By the numbers
The full Indiana Vision 2025 update is available at the Indiana Chamber's website.
Here is a summary of some key pieces of data, and how Southwest Indiana compares to the rest of the state.
High School Graduation Rate: Indiana 87.1 percent. SW Indiana 81.8 percent.
Associate's Degrees: Indiana 38.4 percent, SW Indiana 37.7 percent.
Bachelor's Degrees: Indiana 28.4 percent, SW Indiana 26.4 percent.
Science & Engineering Degrees: Indiana 12.21 percent, SW Indiana 11.1 percent.
Less Than a High School Diploma: Indiana 10.4 percent, SW Indiana 8.1 percent.
Poverty Rate: Indiana 11.2 percent, SW Indiana 11.5 percent.
Per Capita Income: Indiana $28,323, SW Indiana, $28,665.
Adult Smoking Rate: Indiana 21.8 percent, SW Indiana 19.9 percent.
Adult Obesity Rate: Indiana 33.6 percent, SW Indiana 33.6 percent.
Drug Deaths (Per 100,000 Population): Indiana 28.9 percent, SW Indiana 17.8 percent.
EVANSVILLE — The generally poor health of Indiana residents is negatively impacting the state's competitiveness, Indiana Chamber officials said Tuesday during a stop in Evansville.
By many metrics, such as taxes and regulations, the state's business climate is strong, according to Chamber officials. But they said businesses are being hurt by healthcare costs.
Indiana's adult smoking rate is 21.8 percent, up from 20.6 percent in the previous two-year comparison. Among the 50 states, Indiana's ranking went from 38th-worst to 44th-worst. (The adult smoking rate for Vanderburgh, Warrick, Posey, Gibson and Spencer counties was a bit better: 19.9 percent).
Indiana's smoking rate is double the national average.
"It's going down in most other states," Indiana Chamber CEO Kevin Brinegar said. He also cited a "vaping crisis" among teenagers.
One in three Hoosier adults (33.6 percent) is obese. The exact same percentage exists in Southwest Indiana.
"This is important to Indiana's business climate and economy because it's estimated smokers cost Indiana employers $6.2 billion a year in higher healthcare costs, absenteeism and lost productivity," Brinegar said. "That's real money that's not going to end up in wages, benefits, training, plant equipment modernization."
Brinegar said he was in a presentation recently where auto executives from Michigan, who said that because of Indiana's high health care costs, "they have a mantra of 'anywhere but Indiana.' The difference in healthcare costs in Michigan vs. Indiana is enough to offset their profit margin on a single car."
Brinegar is conducting meetings across the state on Indiana Vision 2025, an outline of Chamber goals for the state's future. It was released in 2012, and the Chamber has since documented progress toward the goals.
The Chamber has advocated higher cigarette taxes and raising the legal age to smoke as two ways to lower the smoking rate. But the General Assembly hasn't budged.
Brinegar said many lawmakers are leery of supporting higher taxes, even though the Chamber has polling data supporting its positions. Making cigarettes more cost-prohibitive might dissuade younger people from starting smoking, he said.
"We're going to keep pushing," Brinegar said. " ... We need the governor to get on board, as well."
Beyond the health data, Brinegar said Indiana's rate of completing education beyond high school also lags behind nationwide averages.
The state ranks around 37th and 38th in areas of associate's degrees, bachelor's degrees and industrial certifications. However, Indiana is showing some improvement.
"Some of it is our history of being an industrial and manufacturing state ... We fell behind in that regard and are working to catch up," Brinegar said. "It also is expensive, and the debt loads can be high. Parents and students are starting to question what my earning capacity is for this particular degree ... There are big changes going on within colleges and universities, particularly on the private side but also on the public side."
Another statewide priority must be spawning new entrepreneurs, Brinegar said, because "existing companies can keep growing jobs for only so long."
He also cited the ongoing problem of having far more available jobs than skilled workers to fill them. Brinegar said Indiana must continue to focus on job training and recruiting talent from other states.
Southwest Indiana Chamber CEO Tara Barney said data is helpful for elected officials and business leaders as they shape priorities and policies.
She said the Chamber's updated report, as well as the local Chamber's recent tour of Omaha, Nebraska, have provided much food for thought.
"Southwest Indiana is using the state Chamber's data and our trip to Omaha to connect the dots between those goals and metrics toward those goals, and how to best use scarce resources," Barney said. "When we track data, we actually start to get something done."
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