We hear the unemployment rate each month, but here are a few other numbers to look at in regard to the economy and jobs:

• Bad news: 8.5 million or so jobs lost in the recession, with more than 40% of those people out of work for more than six months (in 1983 that figure only got as high as 26%)
• Better news: While January of this year saw a decline of 20,000 jobs, that paled to nearly 800,000 jobs lost in the same month a year ago
• Interesting statistic: Many people forget about the job churn that constantly takes place within companies, industries or the economy as a whole. In the second quarter of 2009, 6.4 million people found jobs, but 8 million lost their positions

They’re not all coming back, but bad and better will give way to good and great eventually.

Communications firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas out of Chicago released an article warning employers to be wary of resume fudgers, especially with so many applicants these days. Here is an excerpt for your company to heed:

As millions of Americans struggle with long-term unemployment, the temptation to stretch the truth on one’s resume to gain a competitive advantage is becoming harder to resist. Some desperate job seekers are going so far as to establish fake references. However, the payoff may not be worth the risk, according to one employment authority.

“There is very little proof that any form of resume boosting directly results in a job interview, much less a job offer. In contrast, there are scores of examples of individuals who have been eliminated from candidacy or fired after a fraudulent resume was uncovered,” said John A. Challenger, chief executive officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc., the global outplacement consultancy which provides job-search training and counseling to individuals who have been laid off…

They also added this list:

Top Resume, Interview Fabrications

Education: Listing degree from a school never attended; inflating grade point average and graduate honors; citing degree from online, non-accredited "education" institution.

Job title: Making up a title or boosting actual title by one or more levels in hopes of obtaining better salary offers.

Compensation: Inflating current or previous salary and benefits to secure more money from prospective employer.

Reason for leaving: Saying it was a mass downsizing when the discharge was based on performance; asked to leave, but saying you quit; underplaying or completely hiding poor relationships with superiors.

Accomplishments: Overstating one’s contributions to a team project or company performance; claiming to have received special recognition; exaggerating level of participation in an important aspect of the business.

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.

Chamber President Kevin Brinegar recently appeared on Inside INdiana Business discussing a potential delay in the unemployment insurance fund tax increase.

The President of the Indiana Chamber of Commerce is "cautiously optimistic" a deal will be reached to delay a tax increase on businesses to support the state’s bankrupt unemployment insurance fund. Kevin Brinegar believes a two-year delay in implementation is the most likely scenario. He says there are still some "differing views" that need to be worked out, including issues such as higher benefit levels, automatic benefit increases and paid family and medical leave…

Brinegar says the unemployment insurance system is not designed to fund family and medical leave.

He says a two year delay would provide time to see what Congress will do to deal with the issue because several states are dealing with dwindling unemployment insurance funds, which is part of a national program.

Brinegar also says the chamber is "very disappointed" a bill allowing employees to keep guns locked in their vehicles parked on company property has gone to the governor’s desk.

He says the chamber is also monitoring a tax proposal that would give companies more time to file amended personal property tax returns on their business machinery and equipment.

If you’re like me, you pretty much prefer watching Netflix films on your couch versus actually putting on pants and going to a movie theater. But when you go, there’s a certain expectation of customer service, especially considering the prices of tickets these days. So imagine the shock of one Minnesota woman who wrote a letter to theater ownership, and got a less-than-cordial response from a VP. The Minneapolis/St. Paul Star Tribune reports:

The first problem, she said, was that the theater didn’t accept debit or credit cards. They had brought cash for popcorn and sodas, but not enough to buy tickets. The lobby’s ATM was out of cash, so their friends covered them by writing a check.

That was just the beginning.

"I would say within the first five or 10 minutes, a woman came into the theater and announced that eight people were in there who weren’t supposed to be in there," she said. For about 20 minutes, she said, staff members flashed their lights, checking ticket stubs and being a distraction. "Once I got back into the movie, it was great," Kohl-Leaf said, but the first part of the night out had been marred.

Once home, she decided to e-mail the theater management to complain. Her note went to Evergreen Entertainment LLC of New Brighton, owners of St. Croix Falls Cinema 8 and five movie complexes in Minnesota.

"I did not pay 18.00 to have a distracted experience," she wrote. " … I would rather drive to White Bear Lake, where they obviously know how to run a theater than have this experience again." The e-mailed response that greeted her the next morning left her stunned.

"Drive to White Bear Lake and also go [expletive] yourself," began the reply from Steve Payne, Evergreen’s vice president. "If you don’t have money for entertainment, get a better job, and don’t pay for everything on your credit or check card." It also included a couple more expletives before ending.

"I was surprised — I honestly didn’t think it was the vice president who sent it," said Kohl-Leaf. She showed it to her friend, "and we were just like, ‘What?’ … I’ve worked in retail, and I would never think to say something like that, or write it or anything."

Payne later sent a second, less-heated, message: "As vice president I should never have reacted that way, no matter how I felt about your e-mail."

