Indiana’s economic development strategy seems likely to shift next year, regardless of who wins the race for governor.
That’s because unlike many policy areas, there’s a lot of overlap in how Republican Mike Braun, Democrat Jennifer McCormick and Libertarian Donald Rainwater view the issue.
All three talk about greater support for small businesses. It’s a subject Braun has emphasized as he highlights the multi-million-dollar company he grew from a small business.
“And I remember no one ever came to my door knocking, nor did I hear about something that would help the thousands of them and us back then with economic development,” Braun said.
McCormick said it’s important to focus on making Indiana a desirable place to live.
“We're going to be attracting all these jobs, but we have to have a state that has a quality of place that we can attract people to take those jobs and sustain our communities and be strong and thrive.”
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Libertarian Rainwater’s approach would be the largest shift. He said the state has been destroying the foundation of its economy.
"When we bring in high paying jobs, take workers from small businesses to fill those jobs — and I don't blame those workers," Rainwater said. "If you offer me more money than I'm making today, I'll probably take it. But what we're doing is we're killing small businesses. We're killing family farms."
Rainwater said he wants to focus on building strong communities that will attract companies, rather than luring companies with large tax abatements and incentives.
Brandon is our Statehouse bureau chief. Contact him at bsmith@ipbs.org or follow him on Twitter at @brandonjsmith5 .
