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Axios
10-06-2025
- Health
- Axios
1 in 10 Hoosiers over 65 has Alzheimer's
Nearly 11% of Hoosiers over 65 are living with Alzheimer's — more than 121,300 people — according to 2020 data shared in a new Alzheimer's Association report. Why it matters: More than 7 million American seniors now live with Alzheimer's, the highest number ever recorded, but addressing cognitive decline early can help stave off the disease. By the numbers: Almost two-thirds of Americans with Alzheimer's are women, per data cited in the report. Risk increases with age: 5.1% of people ages 65–74 have it, while a third of people 85 and older have it, per the report. Zoom in: Indiana's elderly population is expected to grow rapidly in the coming years, according to projections from the Indiana Business Research Center at Indiana University's Kelley School of Business. One in every five Hoosiers (over 966,000 people) will be 65 or older by 2030. Marion County skews a bit younger. The elderly population percentage is here is poised to reach 16.2% in 2030. Stunning stat: The research center says the number of people 65 and up in Indiana will surpass 1.5 million by 2050, a 57% increase from 2015. Threat level: Nearly 18% of Hoosiers 45 and older already have subjective cognitive decline, according to the Alzheimer's Association. And the burden of care is often thrust onto family members. The Alzheimer's Association estimates about 219,000 Indiana caregivers provide unpaid care valued at $6.9 billion for loved ones with the disease. Zoom out: The highest rates of seniors with Alzheimer's are in D.C. (16.8%) and Maryland (12.9%). The lowest is in Alaska (8.8%). What they're saying: "It doesn't surprise me" that Alzheimer's incidence has increased, because the population is aging and "we're becoming more sophisticated in our options for diagnosing and testing for Alzheimer's disease," Lakelyn Eichenberger, a gerontologist and caregiving advocate at Home Instead, tells Axios. With cases climbing and age a key risk factor, early action is critical for managing the disease and accessing new treatments, Eichenberger says. Warning signs to watch for in high-risk age groups: Trouble finding the right word. Difficulty judging distances. Misplacing things and struggling to retrace steps. Between the lines: "If you're seeing patterns of these types of signs over an extended period of time," that could mean it's time to see a doctor about cognitive decline, Eichenberger says.
Indianapolis Star
08-05-2025
- Business
- Indianapolis Star
Indiana's top trading partner is Canada. Will tariffs and an anti-Trump PM hurt that relationship?
Shortly after President Donald Trump launched wide-ranging tariffs on countries around the world, an Indiana Chamber survey of nearly 200 state business leaders named Canada as the country whose tariffs and retaliatory actions they were concerned might impact Hoosier businesses the most. The concern over Canada is warranted. For years, the neighboring country to our north has been Indiana's top international trading partner, above both Mexico and China. In 2024, the Hoosier State exported nearly $13 billion in goods to Canada, according to the Indiana Business Research Center. Former Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb traveled to Canada twice for economic development trips while in office. It's unclear at this point if Gov. Mike Braun and his administration will do the same. The Trump administration has said the purpose of tariffs is to level out trade imbalances with other countries and to onshore production of goods in the U.S. But tariffs have come with economic uncertainty with changes and pauses since Trump's Liberation Day in early April. Indiana's longstanding export relationship with Canada means the Hoosier State is likely to feel economic impacts, such as a rise in unemployment, pending what happens between the two countries, economists say. There's also a political aspect at play. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, on April 28 won an election to continue as prime minister, a victory that was boosted by a wave of anti-Trump sentiment in the country stemming from the president's tariffs and comments about making Canada the 51st state. Trump and Carney met at the White House on May 6, but the president told reporters he would keep tariffs on Canada at this point. From the economic to the political uncertainty between the two countries, what might this mean for Indiana? Phil Powell, an Indiana University professor and director of the Indiana Business Research Center, said while the state's economy is vulnerable to the impact of tariffs it may not all be bad news. 'We have a close relationship with Canada, and if these tariffs stick we are going to have a negative impact,' Powell said. 'We will feel some pain, but over time it will get better, both politically and in terms of adjustment that businesses will adapt.' Indiana's role as a manufacturing hub within the U.S. already puts Hoosiers among the top-10 export states in the country. 