BUSINESS

The Great Lakes Region is the industrial heartland of North America. Its
business climate has nurtured a strong economy, continually evolving to assert
its leadership in national and global competition.

* Abundant levels of high quality water attract a variety of specialty firms
to the Region, including food and beverage manufacturing and pharmaceutical
companies.

*Two hundred and thirty-seven Fortune 500 industrial corporations are located
in the Region, accounting for 57% of total Fortune 500 sales in 1989.

* The Region accounts for 70% of the nation's steel production and 50% of its
steel consumption. More than 60% of all cars, trucks and buses produced in the
U.S. are built in the Region.

* The Region produces around 40% of the total value of U.S. manufactured goods
and accounts for more than a third of total manufacturing exports.

* Total federal obligations for Research and Development performed in the
Region amounted to $8.6 billion in 1988, with five states in the top twenty.

* The Region's labor force in 1989 was 38,155,000 persons, 31% of the U.S.
total.

* Region residents received 38% of all U.S. patents issued in 1988.

* Great Lakes states account for more than half of all U.S.-Canada trade,
valued at $200 billion per year.

* Nearly 40% of U.S. commercial bank assets are found in the Great Lakes
states.


INDIANA IS THE LEADING STEEL PRODUCING STATE WITH ONE-FIFTH OF TOTAL U.S.
PRODUCTION.

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REGION EMPLOYMENT BY OCCUPATION (1989 percentages)

White Collar:  40.25%
Blue Collar:   17.0  %
Service:       13.49%
Sales:         11.79%
Precision Production:    11.51%
Technical:           2.97%
Farm:                2.92%

Source: U.S. Department of Labor