After a few nudges from mom, my daughter created her free student account, searched for and applied to four internships on Indiana INTERNnet. Within 48 hours, she heard back from all of the employers and ulitmately was offered an internship with Scott A. Jones. 

Indiana INTERNnet’s online matching system connects students and employers for internship opportunities, and as a complement to the matching system, Indiana INTERNnet offers free internship program assessments to employers wishing to implement or enhance existing internship programs. Addtionally, employer workshops are being hosted throughout the state over the next 60 days. 

Is your company planning to host interns this summer? If so, we’d like to hear from you and your interns. Post internship comments and questions on this blog today and inspire other Indiana employers to follow your lead of keeping the workforce talent in the Hoosier state. 

Williams, a well-known political pundit, columnist, professor and occasional guest host of the “Rush Limbaugh Show,” presented his strong views on economic and tax policy in America today.

Williams employed obvious and often humorous comparisons to illustrate his message – at one point equivocating the federal government’s wealth redistribution programs to armed robbery with a benevolent motive. 

“We must ask ourselves, is there ever a moral reason for taking what belongs to one person and giving it to another?” Williams asked, reminding the audience that, “government has no money of its very own.”

As a promoter of individual liberty over intrusive government, Williams believes that charitable contributions and other financial transactions are most effective when people are free to participate in voluntary exchange.

Mandating what Americans save for retirement and enforcing it through Social Security taxes is just one of the ways Williams feels government is interfering with voluntary exchange.  He also asserted that the federal government has no Constitutional authority to collect taxes for three-fourths of the things it currently collects.

The next Economic Club luncheon season will begin with Eli Lilly president/CEO John Lechleiter on Sept. 24. He will be followed by editor of the The Weekly Standard (and New York Times columnist) William Kristol on Oct. 27, who will offer his political insights just before the 2008 election. Here is the current schedule, and new speakers are still being added.

Additionally, attendees were privy to the release of the May/June 2008 edition of BizVoice magazine following the dinner, which includes the final placing and several articles about recognized companies.

And if you’d like for your business to throw its hat in the ring for next year, click here to learn more information about the program and application process.

The latter sums up Tuesday for Indiana Business for Responsive Government (IBRG) , the political action arm of the Indiana Chamber. IBRG is in the business of electing state legislators focused on a pro-growth, pro-jobs agenda. It endorsed 16 candidates (nine in the House and seven in the Senate). All 16 were winners.

Among the highlights:
* IBRG was part of a coalition supporting challenger Wes Culver (R-Goshen) against incumbent John Ulmer, also of Goshen, in House District 49. Culver earned a most impressive 70.7% of the vote

* IBRG was active in the re-election effort of Dan Leonard (R-Huntington), who collected more than 58% of the vote in handily defeating two challengers in House District 50

* An open-seat Senate race saw IBRG help Republican Jean Leising (a former state senator from Oldenburg) collect more than 48% of the vote in a four-way battle in District 42

IBRG bases its endorsements on legislator voting records (as documented in the Legislative Vote Analysis) and candidate interviews. There won’t be too much time for pats on the back, however, as the general election awaits – as does the effort to elect legislators ready to work for an economic climate that rewards Indiana companies and their employees.

UPDATE: Indiana political blog Hoosier Access has also taken note of IBRG’s success, heralding the PAC as the big winner on election night.

Copies of the report are sent to all Indiana Chamber members, thousands of businesspersons, all legislators and other community leaders across the state.

For this season about to end, we have brought in a member of the Clinton administration, two university presidents, a superintendent of a major school system, president of one of the nation’s largest not-for-profits and an advocate of tougher emission standards. As the 2008-2009 season takes shape, we will continue to promote an interest in, and enlighten to attendees on, important governmental, economic and social issues. We do so across a broad spectrum with speakers we both agree and disagree with. 

The Economic Club is highly regarded nationally for its role in bringing local, national and international speakers to our state since 1974.

There are many Hoosiers with a vested interest in overcoming the challenges — such as 651,000 workers with no college education and earning less than a living wage.

Two names at the top of that list of interested parties are Thomas Snyder, president of Ivy Tech Community College, and Teresa Voors, commissioner of the Indiana Department of Workforce Development. Snyder and Voors, along with Mark Lawrance (a Chamber senior vice president who oversaw the study in his role as head of the Chamber Foundation) are taking the message around the state. Audiences in Bloomington, Evansville, Fort Wayne and South Bend have heard about the needs, what the state is already doing well and how public and private sector leaders are working together to craft additional solutions.

The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette and the South Bend Tribune report on the recent visits to their communities. Gary and Indianapolis are among the upcoming stops.

Contact Lawrance to learn about the study and what many are saying is the No. 1 long-term challenge facing our state.

The breakfast is free for Indiana Chamber members and $19 for non-members. Please contact Abby Hamilton at (317) 264-3793 or ahamilton@indianachamber.com to RSVP for this fun and educational event.
 
Sounds like a great way to start a Spring day in the month of May in Indianapolis. You may even be lucky enough to bump into A.J., Mario or Little Al. But I promise you won’t have to listen to me sing "Back Home Again in Indiana."