In Indiana, Right-to-work status is ‘icing on the cake’
“We are on a record pace for business expansion this year,” says Hasler, who was appointed to his post by Gov. Mitch Daniels after serving as vice president of global marketing for the Fortune 500 global pharmaceutical company. “We are on track to do 250 discreet agreements with companies this year, which will best any other year by a substantial margin. The three most important things that will cause that to happen are our brand voice, our work force and our continued environmental improvement.”
In a wide-ranging interview with Site Selection, Hasler outlined his state’s strategies for economic growth and discussed the primary challenges facing Indiana.
SITE SELECTION: What are IEDC’s top three economic development priorities in the coming year?
HASLER: Building our brand voice, improving our work force and continually improving our environment. Our main priority is to make sure we are being found by companies that are ready to move. Secondly, we need a continued effort to upgrade our training for the Hoosier work force. Finally, anything we can do to support the profitability of Indiana companies is what we should do. The best thing we have to sell is the success of the Indiana companies that are already here. Right to work has been huge. It basically was icing on the cake for what has been happening here — income and property tax reductions and R&D tax credit improvements — and our AAA bond rating. In six months, 25 companies have told us that right to work was a big part of their decision calculus for coming to Indiana or expanding here.
