The basketball world is buzzing about the Indiana Pacers right now. Sure, the first game of the Eastern Conference Finals Wednesday resulted in a disappointing overtime loss, but it's clear the defending champion Miami Heat realize they will have their hands full (for the second year in a row) with the scrappy squad from Hoosier country. Although, it should be noted that the Pacers have had many successful years. If you'd like to meet some legends from the franchise's distant and recent past, head over to Hoosier Park in Anderson tonight. See details below:

Ten of the Pacers’ more recognizable names from the past 40 years are slated to make a joint-appearance at Hoosier Park Racing & Casino on Friday, May 24 to kick off the start of Memorial Day weekend live racing. This group of past ABA and NBA Pacers will sign autographs and pose for pictures with fans starting at 7 p.m. in the Hoosier Park Terrace. The event is free and open to the public.

The Pacers’ legends scheduled to appear:

• Rik Smits (1988 – 2000, Center)
• Bobby ‘Slick’ Leonard (1968 – 1980, Head Coach)
• Mel Daniels (1968 – 1974, Center, NBA Hall of Fame Member)
• Derrick McKey (1993 – 2001, Forward/Center)
• Don Buse (1972 – 1977, Point Guard)
• Billy Keller (1969 – 1976, Guard)
• George McGinnis (1971 – 1975, Power Forward/Center)
• Bob Netolicky (1967 – 1976, Forward/Center)
• Bill Newton (1972 – 1974, Center)
• Darnell Hillman (1971 – 1976, Forward/Center)

On Saturday, May 25, Hoosier Park’s signature race – the $200,000 Dan Patch Invitational – will welcome the top rated horses in North America for its 20th running. The 2013 installment will tout some of the best horses, trainers, and drivers in the sport. Lining up behind the gate will be the likes of North American Cup Winner, Up The Credit, Meadowlands Pace champion, A Rocknroll Dance, and 2012’s Dan Patch victor, Rockin Cam.

Several activities will complement the Dan Patch Invitational pace, including Indiana sire stakes action, property-wide dining specials, and special wagering opportunities. Guests can also take part in Xtreme hot air balloon and helicopter rides over the racetrack. To close out Saturday night’s live racing card, a free fireworks display starts at approximately 10:30 p.m. At the conclusion of the free fireworks display, a Celebrity Driver charity kayak race and the Hoosier Idol All-In grand finale singing competition begins.

Frequent readers here or of other Chamber communications have no doubt taken notice of the alarming Washington trend of government by regulation. Numerous reports, the Competitive Enterprise Institute's Ten Thousand Commandments among the latest, have examined this dangerous development. Congress may be deadlocked, but government agencies are the ones putting the stranglehold on businesses in Indiana and throughout the country.

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence weighed in this week with a letter to President Obama regarding carbon dioxide standards that are being considered by the Environmental Protection Agency. Pence writes, in part, that the "EPA is proposing a rule that will constrain any potential for an all of the above energy strategy and harm our economy in the process."

The Governor points out that Indiana will be particularly impacted because of its status as one of the leading manufacturing states. While the energy mix has been diversified, coal will remain the major source of electricity. Pence says, "The coal industry and electricity providers have made great strides toward lower emissions, and, as we replace our aging electricity generation plants, I have no doubt that we will find ways to lower emissions even further."

View the full letter – and let's hope Washington pays attention!

Chamber President Kevin Brinegar recently spoke with Inside INdiana Business about our Indiana Vision 2025 Report Card, which was unveiled this week. See the video. Additionally, here is a link to the report card itself, and below is a summary of the findings:

A snapshot of where Indiana ranks nationally in 60 key economic measurements was released today by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce. The report includes revealing outcomes both for areas in which Indiana is doing well – regulatory freedom and small business survival, for example – and where improvement needs to take place – such as post-secondary education attainment and the state’s poverty rate.

This report is the next step in Indiana Vision 2025, a comprehensive, multi-year initiative to provide leadership and a long-range economic development action plan for Indiana. It marks the start of the Indiana Chamber examining key metrics at two-year intervals through 2025, covering progress in four critical areas: Outstanding Talent, Attractive Business Climate, Superior Infrastructure and a Dynamic and Creative Culture.

The overriding message, says Indiana Chamber President and CEO Kevin Brinegar, is that the state cannot afford to rest on recent laurels like the education reforms of 2011 and instituting a right-to-work law in 2012. "We can’t be fatigued by the effort or take a break on improving Indiana. Other states and countries are moving at a fast pace and we need to remain competitive in order to have a prosperous environment for our citizens."

And in areas where Indiana is currently lagging, change will not happen overnight, Brinegar cautions. "It will take a robust effort by like-minded groups to affect both policy and societal changes that impact these metrics. Significant advances by Indiana also can be undone through inattention, poor policy choices or the dramatic actions of other states and nations."

