ANDERSON — State-level Democrats and other supporters of Sen. Barack Obama teamed up Tuesday for a forum discussing the presidential candidate’s approach to technology and green jobs.
About 60 people attended the forum at the Flagship Enterprise Center, 2701 Enterprise Drive. The event comes a week after Mitch Daniels, Indiana’s Republican governor, helped in announcing that the Italian firm Brevini would bring 450 green industry jobs to neighboring Delaware County.
Brian Behlendorf, a supporter of open-source technologies with connections to several technology firms, was a featured speaker at the forum.
Behlendorf, who helped create the Apache Web browser, said Obama’s commitment to fund green technology and innovative research would kick-start many sectors of the economy, including real estate, manufacturing and the sciences.
Obama has committed to spending $150 billion in the next 10 years to help green technology companies grow, Behlendorf said.
One local company that wants to benefit from some of that cash is Bright Automotive, a business based at the Flagship.
CEO John Waters said he supported Obama’s approach to energy policy because it would help launch more companies like his that focus on alternative energy. Waters said he was hoping for a “new energy sector” that gives consumers the opportunity to play a role in — and even profit from — the country’s electrical grid by having homes that process their own energy.
Rep. Matt Pierce, District 61, led the forum. Each speaker addressed the crowd for about 10 minutes. State representatives followed the speeches by Behlendorf and Waters.
First, Rep. Scott Reske, District 37, said it was “an exciting time” for energy in Indiana, because the state was becoming more aware of the potential it has with solar and wind energy.
Rep. Terri Austin, District 36, said another resource she’d seen evidence of lately was the area’s strong work ethic as people struggle through job losses. Austin advocated for continued education accounts, like ones Obama supports. The accounts let people save for continued education and offer employers tax breaks.
“It sends a very powerful message when the state says you’re not done going to school at 22 or 26 or certainly not 18 any more,” she said.
Sen. Tim Lanane, District 25, was the final speaker before the panel took questions from the audience. Lanane said the economic ups and downs that Madison County had faced made it a microcosm of the state of Indiana and that he was looking forward to seeing more leadership and assistance from the federal level.
Referring to Obama, Lanane said, “It’s time now for a strong leader to come forward and say, ‘Here is the vision for the future.’”
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