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After unveiling his pick for secretary of commerce as well as a policy agenda this week, Gov.-elect Mike Braun has given Hoosiers a better sense of how he is seeking to use economic development to improve the state’s outcomes.
Instead of releasing a commerce-specific policy proposal on the campaign trail, Braun threaded those measures through his agriculture, inflation and education proposals. That made Tuesday’s agenda rollout the first complete look at his plan for workforce and economic development.
Most of the policy priorities Braun included in his 39-page policy agenda had already been spelled out while he was campaigning.
His plans include creating a consolidated workforce development strategy, adding a new entrepreneurship office, realigning the Indiana Economic Development Corp., creating a program to incentivize private investment in rural areas and launching an employer-focused child care fund matching system.
And on Thursday morning, Braun unveiled David Adams as his secretary pick to roll out his vision. Adams will lead the Department of Workforce Development, the IEDC, the state’s tourism agency, and the housing and community development agency; the lieutenant governor previously oversaw the latter two agencies.
Adams said Braun’s new cabinet structure ties workforce and economic development together in a way that’s necessary for today’s economy. He emphasized that improving and retaining the state’s human capital will be one of their primary goals.
“Rural Hoosiers have watched their neighbors and children move away for job opportunities in metropolitan areas and their communities continue to be passed over for basic amenities like child care and affordable health care,” his agenda says.
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.
One of the ways Braun plans to boost workforce skills is through a tax credit rewarding companies that grow their employees’ wages or skills. His agenda says the IEDC should support businesses that are investing in its employees.
He also proposes creating a new program to increase the number of child care facilities, which is modeled after the state’s local public health investment. Prompting public-private partnerships, the proposed program would require counties to opt in to receive matching funds for local public or private investments. The state would also provide funding to counties on a per-child basis.
Braun’s plan for improving state government’s efficiency is through initial audits and metric-setting. After building a workforce development strategy that spans several departments, the agenda says, it will track economic impact, return on investment and constituent outcomes, such as median wage, by program.
“Part of what I want to see us do is really get a focus on regional economies and get a better understanding with the employers of what are the needs specific to those local economies,” Adams told IBJ.
Part of how Braun plans to encourage development in rural areas, which are typically dry of venture capital or natural business pull, is to create a financial incentive for private investment.
His agenda lays out a plan to kickstart a rural business growth program similar to ones in Ohio, Oklahoma and Utah. The Ohio program incentivizes investors to provide equity for businesses located in counties with a population under 200,000.
As for the IEDC, Braun’s agenda says he will reform the agency to better collaborate across regions, coordinate with other state agencies and follow a proactive business development strategy. When asked what the IEDC will look like, Adams said the team is still in the process of vetting agencies and finding efficiencies and ways to provide better services.
“One of the big shifts that I think you will see as I enter into this role in January is going to be a focus not only on new businesses coming to Indiana but really a major focus on the existing businesses here in Indiana,” Adams said.
Braun applauded the state’s recent success in courting planned capital investments over the past decade. That has largely occurred under Gov. Eric Holcomb who has focused on business investments as a means to increase job and wage growth. In the past three years, the state has brought in record total investments; this year has already set a record with more than $37.3 billion in planned investments.
Following the state’s success in courting three federally designated tech hubs, Braun plans to establish a new office that will focus on entrepreneurship and innovation specifically in high-profile sectors. His first term will be focused on developing innovation infrastructure, his agenda said.
The state job creation agency will also likely have new accountability and transparency measures to follow. That includes requiring an analysis of how investments will impact utility costs, regional water supply and electrical availability. Any project found to have a negative impact may be required to implement a mitigation plan, his plan proposes.
The LEAP Research and Innovation District in Lebanon will require more water than the city and Boone County have to offer, meaning developers and local officials have looked elsewhere to add capacity. That includes a proposed extension of the Citizens Energy system and a proposed but contentious 35-mile pipeline Wabash pipeline.
These types of issues demonstrate how regional solutions trump increasing the state’s authority, the agenda says.
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