Take a look at the Indiana Chamber’s BizVoice magazine covers (71 of them over the past 12 years) and you won’t see a lot of people. We don’t have anything against people, particularly Hoosier leaders in their field. We interview them, we gather their insights and we focus on telling good stories.

The lack of photographs is due more to the absence of a full-time staff photographer and the presence of a very talented creative director who has been involved in all but the first two issues of those 71. Tony Spataro won’t want me to mention his name (yeah, right), but I digress.

Our March-April issue does feature a photo of someone making a difference in higher education. His name is Nasser Paydar and he is chancellor of the Indiana University East campus in Richmond. His neighbor, literally across the parking lot, is Ivy Tech Community College.

Paydar eliminated associate degrees and remedial classes (why duplicate what Ivy Tech is doing, he says) and turned his focus to partnerships. He’s giving up potential students in the short run but gaining a strong pipeline for his campus’ bachelor and advanced degree programs. And, most important, he’s operating with the top priority on the students. Sounds like a simple concept, but it’s not one that is always followed.

The in-depth story on higher education efficiency and effectiveness is titled Breaking Down Walls: Columbus, Richmond Show the Way. Give it a read and let us know what you think.

Indiana Chamber VP of Education & Workforce Development Derek Redelman discusses higher education developments in Richmond and Columbus. He explains that one key goal is to help students find an educational program that best suits them individually, and how new initiatives are impacting the state’s larger institutions. For a more detailed look at the issue, read the story in our latest edition of BizVoice magazine.

In this era of Twitter, smartphones and cable news networks, the minute something happens we know about it. A lot has been said/written/tweeted/etc. about print media dying.

While that’s a debate for another day, I will say I experience a monthly euphoria when the latest copy of Vanity Fair (ahem, I mean Forbes) is waiting for me in the mailbox.

I don’t expect to the find the news of the day when I pick up a magazine. No, I am looking for those in-depth stories and images that are much more enjoyable on glossy pages than a retina-burning digital screen.

So, that brings us to my point … the latest issue of BizVoice. Just like other magazines, we work on a production schedule that makes breaking news nearly impossible (once again, not the role of magazines anyway).

While topics in the magazine are planned so they are relevant for when they are released, those pesky deadlines can make things complicated. Case in point:

• January 26 – I sat down with Eileen O’Neill Odum, NiSource executive vice president and NIPSCO CEO, for a brief interview for the BizVoice “Getting to Know” feature.
• Our conversation was then turned into a nearly two-page spread for the March/April issue, which was sent to the printer February 12 – two weeks before it’s distributed to readers.
• February 18 – Odum announced she would resign her position at the end of the month to spend time with her family. 

What are the chances? I guess that’s part of the deadline business. Don’t write off the story though – Odum’s words remain relevant as she discusses the company and Northwest Indiana. Go ahead and get to know her. We wish Eileen all the best as she enjoys some valuable time with family.

I can’t help but wonder if there’s something in the Northwest Indiana water though. Vince Galbiati officially resigned his position as CEO of the Northwest Indiana Forum the day after participating in a BizVoice roundtable discussion.

While we could have decided to leave him out of the story, you’ll find his perceptive comments are included (with a note acknowledging his resignation). You’ll also find several other stories in this issue highlighting Northwest Indiana. And just in case my theory on the water is correct, I’ll keep you posted on any other resignations.

In the Northwest Indiana roundtable discussion in our current BizVoice, it is mentioned by an economic development official that we don’t care which county (or community) is home to the next major project. Will others in the Region have the same opinion? 

Bill Nangle, executive editor of The Times, says, "The end result will be that getting that company to develop here will outweigh any other consideration. Doesn’t mean there won’t be one community versus another. The one that I always think of is Krispy Kreme Dougnuts (battle between Highland and Schererville, with the latter the winner but the facility no longer in operation).

Mike Schrage, leader of Centier Bank, offers, "I think the public is very accepting of a business … as long as it comes to the area, that’s great. On the political side, we haven’t quite gotten the changeover; they’re still into a little fiefdom-type thing that unless it comes to our community, we’re not going to get the best benefit out of it."

Read this story and other Northwest Indiana and education features in BizVoice.

