Hi, I'm Jeff Rea, your host for Economic Outlook.

Welcome to our show, where each week we take a deep dive into the regional economy and the people, the companies and the communities and projects that are helping our region grow.

She's one of the most influential women in Indiana and holds one of the state's highest posts.

We'll sit down with Indiana Lieutenant Governor Suzanne Crouch for a closer look at the Indiana economy and key projects and programs that you should be aware of coming up on Economic Outlook.

She oversees a portfolio that includes the State Department of Agriculture, Housing and Community Development Authority, the Office of Community and Rural Affairs and the Indiana Destination Development Corporation.

In addition, she also serves as president Indiana Senate chair of the Indiana Women's Suffrage Centennial Commission, chair of the Intellectual Development Disabilities Task Force and Chair of the Next Level Veterans Initiative and the Next Level Connections Initiative.

Please join me for a conversation with Indiana Lieutenant Governor Suzanne Crouch.

Hi, Jeff.

Hi, Suzanne, good to see you.

Just one other note before we get started here at WNIT.

We're respecting social distancing as such.

We have both our hosts and our guests joining us today virtually instead of in person.

So thank you for joining me.

Virtually.

This has become a little bit new.

Normal, obviously, covid has has made us pivot just a little bit.

So we really appreciate the chance to plug you in.

You're no stranger to our area.

You've obviously been a great champion of this area.

It's really grateful that you'll spend a few minutes with us today.

Love to get into just a couple quick things on the state level as we're paying attention to things that are that are coming out of state.

And our show really focus on jobs and economy and love to start in that category.

It seems like Indiana's done well again on their job report card.

And wonder what you could share with us about Indiana's progress there on the job front.

Absolutely.

You know, when covid-19 hit in March of last year, it affected our state revenues and really affecting our economy.

And we were extremely pleasantly surprised when we learned that at the end of 2020, Indiana had created thirty one thousand job commitments, which is a record over the past five years.

We actually committed more job commitments, Jeff, in 2020 than we did in twenty nineteen, in spite of our building permit statewide are up 11 percent.

So we are experiencing growth that has really kind of carried us through this pandemic that we have been experiencing.

And I truly believe that that is due to the strong fiscal conservative leadership at the state level over the past 16 years.

You know we're a state that balances our budgets.

We keep taxes low.

We have a healthy two billion dollar surplus, and we also have a triple-A credit bond rating by all three and independent rating states that have achieved that accomplishment.

So I think it's a strong foundation that has really allowed us to continue to grow our economy even throughout covid-19 and all the challenges and trials that we face in 2020.

A big sector of our economy, as you know, Jeff, is manufacturing.

We lead the country in advanced manufacturing and manufacturing jobs grew tremendously.

We had one hundred and forty five manufacturers that created over twenty thousand new job commitments last year.

And many of those are up in the South Bend.

St. Joe, your listenership area.

We actually saw Barletta boat company create jobs, electric last mile created jobs.

Those two manufacturers alone created over jobs are in your listener area.

So pleasantly surprised.

But I think it speaks to our strong economy and what we've established over the past 16 years.

And as Hoosiers, we are humble.

We work hard, put our nose to the grindstone to do what's right and keep doing it over and over and over again.

And that has paid off for Hoosiers.

I like that.

Sounds like a great report.

And yeah, we're certainly excited about some of those projects.

I think what's maybe what's been neat to see, just speak to maybe the geography a little bit too.

It seems to me that those job announcements really hit all parts of Indiana that that it wasn't.

You know, I think sometimes people think everything happens in Indianapolis, nothing else happens anywhere else.

But but but speak to sort of, you know, kind of rural, urban, small town, big town, the geographic displacement.

Did did all of Indiana see some good news?

All of Indiana has been experiencing growth.

And Indiana, as you know, Jeff, I'm from Evansville.

And so while I have an apartment, I live in Indianapolis during the week.

I traveled to Evansville every weekend.

And I can tell you a growth in the southwest corner of the state is tremendous, just like it is in St. Joe, up in Fort Wayne and Lake County.

And when I talk to mayors throughout our state, mayors in large communities, but mayors in small cities and towns, I hear over and over and over again how this industry is looking at locating in their community or the current industry is looking at expanding.

We're attracting jobs and businesses from the Chicago area.

