The New York Times had an interesting piece this morning about the demand for highly-skilled workers, which remains strong even in the depths of the recession – especially in technical professions like welder and electrician.  The article also notes that in certain fields, like engineering, mathematics, healthcare and computer science, the number of job openings online (through Monster.com and the like) are actually greater than the number of skilled applicants looking for work.

 

It just goes to show that education and experience bring opportunities, even in a troubled economy.

 

And it reinforces the challenge facing Indiana:  We have a population that’s slightly older than the national average, and which has failed to keep pace with national population growth over the last decade.  We rank in the cellar in most meaningful measures of educational attainment.  As Baby Boomer retirements transform our workforce – where will Indiana find the next wave of skilled workers? 

Some negative economic news today, as Indiana’s unemployment rate inches into double digits.  As Department of Workforce Development officials target losses from the automotive industry as a culprit, I wanted to refer you to this insightful piece by Conexus Indiana CEO Steve Dwyer in the Indianapolis Business Journal on the diversity and resilience of the state’s manufacturing sector – an industry that goes far beyond the Big Three.

Let’s end the week with some positive news for our state’s economy, as a new study from the Pew Charitable Trusts documents an 18% increase in Indiana clean technology jobs over the last decade.

 

Cleantech is a booming industry that’s seeing dramatic growth and attracting significant new investment, based in part on ambitious federal goals that include doubling renewable energy use within three years and putting a million new hybrid vehicles on U.S. highways.  The cleantech sector saw more than $7.7 billion in venture capital investment in 2008; especially impressive considering that cleantech venture capital made up just 1% of total VC financing in 2004 (the first year it was widely tracked).  The 2008 figures represent 20% of last year’s venture investment.

 

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, overall market demand for alternative energy and related products and technologies will continue to grow at a rapid pace for the foreseeable future.  The EIA projects 3.3% annual growth in renewable energy consumption through 2030, as well as a sharp increase in light-use hybrid vehicle sales from just 2% of the current market to 38% in 2030.  (Industry experts estimate that nearly 500,000 new hybrid vehicles will hit U.S. highways in 2009 alone.)

 

Other EIA analysis of cleantech sub-sectors like wind and solar power, plug-in/hybrid electric vehicles, second generation biofuels, distributed power generation, and systems integration project each to grow to more than $70 billion over the next ten years, collectively accounting for a more than $350B global market.

 

Look for more news on cleantech and Indiana’s emerging leadership position from CICP’s new Energy Systems Network initiative. 

Recent research by an IU Kelley School of Business professor is good news for Hoosier entrepreneurs who may still be concerned about the increasingly out-of-date image of Indiana as ‘flyover country’ for venture capitalists based on the coasts.

 

A study by Xuan Tian, an assistant professor of finance at Kelley, finds that the level of venture capital received by start-up companies doesn’t appear to be impacted by geographic distance from the investor – lending credence to the assertion that if an idea is good enough, the smart money will find it.  (The paper does note that the structure of funding is impacted, however, with companies further away receiving multiple smaller rounds of financing – portraying some level of caution on the part of investors about firms outside of their own backyards.)

 

The State Science & Technology Institute summarizes it this way:

“Companies located farther from their venture investors receive more frequent rounds of financing with lower cash amounts per round. According to the study, this difference is attributable to the higher cost of monitoring companies that are farther away.”

 

The lack of a location-based disparity is encouraging to Indiana as a Midwestern state without a strong heritage of VC involvement that has nonetheless made great strides in recent years.  We experienced 50% growth in venture investment from 2002-2006, and as I’ve noted elsewhere on this blog, Indiana VC totals grew from $82.5M in 2007 to $123.6M in 2008 as the national venture market contracted.

 

Like Avis, sometimes states like Indiana have to try harder to get the attention of the coastal venture firms.  Our BioCrossroads initiative raised more than $72 million for its Indiana Future Fund, a ‘fund of funds’ that invested in VC firms with the caveat that they more aggressively explore opportunities here in the state.  We’ve also worked hard to develop homegrown sources of early stage capital that can help get young firms going, such as the HALO angel investor network managed by TechPoint.

 

Indiana’s position as ‘Crossroads of America’ is certainly a boon to our logistics industry.  Fortunately, it doesn’t appear to be an impediment to our entrepreneurial sector, either.

 

(This topic was also recently noted in the Indiana Chamber’s excellent blog.)

