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BizVoice/Indiana Chamber – July/August 2017
Moving Forward, But a Quicker Pace Required
INDIANA’S PROGRESS
“If you’re not keeping score,
you’re just practicing.”
This popular quote, and its various iterations,
applies in a number of circumstances far
beyond athletic competitions. From school
grades to business profits and losses,
measurement and evaluation are essential.
The Indiana Chamber works with others
on a regular basis to help enhance Indiana’s
economic outcomes. We established long-
range goals through the
Indiana Vision 2025
plan, first introduced in 2012, and measure
the state’s economic performance via this
Report Card on a biannual basis.
So what does the scorecard tell us for
2017? We’ll answer that by looking at each of
the four drivers of the plan.
Outstanding Talent
Student achievement is improving at an
early age, based on fourth grade NAEP test
scores. Those stronger results do not always
carry over to the eighth grade level. (Expansion
of pre-K efforts for low-income students and
families will provide assistance toward the
goal of eliminating educational achievement
gaps. Indiana, in particular, has widening gaps
for low-income eighth graders).
Indiana is seeing progress in the number of
degree and credential holders, but its 50-state
ranks – 39th in bachelor degrees, 40th in
associates and 42nd when adding in high-quality
credentials per the latest Lumina Foundation
data – remain lacking. Consider this: Indiana
ranks third in science and technology degrees
produced, but 42nd in the percent of
population holding such degrees.
Possibly the biggest challenge, however,
might be with the incumbent workforce. Released
in conjunction with this Report Card were the
results of the Chamber’s 10th annual employer
workforce survey. Among its key findings:
• The number of respondents that left jobs
unfilled due to under-qualified applicants
increased to 47% – from 39%, 43% and
45% the last three years
• Those indicating that filling their workforce
was their biggest challenge also increased –
29% after previous marks of 20%, 24%
and 27%. Add in the “next biggest
challenge” scenario and the number soars
to 79% (continuing the upward total from
72%, 74% and 76% the last three years)
• When asked about education incentives
offered to employees, 76% report offering
flex scheduling and 57% help employees
develop career plans. Although 48% offer
tuition assistance, less than 5% of
employees use the assistance with 60% of
employers reporting employees are not
motivated to participate and 35% reporting
employees see no personal benefit in
advancing their education
Without upskilling Indiana’s incumbent
By Tom Schuman
EDITOR’S NOTE: The Indiana Chamber released the 2017 version of the Indiana Vision 2025 Report Card and the 10th annual employer workforce survey in
early June. Below is the narrative from that report. The Report Card (
www.indianachamber.com/2025)also contains progress on the 36 goals since the plan was
introduced in 2012, top/bottom states and Indiana’s performance in each of 62 metrics, and a per-metric comparison for Indiana from the 2015 to 2017 evaluations.
More than 60 people participated in the first
Indiana Vision 2025
regional forum in South Bend, including
a panel of emerging professionals (below) that addressed talent attraction and retention efforts.
FEATURE STORY