The Indiana Chamber of Commerce is tracking 33 measurements of progress toward goals it laid out in last year‘s "Vision 2025" plan.
President Kevin Brinegar says the results are a "mixed bag," but says one negative statistic, the number of Hoosiers in poverty, stands out.
At nearly one in six, Indiana has fallen from the 12th-best poverty rate in the U-S in 2000 to the 16th-worst.
Brinegar says Indiana has sharply improved in the strength of its small businesses, and has the least restrictive regulatory environment in the nation according to George Mason University.
Two of the Chamber‘s biggest concerns are the state‘s continued bottom-10 ranking in obesity and smoking rates.
Brinegar says bad health habits drive up employers‘ health costs.
The Chamber plans to issue further progress reports every two years.