Menu
Holcomb likes momentum he sees in state, wants more
On the move.
Gov. Eric Holcomb likes to be in motion.
It was true in a literal sense on Friday, in a day that started on the job in Indianapolis, then west to Terre Haute for a major jobs announcement in Terre Haute, back east to Greencastle and the Putnam Inn, a favored local stop for the governor.
Then back in the car with a tenderloin to go as he headed back to the state capital.
However, Holcomb likes to see the State of Indiana moving forward. He made that clear about this time last year during his 2018 State of the State address.
Coming off a year in which the state set a record with more than 30,000 new job commitments, Holcomb said he wanted more, against the advice of some within his inner circle.
“For our new job commitments in 2017 we, through the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, brought in 30,158. Then in 2018 we brought in over 31,000,” Holcomb told the Banner Graphic between sips of his coffee. “So we improved in back to back years. I think you’ve got to, at the very least, strive to improve. Then if you come in at 29,000 -- 29 is good. It’s a record year for most years.”
While Holcomb didn’t tip his hand as to whether he will make a similar commitment with his 2019 address on Tuesday, he still has big plans for the 2019 General Assembly session and the year as a whole.
That got off to a good start earlier on Friday when Holcomb, First Lady Janet Holcomb and even “First Dog” Henry Holcomb were onstage in Vigo County as Germany-based Saturn Petcare officially announced the opening of its first U.S. facility in a former Pfizer plant that closed more than a decade ago.
Besides the announcement of 200 well-paying jobs, Holcomb was encouraged by what company officials told him drew them to Indiana.
“You run into companies like Saturn Petcare that say, ‘We did our due diligence.’ They were looking at America and then they honed in on five states,” Holcomb said. “They reiterated to me this morning before the program started, they said, ‘You guys are second to none.’”
Still, the governor wants more. And one thing he has set his sights on isn’t an obvious economic factor.
Indiana remains one of just five states without hate crimes legislation. Holcomb hopes that changes by April.
“We’re known as ‘A State that Works.’” Holcomb said. “We’ve got it on our buildings, on promotional pieces.”
“I think it ought to be ‘A State that Works — comma — for All.’”
His reasons for supporting a hate crimes law are threefold.
“Number one, I start with, it’s the right thing to do, to treat people equally,” Holcomb said. “And (second) we need to also send a message to everyone that the State of Indiana stands with victims and that’s another benefit of this policy.”
The third part, Holcomb says, may be “a little self-serving.
“Thirdly, it makes good business sense too,” he said, noting that before expanding, some employers want to know that a state has stiffer sentences for crimes fueled by biases regarding race, religion, sexual orientation and gender identity.
“For having every other economic development tool in our toolbox, we don’t have this one,” Holcomb said. “When companies are looking at expanding or growing, this is one of those boxes that you either check or you don’t. And currently, we don’t.”
Holcomb is looking for progress in other areas as well. He’s proud to trumpet strides made in infrastructure, including a 20-year road and bridge funding spelled out in the Indiana Next Level Road Program, the $1 billion the state stands to gain through renegotiating terms of the Indiana Toll Road and the money coming into counties, cities and towns through the Community Crossings program.
“We’re one of the only states that on our Department of Transportation website, you can go there and look at Putnam County and you can see a five-year, paid-for plan (of) when projects start, when they finish, how much they cost,” Holcomb said. “When we’re talking to a potential company about moving here, they can go see what’s being invested where and they can connect the state and the local projects. So they know that from I-70 to the factory parking lot, there is the financial means committed, not just talked about.”
Of course, in the 21st century, infrastructure means more than roads and utilities. It’s also about access to the wider world through internet service. He said the state is committing $100 million to find solutions to taking reliable, high-speed internet service to the entire state, rural areas included.
“We know that about 400,000 Hoosiers live in internet darkness,” Holcomb said. “I don’t want our students to have to drive to a library parking lot or a school parking lot or McDonald’s or a Starbucks if you have one, to do their homework.
“So how do we make the business model work for all our providers, regardless of who they are?”
On less serious matters — though the economic impact remains important — Holcomb is even encouraged by the momentum Indiana has in hosting major sporting events, with the NBA All-Star Game coming to Bankers Life Fieldhouse in 2021, followed by the 2022 College Football Playoff national championship game.
Holcomb also sees this as something that builds upon pass successes, even those that started with an oval track and a crazy idea more than a century ago.
“Indy 500s lead to the Final Fours that lead to Super Bowls that lead to NBA All-Star Games that lead to football national championship games,” Holcomb said.
While talking sports may seem trivial for the chief executive of a state, it serves nicely as an analogy for the Next Level agenda Holcomb is using to define his administration.
“That’s the whole Next Level approach,” Holcomb said, “that everything builds on what you just did. It’s trying to improve on where you are today, tomorrow ... and the next day and the next day and the next day.
“There are no quick fixes but you’ve got to be heading in the right direction.”