We're attracting jobs and businesses and people from Michigan area and, you know, from all over our neighboring counties and neighboring our neighboring states, because Indiana is a great place to live, play, study and stay.

Great, so thanks for that report and thanks for the work that you do to help catalyze that we know you're in an important role to help drive that be a catalyst.

And we've seen your great work firsthand.

We appreciate you doing what you can to help drive that.

So I mentioned in the tease that that part of the lieutenant governor's responsibilities.

You oversee several different offices, agencies that help contribute to the Indian economy and really the Indiana operations as a whole.

Can you talk just a little bit about a couple of those agencies and maybe a few highlights of some of the the the things that you're involved in that with those agencies that are helping drive Indiana's economy?

Absolutely.

Thank you.

Well, as lieutenant governor, as you mentioned in the intro, I oversee a number of agencies.

One of those agencies is the secretary of agriculture and rural development.

And when I talked to Chambers and Rotary's and I talk about big business, people don't automatically think about agriculture.

But agriculture is big business.

In the state of Indiana.

We're the 10th largest farming state.

It contributes thirty one billion dollars to our state's economy.

And so the fact that we have through covid-19 been able to continue growing our ag economy here in Indiana is incredible.

As you know, up in the northern part of the state, we have meat processors whose operations were disrupted because of COVID-19 one and Logansport and one in Delphi, and that started to cause strain on our food supply chain during covid-19.

What we did is we took four million dollars of the cares act money and we were able to be able to grant grants to forty one independent meat processor.

(inaudible) our huge large meat processers, we also are growing our small meat processors so that we can continue to provide food to Hoosiers and to the rest of the nation and to the world, and we don't have supply to our food supply chain and moving forward.

So that has been a really positive step, I think, for our independent meat processors.

And J&J Quality Meats in Marshall County was a recipient as well as Sim's meat in Laport.

So we are excited about that, but also about the work that our other agencies are doing.

I oversee the Office of Community and Rural Affairs and that agency distributes community development block grant money, which is HUD money cannot entitlement communities so to our smaller, more rural communities.

And they have certainly been as hard hit with this pandemic as our larger more so they have more than twenty one million dollars in grants to help businesses, to help food pantries, to be able to establish Wi-Fi hotspots, to be able to allow our smaller, more rural communities to be able to cope through this covid-19 challenge.

And in fact, Fulton County received about two hundred and fifty thousand to help grants and loans to small businesses.

The town of Hebron received one hundred fifty two thousand Kosciusko, Marshall and Laporte counties also received money.

So that ability to help our small rural communities, which are really the heartbeat of Indiana, helped them to survive and to hopefully thrive in the future has been absolutely critical.

And, you know, you had mentioned the Indiana Destination Development Corporation and they also supply grants to festivals, fairs and organizations throughout the state cause they weren't able to have activities during Covid.

We had no festivals or fairs or cultural events.

And those entities have such an important part of our quality of life and who we are as Hoosiers.

So being able to provide some grant money to them to help them survive during this period so that they in 2021 can have those events that really benefit Hoosiers and attract tourists to our area and really adds to our quality life is huge.

And then the housing agency that I oversee, they have provided fifty nine million dollars in rental assistance and this latest stimulus bill had four hundred and eighty million dollars additional money for rental assistance throughout Indiana.

We also have provide mortgage payment assistance and said help that has kept Hoosiers in their places of living.

That has been the this period of time.

So we've really worked hard to help Hoosiers be able to navigate and to be able to survive and hopefully be able to thrive moving forward throughout this pandemic.

Extremely important work.

Probably the most important work and an initiative that I had up through Okra is broadband.

You know, we have learned through covid-19 that being connected isn't a luxury.

It's essential because our students have been learning, our workers have been teleworking and health care has been has been delivered telehealth.

So being connected is absolutely critical.

Governor Holcomb and I realize that back in 2018, when we invested one hundred million dollars in connecting Hoosiers throughout the state, we've already awarded seventy nine dollars million in grants to businesses and households throughout Indiana.

But we need to do more and there's more work to do.

So we look at those private public partnerships.

We have bills pending, I think 15 bills in the House and Senate this session regarding broadband.

And Governor Holcomb has announced that he will work with the General Assembly to secure an additional hundred million dollars to connect Hoosiers to that last mile.

