The Indiana Chamber of Commerce has unveiled a new plan to tackle what it calls Indiana’s “shortcomings”.

Indiana Prosperity 2035 – A Vision for Economic Acceleration is the organization’s third iteration of a decades-long initiative coordinated through the Indiana Chamber Foundation. The objective is to provide a roadmap to drive growth, transformation and success for Hoosiers and their enterprises, says Indiana Chamber President and CEO Kevin Brinegar.

The plan was developed through 18 months of work with a volunteer task force, comprised of researchers, issue and policy experts, business leaders and coalition partners – and led by Larry Gigerich, executive managing director of Ginovus in Fishers and a nationally recognized leader in economic development.

Indiana Prosperity 2035 is organized around six pillars with a total of 31 goals integrated among those policy areas. The pillars in the plan include:

  • Workforce – A focus on increasing the value Hoosiers place on education and continual improvement in skills in an ever-changing economic and jobs environment; significantly increasing attraction and retention of talent to the state; and increasing the labor force participation rates of working-age Hoosiers.
  • K-12 Education – Significant, arguably dramatic increases in the proficiency of Indiana students in math and language arts; expanding pre-K educational programs; increasing educational opportunities and achievement for minority students; and addressing the serious problems in smaller schools and districts around the state.
  • Economic Growth, Innovation and Entrepreneurship – Preserve and enhance Indiana’s strong business and regulatory climate; continue to drive expansion in high tech industries and the implementation of new technologies in our economy; significantly improve the state’s business start-up ratings, particularly for minority entrepreneurs; and move the state to one of the most productive for workers and enterprises in the nation.
  • Superior Infrastructure and Energy – Investments are necessary to continue to improve the state’s infrastructure to not only meet current needs, but to strategically position the state and regions within the state for economic development opportunities and the implementation of new technologies.
  • Quality of Place Strategies – Talent attraction and retention are critical in this economy and even more so in the rapidly evolving one of the future. Promote, invest and implement regional partnerships around quality of place investments; lead the Midwest in population growth and stabilize in middle-size communities; improve air and water quality; drive access to affordable housing.
  • Healthy, Prosperous Communities and Citizens – Tackle the state’s very poor health and welfare ratings by reducing smoking, obesity and substance abuse crises; improve access to quality public health services; contain health care costs; and increase the “health” of the state’s democratic institutions through greater civics education and engagement by people in their communities.

The Indiana Prosperity 2035 plan covers a wide array of important issues and opportunities for Indiana, but it also focuses on identifying key needs and shortcomings for the state as part of a strategy to advocate for aggressive action and continual improvement.

You can hear Chamber CEO Kevin Brinegar and other top officials in the Leon-Tailored Audio above.

Each segment runs for about 25 minutes.