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.

Indiana isn’t the only state reveling in the joys (insert your own joke here) of a special session – our neighbors to the south called back lawmakers for their own budget issue. Unlike Indiana, Kentucky is facing a nearly $1 billion budget shortfall.

While the race to finish a budget continues here, Kentucky legislators sent a revised plan to the governor on Wednesday (see story) . Several decisions being made in the Bluegrass state directly affect Hoosiers:

Legislation that would have allowed video slot machines at Kentucky horse tracks squeezed through the House, but failed in Senate committee this week (had this passed it would have meant fewer Kentuckians crossing state lines and less revenue for Indiana). This has been an ongoing debate in Kentucky, and this surely won’t be the last attempt by proponents.

Several years in the works, Kentucky finally has developed a funding plan for its share of the Ohio River Bridges Project, which would allow for two new bridges connecting the two states. (Read the 2005 BizVoice® story and the 2007 update.) Indiana plans to fund its portion of the project with Major Moves money. 

Now back to the countdown closer to home. We didn’t fare too poorly in Kentucky – we’ll see what happens here though.

These days there are plenty of reminders of the economic downturn. This past weekend, while driving through Pendleton, I saw this sign in a small shop advertising its going-out-of-business sale:  “We fought the economy, and the economy won.”

Thankfully, that’s not the whole story in Indiana. Plenty of Hoosier businesses continue to grow and prosper. I offer the story of FINCH Constructors, an Indianapolis-based company that without any magic anti-recession potion (no, I don’t know where you can buy such a concoction) is experiencing positive growth.

“We stayed the course by taking care of our core customer base and understanding what our job is and what our goal is,” explains president and CEO Robert Finch. Top projects for FINCH Constructors right now include work at Eli Lilly (a FINCH customer since 1993) and at the downtown JW Marriott, which will open in 2011.

Finch says the family-owned and operated company continuously adds talent and technology so it can keep up with the clients it serves. Still, Finch goes back to the backbone of the company: strong relationships with core customers. 

“They believe in us and they’ve given us the opportunity to serve them. Since we understand their facilities and the systems, we owe it to them to be around at the end of today and tomorrow and the next day,” Finch shares.

So here’s to one of many Indiana companies that took on the economy and won.

We all have that crazy aunt or uncle that we can’t help but love. For me it’s an uncle who lives in the South, loves to leave me prank phone messages about politicians and happens to be a bigwig for an automotive company.

When it comes to business though, he’s, well, all business. So when I told him I was writing a story about the new Honda plant in Greensburg, he interjects, “We’re a pain, aren’t we?” – referring to the auto industry’s cautious interactions with the media.

Getting information about Honda for the BizVoice story did take a lot of patience, I will admit (about two months, but who’s counting?). But that’s OK. After all, they were hustling to wrap up two years of work on the $550 million plant.

Those two years of planning, training and building culminated with one (with many more to come) shiny black car early this morning. Greensburg’s plant began mass production today when its first four-door Civic rolled off the assembly line.

Congrats to both the city of Greensburg and Honda. We’ll be looking for more of those fuel-efficient Civics traveling along I-74.

As e-learning software company ANGEL Learning grows, it takes some creative thinking to foster customer interactions.

That’s why president and CEO Christopher Clapp created the ALL (ANGEL Learning and Listening) Tour, which hit the road for the first time this year.

Employees formed groups of three or four people from different departments and experience levels. Each group will visit schools across North America from Florida to Canada. The trip will help employees gain different perspectives from customers while having fun. Destinations were selected randomly at a staff meeting, giving some employees a coveted trip to Florida in February or a less glamorous visit to Iowa in July.

“One of the things that’s emerged is somebody bought a little gnome, and you have to take the gnome and put the gnome in a picture some place,” Clapp says.

The gnome even brings a passport so the schools can sign or stamp it from the visit.

After each trip, employees get together for a debriefing – sharing their experiences, photos and stories of fun. Also, the well-traveled can help prepare novices by offering tips on what worked during their visits and what didn’t.

“I think it’s illustrative of what we try to do as an organization – keep things stimulating, keep things fun, but keep them really focused on the work at hand,” Clapp explains. The experience helps employees learn the vocabulary used by customers, see what their facilities are like and understand their location.

With trips overlapping, ANGEL is dealing with one predicament. “We’re having gnome hand-off problems so we’re ordering a couple extra gnomes,” Clapp admits.

Read more about ANGEL Learning and what makes it a Best Place to Work in the May/June issue of BizVoice®.

Matrix Integration, a voice and data solutions company in Jasper, made a repeat appearance on the Best Places to Work list this year. Here are a few examples from employees of what brightens up their work week:

• Every Friday employees can submit a “thumbs up” about someone else, which serves a pass to wear denim for the day. These positive comments are then posted on the company intranet for everyone to read.
• For Becky Schneider, her ability to balance her career and home life makes working at Matrix ideal. “I love the fact that they give the flexibility to have a career and a family,” she asserts. The five-year employee is expecting her second child this year. She has the freedom to make her own routine and doesn’t have to sacrifice her family or marketing career at Matrix.
• Workout equipment is available in the employee break room and healthy snacks (such as bananas and grapes) are available for free. Some employees meet after work for a fitness walk as part of the wellness program, Schneider shares.

Read more about Matrix Integration in the May/June issue of BizVoice®.