 

Education recession threatens state's future
Mark Miles
Indianapolis Star - June 7, 2009

The most recent edition of The Economist features an interesting profile on Indiana during the downturn.  Notably for CICP, the piece mentions our BioCrossroads initiative as one catalyst accelerating the state’s transition to an innovation-based economy.

 

The article takes a fairly balanced look at our struggles and successes navigating the current economic turmoil, noting our failings in educational attainment but agreeing that although “every state wants to be a hub for life sciences, Indiana really is one.”  It also talks about diversity and growth in our advanced manufacturing sector, including record levels of foreign investment, putting us in a much better position than Michigan and other manufacturing centers.

Hope you have a moment to check it out before heading out to enjoy your weekend.

The U.S. auto industry has obviously seen better days, with Chrysler becoming the first major automaker to enter bankruptcy since the Great Depression and General Motors pursuing a similar path (though facing legal challenges from Indiana’s pension funds).  Sales have plummeted and the future is cloudy.

 

The automotive industry represents around 16% of Indiana’s total manufacturing jobs.  Our manufacturing industry is immense (employing one of every five Hoosiers and accounting for more than a third of our Gross State Product), but clearly companies like GM have a huge presence.

 

One thing is certain – manufacturing will continue to be the foundation of Indiana’s economy for the foreseeable future.  But like every sector of our economy, manufacturing continues to evolve…

 

That’s why it was interesting to note a new Milken Institute report on high-tech metropolitan areas ranked the Indianapolis region #5 nationally in pharmaceutical manufacturing and #10 in medical instrument manufacturing.  This comes on the heels of an IU study that showed that the life sciences sector increased its share of the state’s total manufacturing output from 11% in 1997 to 20% in 2007.

 

Clearly this is good news at the intersection of two of our largest and most dynamic industry clusters, advanced manufacturing and the life sciences.  And while we all hope for a robust economic recovery that includes the auto sector, it also tells us that we have other emerging manufacturing opportunities that we need to pursue, in the life sciences, ‘clean technologies,’ nanotechnology, aerospace, and more.  The automotive industry is hugely important, but diversity is strength in this economy.

 

What we make and how we make it is changing and will continue to change.  We have to be agile in adapting our economic development, business climate and workforce policies to welcome these new opportunities in addition to playing to our traditional strengths. 

Indianapolis homeowners got some good news this week, as the Indianapolis Star reported that the second installment of Marion County’s 2008 property tax bills should be slightly less than the first – and significantly lower than 2007.  We can thank the property tax caps proposed by Governor Daniels and passed by the legislature last year for this relief…

 

But for every action, there’s an equal and opposite reaction – this law of physics also applies to lawmaking.  As property taxes go down, so do revenues for local governments.  Already, communities like Muncie have announced fire station closings and firefighter layoffs as they struggle with growing budget gaps; Indianapolis stands to lose $21 million when the caps are fully phased in next year (that’s enough to pay for more than 220 new IMPD officers with vehicles and full equipment, to put it into perspective).

 

It didn’t have to come to this.  During the last legislative session, the General Assembly had an opportunity to enact sweeping local government reforms – eliminating outdated, inefficient township governments and consolidating administrative county offices under an elected county executive and council.  These moves would have helped local governments do more with less, and avoid budget meltdowns.  I’ve talked about these reforms ad nauseum here and elsewhere, but the topic is worthy of more commentary – we need reminding again and again about those legislators who turned their backs on reform, killed the Kernan-Shepard recommendations and abandoned cities and towns to struggle with growing deficits.

 

Here’s the math at the highest level.  The property tax caps are expected to cost local governments a collective $400 million in 2010.  An analysis conducted by the Ball State Bureau of Business and Economic Research estimates that $600 million could be saved by implementing all of the Kernan-Shepard reforms.

 

At the township level, it’s simple common sense.  There’s little accountability in this relic of Civil War-era bureaucracy:  Around 70% of township trustees and advisory board members run unopposed, and get elected by less than 15% of the population they serve.  More than half of Indiana’s township provide poor relief (their major responsibility) to 20 households or less.  There’s little question that county governments could absorb these duties more efficiently. 

 

Townships across the state are also currently hoarding more than $230 million in unused surplus funds – money that could help communities avoid tax increases or budget cuts as they adapt to the dire fiscal realities.

