When it comes to jobs in Indiana (a subject in which I have an intense interest as I help my Indiana bankruptcy clients rebuild their finances), the president of the Fishers Town Council, Scott Faultless, hit the proverbial nail on the head: “Businesses are looking to come to a site where they can find employees with the requisite level of education and the ability to get additional education close by” (Indianapolis Business Journal, July 14-20).
The past couple of months, I’ve been writing in these bankruptcy blogs about new jobs that are being created all over Indiana. The crucial thing, though, for people who’ve suffered job layoffs and are trying to avoid bankruptcy and foreclosure, as well as for people emerging after bankruptcy and trying to get their finances back on track, is that they must be able to qualify for these newer, high skill/ high tech jobs that are coming to our state. I’m especially thinking of the folks who filed Chapter 13 bankruptcy, taking on a three to five year repayment plan. Well-paid jobs are essential if these plans are to succeed.
Fishers, Indiana just hired Mark Long, who built I.U.’s Energy Technology Center, to spearhead the development of a new Research and Technology campus in Fishers. Meanwhile Indiana has been adding bioscience jobs faster than all other types, in fields including medical devices, agriculture, medical research, and pharmaceuticals. Indiana now has almost 50,000 bioscience jobs.
The challenge will be to fill those jobs, not only with new graduates, but with retrained mature employees from manufacturing and other industries. Training will be the byword for our state. Training will certainly be the key for many of my Indiana bankruptcy clients as well as for those I’m helping avoid bankruptcy or foreclosure.