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The Indiana Economic Development Corporation Secures Record Number Of Job Commitments

Brandon Smith

Governor Mike Pence announced Wednesday the Indiana Economic Development Corporation has secured job commitments with a record 261 companies this year. But Pence says there’s still more work to be done.

The job commitments made in 2013, worth more than $2 billion to Indiana’s economy, are  expected to create more than 21,000 jobs in the state over the next several years. The expected jobs will pay a higher wage, nearly 22 dollars an hour, than the state average, which is 20 dollars an hour.

The state is spending money to earn the job commitments via incentives such as tax credits, abatements and grants. But Pence says that money is being well spent.

“The overwhelming majority of incentives the state of Indiana provides to businesses to invest and to grow in Indiana are based on when the jobs actually arrive” Pence says.

House Minority Leader Scott Pelath says the state still isn’t doing enough to help working class Hoosiers. He points out that Indiana’s per capita and median household incomes are below the national average, while the state’s unemployment rate is higher than the national average. 

Brandon Smith is excited to be working for public radio in Indiana. He has previously worked in public radio as a reporter and anchor in mid-Missouri for KBIA Radio out of Columbia. Prior to that, he worked for WSPY Radio in Plano, Illinois as a show host, reporter, producer and anchor. His first job in radio was in another state capitol, in Jefferson City, Missouri, as a reporter for three radio stations around Missouri. Brandon graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a Bachelor of Journalism in 2010, with minors in political science and history. He was born and raised in Chicago.