. Over the past few years much of our middle class has fled the state, including a growing number to "dust bowl" states like Oklahoma, Texas and Arkansas from which so many Californians trace their roots…The last hope lies with those of us still enamored with California. We have allowed ourselves to be ruled by a motley alliance of self-righteous zealots, fools and cowards; now we must do something….We should, however, be very cautious about handing more power to the state’s leaders. With our acquiescence, they have led this most blessed state toward utter ruin…

You completed your finals, got your diploma and … have to move into your parents’ basement? While today’s job market is certainly tougher for recent college graduates than it has been in several years, there is no need to make the same mistakes that hold back so many graduates from landing their first job. Let’s look at a few common errors that stop new graduates from becoming new hires:

While searching for a position:
What not to do: Fail to take advantage of the four years you spent building relationships with well-connected people you could be using as networking contacts who already know your academic record and job skills.

What you can do instead: Career services offices exist to find opportunities for students and often offer alumni networks. Professors keep in touch with experts in their fields of study. Administrators are in regular contact with leaders at all kinds of organizations. The best part is that all three of these groups have a vested interest in seeing you, their former student, succeed after graduation. Do not neglect a network you spent four years living with, studying for and working under.

When thinking about your old internship:
What not to do: Decide not to call the company you interned with as a student because you spent most of your summer answering phones and making coffee. By making that decision, you miss out on an opportunity to pursue one of the few companies with which you have a professional employment history.

What you can do instead: Get in touch with your former supervisor to see if any positions are open or will be soon. Ask how things around the office have been and mention a few new skills you have picked up. Even if you cannot stand the thought of going back, you may be qualified for a position you would not have known about in a different department if you had not called. If there are no current job openings, you can still ask your former supervisor to reach out to you if he or she hears about anything you might be interested in.

While perusing the classifieds:
What not to do: Sift through job listing after job listing while subconsciously saying to yourself, “Internships are for students. I need a real job now!”

What you can do instead: Jobs are great, but especially in this market, there are a lot of other good opportunities that many students are overlooking. Fellowships and internships, in particular, have become increasingly popular options for students after graduation, as have service-learning opportunities like volunteering. They may not pay the bills quite as well, but today’s graduates need to be open minded enough to consider these positions – the role they play in adding resume experience and an opportunity to expand your network could be instrumental in finding your next position.

Read the rest of this entry »

Boy, all this technology sure makes it more difficult to get away when those vacation opportunities arise.

As you read this, I’m sitting on a beach in Avon (no, there are not beaches in the fast-growing Hendricks County community, but in a lovely stretch along the Outer Banks in North Carolina). And double no, I did not write this from the beach, although I easily could have and that is the point with this post.

One almost feels guilty today by being away and not taking the laptop, checking the e-mails, reading the Tweets, calling in for an "important" meeting, and on and on. I’m successfully overcoming those worries thus far. Why? Wonderfully talented colleagues in communications at the Chamber and a staff that knows how to get things done. And if they need me, I’ll answer the cell call or at least return the message.

How about you? Are you able to "disconnect" from the office when away? Are there any unwritten expectations that make that difficult? Or is it turn the lights off when leaving the office and not think about work until you return? 

Interested in your perspective.

Industry Week recently released its list of the world’s 1000 largest manufacturers. While the usual suspects retain top spots (No. 1 Exxon Mobil Corp., No. 2 Royal Dutch Shell PLC and No. 3 BP PLC), an Indiana company received notoriety for scaling the list.

Fort Wayne-based Steel Dynamics Inc. jumped 246 spots to No. 465 (the company was No. 711 in 2008). No other U.S. company achieved such a large gain and only two other company gained more spots on the list – India’s Tata Steel Ltd. moved up the ranks by 384 and China’s Jiangxi Copper Co. Ltd. gained 377 spots.

IW notes that Steel Dynamics achieved significant growth “after a strong first nine months in 2008. The company posted a loss in the fourth quarter when steel shipments fell 34% from the third quarter.” Steel Dynamics posted an 84.3% growth in revenue last year, according to the report.

The Industry Week 1000 ranks the largest publicly held manufacturing companies based on revenue. With 290 companies on the list, the United States dominates. Other Indiana-based companies held steady in the ranks, gaining a spot or losing a few:  Eli Lilly & Co. ranked No. 201; Cummins Inc. No. 284; and Zimmer Holdings Inc. No. 781. Numerous other companies with operations in the Hoosier state are included in the ranks.

The web site UberCEO.com (pretend there’s an umlaut) recently surveyed business leaders’ use of social media and the findings were a little surprising — at least to me.

We’re surprised, but not shocked, to find that the top CEOs in the country appear to be mostly absent from the social media community.  That’s the result from research we conducted over the past several weeks.  We looked at Fortune’s 2009 list of the top 100 CEOs to determine how many were using Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Wikipedia, or had a blog.  The results show a miserable level of engagement.  Here are the topline results:

• Only two CEOs have Twitter accounts.
• 13 CEOs have LinkedIn profiles, and of those only three have more than 10 connections.
• 81% of CEOs don’t have a personal Facebook page.
• Three quarters of the CEOs have some kind of Wikipedia entry, but nearly a third of those have limited or outdated information.
• Not one Fortune 100 CEO has a blog.

I’d imagine most of these CEOs would make the argument that they’re "too busy doing actual work" to engage in social media. Do you think that’s the right attitude, or are they missing out on exposure or improved customer relations for their business by not being engaged?