'There are lots and lots of things that, in terms of economic activity, happen in the state of Indiana to then go somewhere else,' said Andrew Butters, an associate professor of business economics at Indiana University. Canada, specifically, has been Indiana's top export market since at least 2009, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. Indiana has exported an average of more than $12 billion in goods to Canada annually between 2009 and 2024, with some of the top products including vehicle parts, automobiles and trucks. Canada sends items to Indiana, too, with pharmaceutical products at the top of the list, according to the Canadian Consulate General in Detroit. But the export of automobiles and vehicle parts means Indiana may be vulnerable to the auto tariffs between the U.S. and Canada. On April 29, Trump signed an executive order that allowed some relief, but not a total exemption of previously announced auto tariffs, while Canada's 25% retaliatory measures remain in place. The impact of tariffs and the unpredictable changes of the Trump administration's policies can make it hard for Hoosier businesses to follow what the real effects might be, said Indiana Chamber President and CEO Vanessa Green Sinders. 'We've heard, whether it's because of a relationship with Canada or other countries, businesses pausing capital investment, taking a step back from workforce or hiring kind of investments in their business, which are going to have an impact on Indiana and the economy and the workforce here,' Sinders said. 'And because there's no time to kind of adjust to tariffs, that also has its own set of challenges.' Canada's new prime minister may also have a role in what Indiana's relationship with Canada looks like, based on how Carney, who previously served as the governor of the Bank of Canada, approaches his country's relationship with the U.S. So far, Carney has gone on the offensive, not only imposing tariffs on the U.S. but looking at ways to diversify Canada's trade and untangle its dependency on the U.S., said Dimitry Anastakis, a professor in Canadian business history at the University of Toronto who has studied U.S.-Canada relations. Carney has also used sharper language when it comes to Canada's relationship with the U.S., Anastakis said. 'Carney has a different kind of dynamic,' Anastakis said. 'In his campaign, he was very strident. He said many times that Trump wants to break us. He wants to take us over economically or otherwise, and we're not going to put up with this. We've got a kind of 'elbows up' approach.' While Carney and Trump's meeting at the White House on May 6 appeared friendly enough, what each country does in the future will depend on whether Hoosiers and other Americans see impacts like production onshoring. 'What does Canada do and what does Mexico do, and what does the European Union do?" said Butters, of Indiana University. 'Who blinks first, and who decides?' During the initial months of the first Trump administration in 2017, a top Canadian cabinet official visited Indiana as the president was considering an end to the North American Free Trade Agreement. Then-Canadian Finance Minister Bill Morneau met with Holcomb at the Statehouse in Indianapolis and made stops in Gary and Lebanon with a focus on trade with the U.S. and Indiana. Briggs from 2017: Canada hearts trade with Indiana "Our relationship is so successful that you don't see it on a day-to-day basis," Morneau told IndyStar columnist James Briggs at the time. "Supply chains between businesses are such that parts that might be in an auto parts manufacturing facility here in Indiana might have started in Canada, come here, gone back to Canada and gone back again, and you would never know." Holcomb then made two economic development trips to Canada as governor, with the most recent visit during his last year as governor. In January 2024, he visited Ontario and signed a memorandum of understanding with the head of Ontario's government to promote trade and investments between the Canadian province and Indiana. It's unclear at this time if those efforts will continue under the Braun administration. Braun's office did not respond to questions about potential future relationship-building with Canada. However, the company Braun spent decades building, Meyer Distributing, has facilities in Canada and distributes automotive parts, one of Indiana's top exports to Canada. Anastakis said if Braun seeks to continue Indiana's relationship with Canada, it's likely Canadians will welcome him. 'I think that Canadians can disassociate, or at least, we can have a working relationship with you, as long as all of that extra rhetoric and that stupidity, which is so offensive and so unnecessary, is cut out," Anastakis said. "I suspect that Gov. Braun, is not employing that kind of rhetoric and probably wants to continue these trade relationships.' Contact IndyStar state government and politics reporter Brittany Carloni at Follow her on Twitter/X @CarloniBrittany.