Ya think? Trust me, when I worked as an editor of a community newspaper, I took several phone calls laden with vitriol, and in some cases that feeling was mutual. But dang. Let’s all let this serve as a reminder to take a breath before dealing with unhappy customers and clients. As with most things in life, firing back with emotion before thinking it through just creates more problems for yourself and your business.

The IEDC and SBDC are now accepting nominations for the popular Indiana Companies to Watch program. Once again, BizVoice magazine will include information about the winners and will be presented the night of the awards dinner:

Nominations and applications for the third annual Indiana Companies to Watch awards program, highlighting some of the state’s top privately held companies opens today.

Presented by the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, its Small Business Development Center network (SBDC), Purdue University and the Edward Lowe Foundation, Indiana Companies to Watch recognizes privately held Indiana businesses that employ between six and 150 full-time employees and have between $750,000 to $100 million in annual revenue or working capital.

"This program spotlights Indiana companies in various industries who have demonstrated growth and the intent to keep growing," said Jeff Heinzmann, IEDC’s state SBDC director. "We are also succeeding in bringing these entrepreneurs together as a community to learn how to grow from each other."

Anyone may nominate an eligible business or apply for the awards by completing the online application form at www.Indiana.companiestowatch.org. A panel of judges will review the applications and select the top companies to receive the awards based on past growth, projected success, innovation, technology application and community involvement. Nominations will be accepted through March 29.

"Premier Capital Corporation is honored to again participate in an awards program that recognizes growing Indiana companies," said David W. Amick, executive director of Premier Capital Corporation, the program’s flagship sponsor.  "As a provider of growth capital to Indiana businesses for the past 25 years, the Indiana Companies to Watch program is a great opportunity to recognize Indiana success stories, many of whom are Premier Capital clients."

Winners of the awards will be recognized Aug. 26 during an awards dinner at the Indiana Roof Ballroom in Indianapolis.

"The Indiana Companies to Watch awards program honors some of our state’s greatest assets - successful entrepreneurs who are creating companies and jobs for Hoosiers," said Alan H. Rebar, executive director of Purdue’s Discovery Park. "It is important that we recognize these future economic leaders and give them a strong support base for their continued success."

Companies to Watch was developed by the Cassopolis, Mich. - based Edward Lowe Foundation.  The foundation hosts similar programs in Michigan, Arizona, Colorado and Mississippi.

"Since its inception in 2008, Companies to Watch in Indiana has clearly demonstrated that second-stage companies power the state’s economy," said Penny Lewandowski, director of entrepreneurship at the Edward Lowe Foundation. "At the time they were selected, 2008 and 2009 honorees employed more than 5,771 workers. Representing regions statewide, these companies are impressive for their industry diversity, as well as their compelling stories of entrepreneurial leadership and tremendous potential for developing the latest and greatest innovations."

It’s come up a few times over the years, and the Indiana Chamber has been successful in helping to swiftly swat it away. It is becoming a common topic in many states as revenues have continued to plummet. It is … a sales tax on services.

The list of services is long and varied — from hair cuts and funerals to accounting and legal help. When it’s businesses working with other businesses, it gets even more complicated. Yes, states want more tax revenue, but do they benefit from putting policies in place that hurt companies and, in many cases, individual consumers.

Other questions — if states wish to opt for any additional taxes at all: What services are exempted? Do you lower the overall tax rate and, if so, how much? Will such taxes send people over state lines where the same services may be tax-free?

Stateline.org has a look at the latest. Full story here, and some excerpts below:

With tax revenues at a historic low and federal stimulus dollars drying up, states like Michigan and Pennsylvania are eying adding a sales tax to some of the 180 services that states could be taxing, ranging from pet grooming and dating services to dental and legal services. The change would be a fundamental shift in states’ tax systems, but the proposals are already running into stiff opposition from the business community.
  
States have long taxed goods, like cars and appliances, since the 1930s, bringing in nearly 35 percent of the general revenue for the 45 states that have a sales tax. (Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire and Oregon don’t have one.)
 
But the shift in the U.S. economy from producing goods to services has meant fewer tax dollars flowing into states that have been slow to tap the service pool. Hawaii, New Mexico, South Dakota and Washington state tax more services than other states, according to the most recent data available.
 
California, Illinois, Massachusetts and Virginia probably could increase their sales tax revenue by more than a third if they broadly taxed services purchased by households, such as landscaping services, health club memberships and car washes, according to Michael Mazerov, a senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a Washington, D.C., group that examined states’ options for expanding sales taxes on services in a 2009 report.

A handful of states, among them Arkansas, Connecticut, Ohio and Nebraska, did levy sales taxes on additional services as they began to recover from the 2001 recession, but the changes were largely incremental, not comprehensive like the plans in Michigan and Pennsylvania.
 
States back then took the slow approach because taxing services is politically explosive and a few well-publicized debacles have made others leery of trying. Florida, for example, passed a far-reaching tax on most personal and business services in 1987 only to repeal it the following year because of intense business opposition. Massachusetts approved a sales tax on certain services in the summer of 1990, and it was canned by the following spring. And more recently, Maryland in 2007 added what was dubbed the “tech tax,” which was rescinded before it took effect after the computer industry mounted an aggressive campaign against it.