 

At the county level, accountability is also the issue.  County government is fragmented into a host of administrative offices, operating with little public oversight.  These aren’t policymaking roles – ask yourself if there’s really a Republican or Democratic way to file a marriage license or record a deed.  Consolidating these offices under a single county executive and an expanded county council would provide a simpler system with checks and balances – just like the President and Congress, or the Governor and the General Assembly.

 

These reforms would make local government more transparent and accountable, less costly and more efficient.  But the status quo is protected by entrenched interests, thousands of local politicians who get jobs and support from the current system.

 

During the last session, the status quo won.  But the problem isn’t going away – and the campaign for local government reform isn’t either.  We’ll be back, for the next legislative session and beyond, fighting for the taxpayers to overhaul a 19^th century system of government that’s given birth to 21^st century cronyism.

From this week’s State Science and Technology Institute newsletter, some heartening news about the level of industry engagement with Indiana’s research universities.  According to the National Science Foundation, Indiana ranked among the top ten states in total university research funding provided by private sector sources in 2007.  We’re 2^nd (behind only North Carolina) in our percentage of academic R&D funding provided by industry.

 

Collaboration between business and academia has been a strong driver of our innovation-based economy.  University-sponsored incubators like the Purdue Research Park and IU’s Emerging Technologies Center are filled with promising start-up companies, showing the real commercial potential and economic impact of university research.  The IU School of Medicine has been an important source of intellectual capital fueling our state’s life sciences growth, while Purdue’s Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Technical Assistance Program (TAP) have helped our high-tech manufacturing sector stay globally competitive.  The examples of fruitful university partnerships with Indiana companies that have helped develop new products and create new jobs could fill several volumes.

 

This data shows at the macro-level that private industry continues to take a strong interest in university research efforts – a trend that bodes well for future economic growth.

Yesterday marked the public launch of an initiative that CICP has been working on for nearly two years (along with the Governor’s Office, our Conexus initiative, and support from organizations like the Rocky Mountain Institute) – the Energy Systems Network, a bold effort to make Indiana a global hub for ‘clean technologies’ and energy innovation.

 

The energy industry today faces tremendous challenges – and the cleantech sector has the potential for explosive growth as it provides the solutions. Indeed, cleantech sub-sectors like wind and solar power, plug-in/hybrid electric vehicles, second generation biofuels, distributed power generation, and systems integration are each projected to grow to more than $70 billion over the next ten years, collectively accounting for a more than $350B global market.

 

And there’s certainly a sense of urgency: The Obama administration has pledged to double renewable energy use within three years and put a million hybrid electric vehicles on our highways by 2015.  A growing share of the public, concerned about the environment, dependence on foreign oil and other issues, is fueling market demand for clean energy products.  And the inevitability of federal climate change legislation means technological breakthroughs in energy will be critical to curb huge potential price increases for carbon-based power for businesses and families.

 

Indiana has a unique opportunity to seize a leadership position on the cutting edge of this green revolution.  More than twenty years ago, GM and others engineered the first electric vehicle (the EV1) here – today, we’re home to firms working on nearly every key component of hybrid and plug-in vehicles, from engines and transmissions to advanced batteries.  We’re leaders in biofuels, clean coal technology, and benefit from the presence of innovative utility partners (like Duke Energy) focused on the development of ‘smart grid’ technologies that will help consumers better control their power use and supply.

 

In short, all of the assets are in place – and now we have another competitive advantage: The collaborative spirit embodied by the ESN.  This initiative recognizes that no single company has the solutions to the energy challenges that we face – companies and research institutions must work together to bring these solutions to market.  And of course, it’s our preference that these partnerships begin in Indiana and that we capture as much of the economic benefit as possible for Hoosiers.

 

The ESN is led by an all-star Board of Directors and is being ably managed at the staff level by Paul Mitchell, former policy advisor to Governor Daniels.  The Network already has two exciting projects in its commercialization pipeline: The Hoosier Heavy Hybrid Partnership is focused on bringing more cost effective light, medium, and heavy duty  hybrid trucks to market.  Project Plug-IN will integrate plug-in electric vehicles and ‘smart grid’ technologies providing a green transportation solution for Central Indiana commuters in one of the nation’s first large-scale pilot projects.

I’d encourage you to visit the landing page we set up for the ESN launch to learn more about this new addition to the CICP family – you’ll be hearing much more from the ESN in the weeks and months to come.

