Big economic growth was projected as Gov. Eric Holcomb chaired a board meeting at Ball State’s Alumni Center on Monday.
President Geoffrey Mearns and Mayor Dennis Tyler welcomed the governor and the board to both Ball State and Muncie.
“We are delighted that you are here,” President Mearns said. “Like the governor, I serve an institution that is strong and is getting stronger every day.”
Gov. Holcomb has a special tie to the university — his wife graduated from Ball State with two art degrees. His said connections here were an extra draw for holding the meeting on campus.
“We seek to get these meetings out around the state,” Gov. Holcomb said. “This is just the perfect place here at Ball State, and it worked, we had a 100 percent attendance rate, that’s the first time for me.”
In the meeting, Gov. Holcomb and board members projected over 100,000 new jobs in Indiana in the next few years.
Additionally, another 27,000 jobs will be created by the end of this quarter. Indiana is exceeding its job projection goals according to Jim Schellinger, Indiana secretary of commerce.
This is because Gov. Holcomb recently appointed Blair Milo as secretary of career connection to help Hoosiers get connected with jobs.
“That’s the key,” Gov. Holcomb said. “Getting people connected to the jobs because they are out there in all 11 regions with one website.”
Isaac Miller, a sophomore political science major and a Ball State Republican member, got to meet Gov. Holcomb for the first time at the event.
“It is great to see growth in our state, to see our state is doing things other states aren’t doing and we are succeeding,” Miller said. “It makes me proud of Indiana and proud to be a Hoosier.”
In Delaware County, there is expected to be .7% employment growth in 2017 according to Indiana Business Review.
“Economic growth has always been a big push here,” said freshman political science and legal studies major Geoffrey McAdams. “Indiana is a centralized, economic booming minefield.”
Joe McGuinness, commissioner of the Indiana department of transportation also touched on the Next Level Roads plan to put $190 billion back into Indiana roads. In the next 5 years, 219 miles of resurfaced road and 35 bridges will be replaced in Delaware County according to IN.gov.
Additionally, Schellinger said Indiana’s first transatlantic flight from Indy to Paris is now scheduled for May 2018.
Contact Liz Reith with comments at ejrieth@bsu.edu or on Twitter at @liz_rieth.
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