Axios
17-03-2025
- Business
- Axios
Indy is growing — thanks to immigration
Immigrants are driving growth in Indianapolis (and Indiana), according to new U.S. Census Bureau data. Why it matters: An exodus of city dwellers rocked many U.S. metros during the COVID-19 pandemic, but most are clawing back residents (and their productivity, creativity and tax dollars), driven largely by foreign immigration. The big picture: The number of people living in U.S. metro areas increased by almost 3.2 million from 2023 to 2024 — a gain of about 1.1% — the Census Bureau said last week. By comparison, the total U.S. population rose 1% during that time. Zoom in: Half of the Indianapolis metro area's growth since the pandemic has come from international migration. The number of foreign immigrants moving to our region is far outpacing natural gains from births (minus deaths) and domestic in-migration. Zoom out: Indy isn't the only part of the state benefiting from international migration. Last year, Indiana added 44,144 residents — its largest population increase since 2008. Natural population increases driven by birth rates are rebounding, yet they're still well below the pre-pandemic norm. Growth was seen in rural, mid-size and metropolitan communities. What they're saying: "While the size of Indiana's growth in 2024 was similar to 2008, the drivers of change in these years were drastically different," said Matt Kinghorn, senior demographer at the Indiana Business Research Center. "Back in 2008, natural increase — or the difference between births and deaths — accounted for 77% of Indiana's growth. In 2024, by contrast, a net international migration of 30,852 residents accounted for 70% of the state's growth." By the numbers: The metro area gained over 85,000 people from April 1, 2020, to July 1, 2024. Of those, nearly 43,000 came from international migration. The natural change, births minus deaths during that time, was under 27,000, and domestic migration was almost 16,000. The bottom line: The bureau bases these estimates on current data for births, deaths and migration, all of which affect the overall population. Demographers and other researchers will closely monitor how Trump administration policies might affect immigration levels.
Yahoo
10-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Small town spirit: How Indiana's rural communities are working to reverse population losses
In Corydon, the town is building a skate park and increasing walkability by connecting downtown to Rice Island Park. (Courtesy of Main Street Corydon) As Indiana anticipates slow population growth in the coming years, small cities and towns in rural Indiana are pushing forward with projects to attract residents and businesses to their communities. Growth over the next four decades is projected to be lower than it was in the decade between 2000 and 2010, according to Matt Kinghorn, senior demographer at the Indiana Business Research Center. More than 70% of Indiana's counties are expected to lose residents over the next 30 years, many of which are rural and also lost population in the 2020 census. 'And the counties that are growing quickly are generally taking population from other areas of the state. So it's not an overall net increase,' said Matt Greller, chief executive officer of Accelerate Indiana Municipalities (AIM). But small Hoosier communities aren't going down without a fight. Local businesses, organizations and governments are applying for grants, investing in quality-of-life projects and supporting small businesses to draw new citizens and spur economic growth. 'For a community to have the amenities that folks want these days, whether it's broadband or trails or a vibrant Main Street, you've got to have a coalescing of people to make that happen,' Greller said. Grants are crucial in helping small cities and towns in Indiana launch and complete initiatives. Community foundations, state entities and federal sources all play a role in funding local projects. For example, Boonville in Warrick County is working toward Indiana Accredited Main Street (IAMS) status after completing the Aspiring IAMS 1-year Program. '(Indiana Accredited Main Street) opens the door for more grant money, which is the key to doing just about anything that you want to do of significance. If you can't get grants, then you've got to do fundraising, and it's pretty hard to raise a million dollars in a town like Boonville,' said Jim Miller, executive director of Boonville Now. His group promotes the city's downtown. The city even hired a firm with a grant researcher dedicated to ensuring community leaders know about every possible funding opportunity. 'The idea was, 'Let's pay this company $50,000 a year, and we'll be looking at $100,000, $200,000, $300,000 grants per year.' Then it pays for itself,' Miller said. 'I've got spreadsheets of probably 20 things that they're working on.' Miller employs a location analytics software, to track foot traffic in the city, then uses the information to apply for grants. Janelle Amy, executive director of Main Street Corydon, a Nationally Accredited Main Street community, also plans to use data to attract local investment. Indiana University Southeast (IUS) is 'able to send some reports for us to be able to measure and see how many pings on these phones were coming through and being able to see those heavy spikes whenever we have those larger festivals, especially in our downtown, hoping that we're able to see that data year after year to see, 'Are we seeing continued growth? Should we focus our efforts elsewhere?'' Amy said. Another grant source, the state-funded Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative (READI), has given hundreds of millions of dollars to economic growth projects across the state. The READI program is not in the current version of the state budget, according to Greller. 