So it has been absolutely incredible how quickly everything has changed.

And in fact, in December of 2020, the federal government announced one hundred and sixty nine million dollars to connect one hundred and fifty three thousand Hoosiers over the next six years or so, much like rural electrification in the nineteen thirties.

We're seeing those efforts being made to be able to extend broadband so that.

Every Hoosier there has.

And to experience that economic growth, but also to ensure quality of life.

I told you, if you gave me the microphone, I'd talked.

That's great.

And you only inspire lots more questions.

So thank you for those are some terrific updates.

And you touched on a couple of things.

So so obviously that lets just our pandemic for a quick second.

I'm continuing my conversation with Indiana Lieutenant Governor Suzanne Crouch.

So let's talk pandemic a little bit.

And Indiana, just maybe you're on the front lines.

You're with the governor, you're with the top officials down there.

Give us just a maybe a snapshot of how Indiana is doing in the battle against covid some of the things that are on your mind that you hadn't planned for a year ago.

How is Indiana doing here?

Well, I think that Indiana, at least the input I get from Hoosiers, not just that live in Indiana, but that are living elsewhere.

The comment I get all the time is Indiana is doing.

The decisions are made based on the data, we are transparent.

We communicate with hoosiers and we try to help them take the steps to ensure their safety because that is top most.

So we are now distributing vaccines.

By the end of January, we will have a distributed hopefully half a million vaccines to Hoosiers.

As you know, first priority was health care workers and long term care facilities.

And then we kind of pivoted and said, you know, people over the age of 70, while they represent only 12 percent of our population, they represent 43 percent of the hospitalizations and 78 percent of the deaths.

So if we can get the vaccine to 70 plus, Hoosiers 70 year old and over Hoosiers, we're going to cut down on those hospitalizations and we're going to save a lives.

That right now, anyone over the age of 70 can call 2 1 1 or they can get on the computer and go to ourshot.in.gov And they can make an appointment to get their vaccination right now.

And then, of course, we will continue to move down the age spectrum and eventually, hopefully in the very near future, have enough vaccinations to vaccinate every Hoosier that wants to be vaccinated.

So I think the news is encouraging.

I know that I feel hopeful and it has done a lot to really cause me to think that we have turned the corner.

We have learned a lot from covid.

It has changed the way we live.

And I think moving forward, if we take all those good changes and incorporate them into our day to day living, we're going to be better and more thriving Hoosiers moving forward.

I'm encouraged by that report.

Our numbers are in north central Indiana up here doing much better, our lowest numbers probably since October.

And so that together with the vaccine rollout have us hopeful, too.

And I know has businesses up here excited that that there will be some sort of normalcy in the future.

I think we people have to be patient.

But but the vaccines are coming.

And so we're excited about that.

And we appreciate the leadership that the state's given.

And and I've had a chance to see firsthand Dr.

Box and Dr. Weaver and Governor Holcomb and and Homeland Security, everybody working really close with the local folks.

And I think people are really appreciative of the great partner that the state has throughout this thing.

So let's shift a little bit.

You touched on the General Assembly and I touched on that as in your opening.

So you play a pretty critical role in what happens at the Indiana General Assembly.

They reconvene here in January.

They'll be in session here for the the next couple of months.

So I hope our listeners are listeners.

And those watching one understand a little bit about the role that you play in the General Assembly and then maybe to talk a little bit about some of the things that are a priority going through this session this year.

Oh, absolutely.

And as you know, Lieutenant Governor, constitutionally, I serve as president of the Senate.

And let me just share with you, Jeff, that as a former state representative for eight years, it's wonderful to finally be in charge of the senators.

Yeah.

And I still remember everyone that vote against my bills, too, so I wield a pretty mean gavel.

But seriously, it's an honor to be able to serve in that capacity.

And probably the most important bills, in fact, the only bills we have to pass this session, if we have to pass a budget bill, a biennium budget bill, a two year budget bill, and in that budget bill and.

Come, I said we need to maintain we need to protect K-12 education and actually has proposed an increase in that area, higher education.

The budget proposes that we restore the cuts that were made and higher education and also provide an increase, fully fund Medicaid and then fully fund our agencies budgets, as you know and as you remember when covid-19 hit.

Because of our declining revenues at the state level, we cut all state budget agencies 15 percent, and so we all reverted and reduced our expenditures by 15 percent.

