The local RV industry is one of the best parts of Indiana’s economy, according to the governor.
Governor Mike Braun touted the industry during a visit to South Bend on Wednesday, for the Indianapolis Business Journal’s Innovate North Central Indiana event. “Elkhart is one of the most dynamic economies in the country – cyclical in nature, impacted by some of the things that are on the bigger front that we deal with,” Braun said.
Braun said the RV industry is particularly sensitive to things like inflation and high interest rates, but it always pulls through. Braun’s office on Wednesday highlighted the start of operations for a new RV manufacturer in Bristol. Boundless Recreation has already hired 45 employees and plans to create up to 115 jobs by the end of 2028.
The governor sees a bleaker outlook for the state’s ag industry. “When you’ve got countries that are actually putting more acres into production, when the problem is that we overproduce already, the federal government has had to step in and bolster the farm economy the most ever, I think, here in ‘26,” Braun said.
The future of Michiana’s manufacturing sector may rely on autonomous vehicles and other equipment. During a panel discussion at Wednesday event, Gary Neidig, chairman of ITAMCO, said the federal government is “throwing money” at companies that can make things like drones in large quantities. But manufacturers can also retool that technology for commercial use.
"Robots in the fields make a lot of sense – the picking robots, the stacking robots – it’s everything you can think of in agriculture," Neidig said. "The RV industry – I mean, I might get an RV if I could have it drive me somewhere."
When it comes to data centers, Governor Braun said it’s up to each community to decide whether it wants them. But he said data center developers need to invest in local communities, rather than seek tax breaks from them.
“Pay for your electricity, put more onto the grid; put money into the community, don’t take it out; and explain that you’re not using water, you’re recycling it,” Braun said.
He said Indiana is at the forefront of developing small and micro nuclear reactors to help power future data centers.
