By John Clark, The Republic Special Projects Editor
Last year, state efforts to improve economic development were concentrated under one agency reporting to the governor, unlike previous years when the lieutenant governor was in charge.
The Indiana Economic Development Corp. was established in February and replaced the former Department of Commerce. The agency has a 12-member board of directors, of which the governor is chairman.
“This is a major change in the way we administer our economic development programs, and it will enhance our ability to grow the state’s economy,” Senate President Pro Tempore Robert Garton, R-Columbus, said at the creation ceremony last year.
“The governor now is in charge of our economic development efforts, and this bill is one of many structural changes designed to improve our ability to recruit and retain jobs in Indiana.”
Weston Sedgwick, spokesman for the agency, said the agency has a three-pronged focus.
“The most important thing is job retention, business retention, growing those existing business that are already in Indiana,” Sedgwick said. “At the same time we are also focusing on attracting new business to the state. Also, growing small businesses and entrepreneurship.”
Indiana has lagged behind other states in the creation of high-tech jobs and still has a large manufacturing base. The key to the future will be to diversify, Sedgwick said.
“Manufacturing was and still is a major part of our economy,” he said. “We obviously still concentrate on manufacturing jobs and continue to because those are extremely important to our economy. But simultaneously we are focusing more efforts on attracting those high-growth, high-paying, high-tech jobs.”
In the past year, the agency has met with more than 500 economic development professionals, business leaders and others, leading to a November conference where they announced three primary objectives:
Make Indiana a national leader for innovation and entrepreneurship in the global economy.
Make Indiana one of the most investment friendly states in the nation.
Create and retain a labor force whose productivity and flexibility is globally competitive and nationally superior.
Several new incentives were created or expanded in the last year, including a headquarters relocation tax credit, retention or expansion tax credits, credits for research and development companies, and the Shovel-Ready Site Program, which streamlines the regulatory process.
The switch to daylight-saving time should also count as an achievement, Sedgwick said, because it removes a barrier to economic development in the state.
County- or city-led development efforts are viewed as partners, rather than subordinates, Sedgwick said.
State officials recognize that counties are frequently competing with locations in other states to lure businesses and the agency works to keep track of other states’ initiatives.
“We are continually making changes here,” Sedgwick said. “This legislative session we will continue to push forward with the different incentives we offer and our ability to offer different amounts of incentives.”