Indiana Secretary of Commerce Brad Chambers announced Monday he will soon step down after two years leading the state’s economic development arm.
He oversaw a major shift in how the state pursues significant business investments.
Chambers signed a two-year contract in 2021 to lead the Indiana Economic Development Corporation after three decades running a real estate firm.
During his time at IEDC, the agency began pursuing economic development deals by spending hundreds of millions of dollars on site readiness — basically, buying up land and helping prep it for new companies to move in and build more quickly.
That policy has met with some mixed reaction, especially from locals near a development site in central Indiana. But over the last two years, the state has also secured some of the largest, most advanced economic development commitments in its history.
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Chambers’ departure fuels growing speculation that he will run in the Republican primary for the open governor’s seat. That primary already includes a former IEDC leader, Eric Doden, as well as U.S. Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch and former Attorney General Curtis Hill.
Brandon is our Statehouse bureau chief. Contact him at bsmith@ipbs.org or follow him on Twitter at @brandonjsmith5.