Commerce secretary wants to turn the IEDC inside out

David Adams, the state’s new commerce secretary, has a much different job than that of his predecessor—both in terms of the focus assigned by his boss, Gov. Mike Braun, and the breadth of the programs he oversees.

Adams isn’t just guiding the Indiana Economic Development Corp., which has been the commerce secretary’s purview since the agency was created in 2005. He’s also overseeing the Department of Workforce Development and the Indiana Destination Development Corp., bringing together the state’s workforce and commerce agencies in a way that hasn’t been done by previous governors.

And Braun has called on Adams to boost the state’s efforts aimed at entrepreneurship and small businesses and to ensure that its economic development efforts reach every corner of the state.

One month into the job, Adams sat down with IBJ to walk through his plans to improve the state’s workforce development, expand the reach of job-creation programs and coordinate the work of multiple jobs-related state agencies.

Coming into this role, workforce development has been front and center. Why that focus, and what are we going to see come out of that?

We’re in the people economy; people can live wherever they want. Part of the challenge is, how do you create the opportunities for individuals in your state so that they can see that they have a future? That becomes critically important.

Workforce is the economic driver. … And so our ability to continue to help develop that talent here in Indiana, our ability to retain that talent here in Indiana, and our ability to recruit future talent here in Indiana is critically important.

We can go into any of the 50 states and find the same problem—that the demand for jobs exceeds the supply of people we have.

[In a company] you’ve got a dedicated workforce sitting inside the four walls of your business. Is there an opportunity for jobs that are going unfilled that creates high value for you so that you can actually upskill those individuals to fill those jobs?

It does two things. It helps increase the wages of those particular individuals, which is important as we think about moving the economy forward, but also it helps with the overall profitability of those particular businesses. They’re filling jobs that are either impacting revenue or impacting productivity.

It’s a fundamental paradigm shift in terms of how employers have thought about getting the employees they need.

With the reorganization, several existing agencies are expected to be working together. What’s that going to look like?

Let’s contrast it with where we were at [throughout state government]. We had at least 60-plus agencies all operating on their own, with their own set of goals and their own set of objectives. If you look at it from a constituent standpoint, for the individuals and the employers that we serve, it can be quite confusing. Who do I turn to relative to solving a particular problem?

Our goal with having a commerce vertical is, how do we collectively start to create a single voice? That even if you go to DWD or you go to the IEDC, at least there’s a consistency to the interaction that you’re having.

We’re going to establish metrics across our vertical that we’ll hold ourselves accountable to. We can really start to align more of this and really focus our efforts, as opposed to lots and lots of different efforts. … Efficiency doesn’t always mean cost reduction but efficiency relative to how we serve the constituents

Lawmakers are taking a similar approach to House Bill 1172, which would create the Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship. The administration wants to pull similar programs together for people to see that they exist in one place?

It’s a great point, Cate, because right now [entrepreneurship is] buried in the IEDC, and part of the challenge with being buried in IEDC is, I don’t necessarily know how to engage with it. By having this office report directly to me, we can now very much focus on what programs we have. But just as importantly, what are some of the gaps?

And the best way we’re going to figure some of that out is, let’s get out and talk to small-business owners, midsized business owners and entrepreneurs who want to actually get into that space. How do we help them?

Everybody gets really excited about wanting to create the next Google or the next Amazon. That’s great. … We have a whole program set up to support that ecosystem. But when it comes to Main Street, Indiana, there are a lot of great businesses that have a long track record. … How do we build programs in an ecosystem here that supports those individuals?

What do you want the brand of Indiana to look like going forward? What is your vision?

Today, I’ve got two brands that I’m marketing. I have “For the Bold” [which the IEDC established during the Holcomb administration], and I have “IN Indiana” [the IDDC’s tourism slogan]. … I’m not suggesting for one moment that I’m going to go through another branding exercise to figure out what that looks like, but to me, it’s a good example of where we’re promoting two brands to the market, both inside the four walls of the state as well as outside the four walls. How do we get a consistent message?

