SYRACUSE - Kosciusko Leadership Academy met Feb. 1 at the Syracuse Town Center.
Mike Kubacki, chairman, president, and chief executive officer of Lake City Bank, and Dr. John Teevan, director of the Prison Extension for Grace College and macroeconomics teacher at Grace College, were the guest speakers for the "Economics of Kosciusko County" session.
Kubacki spoke on the national banking crisis and "how we got to where we are now". He explained that there are many misconceptions and misinformation going around. Kubacki explained that the credit crisis was not the fault of small commercial banks like those in Warsaw.
He shared there are differences between commercial banks and investment banks. In addition, Kubacki discussed the TARP program, today's concerns about unemployment and heightened regulatory pressures.
Teevan covered the economic situation specifically in Kosciusko County. Referring to data taken from the Kosciusko Development Incorporated Web site, he began with a short history of Kosciusko County's population.
The population increased 318 percent from 1840 to 1860, primarily due to the railroad coming in. In addition, the county changed from being agriculture-based to orthopaedics-based through the years.
Teevan discussed the significance of the high percentage of manufacturing jobs in Kosciusko County (33 percent) and the low number of people possessing bachelor's degrees (17 percent) in comparison to other Indiana counties.
The next KLA meeting is at 7 a.m. Feb. 16 at the Wellness Center in Warsaw.
