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Eli Lilly and Co.’s announcement that it will make its largest investment in company history in a single pharmaceutical manufacturing site at the LEAP Lebanon Innovation and Research District in Boone County is an enormous win for Indiana. Lilly will invest $3.7 billion ($1.6 billion more than announced last year) and add 700 high-paying jobs (200 more than originally announced).
The additional investment adds to Indiana’s impressive economic development winning streak. Over the last five quarters, a record-setting $27 billion in job-creating capital investment has been announced by the Indiana Economic Development Corp. The speed at which companies are making investment decisions, and the scale of the investments, is unprecedented.
Undoubtedly, the global pandemic has played a role in some of the economic opportunities. The pandemic exposed America’s supply chain and national security vulnerabilities, especially in critical industries such as pharmaceuticals and semiconductors. After decades of offshoring investments in lower-cost countries, Indiana is seizing the opportunity as companies race to on-shore their manufacturing infrastructure.
Credit for the massive economic opportunities headed Indiana’s way has many fathers—current and former governors, legislators, mayors, business executives, and civic and not-for-profit leaders who have worked to make Indiana business-friendly and on sound financial footing all deserve credit. Gov. Eric Holcomb deserves a great deal of credit for persuading successful real estate developer Brad Chambers, founder and CEO of Buckingham Cos., to take a break from his day job and take on the role of Indiana’s secretary of commerce in spring 2021. Holcomb picked the right man at the right time.
Chambers’ 40 years of dealmaking in the real estate development world give Indiana a strategic advantage when competing for capital-intensive jobs that require large, shovel-ready sites. His experience developing mixed-use properties that draw people and businesses into a live, work and play environment led to the state’s creation of the LEAP Innovation District in Lebanon where Lilly will be the anchor tenant.
When Chambers accepted Holcomb’s offer to lead the IEDC, he took the time to study Indiana’s economic circumstances. He wanted to better understand what lured American companies to China, Ireland, North Carolina and Texas. Chambers learned that governments played a critical role in the development of attractive, large, mixed-use sites that include research, manufacturing, amenities and housing.
A growing number of countries and other states have set aside significant funds for the development of districts that play a key role in luring investment in future-focused industries. The development of these large, shovel-ready sites becomes more critical as companies quickly move to secure their supply chains.
Chambers is taking a page out of former Gov. Mitch Daniels’ playbook. Daniels was well-known for looking around the world and determining who is best-in-class in a given area, then customizing a solution for Indiana. In a world where the aggregation of talent will continue to drive economic prosperity, Chambers envisions a Hoosier research triangle similar to North Carolina’s that spans West Lafayette, Indianapolis and Bloomington and capitalizes on the talent and assets our research universities provide for the industries of the future.
Indiana’s economic development efforts are on a roll. Let’s keep the pedal to the metal.•
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Feltman is publisher of IBJ and CEO of IBJ Media. Send comments to nfeltman@ibj.com.
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