New Indiana Secretary of Commerce outlines plans for economic development
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowIndiana’s new secretary of commerce is sharing his vision for regional economic development and how the Indiana Economic Development Corp. will drive business growth.
David Adams served as the state’s commissioner of workforce development for eight months in 2022 under Gov. Eric Holcomb. Now, he is leading his former department as well as the IEDC, the Indiana Destination Development Corp., and the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority.
“Workforce is critical to everything we do in Indiana. Now, I’ve got responsibility for all workforce, operations, tourism [and] the ports,” Adams said in an interview with Inside INdiana Business host Gerry Dick. “Governor [Mike] Braun always talks about the four corners [of the state], and we want to make sure that we understand that within a region, the needs of that region are actually very different from one region to another.”
Adams says the state will work with employers to see what their needs are and upskill and re-skill workers for high-demand jobs.
“Today in Indiana, if you acquire a piece of equipment that increases the productivity, we provide you a tax credit. We’re going to do the same thing with human capital [with] the recognition that the workforce is the most important thing,” Adams said. “When we talk to businesses, the number one issue they have is workforce.”
There are also plans to open an office focused on entrepreneurship and innovation. Indiana is home to three tech hubs—bioworks, microelectronics and hydrogen. Each of the hubs reflects an industry with companies established in the state.
General manufacturing is a primary employer already, and microelectronics and advanced manufacturing generally will require those workers to scale up their training. The state also has a strong life sciences roster that includes Eli Lilly and Co., now one of the nation’s most valuable companies, as well as Elanco Animal Health and Roche Diagnostics.
The hydrogen hub is focused on northwestern Indiana, where BP is working on hydrogen-related technology for its refinery in Whiting, and steel manufacturers could benefit from cleaner energy sources.
“We’re going to bring those to life, and that’s going to help us attract and retain the college graduates here in Indiana,” Adams said. “We have the largest medicine company in the world. We have the largest independent animal health company in the world, and we also have this ag company called Corteva. How do we start to build an ecosystem specific around that, which may be different when we go to Fort Wayne and talk about what their needs are.”
READ MORE: Technology hubs embraced as catalyst for growth
IBJ reporter Cate Charron contributed to this story.