By Cate Charron
Indiana Business Journal
After spending the last week on a trade trip in Australia and Singapore, Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb told reporters Sunday night that he and state officials might embark on a few more international visits before the end of his term in January.
The latest trip has been focused on improving relationships in the advanced manufacturing, defense and energy sectors to inspire “mutually beneficial economic development, innovation and talent development.” Indiana Secretary of Commerce David Rosenberg and Indiana Economic Development Corp. officials are accompanying Holcomb. The congregation returns to Indianapolis on Tuesday.
“Indiana cannot afford to downshift down my stretch or in 169 days, I think it is, when I hand the keys to someone else to drive forward,” Holcomb said. “We want to make sure that we maximize our remaining days.”
The trip marks the governor’s first official visits to Australia and Singapore, and his 24th economic development trip abroad during his tenure. This year, the governor has taken four trips, including a 10-day semiconductor-focused visit to France, Belgium and the Netherlands in June.
Holcomb said his trade trips are about the seizing the opportunity and can result in private-investment payoffs in the decades ahead. Often, he said, officials on the visits are following up with companies who’ve expressed interest in Indiana or they are strengthening previous relationships. Other visits, he said, are “first dates” to feel out collaboration.
“It would be lazy at best and derelict of duty if I did not follow up on helping our companies grow and fostering an environment that would help new friends join us on our Hoosier soil,” he said.
Holcomb said the success of trade trips can be measured by whether those on the trip feel they have “moved the ball down the field” in terms of economic development. The trips also show companies that Indiana is serious about doing business.
“There is no substitute for showing up,” he said. “Indiana walks the walk.”
The end goal, he said, is for companies to establish themselves in Indiana and grow, much like Toyota and Subaru have done. For small businesses, it’s important for the state to create an ecosystem with capital and access for entrepreneurs to survive, he said.
The state is home to 32 Australian businesses, including C&R Racing, CSL Plasma, Everstream, Pratt Paper, SalesPond and Tronics, and two Singaporean-owned businesses.
Several Indiana-based companies do business in either Australia and Singapore, with consultant CAI, Eli Lilly and Co. and Zimmer Biomet operating in both.
