A Salute to the Best
Spotlighting winners, from businesses to racing teams.
My congratulations to this year's “Best Of” winners in Northwest Indiana and Greater South Bend/Michiana, as chosen by our readers! And thanks again to all our readers who took the time to vote. We had a record number of responses this year and added several new voting categories. Find out who is the best in business in 2014, inside with our cover story.
Manufacturing jobs in Indiana account for 28 percent of our state's economy, but those jobs have changed. The lack of skills needed to fill manufacturing job vacancies is being addressed by workforce development leaders, Ivy Tech and many training initiatives. Read more inside on what is being done to address the needs of our future workforce. Young people, especially, need to be given the opportunity to learn basic job skills–and they just need a chance. We encourage our readers to hire teens this summer to help them develop skills and build their work ethic. College graduates are educated, but lack real-world work experience in their 20s and they are having a tough time landing jobs as well. Balancing a personal life with work is another of the challenges facing younger workers, especially those in their 30s with young families. Some are ahead of the game. Our “Young Innovators” profiled inside this issue have changed the rules and are doing great things with their own business ventures.
Our small business focus this issue is on family-owned businesses. It can be challenging and when conflicts arise or differences of opinions surface, the region's multigenerational, family-owned businesses seem to know how to overcome these obstacles and continue to thrive. Read the full story inside this issue.
Our exclusive Q&A public service article with Gov. Mike Pence, written by Michael Puente, reflects the positive accomplishments of this year's short legislative session, and our sports department exclusive is on the father-and-son Rahal racing team, written by our sportswriter, Ben Smith.
And our Viewpoint contributor, Senator Karen Tallian of Portage, bravely addresses the need to change the laws for those who get arrested for marijuana possession. She has been trying for several years to reclassify possession from felony to misdemeanor. Indiana has some of the harshest marijuana laws in the nation. She is advocating change, to get Indiana out of the past and into the present by decriminalizing possession of smaller amounts.
Enjoy our current issue!
—Glee Renick-May, Publisher
