Indiana governor to speak at economic forecasting event

Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN/6th). (MCT)
Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN/6th). (MCT)

Muncie will host Indiana Governor Mike Pence, who will talk about the future of the State's economy. Pence is the keynote speaker at the 19th annual Indiana Economic Outlook.

The forecasting event will take place at 11:30 a.m. Thursday at the Horizon Convention Center in Muncie and is hosted by Ball State's Center for Business and Economic Research. Economists will present their predictions for the state and local business trends for 2015.

Michael Hicks, director of Ball State’s Center for Business and Economic Research, will also present his national, state and local projections for the economy.

“We would like to have a sense year to year of what’s going to happen in the economy next year, and this is the time when we start to see a lot of economic forecasts come up,” Hicks said.

Hicks said, in the past, his reports have been fairly accurate. 

Last year's presentation said much of Indiana's recovery would come from the revival of the state's manufacturing industry.

According to the Indiana Association of Manufacturers, Indiana has the highest percentage of residents that work in manufacturing.

Still, last year's expected a drop in employment for 2014, and Hicks said his updated prediction is also skeptical of improvement next year.

“My forecast for this year was pretty close for the national economy, and I was a little bit pessimistic for the Indiana economy,” he said.

To choose the keynote speaker, Hicks said they try to rotate between people with policy experience and those with economic experience.

For Pence, Hicks said he would be able to provide information about what he sees as legislative issues for 2015.

“I think it’s very helpful to get a sense of where he sees the economy going as governor,” Hicks said.

Keynote speakers in past years have included Hicks himself, Charles Evans, the president and CEO of Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, and Becky Skillman, lieutenant governor in Indiana.

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