WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Indiana Chamber of Commerce last week held its annual D.C. Insider event where several dozen Hoosier business executives traveled to Washington D.C. to meet with members of Indiana’s congressional delegation to discuss a number of topics.
Artificial intelligence, data centers, microelectronics and defense investment were just some of the areas of focus.
Indiana Chamber CEO Vanessa Green Sinders told Inside INdiana Business host Gerry Dick that drones were a major topic, particularly after Indiana received one of two drone test site designations from the Federal Aviation Administration in January.
“That is something that I think there’s going to be a lot of opportunity for new suppliers, manufacturers to get involved in this drone conversation, both from the defense perspective but also the commercial perspective,” Sinders said. “And I can think of multiple businesses who are here that are just excited to figure out how they can play a role in that.”
Drone technology is just one of the big issues, and for Indiana, the question is straightforward: How does a traditional manufacturing state pivot to the new economy and get its share of the investment and jobs that come with it?
Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., believes Indiana is uniquely positioned to capture huge investment and jobs from the artificial intelligence revolution. He said the key note in that space is memory, something that is being address in Indiana with South Korea-based SK Hynix’s more than $4 billion facility now under construction in West Lafayette.
When complete, the facility will focus on advanced packaging of semiconductors that utilize next-generation High Bandwidth Memory, or HBM.
“If we can prove, as we will, that we can make the most sophisticated products in the world successfully in West Lafayette, there’s no reason we couldn’t see more fabs right there in West Lafayette,” Young said, “or perhaps somewhere in southern Indiana, maybe right outside Crane Naval Base, where they have some expertise in radiation-hardened microelectronics.”
Concerns have been raised recently over the need for more oversight and guardrails for AI. Young said he believes it’s an important conversation that needs to be had.
“I do think that Congress and, more generally, our government has a role here to play,” he said. “We shouldn’t just be consulting with people who have a financial stake in this conversation.”
Artificial intelligence was not the only hot-button issue on the table at the D.C. Insider event. Defense spending, which is already a big part of the Indiana economy, supporting billions of dollars in investment and thousands of jobs, could be getting even bigger.
Earlier this year, the American Center for Manufacturing and Innovation broke ground on its National Security Industrial Hub in Bloomfield, plans for which were expanded just five months later. The more than 1,500-acre campus is being supported by a $75 million Munitions Campus Program award from the U.S. Department of Defense.
Sen. Jim Banks, R-Ind., pointed to companies like Florida-based L3Harris Technologies, which has a major presence in Fort Wayne, and Rolls-Royce in Indianapolis that are contributing to Indiana’s defense sector.
Banks also cited the decision in May by U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao to assign a one-star Reserve Flag Officer to Naval Weapons Station Crane in southern Indiana as proof of the state’s growing reputation and something that will fuel further growth.
“More industry like Lockheed [Martin] and other big companies that we don’t yet have in Indiana are going to follow that office,” Banks said. “So we’re talking about billions of dollars in investments, thousands of new jobs, and big news for Indiana on the horizon.”
Last week, the federal government announced plans for an advanced nuclear microreactor at Naval Weapons Station Crane, and Banks said more investment is likely on the way.
“Crane is the fastest growing defense hub right now in America. It’s the next Huntsville, Alabama,” he said. “So with that, more investment, more private sector companies coming, and then we want to grow the Navy footprint. All that research and development, and hypersonics and other sophisticated new technologies is going to happen at Crane in a bigger way than we’ve ever seen before.”