Indiana’s 2024 Budget
Economic Development and Business
Indiana operates on a two-year budget cycle. The budget covering 2024 was House Enrolled Act 1001 (2023), which funded state operations for fiscal years 2024 and 2025.
The budget included several measures intended to support economic development, attract businesses, strengthen Indiana’s workforce, and encourage investment.
Major business and economic investments
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$500 million — READI 2.0: Invested in regional economic development, infrastructure, housing, workforce attraction, and community improvements.
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$500 million — Deal Closing Fund: Established incentives to attract major employers, encourage business expansion, and create jobs. Approximately 5% was reserved for projects in qualifying rural counties.
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$150 million — Site Acquisition: Supported purchasing and preparing land for future industrial and commercial development.
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$40 million — Manufacturing Readiness Grants: Doubled funding to help Indiana manufacturers modernize equipment, introduce automation, and improve productivity.
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$250 million annually — Economic Development Tax Credits: Provided flexibility to attract business investment and job creation.
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$65.5 million — 21st Century Research and Technology Fund: Supported innovation, technology development, and commercialization over the biennium.
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$23 million — Skills Enhancement Fund: Supported workforce training to help businesses develop skilled employees.
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$34 million — Business Promotion and Innovation: Supported efforts to promote Indiana as a business destination and encourage innovation.
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$4.6 million — Office of Small Business and Entrepreneurship: Funded assistance for entrepreneurs and small businesses.
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$10 million — Direct Flight Development: Supported efforts to improve air connections important to business travel and economic development.
Workforce
Across Indiana, companies are looking to hire hardworking Hoosiers to fill great jobs – jobs in high-demand industries like manufacturing, life sciences, technology, and logistics. By 2025, there will be more than one million job openings across the state due to retirements and the creation of new jobs.
Through Indiana’s Next Level Jobs plan, Hoosiers have the opportunity to build the skills needed to fill these in-demand, high-wage jobs. Next Level Jobs provides Hoosiers with free classes and access to certificate programs through partners like Ivy Tech Community College and Vincennes University.
Next Level Jobs also helps Hoosiers already on-the-job by providing employers with grants to skill-up their workforce! To learn more about Next Level Jobs, visit https://www.nextleveljobs.org/.
Moving forward the challenge lies in the lack of alignment between economic development and workforce development. Cindy will continue to work to help identify the gaps in communication, data, information and services so that we can meet the goals and objectives necessary to improve our local workforce as well as our local population and income levels.
