Indiana governor sees RV industry returning stronger than before
Wed Dec 16, 2009
Author: Eric Berman
Source: WIBC.com
Governor Daniels is accentuating the positive in the Hoosier economy, as what he calls a "hard year" draws to a close.
Indiana's jobless rate is near 10 percent, but still below any of its neighbors. Daniels calculates if auto sales were to rebound, Indiana would be among the first of the Rust Belt states to move into recovery. He points to northern Indiana's RV industry as a possible leading indicator, with companies starting to hire more workers, six months after layoffs in the industry gave Elkhart County the nation's worst jobless rate.
"It is very clear that when this is over, we'll have a bigger share of the RV market than when we did before it started, because companies have closed elsewhere and they're bringing the work that remains to Indiana," Daniels says.
In a wide-ranging interview at the governor's mansion, Daniels argues that should be the state's strategy across the board: making Indiana as business-friendly as possible, to be ready to sprint to the front of the pack when the economy picks up. He says 50 companies cutting back in the recession have opted to close plants elsewhere and consolidate here.
And Daniels predicts the construction jobs brought by the 10-year Major Moves highway program will be a secondary benefit. The big payoff, he argues, will be the businesses which congregate along the new roads, at a time when states such as Michigan and New York have been forced to zero out their highway budgets.
But Daniels says he's less optimistic about a quick national economic recovery. And, he contends, the national climate is the biggest factor in Indiana's, hamstringing the market for the state's manufacturing-heavy economy.
Daniels says he'll continue to hold the line against any tax increase, with further steps to keep the state budget balanced coming through spending cuts. The state has portrayed the cuts so far as moves toward doing as much with less, but Daniels says cuts in services remain possible.
"It's a matter of prioritization," Daniels says. "Government does a lot of things that are good to do, nice to do, and there are some things that it simply must do. At times like this, as any family or business would, you sort the nice-to-do's from the must-do's."
Daniels says he still hopes to make the $300 million-plus in school funding cuts announced Tuesday as painless as possible. He calls Hoosier schools "the luckiest in America," noting 39 states cut school spending earlier and deeper.
