At year’s end, state economic development officials announced 2012 had been a record-setting year for job creation. But Hoosiers have every reason to be skeptical of a promised 27,600 jobs. The Indiana Economic Development Corporation has excelled at announcing jobs; it has faltered in delivering them.
Carbon Motors, Really Cool Foods, Plasmatronics, Tell City Marine and Getrag Transmission Manufacturing represent a handful of the grand announcements that produced nothing but disappointment or, in some cases, lawsuits over unmet obligations – including loans and grants by local economic development groups. An Indianapolis TV station, WTHR, scrutinized the IEDC’s job claims in 2010 and found that thousands of the jobs announced never materialized.
Senate Bill 162, co-sponsored by Senate Republicans Mike Delph of Carmel and Jim Banks of Columbia City, followed the investigation. Approved by a 49-1 vote in the Senate and a 98-0 vote in the House, the measure awaits Gov. Mike Pence’s signature. It will add welcome transparency to reporting requirements of the quasi-public IEDC, which awards more than $100 million a year in tax dollars to companies promising to create jobs in Indiana.
© 2024, www.journalgazette.net