Our next BizVoice magazine (available online February 26) features four Northwest Indiana leaders talking about what it’s going to take for the Region to thrive economically. Extension of the South Shore rail service (a mainstay from South Bend to Chicago and stops inbetween) is part of the discussion, but the following didn’t make the final cut for the story.

Leigh Morris, who is chairman of the Northwest Indiana RDA (that’s Regional Development Authority) and oversees the Indiana Toll Road for the state Department of Transportation, noted the two proposed South Shore extensions are "from Hammond south through Munster and down to Lowell and Crown Point; the other one is an extension from the main line down to Valparaiso in Porter County."

As for the timelines, Morris adds, "Both of these projects are in the process of feasibility evaluations and studies. There are a variety of issues that have to be addressed. The RDA’s position is that both of these routes must be studied sumultaneously. We may do one before the other, but it is not one or the other; it’s both."

With existing rail corridors in place for both, "they could happen fairly expeditiously, within a five-year time frame. One or both could be well underway or even in operation in that time frame. A lot of that depends on being able to assemble the dollars that are involved (more than a billion through regional, state and federal resources).

The public reaction, in Porter County in particular, has been negative as the message about affordability (50% federal match) and economic development opportunities has been overshadowed by that nasty three letter word — tax.

Morris summarizes: "We’ve allowed people to think that we’re going to extend these railroad tracks down here, and there will be a bunch of people getting on the train and going to Chicago. It’s so much more than that. This is the catalyst that will cause major new investment and the creation of new sustainability in our communities."

On the passenger and freight side, Morris offers an interesting tidbit. "We have probably the single most congested piece of rail in the entire national on the Norfolk Southern between Porter, Indiana and Chicago." Stimulus funding is pending to address that.

Read this story and more from Northwest Indiana (and from both K-12 and higher education) in the March-April BizVoice.

The Complete College Tennessee Act is the name and the goal is a higher-functioning higher education system. And there are some Indiana connections.

Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen signed the legislation late last month. It intends to send remediation classes to community colleges, make it easier for two-year graduates to transfer to four-year universities and increase the number of students who actually earn their degrees. Sounds similar to some of the components in the Reaching Higher plan from the Indiana Commission for Higher Education.

One reason may be that former Indiana Commissioner Stan Jones, the Indiana Chamber’s 2009 Government Leader of the Year, contributed to the development of the Tennessee initiative. Jones now heads a Washington, D.C. nonprofit focused on helping states improve college attainment.

Jones was quoted in the Chattanooga Times Free Press as saying, "People are uncomfortable with change. The more they hear about it and about strategies, the more comfortable they will be."

In a Nashville Public Radio report, Gov. Bredesen focused on the workforce advantages, emphasizing that more people with degrees will bring better-paying jobs to the state. He said: 

“Look, I don’t have some number in mind. I mean, I know that we are, as I’ve said, we are well below the national averages in terms of the number of college graduates. And our rate is not sufficient to catch us up. One thing I’m very clear on is, we’re not going to compete, in the long term, with states that have much higher rates of college graduates in the kind of economy we’re going to have."

The Chamber focused on Indiana’s Reaching Higher efforts in the March-April 2008 BizVoice. In this year’s higher education issue (in the mail and available online on February 26), some of the Indiana initiatives as they related to the relationship between community colleges and regional campuses are examined in-depth.

Working in communications at the Indiana Chamber and as editor of our BizVoice magazine offers the opportunity to meet, interview, get to know and sometimes just be around some pretty amazing leaders. One of those people is Niel Ellerbrook, whose upcoming retirement as CEO of Evansville-based Vectren Corp. was announced Wednesday.

Niel was the Chamber’s 2007 Business Leader of the Year; you can read his story in BizVoice. A few of the highlights: born in Rensselaer, grew up in Franklin and earned an accounting degree from Ball State University. His career was divided into equal segments – 10 years with Arthur Andersen, 20 with Indiana Energy and another 10 with Vectren, the product of a major utility company merger. All stops were marked by organization and individual success.

Service to the Chamber for Niel included, among other roles, heading the tax and fiscal policy committee and active involvement on the board of directors and executive committee (including time as treasurer). His community involvements have been significant in both the volume of activities and the prominence of his accomplishments. Several are featured in the BizVoice article.

The Vectren press release has more on the company transition.