Gov.-elect Braun announces leadership picks for commerce, education

David Adams, a former state workforce development commissioner, will be Indiana’s next secretary of commerce in Indiana Gov.-elect Mike Braun’s administration, Braun’s transition team announced Thursday morning. He will lead the state’s economic direction with new expanded authority.

Also joining Braun’s cabinet is current Secretary of Education Katie Jenner, who will continue to lead the state’s education system in a broader role as well.

Braun announced a new streamlined cabinet structure on Nov. 21 that uses eight policy secretaries and Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith to oversee core governing areas.

Half of those secretaries have been named as of Thursday, including Lisa Hershman for management and budget and Matthew Ubelhor for transportation and infrastructure.

Adams returns

Adams served as the state’s commissioner of workforce development for eight months in 2022 under Gov. Eric Holcomb. 

Now, in his new capacity, he will lead his former department as well the Indiana Economic Development Corp., the state’s tourism agency, and the housing and community development agency.

In an interview with IBJ, Adams commended the current administration’s major gains in planned capital investments, including semiconductor maker SK Hynix’s West Lafayette project and Eli Lilly and Co.’s $13 billion-plus Lebanon development. Part of his job, he said, will be to continue growing existing or budding ecosystems and ensuring their success. 

“We need to find ways to celebrate those successes very publicly so that others can see that there are possibilities relative to being able to make that happen here in Indiana,” he said.

Adams has an extensive background in higher education, notably as the chief innovation officer at the University of Cincinnati. There, he led a the creation of innovation districts to stoke institutional and private sector partnerships—a similar endeavor to Purdue University’s Discovery and Research parks. 

He spoke at length about the need to grow Indiana’s workforce to both meet employer needs and achieve an overall higher quality of life. 

That also goes in hand with keeping residents in the state. Adams said he will work to brand and build Indiana to be a state where there is a spectrum of opportunity from startups and small businesses to major corporations in communities to keep more of the young people who are now leaving for other employment.  

“What I think I bring to the table here is an understanding that people are, in today’s economy, the economic driver of our economy,” he said. 

In alignment with a major pillar of Braun’s policy agenda, Adams said he plans to focus on spreading economic development, entrepreneurial and workforce opportunity around the state. He wants to focus on regional economies to tailor solutions to the communities and work with existing companies. 

Jenner continues

Jenner has led the Department of Education in Holcomb’s administration since 2021. When she transitions to the next administration, she will guide the state’s vision from kindergarten to college with new responsibilities overseeing the Commission for Higher Education.

In an interview, she said her time traveling the state and working with different schools has demonstrated a need for a holistic view of education.

“One thing over and over that I’ve seen is those communities that are moving not only the fastest but having the most impact for their people are those who are blurring the lines between K-12, higher education and their workforce,” she said.

The capstone of Jenner’s tenure so far has been the effort to revamp high school diplomas with a greater emphasis on post-graduation career readiness. She also has led the state through a period of transition and investment to embrace a phonetics-focused, science-backed reading curriculum. 

Many of Braun’s policy focuses, such as increasing teacher pay and improving STEM and reading outcomes, are already goals of the current department, she said.

“In conversations with Gov.-elect Braun, we are very aligned in the education space, the workforce development and economic development space,” she said. “His entrepreneurial attitude striving to find efficiencies and his willingness to be bold really excites me for what is ahead.”