Our Conexus Indiana initiative today released its annual Manufacturing & Logistics Report Card, which assesses how our state measures up in several areas related to these two important industries – which continue to employ more than one of every five Hoosiers and account for more than a third of our Gross State Product. 

 

There are really any shocking revelations in the Report Card for those of us who follow economic development trends – Indiana remains the most manufacturing-intensive state in the nation, with the greatest share of per capita employment in the sector.  (While manufacturing employment has taken a hit during the recession, the decline has been across the board – not more dramatic in Indiana or the Midwest than the rest of the nation.)  We’re also among the top ten states in logistics employment, befitting our geographic advantages as the ‘Crossroads of America.’

 

We’ve also established a strong global position in manufacturing, both in exporting manufactured goods and attracting foreign direct investment from across the globe (indeed, we’re the only state in the Midwest to attract manufacturing investment from every continent…except Antarctica, of course).  The recession will slow our export growth, but the last several years have seen sustained record levels of manufacturing goods flowing outside of our borders.

 

Our tax climate is also very competitive, and leaves us well-positioned for future growth.

 

Our most negative ‘grade’ in this report card was in human capital – the strength of our workforce. Indiana ranked 29^th among states in our percentage of the workforce with a high school diploma and 42^nd in college-educated workers; we were also a dismal 35^th in first-year retention rates in the community college system.  In today’s knowledge-based economy, workforce is a critical competitive advantage – and Indiana is falling behind, as has been detailed extensively in this blog and elsewhere.  Manufacturing and logistics are high-tech industries that demand post-high school education/training – as the economy picks up and mass Baby Boomer retirements begin, thousands of positions could go unfilled – leading to missed opportunities for growth.

You can view the entire report card, with good scores and bad, here.

From an interesting article by Mary Beth Schneider in Sunday’s Star about the political calculus behind local government reform – particularly the elimination of township government:

 

Steve Dillinger, one of three Hamilton County commissioners, said he and other county officials recently met with their legislators and laid out the stakes for them.

 

Lawmakers, he said, were told that if they eliminate a lot of township and county offices, the people who hold those jobs now might run for the legislators' jobs.

 

“The legislators may be giving themselves a whole lot of competition," Dillinger said.

 

It leads me to wonder – shouldn’t  lawmakers also be worried about challenges from pro-reform candidates?  And what about the general anger of voters who face service cuts and/or local tax increases to pay for outdated, inefficient layers of government?

Steve Dwyer, new President & CEO of our Conexus Indiana manufacturing and logistics initiative, penned an insightful column for the Indianapolis Star this morning on the workforce challenges facing our manufacturing and logistics industries (which still employ more than one of every five Hoosier workers, by the way).

 

Through nearly three decades in manufacturing (including his most recent position of Chief Operating Officer of Rolls-Royce Corporation), Steve has watched the manufacturing workplace evolve first-hand – from the stereotypical assembly line to a high-tech operations where workers are tasked with controlling advanced robotics and automated systems.  Today’s manufacturing jobs demand technical skills, critical thinking and initiative – as Steve notes, “a high school diploma doesn’t cut it” anymore.

 

Indiana’s workforce woes have been chronicled in a great detail on this blog and elsewhere – but Steve makes the specific point that the manufacturing industry often has a specific need for training in the two-year degree or certificate range…it doesn’t necessarily take a four-year degree.  This reflects the broader importance of so-called 'middle-skill' occupations - those that require some post-high school education/training but not a four-year degree.  A recent study commissioned by the Workforce Alliance shows that roughly half of employment today is in these middle skill fields.

Unfortunately, we also lag behind in meeting these needs – just 7% of the state’s adult population has earned an associates degree, according to statistics from the Lumina Foundation.  Worse news, we rank a dismal 35^th among states in student retention rates in our community college system.

 

When it comes to strengthening our workforce for the industries that truly contribute the most of Indiana’s economy, we can’t simply focus on steering more young people onto the path to a bachelor’s degree.  We have to address the full spectrum of post-high school educational opportunities – including vocational training and associates programs – to create the kind of diverse workforce that meets all of our economic needs…and prepares Hoosiers for the full range of career opportunities available.

