Eileen Chmielewski, of Crown Point, said Oct. 2, 2008, was the worst day of her life. She lost her job working for an insurance company in Chicago.
More than two years later, she continues to struggle making ends meet as she is only employed part time in Northwest Indiana, netting a fraction of her former full-time pay. While she's thankful for her job, the recession brought economic pain that was difficult for her and her two children to foresee.
"Who wants to be in this position? Nobody. Nobody," Chmielewski said. "We do what we have to do. I never thought I'd be let go. ... it's devastating."
Although experts say the 18-month recession ended in June 2009, it took away -- and has yet to return -- thousands of jobs in Northwest Indiana. An estimated 40,000 people were out of work in the seven-county area in August, and the 10.6 percent average unemployment rate among the counties was more than twice as high as it was three years earlier.
While leaders debate whether the country's economic recovery will be in the shape of a "U" or a "V," Northwest Indiana residents and business leaders say J-O-B-S are the key to improving conditions.
But to further improve fortunes, they say the region must attempt to replace jobs lost in the recession and find growth in mature industries, encourage the pursuit of higher education and market the area to sources in and out of the state as a viable place to do business.
Job recovery for Northwest Indiana will have to be seen in the region's largest sources of employment: steel, gaming, hospitality and health care, said Paul McGrath, head of Purdue University Calumet's Department of Finance and Economics. He said if those industries aren't growing or show limited growth, Northwest Indiana will be slow to gain jobs.
Northwest Indiana's job growth rate in the next three years is expected to be less than half of the 1.7 percent annual growth rate for the rest of the state, according to Indiana University's Center for Econometric Model Research.
McGrath said job growth in the region will be proportionate to the amount of education people are able to attain for higher-skilled jobs.
About 13.5 percent of high school students in Northwest Indiana dropped out in 2007, down from nearly 16 percent in 1996, according to the Northwest Indiana Workforce Board's report last month. The report also said more than half of the area's 402,000 workers could benefit from job placement or career development services to provide higher skills to advance in a career or earn more money.
Mark Maassel, president and CEO of the Northwest Indiana Forum, said educators are starting to understand that to close the educational attainment gap, they need to be "creating the relevance of education and telling (students), 'What you're learning now will be important to the workplace.'"
Opportunities abound
Business leaders in Northwest Indiana's seven-county area say economic improvement may come in the form of a ship, train or truck.
Maassel said the region needs to better promote and leverage its centralized location to provide significant economic opportunities as the recovery takes hold. The Port of Indiana Burns Harbor accepts and has the capacity to handle international waterborne cargo on Lake Michigan's south shore and it is connected to the west, east and southern regions of the country via highways and rail lines. In addition to cargo, the region can be a hub for data centers and information transmission across the country.
Robert Schaefer, president of consulting firm Community Dynamics in Michigan City, said Gary/Chicago International Airport also could be an economic development centerpiece for the area, but that it "needs to come of age."
"We need to take advantage of some of the strengths we have and how we diversify," Maassel said.
However, a recovery also may need to take place in consumer wealth and business and consumer confidence before regional business conditions improve, Maassel said.
A community effort
Heather Ennis, executive director of the Chesterton/Duneland Chamber of Commerce, said the chamber believes economic development and local employment can be helped along through a "closer-to-home" solution. In August, the chamber launched its "10-10 Challenge," which encourages area shoppers in the area through 2011 to spend $10 or more at 10 different Chamber member establishments in one month.
"For everyone, trying to keep dollars in the community and encouraging strong business is an important thing when you're thinking about pulling yourself through the bootstraps of the recovery," Ennis said. "The recession hangover is longer than the recession was."
With a significant portion of the region being within an hour's driving distance of the city of Chicago, many people in business consider Northwest Indiana to be a part of the Chicago metropolitan area. Ennis said municipalities have improved their ability to market themselves to entities across the border, but they need to understand what opportunities are best suited for them.
"We are looking more and more attractive to businesses over there," Ennis said. "We have to keep being diligent and being organized."
Indiana Secretary of Commerce Mitch Roob said the region can do more to market itself better to Illinois businesses, especially with the Illinois' difficult fiscal situation and higher tax environment.