A look at news and events in the Daniels Administration

Appraisal Management Firm to Create Hundreds of New Jobs

Feb. 6, 2009- Governor Mitch Daniels joined executives from real estate appraisal provider StreetLinks National Appraisal Services to announce the company's plans to expand its central Indiana operations here, creating more than 320 jobs in the next three years.

The company, which provides appraisal and land valuation services to mortgage lenders, will invest more than $1 million to move its current Greenwood, Ind. operation to 30,000 square-feet of existing office space on Indianapolis' south side.

"In a down economy, good companies capture new business and emerge stronger than ever.  StreetLinks commitment to grow by nearly tenfold in Indiana is an encouraging vote of confidence in our state and its people," said Governor Mitch Daniels.

StreetLinks currently employs 70 associates in Greenwood and plans to begin hiring additional operations associates and managers immediately ahead of the new facility's opening in March.

"The dramatic increase in our business necessitated adding both staffing and space," said Steve Haslam, chief executive officer of StreetLinks.  "We are adding significant national and regional accounts that appreciate our entire value proposition that includes a level of hands-on service and attention to detail that other appraisal management companies simply can't match. It is critical that we maintain our staffing levels to continue servicing our customers beyond their expectations." 

Founded in 1996 as Superior Appraisal Services, the company quickly grew to among the largest appraisal providers in the Midwest.  The company developed its proprietary PipeFire appraisal management software in 2006 that continues to be the base of StreetLinks' operation.  

February 2, 2009- Governor Mitch Daniels has honored three Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) employees who found a tire full of money and turned it into authorities, and the state’s “storm troopers” who cleared the state’s highways during a recen storm that dumped up to a foot of snow and ice on parts of the state.

Daniels presented the state’s Heroism Award and a state employee bonus of $1,000 each to the three workers, Abe, Greg and Lionel (they have asked that their last names not be used).

“I just thought this needed to be held up to our fellow citizens, and in particular our young people, as an example of doing the right thing and leading the kind of lives that we like to associate with the state of Indiana,” said Daniels of the three. “More often than we do, we ought to applaud and recognize and point to those people who lead lives of virtue and for whom doing the right thing matters.”

The three INDOT highway technicians from the Greenfield Subdistrict found more than $130,000 stuffed in a tire while performing routine trash pickup along I-70 east of Indianapolis. When they found the money, they immediately radioed the Indiana State Police for assistance. The crew continued its work after turning the tire over to state police.

During winter months, when not treating or plowing roads, highway technicians often pick up trash along the interstate, clean out drainage ditches, fill pot holes or crack-seal the roads.

The governor also thanked 31 INDOT highway technicians who represented INDOT’s 31 subdistricts and the 1,872 technicians who drive state snow plows for their efforts to clear state highways of snow during long shifts.

“We want to commend the hard-working government employees of INDOT who dealt in superb fashion with a very big snow event,” said Daniels. “Twelve and more hour days were quite common, and continue in some places.  Against a very tough assignment almost statewide, I believe our men and women did about as good a job as could possibly be done.” 

INDOT’s snow plow driving highway technicians had already driven more than 3.5 million lane miles between November 1 and January 23 to put down brine, sand and salt to keep the highways clear. During the storms that struck portions of Indiana, they tallied another 700,000 lane miles.

A link to audio of the news conference may be found here: http://www.in.gov/gov/files/Audio/020209_media_availability.MP3

February 5, 2009- The Indiana Finance Authority (IFA) has released the first group of wastewater and drinking water projects that would be eligible for interest-free loans if a federal stimulus package is approved.  Twelve projects totaling $36 million and ranging from a $320,000 wastewater treatment plant in Dugger to a nearly $10 million wastewater treatment plant in Peru are on the list. 

“Governor Daniels charged us to move as quickly as possible to put Hoosiers to work. These projects are either ready to go or receiving final approvals. They will put Hoosiers to work now and build critical infrastructure that will help attract more jobs to these areas and improve public health through improved water quality,” said Ryan Kitchell, chairman of the IFA.

The IFA notified the 12 communities to proceed with project bidding. If a federal stimulus bill passes and includes clean water funding for the state, these will be the first projects to receive 0 percent interest loans. 

The United States House of Representatives recently passed a federal economic stimulus bill that includes approximately $140 million in wastewater and $28 million in drinking water funding for qualifying Indiana projects.  The United States Senate has passed a similiar bill.  If the House-passed language were to become law, it would distribute these funds to the Indiana State Revolving Fund, an existing program managed by the IFA which makes loans to communities for wastewater and drinking water projects. 

The 12 projects are:

Community	County	Project Cost	Project Need
Liberty	Union	$1,500,000	New Water mains
Madison	Jefferson	$982,000	New Water mains
North Manchester	Wabash	$3,785,000	New Water mains
Jackson Co	Jackson	$3,479,000	Well/storage/mains
Walton	Cass	$1,185,000	Wastewater Treatment Plant Improvements
Peru	Miami	$9,610,000	Wastewater Treatment Plant Improvements
Brownsburg	Hendricks	$5,468,000	Wastewater Treatment Plant Improvements
Darlington	Montgomery	$1,681,000	Wastewater Treatment Plant Improvements
Dugger	Sullivan	$320,000	Wastewater Treatment Plant Improvements
Ladoga	Montgomery	$948,000	Sewer Rehab
Rensselaer	Jasper	$5,000,000	Wastewater Treatment Plant Improvements
Mount Vernon	Posey	$2,000,000	Sewer Rehab

February 10, 2009- Governor Mitch Daniels has appointed longtime Wayne County Judge P. Thomas Snow as the new chairman of the Alcohol & Tobacco Commission.

Alex Huskey, the superintendent of the Indiana Excise Police, has served as interim chair since the resignation of Dave Heath in December. He will return to his role as superintendent.

“Judge Snow brings knowledge of the law and impeccable integrity to our team. Our focus remains on illegal gaming enforcement efforts and continued successful implementation of changes in alcohol and tobacco laws in Indiana,” said Daniels.

Snow has served as Wayne Superior Court 1 Judge since January 1989.  He will begin his duties as commission chairman on March 16. He has served as a trial judge representative on the Supreme Court’s Rules of Practice and Procedure Committee and has also served on the Judicial Administration Committee, which has been asked to make recommendations to the Supreme Court on such matters as child support guidelines and weighted caseloads.

Snow has been a Wayne County resident since 1972 and was in private law practice before being elected to the bench. He earned his law degree from Indiana University-Indianapolis and his undergraduate degree from Ball State University.