While passing good public policies, where appropriate, are one element of this larger picture, Brinegar asserts the key is implementation. “There has been no better example of that than education reforms. Too much time, money and effort has been spent the last two years on efforts to reverse 2011 achievements (school choice voucher program, charter school expansion) rather than ensuring these are implemented at the highest level to assist Hoosier students and families.

"Our No. 1 priority has to be investing in the education, knowledge and skills of Hoosiers. Our goal is to achieve prosperity and cultivate a world-class environment full of opportunities," he concludes.

When it comes to the report card’s specific ratings, the most progress has been made in building an Attractive Business Climate. Indiana is at the very top for the regulatory freedom index and in the top five of the small business survival index. (Separately, Indiana’s business climate was recently ranked fifth best nationally and best in the Midwest by Chief Executive magazine).

Indiana has also enjoyed advances regarding its Dynamic and Creative Culture – most notably jumping into the top 10 for business research and development.

Further work, however, is needed in producing Outstanding Talent. More Hoosiers attaining associate’s degrees and higher plus focusing on early education are among the keys. A disturbing placement is Indiana’s poverty rating. Indiana has gone from having the 12th lowest poverty rate in the nation in 2000, to 32nd in 2005 and now 35th in 2011.

"This illustrates the sad reality for some of our citizens and emphasizes why workforce training, sending children to pre-school, completing high school and beyond are so vital. Only when we put greater focus on these activities will we have a significant impact on moving people out of poverty," Brinegar surmises.

Meanwhile, Indiana’s Superior Infrastructure driver has been an advantage for the state, but the dynamic surrounding road funding and energy costs is changing. Case in point: Indiana is trending in the wrong direction for affordable electricity, dropping to 19th in 2011 (was 11th in 2000 and 12th in 2005).

A summary of Indiana’s top and bottom rankings, the biggest gains and drops, plus the goals established for each is available at www.indianachamber.com/2025. The report card, the Indiana Vision 2025 plan and additional information are also available at that site.

Kyle Elyse Niederpruem of Kyle Communications (which I saw bring earn a Best of Show designation at the Hoosier PRSA Pinnacle Awards last week) wrote a column for Inside INdiana Business on some social media tips offered by the Obama for America team. Regardless of your thoughts on Pres. Obama's policies, you can likely glean some useful information here:

Here are four important lessons from Teddy Goff, who was digital director of Obama for America.

Experimenting with social media is critical.
Try and try again – and then try some more. Use multiple messages, different landing pages, switch out your word choices, and add lots of images if possible. Goff's team, for example, found that nouns in messages worked better than verbs (and probably counter to what most of us would do). Even word choices made a huge difference in fundraising.
Goff: "The most effective was raising money off the word – should."

Your social media team doesn't have to be large in numbers (or steeped in social).
People of all backgrounds were on the 250-person digital team. Guess how many managed the Twitter feed? Four. That's right. Four. Four people tweeted to the world. That meant consistency in tone, voice and keying in the analytics to push out the right kinds of messages at the right time – including undecided voters who can swing any election.
Goff: "There are three simple words in social – Don't be lame."

Your gut can be your most important guide.
In the bullpen of social media planning and in a group obsessed (rightly so) with analytics, many timely decisions by the digital team were made in the wee hours, without a lot of screening, and after a few beers. And like most good storytelling, an emotional link often gets the best reaction – like the most retweeted tweet of 2012.
Goff: "The most minute things make a big difference."

Being first and trying something new has its rewards.
Remember that in the first election of 2008, Facebook was half the size it is today. Twitter wasn't yet a strategic asset and the iPhone had just come out in the summer of 2007. The relationship between people and campaigns was dramatically changing. A number of tactics, like a website called the RomneyTaxPlan.com created by the Obama camp, had a constantly moving details button that never landed on a real plan. That was a more effective way to share a white paper by Obama than asking voters to read a white paper.

Those who voted in our most recent blog poll were not overly impressed with the work of the Indiana General Assembly in 2013. The grades and the percentage of votes received:

• C: 29%
• D: 29%
• B: 23%
• A: 16%
• F: 3%

We conducted a roundtable for our BizVoice magazine earlier this week. Giving their views on the session were Chamber President Kevin Brinegar, two House legislators (Democrat Phil GiaQuinta of Fort Wayne and Republican Jerry Torr of Carmel) and Evansville Statehouse reporter Eric Bradner. You'll be able to check out their analysis in the July-August issue.

Our new question, top right of this page, seeks your opinion on federal health care reform as implementation moves closer.

