Indiana Manufacturing Growth Slows For Second Year Running

Growth in Indiana's manufacturing industry is slowing down, thanks to over-regulation and a lack of skilled workers.

That's the message from businesses that answered the Indiana Manufacturers' Association's annual survey. The IMA released its 2016 results Wednesday.

This report marks the second year in a row for slowing growth in Indiana's biggest industry. The IMA, working with Indiana University researchers and Indianapolis accounting firm Katz, Sapper & Miller, looked at cash flow, performance and business climate.

It wasn’t all bad: This year, most manufacturers reported they felt financially stable and expected profit margins and revenues to keep increasing. But far fewer expected their markets to grow, too.

And only 3 percent said they planned to open a new manufacturing facility in the state next year, down from 11 percent last year.

That's due in part to the nation's plateauing economic recovery. But businesses also said they're worried about regulatory costs -- especially healthcare -- and corporate and property tax rates.

Indiana is part-way through a big, 10-year corporate tax cut -- though, for now, its rate is in the middle of the national pack.

Manufacturers -- most of them metal product fabricators -- also said a shortage of skilled and, increasingly, unskilled workers remains a concern. They want state policymakers to do more to attract and train people to join the industry.