ANDERSON – Legislative activity in this session of the Indiana General Assembly is being closely watched by local business leaders and entrepreneurs looking for signs of an economic turnaround in the new year.
Persistent inflation has eroded the spending habits of thousands of local consumers, cutting wages for many workers employed in discretionary industries, including restaurants and retailers.
“I just think there’s a lot of uncertainty,” said Clayton Whitson, president and CEO of the Madison County Chamber of Commerce.
“It’s been a bit of a weird time, with high inflation and high prices, but at the same time we’re still producing record employment numbers – there’s still a lot of unfilled jobs.”
Although Madison County’s November 2022 unemployment rate of 3.1 percent is just above the statewide average of 2.8 percent, the county’s per capita personal income of $45,755 ranks 78th out of 92 counties in the state.
Low incomes, coupled with rising prices for food, gasoline and other essentials, remain a key factor holding back spending, local business leaders said.
“Inflation is probably the biggest single driver of everything,” said Rob Sparks, executive director of the Madison County Economic Development Corporation. “It just affects the way people do things. You can absorb some of these costs for a while, but only for a while — not indefinitely.”
The local labor market appears to be weathering the storm well, Sparks said, adding that he expects continued healthy growth in the region in 2023. He noted that local businesses are in many cases competing for workers, which will inevitably translate into higher wages.
“The volatility we’ve experienced over the last 18 months, I think it will stabilize,” he said. “(The company) is optimistic about its direction, which is a good thing.”
Whitson said in the coming months he would be watching legislation from the state legislature that would provide tax incentives to support small businesses in the early stages of growth and expansion. The funding will also de-risk startups, he said, “and will boost our startup ecosystem.”
Whitson said he would also more carefully track conversations among lawmakers that could lead to legislation that shifts the tax burden from residential property to other taxes.
“I know everyone wants to say we need to tax corporations more, but what it’s really doing is putting an undue burden on our small business community.”
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