Cindy DiFazio - Staff Writer

On the morning of March 11, time will “spring ahead” in Ripley County for only the second time since 1949. That was the year that the Indiana Senate passed a bill outlawing daylight savings time. In those days, rural legislators held sway arguing that “fast time” was unnatural and “unhealthy for cows.” Communities that wished to honor daylight savings time simply ignored the law.

In 2005, Governor Mitch Daniels claimed that daylight savings time was tied to economic development, and by a small margin, dragged Indiana kicking and screaming into observing daylight savings time.

Now, according to a survey conducted by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce, and published by Inside Indiana Business, it appears that the governor may have been right.

The survey, responded to by 788 chamber member companies in 77 Indiana counties, showed that 62% of those polled feel the switch has had a positive impact, with 24% saying it was too early to tell. Only 13% felt the impact was negative. Nearly all of the respondents (98%) came from organizations with fewer than 100 employees, with 38% having less than 25 workers.

The top reasons given why daylight savings time works for those businesses were:
* 63% stated that easier logistics with suppliers, vendors and customers ranked as the number one benefit.
* Less complicated business travel (59%) ranked as number two.
* Fewer missed business meetings and conference calls (51%) came in at number three.

Indiana Chamber of Commerce President, Kevin Brinegar, stated, “We are glad to see that the business reasons for switching to daylight saving time are in fact taking place as expected.”
|
Some business representatives cited specific problems averted by adhering to daylight savings time. A construction company vice-president noted, “Invariably, when time was changed, meetings and deliveries would be missed. This has not happened once since daylight savings time.

A grocery store business manager said, “When the time sprang forward, we had to open an hour earlier to meet the demands of the commuters. Now we don’t, and it is a direct savings to our business.”

A general contractor commented, “The additional field time during our peak season is greatly appreciated. This also allows field employees to have additional daylight in the evenings to enjoy outdoor activities.”

And, finally, addressing the issue of confusion, an accounting and human resources manager said, “I have heard the comment, ‘now we finally know what time you are on,’ many times. People outside of Indiana don’t have to make the mental adjustment to our time zone twice a year.”

In 2007, daylight savings time starts earlier and ends later than ever, beginning on Sunday, March 11 and ending on November 4. So, remember to set clocks, computers, PDAs, and all other electronics forward by one hour before retiring this Saturday night.

Windows users (except those using the new Vista software which is already configured for the switch) can visit microsoft.com/windows/timezone.mspx for instructions on changing over to DST. Mac computer users can go to Mac-apple.com.

And, if you are still in an Ebenezer Scrooge frame of mind, bah-humbugging over the time change, check out the Standard Time Gift Shoppe online. The message, “Spring Ahead - Fall Back - What a Waste of Time” is available on bumper stickers, t-shirts and ball caps.