I don’t necessarily just want to be known somewhere. I don’t care where in the world or where in the United States we’re known. What I’d really like to do is try to understand strategically what businesses [would] like to see in Indiana. As an example, Lilly is anchoring the LEAP Innovation District. … What we want to do thematically is say, “OK, Eli Lilly, what are other businesses that you’d like to see here? And how do we proactively go after those businesses?” Call directly on those CEOs, tell them our “Why Indiana” story, and then work aggressively to recruit those businesses to Indiana.

Our branding is going to be more around the “Why Indiana” story and what’s genuine and authentic to who we are as a state and use that as a mechanism to go out and actually proactively talk to businesses we want to have here, as opposed to help the businesses that want to be here. … I want to make sure that there’s a strategic reason they’re here and not an incentive-based reason.

Gov. Braun has talked about restructuring the IEDC. What does that mean?

The previous administration has done a nice job in terms of really getting Indiana on the map, but a lot of the focus has been on the attraction of new businesses into the state—and we’ve seen a lot of ribbon cuttings and announcements. It’s all great.

Our pivot is going to be much more focused on inside the four walls of Indiana in terms of, how do we help the existing businesses here, and again, on a regional basis, and how do we on a regional basis understand what’s genuine and authentic to them?

I almost want to turn IEDC inside out, from the perspective of us really supporting what communities and regions want to do on a regional basis. What do they want to do? Where can we play a role? As opposed to maybe, “Here’s how we play a role, and we’re bringing you opportunities.”

Let’s figure out how to work with [communities] collaboratively to be able to make that happen.

The last governor and secretary of commerce took several international trade trips and built up the state’s presence outside the United States. Do you plan to do any trade trips? Will you keep the IEDC’s international offices open?

I think all that’s to be determined. I think clearly working with businesses on an international basis is critically important. But I think a shift from just doing trade missions to ones where we’re focused very thematically on the organizations we like to see in Indiana, I do think that’s going to be a pivot for us moving forward, as well.

How do you view the LEAP Research and Innovation District going forward?

Well, the good news on the utilities is, those issues have been resolved. So Citizens [Energy] has come in, and they’ve helped us understand the water. And so a lot of that is behind us.

I have Lilly really as my anchor tenant there. We already have initiated conversations, even in my first month with them, to understand, what do we want to collectively build in the LEAP District, and how do we start to attract those businesses?

What does this need to look like from a housing standpoint, retail standpoint? We’re doing that in partnership with Lilly, and I think that’s going to be critically important now that we have this land, and we’ve got the space.

We also want to work with the community to understand, as we continue to evolve this, what does it need to look like with them, as well? So this blends into the fabric of the Lebanon community in Boone County. … It’s not just land, and it’s not just open to anyone.

If we don’t do these things … these businesses become orphans. And the problem with being an orphan is that the talent won’t see this as a destination location. So we want to create and build on the core strengths of those particular areas, use it as a basis to attract not just other organizations but attract talent [so] that people can actually see their futures around this area.

Indiana’s economic development efforts have recently been heavily aligned with microelectronics and life sciences. Do you see the types of companies that you are trying to grow and bring to Indiana changing?

I don’t see it changing. I think it’s building around the core strengths of Indiana. … How do we amplify those strengths and attract the businesses around them? And again, it gets back to businesses that are going to support what we’re trying to do, not necessarily businesses that want to be here.

SK Hynix and West Lafayette is a good example. Now that we have them as an anchor there, what other businesses would we like to see around that? So those are going to be important considerations.

We don’t want to be chasing whatever’s out there or whatever may be chasing us. … I just get back to, what’s genuine, authentic to who [communities] are, and how do we help them attract the kinds of organizations that they want to see?

If [communities] say, “We’re happy,” great. I’m not here to bring businesses into your community that just stress your resources and don’t accomplish what you’re looking to do. But I think you’re going to see with this administration a focus on trying to understand what individuals and organizations are trying to do on a regional basis, not what we think might be best for somebody.•