Eric Holcomb
51st Governor of Indiana
When I took office as Governor in January 2017 I was determined to pick up where my predecessors had left off and make our state an even better place to live, work, play, and stay.I said we’d take Indiana to the world and the world to Indiana, and over the past 8 years we’ve done just that.
How? With civility and common sense approach, along with the collective efforts of Hoosiers from all walks of life. We’ve turned the Crossroads of America into the #1 state for infrastructure with projects like double-tracking the South Shore Line and completing Interstate 69 from Evansville to Indianapolis, and I’m grateful to INDOT and the labour force of thousands who built them.
I’ll always be grateful to our health care heroes, our statewide media, our own teams of agency leaders and state employees who brought their wisdom and experience to guide us through the unknowns of the pandemic. Our Health First Indiana program is investing like never before in Hoosiers’ physical health so we are better prepared when the next unknown comes our way. We’re increasing our investment in mental health, which also took a toll during the pandemic, and we’ve created a statewide structure to combat the opioid crisis, dramatically driving down the number of overdose deaths.
We planted more than a million new trees, and invested heavily in conservation and trails while connecting all corners of our state with broadband internet. We’re putting more than a billion dollars into our small towns, cities, and rural and urban regions with our READI programs. Local leaders are the heartbeat of our state and with their ideas and gumption, they are implementing nearly 450 quality-of-place projects, and I’m grateful for their leadership and service.To all the mayors, councilmen and women, commissioners, prosecutors, sheriffs, judges, and coroners — insert your name here — and thank you.
We returned more than $1.5 billion to taxpayers in the form of a refund when inflation was at its height, all the while paying down 35 percent of state debt and maintaining our standing as the top state for business and the best tax climate among Midwestern states. It comes as no surprise that in 2023 a record number of small businesses were launched in Indiana and we were named the best state to start a business. I’m grateful for the innovators, the entrepreneurs, the small, medium and large businesses that call Indiana home. And the ones that will call Indiana home in coming years, like SK hynix in West Lafayette, Amazon in New Carlisle, Samsung SDI in Kokomo, and Meta in both Lebanon and Jeffersonville.
We’ve met Hoosiers where they are in life and are helping them skill up to a better job regardless of how they want to do it. There are more associate degree options, more apprenticeships, double the number of Jobs for America’s Graduates programs, and we train our incarcerated individuals for life after lockup. It’s imperative our kids learn to read by Grade 3, and with the generosity of the Lilly Endowment and appropriations from the General Assembly, we have made the state’s largest investment in literacy education. One of these days, Dolly Parton will pay us a visit to celebrate the statewide embrace of the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, another tool to help our kids read. Thank you to all the teachers, superintendents, principals, guidance counselors, coaches and mentors. You all have big jobs with an even bigger impact on the future generations that will drive our state onward and upward.
Those kids are our future. They’re 4-Hers raising chickens and pigs, FFA members leading the way in agriculture innovation, students mastering STEM disciplines, athletes competing in IHSAA events, and Boy Scouts creating public service projects and volunteering their time to help others. We owed it to them to leave a better Indiana.
Lastly, I’ve had the privilege of crossing the globe over these last 8 years proudly telling everyone about we Hoosiers, and how easy it is to do business here, our traditions, our sports, our innovative approaches, our culture, and all we have to offer. The results speak for themselves: foreign direct investment has increased by $45 billion and we’ve attracted more than $126 billion in new capital investment. I’m so grateful for that global endorsement of our efforts and all the international ambassadors we’re friends with that are growing our local communities. They’ve become like family and I look forward to the years to come and how our families grow together.
We not only have the foundation in place but the momentum to continue to achieve great success in the decades ahead.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge all of the efforts of my bride, Indiana’s First Lady Janet Holcomb, who’s been at my side making her own lasting contributions to our state. And I offer my warmest wishes to Gov. Braun as he brings his vision for Indiana to life in the next four years. It has been the privilege of my lifetime to serve as your governor and now it will be his.
