Secretary Of Commerce Says Indiana A ‘Strong Competitor’ Economically
Secretary Of Commerce Says Indiana A ‘Strong Competitor’ Economically
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David Slone-dslone@timesuniononline.com
Secretary Of Commerce Says Indiana A ‘Strong Competitor’ EconomicallyWINONA LAKE - Bradley B. Chambers is paid $0.99 a year to serve as the secretary of commerce for the state of Indiana.
“When Governor (Eric) Holcomb asked him to do the job, I think he said no a dozen times or so, but then when he said yes, he said just pay me a dollar a year, preserve the state’s assets,” Lake City Bank President and CEO David Findlay said when introducing Chambers. “And then, the most important thing and value to us in the business community is that he is a lifelong entrepreneur.”
Thursday night, Chambers was the keynote speaker at the 111th Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce Annual Dinner Awards at the Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center in Winona Lake. He gave his comments during a “fireside chat” with Findlay.
Findlay said Chambers started his own business that has turned into a $3 billion asset company, Buckingham. Chambers started in college when he bought rentals for students at Indiana University.
“He is an entrepreneur who really is the right guy to be in this position at the Indiana Economic Development Corporation as the secretary of commerce for the state,” Findlay said.
The first questions Findlay posed to Chambers was about how he made the decision to leave Buckingham on a two-year commitment to move over to the IEDC. He asked what were the “triggers” that convinced him to take the job.
“A dollar a year, right? I wanted to be motivated and driven by purpose, not pay. I’ve been a lifelong entrepreneur, and I believe in this state. I believe in the product of our state. I’m a consumer of this product for my 38-year business career. And so, I come about this as a consumer. I didn’t want the focus to be anything other than purpose about making our state better and growing our GDP,” Chambers said.
Findlay asked him how he transformed the Department of Commerce and IEDC in his short period of time there so far.
“I only know what I know, and it’s been fun taking 38 years of experience and the failures and successes that come along with being an entrepreneur and life lessons,” Chamber replied.
Walking into the IEDC, he said he had two big tasks he wanted to accomplish. One was making sure the culture in the organization was strong and vibrant and fun. The people at the IEDC were “awesome,” he said, and then they added more awesome people. “So we had this incredible culture and this dynamic team that is just having fun and they’re winning.”
Number two was having a plan, though it didn’t need to be perfect.
“It’s our five-year strategy and it’s focused on five things that grow the state’s economy into the future,” Chambers said.
Those five things are built environment, investing in cities and towns and communities; building an economy of the future; entrepreneurship; energy transition; and external engagement.
Findlay asked Chambers what the IEDC has evolved into and what was he most surprised by when he got involved.
Chambers said when he rolled out the five-year strategy, he took six months when he started in July 2021 to build his team, make sure everyone understood the strategy, but said former Gov. Mitch Daniels knew what he was doing when he created the IEDC because “the commerce function of a state is its economic engine.” Chambers said there’s the speed of government and then there’s the speed of business, and “you’ve got to run at the speed of business.”
He acknowledged that government doesn’t always work at the speed of business, so Daniels pulled the commerce function out of state government and made it a quasi-governmental entity. It’s a nonprofit with some governmental entanglements.
“But it is quasi-governmental entity, it can move fast. The legislature has funded it and continues to fund it and gives us the tools to move at the speed of business,” Chambers explained.
When he walks into Holcomb’s office and Holcomb asks him how it’s going, Findlay wanted to know what Chambers’ response is.
Chambers said $8.7 billion was invested in 2021, a historic high. “And we did $22 billion in ’22. And we did a 250% increase in capital investments committed to the state. And more importantly to me was the wages were higher. That was my sole focus, making sure that we were not underselling our product. Our state is not average. Our GDP shouldn’t be average. Our wages shouldn’t be average. We should be above average. And so we delivered a record-setting year of $22 billion in capital investments ... and the wages were higher,” he said.
Being a competitive guy, he said they’ve got to aim higher and achieve faster going forward.
There were 550 attendees at the Chamber dinner Thursday, a record high. Findlay asked Chambers what they should take away from his presence there and what can they do to help Chambers and the IEDC move forward.
Chambers said just being a strong community is important.
“You can’t build a community if you don’t have that basic strong community and the strong leadership and people showing up. ... You guys are showing up in this community, that you passionately care about, and won’t let go of the issues that are important and you keep bringing them up, and that is important. It’s fundamental,” Chambers said.
Also, government is not going to solve every problem, he said.
“So it starts here. It starts with a vibrant, strong community that is determined to do it on its own, first, and then soliciting support that it can from all over the resources, including us as a partner and we view ourselves as a partner,” Chambers said.
Speaking on the state legislators, he said they understand this state is a winner in the national economic competition. Indiana works hard, and has to work hard, but that’s the culture of the state, he said.
“We’re competing with the best of the best on economic development nationally. We are raising wages. We are recruiting tons of investment. We are supporting entrepreneurs,” Chambers said.
He said it’s a complex state, a great growing organism and you can’t stop. It’s constant improvement.
Findlay asked Chambers what does he hear from his peers nationally and internationally about perceptions of Indiana.
Chambers said he was with a group Wednesday that was looking at a major investment in the state. They were looking at Indiana’s economic “tool kit,” low cost of operations and fiscal discipline.
“They were taking notes because they wanted to take what we were doing and replicate it in their own state. So Indiana is a strong competitor, especially in the Midwest. We’re very competitive against Ohio and certainly Kentucky and definitely Illinois and Michigan, but I want to compete against North Carolina and Texas,” Chambers said.
Texas has a $1.7 trillion economy and Indiana is a $440 billion economy, and Chambers said he wants to compete against states like Texas and Arizona.
“And we are. We are. We are in the midst of those guys on some of these industries of the future,” Chambers stated.
After Findlay and Chambers’ approximate half-hour chat, Chamber President and CEO Rob Parker presented Findlay with a special award for Lake City Bank’s 150th birthday in 2022. Lake City Bank was one of the organizations that helped the Chamber get started many years ago.