'I hate to see that go away because it's such an innovative thing that set apart Indiana, certainly in the Midwest and maybe the rest of the country. It is having a real impact on some of these rural communities,' he said. For small Hoosier cities and towns to survive, Greller said municipalities must be willing to fund projects that meet their residents' needs, particularly when it comes to quality of life. 'We live in a world where we all want lower taxes,' said Greller. 'But there are studies after studies that show once a government decides to make a formal investment in a community in a meaningful way, that typically has a snowball effect.' Miller said increased property tax values helped Boonville accomplish several quality-of-life projects. 'We've been able to take advantage of that and issue bonds to be able to build a new pool and to completely renovate the splash pad and the playground area and the basketball courts and things at City Lake,' he said. But property taxes are in the crosshairs at the Legislature. Greller emphasized investment in city and town parks as a key driver of economic growth in rural Indiana. '(Smaller parks) drive things like community events, farmers markets, summer concert series, hot rod festivals or whatever it is that wants to come to an individual community. Those kinds of investments have done well and created good returns over the years,' he said. Miller said Boonville is also focusing on historic preservation with the Mt. Liberty Baptist Church and School restoration project. In Corydon, the town is building a skate park and increasing walkability by connecting downtown to Rice Island Park. 'Being able to expand that further out … we've opened up a whole other level for people to be able to visit our downtown and hopefully shop and support and live here as well,' said Amy. When big employers leave small Hoosier cities and towns, residents often go with them. Corydon is looking to draw a new industry after Tyson Foods' closure last year affected nearly 370 employees. New Gov. Mike Braun's campaign included a plan targeting rural Indiana, and the current state budget proposal includes a tax credit to attract qualified private sector investors to raise and invest flexible capital into rural communities and help rural businesses to sustainably expand their operations. Greller said Gas City went through a similar situation as Corydon when the area was hit hard by the downturn in automobile manufacturing jobs. 'They pivoted. They made some strong investments in their community. They've seen an uptick in growth and population. They just built the performing arts center, which is a sign of things improving in those kinds of communities,' he said. In Boonville, two new establishments — a restaurant with catering service and a cigar lounge — recently opened in the historic district, according to Miller. 'What we're trying to concentrate on is bringing in more small businesses because we do have some empty spaces on the square and around the square,' he said. 'We don't have any more land to be able to give a bigger industry that wants to come in.' Thanks to city grants, Boonville entrepreneurs can apply for money to enhance building facades and revolving loan funds to make other improvements or start a business. Corydon also has a facade program funded in part by the Harrison County Community Foundation and a community collaboration fund created from a state grant. 'We were able to offer up to $5,000 to our downtown business owners for whatever initiative they needed at that time. So it could be purchasing new inventory, helping them with their marketing, Just whatever we could do to give them an additional boost to keep them here and hopefully support their initiative moving forward,' Amy said. Programs like Make My Move and Choose Southern Indiana offer remote workers incentives for relocation within the Hoosier State. However, Greller questioned how emerging return-to-office policies will affect these initiatives in the future. 'I'm interested to see what happens in some of these communities that have had success attracting those folks into their areas,' he said. Amy viewed new housing developments in Corydon and Harrison County over the past year as a sign of residential growth. 'I know of at least three additional apartment complexes within the Corydon area that are very close to downtown,' she said. 'And new subdivisions have been populating as well in Corydon and beyond.' Despite the efforts of small cities and towns in Indiana to remain independent, Greller said some areas that thrived on historic economic drivers may need to have some tough conversations. 'We have some small communities that were there because there was a grain elevator 150 years ago or there was a railroad stop 150 years ago. Does it make sense for the viability of the region they're in to continue to exist as an incorporated area? Maybe we ought to look at merging with other forms of government for the greater good,' he said. Federal funding cuts are also a concern regarding infrastructure projects and other initiatives in small municipalities. 'Many communities are fortunate to receive Economic Development Administration, (U.S. Department of Agriculture), Small Business Administration and other types of federal funding. I do believe that economic growth could be threatened if funding commitments from these federal agencies are halted abruptly,' said Darrell Voelker, executive director of the Harrison County Economic Development Corporation. To persist, Greller said small Hoosier cities and towns must get creative and maximize opportunities to ensure sustainability and longevity. 'We're going to have to take a close look at ourselves and make sure we're running as lean and efficiently as possible to make sure we have resources to invest in these types of programs,' he said. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
