A New Entrepreneurial Vision for Indiana

Indiana’s new Governor, Mike Braun, made no secret of his vision for Indiana: turn the state into the best place in America to start, build and grow a business. 

Governor Braun’s economic development approach comes from 37 years building a small business in his hometown into a national industry leader: Meyer Distributing, a distributor of automotive specialty parts and aftermarket accessories, as well as a logistics company. 

“My experience in this arena comes from living entrepreneurship in the trenches,” said Governor Braun of attracting businesses to Indiana. “I know when government can help encourage business development, and when they need to get out of the way, because I’ve lived it.” 

In his first 100 days, Governor Braun has shown that he’s bringing the breakneck pace of business to his work leading Indiana. 

Governor Braun restructured his cabinet to work more like a business, with direct chains of command so great ideas can get straight to him. Everyone knows who they report to and the business community knows who to reach out to with issues. 

In his first week in office, Governor Braun directed his new cabinet and agency heads to cut 25 percent of all regulations to unleash Indiana’s economy. He has provided regulatory certainty for Indiana’s businesses, including limiting Indiana’s environmental regulations to not go beyond the federal standards. For businesses looking for new sites in which to expand, Indiana presents a simplified compliance framework. 

Governor Braun has shown his commitment to making it easier to do business in Indiana through a series of modernization executive orders. In his first 100 days, he initiated an overhaul of the state’s transportation permitting system with a simple, transparent online tool.  

Governor Braun also secured a major win for Hoosier taxpayers: an historic property tax cut for Hoosiers with over $1.5 billion in savings. The Braun administration has been leading the country in government efficiency measures across the board, including five percent budget cuts for nearly all state agencies. 

Knowing how important affordable, reliable energy is to business investment, Indiana is taking the lead in the nation in nuclear energy development. Indiana was recently named host of the 2025 NGA Nuclear Summit and Co-Chair for the Advanced Nuclear First Mover Initiative, solidifying the state’s place as a nuclear leader. 

Cultivating a Skilled Talent Pipeline

“Indiana’s workforce is our economic driver,” said Commerce Secretary David Adams of Indiana’s vibrant economy. To that end, Secretary Adams and Governor Braun recently set a new “North Star” for economic development in the state, focused on two priorities: growing wages and cultivating new job opportunities for Hoosiers. 

The Braun administration is laser-focused on upskilling Indiana’s workforce to meet the needs of employers and fill great skilled jobs that are available now. 

Indiana celebrates a culture of hard work, and Governor Braun’s administration has taken steps to increase workforce participation across the board, outlining new work requirements for able-bodied Medicaid recipients, setting additional work requirements for young able-bodied SNAP beneficiaries and creating a new pathway to gainful employment for formerly incarcerated individuals. 

Recently, Indiana rolled out new high school diploma requirements designed to create a career pipeline for promising Hoosier students directly to employers offering great careers. 

In addition to earning a high school diploma, Indiana students can earn “Readiness Seals” on their diploma by completing a set of rigorous requirements tailored to three paths after graduation: enrollment, employment or enlistment. These requirements were designed together with real employers, colleges and military service organizations, and emphasize real-world experience over more time doing homework. 

The Employment Seal requires career and technical courses alongside at least 150 hours of work-based learning, with an honors-plus path requiring students earn a market-driven credential such as a technical certificate or associate’s degree, and 650 hours of real-world experience, for example, in a pre-apprenticeship program. 

The State of Indiana didn’t just work with employers to develop the requirements for these new diplomas, they also partnered with them to help ensure that participating students will be able to get a foot in the door at these organizations.

Thanks to this partnership, students who follow the path receive dedicated career support, helping them get connected through interviews and potentially be hired by some of Indiana’s top employers such as Eli Lilly & Company and Cummins, or get started with direct entry into an apprenticeship with the Central Midwest Carpenters Union. 

