State’s IEDC agency getting the job done

For those critics calling for an overhaul of the Indiana Economic Development Corp., I suggest taking a look at the big picture.

In its eight years of existence, the IEDC has secured record numbers of job commitments and business investment. In the past two years, agreements have been reached with 470-plus companies that are either expanding or relocating to Indiana. The job prospects for Hoosiers in the last few weeks total more than 4,100 with announcements from ExactTarget, Angie’s List, Land O’ Frost and more.

While some focus on the few businesses that struggle to get off the ground, one must remember that any incentives offered are not paid unless the jobs materialize. The IEDC approach is a low/no-risk proposition for the state and Hoosier taxpayers.

An accomplished, bipartisan board of directors meets publicly each quarter to discuss strategy and results. The governor serves as an active leader, chairing each meeting over the past eight years. The public-private partnership model is transparent and effective. Because of its success, that model has been replicated in other states.

Indiana’s ascension in its economic development climate has been well documented. The performance that has followed is due to strong leadership and a hard-working staff that has our state out-producing its competitors. And when the national economy finally begins a return to normalcy, the state is positioned for even greater success.

We should be proud that our state is one that is getting things done – and the IEDC is a major part of that effort. Let’s work together to help it achieve even more in the years ahead.

Kevin M. Brinegar, Indiana Chamber of Commerce

‘We are a nation under judgment’

We are a nation under judgment. We mourn the deaths of those 20 children and, yet, if every single one of them had been murdered before they were born, we would have celebrated their deaths as a victory for women’s health rights. We cannot have it both ways. We cannot serve both death and life. We have to choose one or the other and we, as a nation, have chosen death.

Until we fall on our knees, weeping over the loss of any life and repent, we will continue to reap the consequences of our choice. Death will enfold us because we refuse to embrace life. We have been given over to the foolishness of our own minds. We cannot demand respect for the lives of our 6- and 7-year-old sons and daughters and, at the same time, turn our backs on the unborn.

“This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to His voice, and hold fast to Him. For the Lord is your life ...” (Deuteronomy 30:19-20).

We are a nation under judgment – now choose life.

Neal Reishus, Kokomo

We all should dare examine our hearts

What our country needs is a return to its foundation: God.

In 2 Chronicles 7:14, we read, “If my people will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

The real villain is in our hearts. The father of a Columbine student writes 12 years later: “Your laws ignore our deepest needs. Your words are empty air. You’ve stripped away our heritage. You’ve outlawed simple prayer. Now gunshots fill our classrooms, and precious children die. You seek for answers everywhere, and ask the question, why? You regulate restrictive laws, through legislative creed and you fail to understand, that God is what we need. What has happened to us as a nation? We have refused to honor God, and in so doing we open the doors to hatred and violence.”

We should dare to examine our own heart. Are we truly turning to God in this time of real tragedy?

Walter Rossmanith, Kokomo

Are more ‘good guys’ with guns an answer?

Today we hear of yet another coldblooded murder scene. Firefighters shot responding to a call.

Friday, it was the killing of two state police officers going to the scene of a shooting. Yet the leaders of the NRA say we must put more “good guys” with guns out there to protect us from the “bad guys.”

I have read that Columbine High School had an armed guard on duty the day of the mass murders there, but he was in another area. Do we need guards at every room door?

The two events at the start of this letter concerned trained “good guys,” yet there were very sad results. When are we going to say, “Enough”? Why do we need Army-type guns in the hands of civilians?

Larry Wise, Kokomo