Just how bad is business?

My own business sucked most of this year. Some of that was due to my health problems, some due to bad temper, but a lot was that people just did not have money. If they did have money, they were not spending it.

The Muncie Star-Press asked: ECI business 2006: Glass half full or half empty?

Meanwhile, Tipton County wants an automotive factory. Well, since Kokomo is the only town that has an automotive industry that even has a pulse and Tipton County has its Pork Fest, this might not be a bad idea for Tipton.

Anderson finally realizes that the automotive era is gone. Funny, I thought it was gone about 25 years ago when the factories bled people out and those with 20 years seniority were being laid off. The Herald-Bulletin tells me I was wrong:

The official end to the automobile industry era in Anderson will come next summer when both Guide Corp. and Delphi close their doors. With local residents relying on the automobile industry for so many years, there is a sense of uncertainty among many citizens if these closings represent the end of high paying jobs in Anderson.

It t was easy to rely on GM. Who would ever think that GM would go under? If you are over the age of 45, you know what I mean. So Anderson was addicted to GM like a heroin addict to his drug.

What I do blame our leadership is that our former mayor could not buy a clue that no big industrial business where going to come in and replace GM because there are no longer any big industrial plants! Take a look at Toyota in Petersburg or this Honda plant coming to Greensburg. They sound like one plant of the old Delco-Remy.

So I do not see things getting better any time soon. It seems the Herald-Bulletin has caught onto that bit of gloominess, too:

“By the time the new companies come to Anderson, get set up, and hire employees, it will take a little while,” Collins said. “I believe it will be closer to six years before people really see a difference.”

Jeff Wall is from Anderson and he like many other residents has been affected by cutbacks in the local work force. Wall had been employed at Westfield Standard Lock Nut and he was one of 50 people who lost their jobs in the last six months.

He mentions he is pleased with the upgrades to the high schools in Anderson and improvements to the roads but feels it might be too late.

“I am happy with these improvements but I think it might be 20 years too late,” Wall said. “All the jobs are gone and people are moving out of Anderson. All the jobs that seem to be left are retail and minimum wage jobs.”

All the jobs lost at Guide and other manufacturing plants account for thousands of jobs lost, Wall mentions. He feels that the growth and investments will be in other areas of Indiana, like Indianapolis, Greensburg and Carmel.

On the hand, the country seems to be doing good. Maybe that will be enough to keep us alive another year.

Meanwhile the New York Times has an article about our wacky national economy and the Los Angeles Times (via the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette) has an article on wage disparity. Like, we do not know enough about wacky economies and wage disparities here in Indiana.

Anderson does have one thing going for it - the Flagship. Too bad we did not start developing it years ago.