Purdue News Op-Ed

Reflections on a great day in Gary

By Martin C. Jischke
President, Purdue University

On April 22, I spent a day in Gary as part of an ongoing program of visits to communities in our state. During my four years of making these visits, I have been in about 50 different towns and cities throughout Indiana, and I have learned that each community has its own hopes and dreams and its own challenges to overcome. But all share a common desire to build a better future for their people, and especially for their children.

While visiting Gary's public schools, I met bright, energetic, creative students who recognize that education is their springboard to productive lives. I also encountered dedicated and talented educators who understand that the children they teach are our most precious resource.

At Drew and Chase schools, I watched fifth-graders carry out their assignments in the NavOps program, which uses naval maneuvers and a submarine simulator to engage students while teaching them math and science. Later, I witnessed demonstrations of award-winning science projects by students at the elementary, middle and high school levels. In every case, the commitment of these young people to learning, their understanding of difficult concepts, their ability to present and communicate, and their optimism impressed me deeply. If these students are the future of Gary and Northwest Indiana, we have every reason to be optimistic about the future.

But we all know that we have serious challenges to meet. Indiana – like the rest of America – is still working to recover from an economic downturn that has affected manufacturing industries deeply. Gary and the surrounding region, with their traditional dependence on steel production, have been hit especially hard.

The fact is that manufacturing – including the making of steel – has changed, and most of the lost jobs will not return. During a visit to the U.S. Steel Gary Works, I learned that the company work force has declined from a peak of more than 25,000 employees to the current level of 5,200, while actually increasing production.

Like the rest of Indiana, the Northwest region must continue to support its core industries while working to build other sectors of the economy. This process cannot happen quickly, but it will happen first in communities that are willing to take charge of their own destiny.

I believe the city of Gary has begun to do this. During my visit to Tugtel, a promising telecommunications firm, Harold Foster, president and chief executive officer, told me that membership in the Chamber of Commerce is expanding rapidly, primarily because the city's business community is determined to lead an economic recovery.

How can the city speed up that recovery and guide its direction?

Finding ways to stimulate knowledge-based businesses is essential. Purdue is building the Northwest Indiana Technology Center with the help of federal funds obtained by U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky. The center is designed to help high-technology companies get started and become profitable, eventually moving to independently owned facilities. Our hope is that at least some of these firms will choose to put down roots in the various communities of Northwest Indiana, but there are no guarantees. Decisions on business relocations are always made on a competitive basis, and the winners are the communities that have best prepared themselves. The availability of a well-trained work force, a positive business climate and the quality of schools are always among the factors that weigh heavily when a company decides where to make its home.

Through programs at West Lafayette, as well as the Calumet campus, Purdue is eager to provide other support for economic development initiatives, but we believe these efforts must be driven by local business and government.

Development of the Lake Michigan shoreline is a promising idea if we can overcome the significant environmental challenges it presents. In a meeting with Gary Mayor Scott King, I learned that the city is working to obtain federal funding to help clean up and develop the lakefront property. The successes Chicago and many Michigan communities have achieved with shoreline developments tell us that the economic benefits can be enormous.

The positive things I witnessed in the Gary schools are one side of a complex equation. On the other side are the problems of a deteriorating infrastructure and a declining tax base. The people of Gary are facing tough decisions, but if they make the welfare of students and the academic quality of the system their top priorities, first-rate schools are a possible dream.

The future of Northwest Indiana will not be created through a single government action or by a dramatic economic turnaround. It will be built one brick at a time by people who care about their community and who understand that while hard work, patience and cooperation are essential, they must be driven by strategic planning.

Purdue stands ready to partner with the people, the businesses, the government and the schools of the Northwest region. I believe a bright future is possible for each of the children I met there. The time to begin building it is now.