To reach long-sought goals of high educational achievement for all students, there must be stronger collaboration between schools and families. The National Center for Family Literacy and Toyota are partnering to promote such efforts, beginning with a grant program for communities.

Additional details below and online:

The National Center for Family Literacy (NCFL) has announced a new six-year initiative, Toyota Family Learning.  One major component of the initiative: NCFL is now accepting grant applications to further family learning beyond the classroom and into homes and communities. Applications are being accepted now through June 24 at www.toyotafamilylearning.org.
 
This year, five organizations will be awarded a three-year, $175,000 grant, in addition to a wide range of NCFL training and communication support, learning items, and materials. Grantees will engage vulnerable families in learning together and participating in family mentor and service learning activities. Schools, libraries, and community-based organizations that provide services to families are eligible to apply.
 
The vision for Toyota Family Learning, fueled by the enduring NCFL-Toyota partnership, is much more than a specific program or model. It will engage not only grantee families but also families across the nation to be a part of modern-day movement for families learning together. Toyota Family Learning will draw the participation of families both online and offline, incorporating digital elements launching later this year including a website, mobile app, social media, and more. The first component of this effort is the current grant opportunity for communities.

Sure, all businesses (or at least a very high percentage) are important contributors to society in some form or fashion. But for the sake of a research paper, the Kauffman Foundation identified Companies That Matter as the following: scalable, quickly reaching $100 million or more in revenues; generating jobs quickly and broadly; and disproportionate creators of wealth, directly through profits and salaries and indirectly through equity.

More from Kauffman on the research and what it found:

In the paper, "The Constant: Companies that Matter," Kauffman Foundation Senior Fellow Paul Kedrosky explores the rate and founding locations of companies in the United States that "matter" from 1980 to present.

"Companies unable to reach $100 million in revenues are still relevant to the economy," Kedrosky says. "But the $100-million firms meet an entirely different threshold that gives cities, states and countries an even greater economic advantage."

Anywhere from 125 to 250 companies per year (out of roughly 552,000 new employer firms) are founded in the United States that reach $100 million in revenues. The largest contributors, in percentage terms, are from the consumer discretionary and industrial sectors. Taking into account sectoral contribution to U.S. GDP, the information technology sector produces more $100-million companies than might be expected.

Geographically, the most productive region in terms of $100-million company production is the U.S. southeast (Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana) with the Pacific region (California, Oregon, Washington, Hawaii) coming in second. Following closely behind are the Mid-Atlantic and Central regions. Most regions are balanced with regard to sector, except for the Pacific region, which produces only slightly fewer $100-million information technology companies than the rest of the country combined, most of which are in California.

The United States averages 20 technology companies founded per year that reach $100 million in revenues, 17 of which are in 7 states: California, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina and Texas. Of these 17, 4 are usually in California. However, in the 1990s, California's share of $100-million technology companies was around 35 percent. That share has declined to around 20 percent in recent years.

"Looking forward, we will most likely see even more changes regarding the locations and sectors of these companies that matter," said Kedrosky. "With the prevalence of lean startups, accelerators and fractional entrepreneurship, and the declining cost of company creation, entrepreneurship is less expensive and more widely available to prospective entrepreneurs."

Larry Gigerich of site selector Ginovus penned an informative column for Inside INdiana Business about Indiana's business climate. While we have come a long way and are currently envied by many states, there is still work to be done. He writes:

A few weeks ago, the Kauffman Foundation and Thumbtack.com released an annual ranking of states for their friendliness to small businesses. Indiana ranked 15th for 2013. The study analyzed several factors including items related to tax climate, work force development and regulatory issues. Eight-thousand small businesses were contacted for feedback regarding the study's criteria. Here is how Indiana ranked in each category.

1. Overall Friendliness: B+
2. Ease of Starting a Business: B+
3. Ease of Hiring: F
4. Regulations: C
5. Health and Safety: D
6. Employment, Labor and Hiring: C-
7. Tax Code: D
8. Licensing: A-
9. Environmental: D
10. Zoning: B-
11. Training and Networking Programs: C-

The grades given to Indiana are not surprising. Work force development and job training have been a focus of Governor Mike Pence and the legislature since the beginning of the year. Indiana's educational achievement, continuing learning for adults in the work force and availability of certification/credential programs have not been where they need to be. While progress has been made, there is still much to be done by government, educational providers, not-for-profits and the private sectors.

Indiana has been recognized as a relatively easy place to start and grow a business. This report points to that in terms of licensing, zoning and other factors affecting the launch of a new business.

The tax code ranking is a bit surprising, but the survey asked small businesses if they were paying too much in taxes for their locations. The elimination of the state inheritance tax, which impacts small and family-owned businesses, could help improve this ranking.

