IEDC President: 2017 Off to Good Start
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe new president of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation says, based on first quarter numbers, 2017 is shaping up to be a very good year. Elaine Bedel says the state’s economic development activity is tracking record levels set by the IEDC in 2015.
"We are on the short list for a lot of businesses who either want to expand or move their operations to Indiana," said Bedel. "You know already we’ve got 80 commitments, 80 different companies committed to be here."
Those commitments could ultimately mean more than 5,700 Hoosier jobs with a "nice wage of something like $27," said Bedel. "It has really been a great start to this year."
While attracting big companies can mean bigger job commitments, Bedel, says focusing on supporting small business is just as important. She was appointed IEDC president by Governor Eric Holcomb in February and also owns Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. in Indianapolis, which she founded in 1989.
"I came from a small business environment, so I think working more closely with small businesses (is important) to see if we can provide a little more incentive there. It’s always nice after the big projects bringing in 100 or 200 jobs, but if you can get one job out of 6,000 different companies, that’s 6,000 jobs over night, said Bedel."