By Zach Spicer
Indiana Gov. Mike Braun visited Seymour on Sept. 9.
The Jackson County Chamber recently reached out to the governor’s office to coordinate an appearance by the state’s highest-ranking official. The result was Lunch with the Governor at The Copper Top in downtown Seymour.
Following a brief introduction, Braun sat down with chamber Director Dan Robison for a question-and-answer session that covered a variety of topics related to economic development and commerce in Jackson County and the state.
Those included attracting businesses and investment, supporting small businesses and fostering a more vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem, establishing tax policies and spending to best position the state for long-term economic growth, budgeting for programs that affect education outcomes and workforce training, supporting infrastructure projects to benefit business and commerce and collaborating with schools and employers to develop a pipeline of the current and future workforce.
“We reorganized state government to be responsive, entrepreneurial, and as it relates to you as constituents, communities, local governments, school districts, I want to hear what isn’t working so that we can do it better,” said Braun, who ran his own business for 37 years.
Robison first asked Braun about his America First economic agenda for the state and how that translates into policies and initiatives aimed at attracting business and investment.
“We are the No. 1 manufacturing state per capita in the country,” Braun said. “We’re the ‘Crossroads of America.’ We reach more commerce in two days of ground transportation than any other place in the country, so we’ve got some inherent advantages.”
As for addressing labor shortages and attracting new, diverse industries, Braun said, “We need to make sure we get proper guidance, we listen to existing businesses for what those high-demand, high-wage jobs are and make sure for the 50% that currently are getting misguided that they at least look at better options that would be workforce.”
One way the state is supporting small businesses and fostering a more vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem is the creation of the Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation.
While Indiana is considered one of the best states to start a business, Braun said it’s among the states with the fewest businesses being started, so it’s important to flip that around.
Braun encourages businesses to collaborate with local schools, universities and employers to develop talent pipelines for staffing needs.
“For any of you businesses, get involved with your school districts, and don’t take it for granted that they are going to give you what you need,” he said. “Especially the very smallest schools are already ahead of the curve. They never got out of all of the workforce in their schools to begin with. The ones that did better bring it back in or you’re going to again not be helping what you need to do for your own businesses that want to grow, keep your kids employed so they stay there and don’t move away.”
Jackson County experienced significant funding shifts to programs like On My Way Pre-K and Jobs for America’s Graduates, which affected education outcomes and valuable workforce training.
Braun said budget cuts at the state level impacted that, and the budget forecast came out a week before officials wrapped up the budget discussion. That was based on the national issue of tariffs, which he doesn’t know how that’s going to work out long term.
He said all state agencies were asked to look for 5% savings, and he expects a new forecast in December.
“On the (programs) that make sense, they’ll be enabled if they make sense to do so,” Braun said. “We’re going through a healthy kind of resize in government to make sure what are the best programs that are going to get the attention and the resources. … The forecast is going, I think, to be much better in December that shows that our state was healthier than what the forecast indicated in the first place.”
In terms of positioning the state for long-term economic growth and prosperity, Braun said the government should always be the most powerful at the local level.
“We’ve got to be careful,” he said. “I want to make sure we have the right environment, but you’ve got to run your governments like a business No. 1. Don’t try to grow them faster than the economy. Otherwise, you’re growing it at the expense of the real economy.”
With Seymour being the “Crossroads of Southern Indiana,” Robison asked about the importance of infrastructure projects boosting business and commerce.
Braun said he co-authored the last road funding bill in 2017, and local communities have benefited from the Community Crossings Matching Grant program.
That money, however, only goes so far, so he welcomes creative ideas and public-private partnerships to help pay for roads and bridges.
“Let’s do it together,” Braun said. “I welcome your input. Buckle up. Let’s have some fun.”