MCCSC to slow hiring, introduce cost-cutting measures as part of new financial plan
Monroe County Community School Corp. will start to reduce staff and explore other cost-cutting measures as the corporation braces for decreased enrollment and revenue in the coming years. The reduction in staff is just one of several strategies MCCSC will ultimately employ to reduce costs as part of a two-year, five-phase strategic financial plan. The plan was announced by MCCSC Superintendent Markay Winston during February's school board meeting. Winston said the corporation will 'carefully reassess' whether to backfill the positions of people who resign or retire this spring. MCCSC said approximately 80-100 teachers and 250-300 support staff retire or resign each year. The strategic plan comes in direct response to a November recommendation by a demographic consultant for MCCSC to consider closing or consolidating schools in the face of local and statewide population decreases. While Winston and board members did not discuss closing schools during the meeting, Winston said multiple approaches, including 'resource optimization' will be used to achieve financial stability as the gap between MCCSC's costs and revenues widens. 'There are not enough one-time fixes to address our structural imbalance,' Winston said. Winston said slowing population growth and enrollment rates have cost MCCSC approximately $17.2 million in 'lost revenue' since 2020, a trend that's expected to continue in the years and decades to come. MCCSC's enrollment has decreased by 835 students, or 7.66%, since 2020. The Indiana Business Research Center projects Monroe County's school-age population (ages 5 to 19) will decrease by 1,053 children, or over 4%, in the next decade. Across the state, all counties outside the Indianapolis metro area are expected to see population decreases in the next three decades. Winston said the rate at which MCCSC has been hiring and adding new positions in recent years is 'unsustainable," especially after MCCSC increased teacher and support staff wages with the 2022 referendum. 'While there is no one who would dispute the fact that our teachers are deserving of salary increases, the reality is that our current staffing levels do not meet the current student enrollment levels,' Winston said. At the same time, families in the district have enrolled their children in more charter and private schools since 2020. From the 2021-22 to 2024-25 school years, the number of students in MCCSC's attendance zone who started attending outside schools increased from 1,158 to 1,637. In the 2024-25 school year, 38% of those inside the attendance zone who didn't attend MCCSC schools went to charter schools, while 36% attended private schools. These enrollment changes come at a time when the Indiana Legislature is weighing two bills that could further impact MCCSC's finances. Senate Bill 518 would require public schools to share local property tax revenue with charter schools, while Senate Bill 1, a tax relief bill, could limit how much school corporations are able to collect in property taxes through referendums. In November, MCCSC's demographics consultant said it would be unwise for the corporation to redistrict students without strongly considering closing some schools first. His report included 14 scenarios for potential redistricting, five of which included closing or consolidating Childs Elementary. Winston didn't offer many concrete actions beyond the plan to strategically reevaluate staff vacancies that open up this spring. A webpage for the strategic plan references 'establishing a revised financial management plan that optimizes revenue generation, resource optimization, reserve building, operational efficiency, and strategic staffing' that will be implemented, in phases, over two years. Tim Dowling, director of early learning and enrollment, said MCCSC will create a 'redistricting study commission' that will meet for the first time in March. Dowling said information will go out in the next week about who can participate and how community members can get involved. Winston said she and her team will provide quarterly updates on the strategic plan during board meetings. Winston, Dowling and MCCSC communications director Sarah DeWeese did not immediately respond to questions about whether the strategic plan would include discussions of closing or consolidating schools. More information about the strategic financial plan, including a PDF and video recording of Winston's presentation, is available online at Reach Brian Rosenzweig at brian@ Follow him on Twitter/X at @brianwritesnews. This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: MCCSC financial plan calls for smaller staff cost-cutting
