Braun announces appointments to Indiana Economic Development Corporation

INDIANAPOLIS -- Indiana Gov. Mike Braun has made a series of appointments to the Indiana Economic Development Corporation's board of directors.




According to a news release, Braun appointed nine members to the IEDC's board on Monday. This comes after he announced an independent audit of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation in April.




According to previous reports, Braun said that his office planned to conduct an "independent forensic audit" of all accounting for the corporation, following Braun's executive order that required greater transparency from state-affiliated nonprofit organizations.




Braun previously told FOX59/CBS4 that there was a lot of interest from members of the community in joining the IEDC board.

"I think that board had gotten to be maybe not as active as it should have been," Braun said, "and I've got a lot of people interested in it, 40 very similar to the number of people that wanted to become a trustee at IU once we made that change."




The release said that the appointees to the board "bring experience from across the spectrum of Indiana's economy from agriculture to manufacturing to retail." The aim for the board is to grow wages, build new job opportunities and spread economic development to all parts of the state.




The appointed members are:

• Gus Olympidis, a Valparasio resident who is the owner of Family Express Convenience Stores





• John Gregg, a Sandborn resident who was a former speaker of the Indiana House of Representatives





• George Thomas, a Granger resident who is an entrepreneur and executive





• Billie Dragoo, an Indianapolis resident who is the founder and chief executive officer of RepuCare





• David Fagan, a Portage resident from the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150





• Greg Gibson, a Terre Haute resident who is an entrepreneur in multiple fields, including commercial real estate development, the hospitality and food service industry and trucking





• Richard Waterfield, a Fort Wayne resident who is the chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Waterfield Enterprises and Waterfield Asset Management, as well as the founder and managing principal of Waterfield Private Equity Funds





• Chris King, a Shelbyville resident who is the executive vice president of Runnebohm Construction





• Don Lamb, a Lebanon resident who is the director of the Indiana State Department of Agriculture

"I spent my life building a business here in Indiana, and I know that having an entrepreneurial, high-energy team in your corner makes all the difference," Braun said in the release. "These appointments to the IEDC Board embody the Freedom and Opportunity agenda for IEDC: they hail from communities all around our state, bring experience from across the range of Indiana's key industries, and each of them knows the importance of growing wages and creating job opportunities for Hoosiers because they've done it in their own communities."




Braun said in the release that the IEDC board members who were on the board prior to the appointments ended with Monday's announcement.





via: https://fox59.com/indianapolitics/braun-announces-appointments-to-indiana-economic-development-corporation/