Increase in defense industry to boost Ind. economy

Lt. Gov. Sue Ellspermann announced Monday that her office will launch the Indiana Office of Defense Development.

The IODD was created by an executive order from Gov. Mike Pence during his first day in office. It aims to expand the defense sector in Indiana business and create jobs for Hoosiers, according to a press release from the lieutenant governor’s office.

The department will focus on four components of economic development within the defense sector, including preserving and growing the current military assets, promoting defense industries in the state, attracting defense-related industries and promoting the use of defense and federal intellectual property to create new products, companies and jobs, according to the press release.

The IODD will be located in Bloomington, which was chosen for its proximity to three major defense-related industries in the state, said Tyler Stock, Ellspermann’s press secretary. It will reside in close proximity to NSWC Crane in Crane, Ind., Camp Atterbury in Edinburgh, Ind., and Muscatatuk Urban Training Center in Butlerville, Ind.

The hope for the IODD is that it will attract defense industries to the state from all across the country, Stock said.

Stock said the ability to say Indiana is a better place to have a defense business due to its economic climate and fiscal strength will hopefully draw many from other areas of the country. In turn, the economic climate for Hoosiers will strengthen.

Duane Embree will serve as the director of the IODD. He served in the Navy for 35 years, with the last 13 years of his service as a member of the Senior Executive Service. As a member, he served as the ranking senior civilian at NSWC Crane. He retired in November 2012.

“Indiana’s defense sector, with its combination of defense assets and industries, is poised for major growth. Duane’s guidance and leadership will strengthen our current resources as well as attract new opportunities,” Ellspermann said in a press release.

Indiana received an average of $4 billion annually in 2011 in defense contracts, according to the Indiana Business Research Center at IU’s Kelley School of Business, as cited in the press release. With the IODD, that industry can expand.

“Now is the time for Indiana to declare ourselves as open for military business,” Ellspermann said.

— Bridget Ameche