Dearborn County Chamber of Commerce

Welcome to PDS Biotechnology Corp.

The ink was barely dry on the agreement to bring PDS Biotechnology Corp. to Ivy Tech’s Lakefront Campus on Industrial Drive in Lawrenceburg when I had my eyes opened wider than ever to the importance of biotechnology.

I joined 15 other Hoosiers as part of our state’s contingent to the 2009 International Convention of the Biotechnology Industry Organization. Indiana’s participation was coordinated by Mitch Roob, president of the Indiana Economic Development Corp. Biotech firms are a target for Indiana and Dearborn County we seek to capitalize on our strengths and momentum. Cutting-edge research at Purdue University and Eli Lily has helped Indiana build a reputation and encourage the start up and attract the relocation of some 1,500 companies in the fast-growing field.

The three-day Atlanta conference was eye-popping. Nearly 15,000 industry leaders from 58 countries and 48 states were on hand for what is the largest annual conference in the field. Speakers discussing health care policy included Sen. Thomas Daschle (DS.D.); William Frist M.D., former Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate; Gov. Howard Dean (D-Vt.); Mr. Karl Rove, former Senior Advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff to former President George W. Bush; and, Susan Dentzer, Editor-in-Chief of Health Affairs. Sir Elton John spoke about the urgent need to develop improved treatments, delivery methods and a cure for HIV/AIDS.

The conference was a timely reinforcement to the news of PDS Biotechnology Corp. relocating to Lawrenceburg. The firm got its start at the University of Cincinnati’s biotech incubator and secured a $2 million grant from Indiana’s 21st Century Fund that required relocation to the Hoosier state. Proximity to Indianapolis, Cincinnati and Louisville as well as Indiana University, the University of Cincinnati and the University of Kentucky were key factors in the location decision. So was the available lab space at Ivy Tech. Ivy Tech Chancellor Jim Helms said the move is the beginning of an era for the Ivy Tech facility becoming a medical research incubator as well as possible new degree programs to complement PDS and the biotech industry in the future.

The company has five employees and expects to grow to 100 over the next four to eight years. The firm is awaiting Food and Drug Administration approval for the next step in developing Versamune- HPV, a vaccine cure for human papillomavirus related cancers, and in treating and curing melanoma. The company said animal and human cell trials have been successfully demonstrated. The relocation of PDS was an example of a lot of people working together. Ivy Tech Chancellor Helms made acknowledgements in his announcement news release – City of Lawrenceburg and Mayor Bill Cunningham and City Manager Tom Steidel; Dearborn County Economic Development Initiative (by the way, Jim Helms is this year’s chairman); Doug Moorman of the Cincinnati USA Partnership; Ivy Tech Community College President Tom Snyder and Susan Brooks, Ivy Tech statewide legal counsel and head of the college Workforce and Economic Development.

Employee Free Choice Act Threatens All Businesses

The Chamber recently had an inquiry from one of our members about the potential impact the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), or “Card Check,” would have on job creation in Dearborn County. The answer: this proposed legislation in the U.S. Congress represents a major threat to all businesses, large and small, and now is the time for us to speak up.

The union-backed Employee Free Choice Act was defeated in 2007, but is now resurfacing with a new administration in Washington and a different party controlling both houses of Congress.

If enacted, the legislation would allow union organizers to collect cards signed by workers at virtually any non-union company giving
authorization to establish a union. When union organizers have cards from 50-percent-plus-one of employees, the union would be in place. The company and the union would have 120 days to negotiate a labor agreement. If negotiations fail, binding arbitration would
follow.

The proposed process eliminates the current process that provides for a secret ballot when employees vote on whether to establish a union at a company. How ironic that our country is fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan for democratic principles such as free elections and the secret ballot, and those same freedoms are being challenged in the U.S. workplace. Some authorities predict passage of this legislation could cost 600,000 jobs in the U.S.

Surveys of Americans show little support for this legislation, but passage of the EFCA is a major promise made by then-candidate Barack Obama to his labor union constituency. Polling indicates nine out of every 10 Americans believe every worker should continue to have the right to a federally-supervised secret ballot when deciding whether to organize a union.

Get more information about this issue at the web sites of the Indiana Manufacturers Association (http://www.imaweb. com/EFCA.html) and the Economic Freedom Alliance (www. EconomicFreedomAlliance.org). What can Chamber members do? Email, write or call Sen. Evan Bayh and Rep. Baron Hill to register your concern that the Employee Free Choice Act is legislation that will have an extremely negative impact on maintaining and growing jobs here in Dearborn County and throughout the country, and that elements of the bill such as elimination of the secret ballot run counter to basic American beliefs.

• Sen. Evan Bayh, U.S. Senate, 131 Russell Senate Office Building,
Washington, DC 20510-0001.Phone: (202) 224-5623. Fax: (202) 228-
1377 (fax). http://bayh.senate.gov/

• Rep. Baron P. Hill, U.S. House of Representatives, 223 Cannon
House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515-0001. Phone: (202)
225-5315. Fax: (202) 226-6866. http://baronhill.house.gov/