Whatever you might think of the recently-passed stimulus bill – the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, or ARRA – there’s no denying that it provides opportunities for Indiana to access funds for several key economic priorities.  While the state stands to receive some $6 billion in direct federal funding on a formula basis, the bill also contains billions in competitive funding that we could pursue to spur additional investment and job creation here.

 

John Ketzenberger writes about one such opportunity in a recent column in the Indianapolis Star, focusing on our BioCrossroads initiative’s work in healthcare informatics and electronic medical records (one area targeted by the ARRA).  Beyond this, the ARRA also focuses on other priorities that align with our economic development strategy: energy technologies, science and technology research, the life sciences, and next generation infrastructure (i.e. broadband and smart power grid).

 

In particular, Indiana has a strong heritage of innovation in energy technology and engineering.  Today, young companies like EnerDel, Bright Automotive and iPower Technologies, along with established leaders like Allison Transmission, Delphi and Cummins already put us on the cutting edge of the hybrid vehicle and power generation markets; the research capacity of institutions like Purdue and the Crane Naval Warfare Center help provide the intellectual capital that fuels growth in these high-tech sectors.

 

Watch for more on the energy front from CICP.  And as for stimulus funding, it’s critical that we pursue a concerted strategy to maximize Indiana’s benefit – and make sure that we gain a more lasting economic legacy than a temporary infusion of federal cash.

Yesterday, there was even more bad news about Indiana’s fiscal plight, with state tax revenues falling $142 million below expectations for January.  As lawmakers struggle with the state’s budget in this climate, local officials face a daunting challenge as well: An estimated $400 million budget shortfall next year, as caps on property taxes are fully phased in.

 

In these tough economic times, it’s even harder to justify Indiana’s 1850’s-vintage government structure, featuring nearly 3,000 units of local government (including more than 2,000 with the power to levy taxes) and 10,000+ elected politicians.  This bloated structure means multiple layers of government and overlapping bureaucracies siphoning off tax dollars.

 

Take township government, with its collective operating budgets of approximately $400 million a year.  Imagine eliminating township offices altogether, as recommended by the Kernan-Shepard Commission.  It’s reasonable to assume county government could shoulder the duties of the townships (primarily poor relief and fire protection) for at least 25% less, by merging offices and consolidating budgets while at the same time maintaining and even improving services.

 

That’s $100 million a year that could help local governments face a looming budget gap.  The property tax caps passed by the General Assembly in 2008 are expected to hit some localities with significant revenue shortfalls in 2010, estimated at approximately $400 million statewide.  Reducing these anticipated deficits by 25% or more would help city and county governments avoid more dramatic cuts in services or local tax increases as they face the new reality of lower property tax revenues.

 

Indeed, consolidating township government would also free up significant surplus funds that could help localities in their transition to capped property taxes.  The state’s 1,008 townships hoard hundreds of millions of tax dollars they don’t even use, holding $230 million in cash balances (excluding cumulative funds) as well as millions more in unused assets like buildings and land).  That these surpluses are padding the coffers of township offices while dire budget forecasts are looming at the state and local levels is certainly a compelling argument for local government reform.

 

To look at one notable example: Marion County’s nine township governments held a collective fund balance of nearly $40 million at the end of 2007.  The property tax caps are expected to hit Marion County government to the tune of $63 million in 2010; tapping the township surplus would close two-thirds of this gap and allow Indianapolis to address critical priorities. 

 

In the private sector, tough times force successful companies to work smarter, to look for opportunities to cut waste without slashing budgets in ways that are counterproductive.  While state government can’t ever truly be ‘run like a business,’ the analogy certainly applies in this case:  As legislators debate budget priorities as revenues dwindle, it’s ludicrous to ignore the hundreds of millions of tax dollars being funneled into a patchwork of township governments that persist as relics of the Civil War era.

 

It’s hard to find a silver lining in our cloudy economic forecast.  But if one good thing comes out of this downturn, it could be that budget challenges finally force the General Assembly to do what should have been done decades ago – eliminate township government, pass the other reforms outlined by the Kernan-Shepard Commission, and allow local government to do more with less.

In 2008, Indiana bucked national trends when it comes to venture capital investment – a silver lining in an otherwise cloudy economic picture.  According to the State Science & Technology Institute (SSTI):

 

“U.S. venture investment experienced its first yearly decline since 2003 last year, according a recent PricewaterhouseCoopers and National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) MoneyTree Report. The report finds that total investment dollars dropped eight percent in 2008, while deal volume decreased by four percent. A press release accompanying the announcement cited market insecurity and a slowdown in exits for the fourth-quarter declines that led to the lower numbers.”