Indiana continues to struggle with rankings where health and environmental issues are considered. In particular, the state's obesity and smoking rates are unacceptably high. These items impact healthcare costs, number of missed days of work and quality of life. In terms of the environment, Indiana's long-term large manufacturing presence has impacted water, air and soil quality. While important steps have been taken in the areas, there is much left to be done.

The top five states for small businesses are (in order): Utah, Alabama, New Hampshire, Idaho and Texas. The bottom five are (in order): Illinois, California, Hawaii, Maine and Rhode Island.

In summary, Indiana's ranking relative to the rest of the country is good. Policymakers in the state should focus on ways to improve our weaknesses in order to move Indiana into the top 10. Due to the fact that Indiana has never been a location for large headquarters for companies, small businesses are and will continue to be the lifeblood of the state's economic growth.

Crane Naval Surface Warfare Center (in Crane, Indiana) has a reputation as "the best kept secret" in Indiana when it comes to innovation and public/private partnerships that are changing what is possible in America. For a full story on how Crane is enhancing the state's entrepreneurship culture, keep an eye out for our July/August edition of BizVoice magazine. Our creative director and I were fortunate to receive a tour of the base and the Westgate @ Crane Technology Park to learn about what's happening there — all that isn't classified, of course. But it appears we aren't the only ones who are impressed. Two of Indiana's most esteemed legislators also have some kind words about the base:

Becky Skillman did admirable work as Indiana's Lt. Gov. during Mitch Daniels' popular administration. After leaving office, she landed back in her home region of Southern Indiana, and is leading Radius Indiana. Additionally, our current Lt. Gov, Sue Ellspermann, also offered remarks on how vital Crane is for Hoosier innovation. See below.

Becky Skillman, President/CEO, Radius Indiana
Radius Indiana serves as a catalyst to help support and promote the use of civili military innovation through technology transfer and entrepreneurship. We work with our network of partners, including Westgate @ Crane, the ISBDC (Indiana Small Business Development Center), and many others to help start-up companies connect to resources they need in order to promote entrepreneurial success and economic growth within our 8-county region and beyond. With the low-cost, business-friendly environment that exists in Indiana, we are perfectly positioned and ready for growth within the defense industry.

Sue Ellspermann, Lt. Gov.
In the past I have enjoyed working with the Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane to increase the capture of intellectual property and the potential tech transfer opportunities available by identifying an external non-military application and potential market.

Our administration’s vision for Indiana includes focusing on economic development within Indiana's defense sector. One of the goals of the Indiana Office of Defense Development is to leverage the incredible assets at Crane and our federal research labs, including identifying high-potential technologies and developing strategies to successfully commercialize them. There is growing interaction and collaboration between the private sector and our major universities to bring technological innovations developed at Crane to market, to bolster the economy and create more high-tech, high-wage jobs in Indiana.

The old days of driving a purchasing decision solely through advertisements are over. Advertisers and marketers now have to combat what Google calls “The Zero Moment of Truth.” This moment transcends mere product placement and traditional marketing by representing the time between product introduction and product purchase. This time lag is now filled by readily available and increasingly popular online research and customer reviews.

Whether you are in the market for a local plumber, a new TV, a new car, a restaurant, a hotel or any other of the infinite products and services offered in the marketplace, it is no longer standard practice to act solely on the word of others. The Internet provides millions of bits of information on all types of products and services and heavily influences an increasingly higher percentage of purchases.

As business owners and marketers, we need to understand that our advertising and our name is no longer good enough to drive actual purchases. Sure, our reputation and catchy promotions attract interest and may even give us an initial jump on our competitors, but, in today’s marketplace, one lousy, negative or false review can diminish even the most polished advertising efforts and the sale is lost.

It is not practical to expect a flawless online record. If your business operates long enough, at some point someone will be unhappy with a product or service. That unhappy person may turn to the thousands of review boards that connect consumers all across the globe and publish some sort of unflattering remark directed at your business or your products. How do we monitor online review boards? How do we respond? How do we distance ourselves from bad reviews? When is it advantageous to consult an attorney or take legal action? How do we best protect our reputation online?

By now, you might be thinking, “Well, that’s what crisis communications is for.” A bad review is not a crisis and treating it as such will only amplify the reach and the effect of the review.  New age marketing has to include specific and strategic plans of action pertaining to the handling of negative reviews similar to the way traditional public relations efforts seek to put water over an impending fire. The knowledge, the plan and the execution of handling online reviews not only helps protect your brand, but it can create a competitive advantage, increase customer service efforts and silence defamers. Not all negative reviews are treated the same. Some should be directly addressed on a personal level, some should be strategically distanced from the company and some may need legal attention. Much like consumers, business owners and marketers need to do their research.