The Indiana Aerospace and Defense Council brings together industry leaders to begin creating a plan to grow the sector. IEDC and Conexus say Hoosier defense contractors have created 1,800 jobs in the past two years.

The grades were part of an annual report released Friday morning by Conexus Indiana, an industry group that is part of Central Indiana Corporate Partnership. A 4.6-percent increase in employment the past year helped the state's manufacturing sector repeat its "A" grade.

Many of the locks controlling the key passageways date back 80 years and are failing.

Indiana Supplier INsight offers free links between Hoosier providers and purchasers.

Lilly Endowment Inc. is continuing to support the state's advanced-manufacturing initiative, giving Conexus Indiana a grant to help connect potential workers with the necessary training.

On the menu of Indiana's economic development initiatives, the logistics industry has had all the appeal of truck stop coffee. Meanwhile, the information technology and life sciences sectors—and recently clean tech—have had everyone salivating. Logistics, however, is cooking up a new strategy.

The message that Steve Dwyer, recently retired chief operating officer of Rolls-Royce North America, is taking to central Indiana educators is that they still need to train students for careers in manufacturing.

Steve Dwyer, retired chief operating officer of Rolls-Royce North America, is joining Conexus Indiana to lead a campaign to recruit students into training for skilled manufacturing and logistics work. The campaign is called "Dream It. Do It."

Carol D'Amico, president and CEO of the newly formed industry advocacy group Conexus Indiana, is intent on boosting the visibility and growth of the logistics industry. Large though it is, it's also relatively ambiguous and sits in the shadow of the state's much-vaunted life sciences industry.