Now our revenues have rebounded.

They are better than what we projected.

And so now we want to restore those cuts that were made to be able to get us through this difficult period.

So that bill.

In the past, that bill has to be done constitutionally by July 1st.

The other bill we have to pass is redistricting.

Every ten years we do a census in the country and in Indiana.

And then as a result, the House, the Senate and the congressional districts have to be redrawn so that every district has equal population and every Hoosier has an equal voice and in their government.

And so the good news, the bad news, the good news is we're going to get it done.

The bad news, if it's bad news, is we may not get it done by the end of April, which is when session is scheduled to end.

If we don't get the numbers, which right now it looks like we won't get those census numbers from the federal government until June at the earliest.

So if that, in fact, does happen.

A little section sometime later in the year to actually do a redistricting bill, and so those are the those are the two bills that we have to pass.

Now, having said that, this will be a whole lot of other bills that will end up passing.

And one of our priorities, as I mentioned earlier, is broadband.

And we want to increase the speed from twenty five, three, for grants that the state is able to award because in the past we had the speed at 10 one.

So all those grants that I talked about, seventy nine million dollars in grants, we only have been able to award them for 10 one speed.

Now having said that, most of the providers are providing greater speed than that.

But we want to be able to have the flexibility to do what the federal government is doing and the federal government is saying we speed.

So we will do that at the state level so that broadband is probably our number one priority, at least from my agency standpoint and certainly with the administration.

Great so last week, we got preempted for a good reason, the governor was given his State of the state address and one of the things he touched on was regional recovery.

And it kind of floated this idea.

We obviously in our community really benefited from regional collaboration on programs for like steller and on regional cities.

And so we were excited to hear about that.

For those that might have missed that in our last about 10 minutes or so, can you and you kind of help us understand what he was, what you're thinking there?

Well, you know, our ability to work regionally and to get communities to work together is just the future.

And that's how we're going to move forward.

And a couple of years ago under then Governor Pence announced the regional city initiative and as you know, St. Joe, South Bend was an awardee of that program because of the benefit in the private public sector investment in that program.

We actually mimicked it in Okra and we did a stellar regional program in Marshall County has been the recipient of that, and that is for your smaller, more rural areas.

So we want to put the amount still remains to be determined based upon our budget and revenue projections.

So, you know, we do have revenue projections in April and that's kind of when we finally decide on the correct amounts.

But Governor Holcomb and I want to work with the General Assembly to kind of design and determine what that program is going to look like, because it can't be one for just the cities.

It can't be for small rural communities.

It's got to be one that every community in Indiana can participate in and excited about that in the fact that we actually have done regional cities, we've done regional steller.

So we have a blueprint on what works and how to move forward.

So we're really excited about that initiative for sure.

Great.

So a minute left here.

Anything else out of the state of the state or things that maybe we're not plugged into up here that we think we should have on our radar looking forward through this next year?

Well, for me personally, I'm really a strong advocate for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

I chair that task force and there are about one hundred thousand Hoosiers with intellectual or developmental disability.

Those are Hoosiers with autism, cerebral palsy and Down syndrome.

And so through that task force, we have made recommendations on how we can improve their environment so they can become more independent.

I always say that our friends with disabilities are merely just friends with different abilities.

And they had this had the same dreams and hopes and desires with each and every one of us.

They want to love and be loved and be successful in life and have a job.

And so through that task force, we are working hard to ensure that they can fulfill the dreams they dream and build the lives they want to build and be independent in the process.

And so I want to kind of close with that, because that is something that I personally am very engaged in and very much an advocate for.

Great.

Thank you.

So she's one of the busiest women in the state.

She's Indiana's lieutenant governor, Suzanne Crouch, and she's been very gracious with her time today.

Suzanne, thank you so much for joining us.

We're really grateful to have you here.

Thanks for the good work you do.

On behalf of Hoosiers and people all across the state.

We're really grateful.

Thank you for having me on, Jeff.

That's it for our show today.

Thank you for watching on it or listening to our podcast to watch this episode again or any of our past episodes.

You can find Economic Outlook at WNIT.org or find our podcast on most major podcast platforms we also encourage you to like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

Jeff Rea.

I'll see you next week.

This WNIT, local production has been made possible in part by viewers like you.

Thank you.