“When hiring in my business, I would have loved to know at a glance that a potential hire fresh out of high school had 650 hours of job or apprenticeship experience,” said Governor Braun about the program. 

A More Competitive Environment for Business Owners 

The new diploma requirements and readiness seals aren’t the only wins on education Governor Braun shepherded through in his first 100 days. Indiana’s 2025 legislative session saw an increased investment in education as well as school choice. In this budget, teacher base pay was increased, and parents were put firmly in the driver’s seat of their kids’ education. 

Governor Braun took on self-insuring in his business and knows what a challenge health insurance can be for employers. He is taking on the root causes of high healthcare prices and is making healthcare costs more transparent and affordable through executive orders and major legislation. 

With Governor Braun’s leadership, the Indiana General Assembly this year passed a major suite of healthcare price solutions, including new oversight of pharmacy benefit managers and other misaligned incentives driving up the cost of drugs for patients and employers. 

Other enacted healthcare price solutions included protecting Hoosiers from the price hikes associated with healthcare consolidation and making sure non-profit hospitals actually operate like nonprofits. 

While all states struggle with high healthcare prices, Indiana is taking bold, historic action to fix these problems to create better healthcare outcomes and lower costs for Hoosiers. 

Indiana’s Sector Strengths Poised to Lead the 21st Century Economy

Nuclear energy is not the only advanced technology which Indiana is taking the lead. This year, Indiana welcomed SEMIExpo In The Heartland, the first semiconductor convention of its kind in the U.S. Midwest, highlighting Indiana’s unique benefits to the semiconductor industry. 

The state boasts 9,300 manufacturing operations, and more Hoosiers work in manufacturing than in any other industry. Indiana’s status as a national leader in advanced materials and automotive manufacturing put it in a strong position to welcome the semiconductor industry to the state, supporting U.S. efforts to reshore innovation and production.

Indiana’s powerful manufacturing sector has made it a national leader in automotive production. The state ranks second two in overall automotive production, boasting five major OEM assembly plants and 500 automotive parts suppliers. Through Purdue University, Rose-Hulman, Indiana University, Ivy Tech Community College and other cutting-edge educational institutions, Indiana has a built-in pipeline of advanced electrical, mechanical and aeronautical engineering talent to support continued growth. 

This robust ecosystem has set the stage for Indiana to land major new developments, welcoming two new StarPlus Energy – a Samsung SDI-Stellantis joint venture – battery plants in Kokomo totaling $6.3 billion, a $4 billion SK hynix semiconductor advanced memory packaging plant and R&D plant facility and $13 billion in planned investments from Eli Lilly & Company to accelerate pharmaceutical manufacturing. It’s clear that Indiana is quickly becoming a new hub for powering the 21st century economy. 

To ensure their success, the state has facilitated direct partnerships between its education institutions and these growing companies to make sure the state is producing workforce talent that meets  industry-specific needs.  

Setting the Stage for Economic Growth

As a business owner, Governor Braun expanded Meyer from one warehouse to over 100 locations across the country. 

“I know firsthand how important site selection and infrastructure is,” Braun said. “It’s such a difference-maker to have infrastructure already in place for your utility and electricity needs.”

Commerce Secretary David Adams and his economic development team have made site selection a key differentiator for Indiana. They have already identified 490 new nationally competitive sites that are ready for major economic development, representing nearly 100,000 acres.  

The state has also brought new sites to market, developing the LEAP Research & Innovation District, a 9,000+-acre site that has attracted investments from Eli Lilly & Company and Meta totaling $18 billion in planned projects so far. 

“I know firsthand you always want business partners that bring you solutions, not just problems,” Governor Braun wrote in his letter to Trade & Industry Development readers. “That’s what I want to be for businesses investing in Indiana: a business partner that knows your challenges and how to help as a peer, not as a politician.” 

Indiana’s pro-business government, tax advantages, energy stability, impressive workforce pipeline from high school and universities and central location providing logistical advantages make it an ideal place to build and grow a business. T&ID