|
Indiana’s business climate has been an advantage for a decade or more — consistently landing the state enviably high in various economic development metrics. But that tide might be turning, and some mayors are concerned about the change.
Gov. Mike Braun brings a different style — and fewer handouts to corporations. He repeatedly attacked the state’s previous goals for focusing only on large companies while failing smaller businesses while on the campaign trail.
Crawfordsville Mayor Todd Barton said that sudden shift is causing companies to back away from the Hoosier state.
“They don’t trust us. They don’t trust the state of Indiana,” he told a panel of lobbyists and public relations experts last month. “There’s a loss of sense of direction. And I’m not going to say I totally was always on board with the direction before, but we had a direction, right? And sometimes it was a little confusing, but at least we had a sense of direction.”
Barton said on recent trips with site selectors he has seen a decided shift against bringing investment and job growth to Indiana.
“For years, we’d go to those meetings and they were like, ‘Oh, you’re from Indiana. You guys are rock stars…we’ll put projects in Indiana every single day.’
“This year, I’ve been on three different trips, and every single trip, all we heard was, ‘Eh, we don’t know.’ We do not have — to the outside world — a clear economic development policy in the state of Indiana right now. Period. “
And it’s not just anecdotal.
https://indianacapitalchronicle.com/2025/10/03/state-losing-traction-on-business-climate-economic-development/
|
Is Indiana’s business climate losing traction?