 

But in Indiana, VC investment grew from $82.5M in 2007 to $123.6M in 2008, increasing our share of total U.S. venture dollars from .27% to .44% (based on deals tracked by NVCA).  Check out the Indiana data here: http://www.ssti.org/vc/indiana/all.php.

 

Strengthening Indiana’s entrepreneurial pipeline has always been a strategic priority for the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership.  In particular, BioCrossroads has played a critical role in expanding access to capital in the life sciences sector, raising nearly $80 million in dedicated venture funding for promising life sciences start-ups in the state and helping attract the attention of national VC firms to this traditionally under-served market.  Our TechPoint initiative has also promoted the importance of entrepreneurship through its Entrepreneurial Bootcamp programs, and its relationship with the HALO angel investment network is responsible for more than $7 million in early-stage funding being invested in new high-tech ventures in 2008.

 

In short, Indiana seems to be continuing our progress towards a more diverse, entrepreneurial economy.  This is excellent news, especially considering the current climate – as traditional expansion and relocation projects become more scarce in the midst of the recession, focusing on moving homegrown innovations to market becomes an even more important economic development strategy.

 

One of my less successful New Year's resolutions to date has been more regular postings to this blog - expect more content forthcoming, as the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership is engaged in a number of initiatives, including regional mass transit planning, pushing for local government reform, and the launch of a new initiative focused on 'clean technologies.'

In the meantime, I thought you might be interested in a few observations on the Super Bowl in Tampa, and how our first-hand, behind-the-scenes look at yesterday's game is impacting our plans for 2012.  We posted some thoughts here, in conjunction with our friends from WTHR Channel 13.

With the 2009 session of the Indiana General Assembly right around the corner, the halls of the Statehouse will soon be filled with legislators, lobbyists and other interested parties promoting a multitude of agendas and issues.  As anyone who’s skimmed this blog knows, our organization advocates a host of pro-growth policies, with local government reform as one signature issue for 2009.  But in this biennial budget session, we’re also focused on investments that can spur long-term growth – in today’s economy, this means strengthening our capacity to learn and innovate.  Jim Jay of TechPoint writes an excellent column on this topic for Inside Indiana Business today, making the point that investments in creating knowledge – through R&D and educational attainment – will pay the most robust long-term economic dividends in job creation and higher wages.  Watch this space for more on the legislative session and the role of public policy in accelerating our transition to a 21^st century economy.

This is a topic I’ve been meaning to write about for a while now (I’ve been woefully behind on my blogging), and was finally prompted by this excellent column by Marilyn Schultz (Executive Director of MySmartGov.org) in today’s Inside Edge e-newsletter from Inside Indiana Business.

 

Earlier this month, voters across Indiana sent a clear message to the General Assembly – they demand reform of the state’s antiquated system of local government.  In 70% of the townships where the measure to consolidate township assessing duties into county government was on the ballot, Hoosiers spoke overwhelmingly in favor of government consolidation. 

 

These results clearly put momentum on our side as we work towards more sweeping adoption of the Kernan-Shepard government reform recommendations in 2009.  Election Day showed that Hoosiers “get it,” and expect local government that’s effective and efficient, delivering fair, consistent service to the taxpayers.  These outcomes weren’t about the township assessors themselves, many of whom are dedicated public servants doing their best within a broken system – as Marilyn writes, it’s about a broader appetite for reform that our legislators shouldn’t ignore.

The volume of federal research funding that a state or region is able to attract is often a good indicator of its strength in certain knowledge-based industries: Landing public grants demonstrates aggressive research institutions, active academic-industry collaborations, and the capacity to achieve the technological advances and scientific breakthroughs that often translate into new business opportunities.

 

So it’s excellent news that Indiana ranks 10^th among states for growth in its National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding between 2002 and 2006, expanding our share of federal dollars by more than 21%.  NIH funding is seen as one strong indicator of life sciences research activity, and this tremendous growth shows the momentum being generated by our research universities and other public and private partners.  This is one factor that has led to Indiana again ranking among the top three most significant and diverse life sciences economies in the nation, according to the Battelle Memorial Institute and BIO.  (Hat-tip to SSTI - view the NIH rankings here.)