Entrepreneurship drives Chambers campaign for governor • Indiana Capital Chronicle
A teen landscaping business mowing lawns and plowing snowy driveways made enough money that a young Brad Chambers got the entrepreneurship bug. He used the profits to buy his first rental property and launch a business venture as a sophomore in college.
Decades later, that enterprise, Buckingham Companies, has grown to a massive real estate portfolio that fuels Chambers’ bid for governor in the 2024 race after a two-year stint as the state’s secretary of commerce.
“I was a determined student but I wasn’t a natural student … and I’m an experiential learner. And so doing it was fundamental to my life journey,” Chambers said.
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But an $8 million loan to his campaign hasn’t translated to support in various polls, where U.S. Sen. Mike Braun consistently leads by double digits. But with many voters undecided, the race isn’t over yet.
Chambers, Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch and Eric Doden round out the top candidates in the race to succeed the term-limited Gov. Eric Holcomb, with former Attorney General Curtis Hill and Jamie Reitenour trailing.
Though labeled the “moderate” candidate, Chambers emphasizes his conservative nature, saying he’s voted with the party his entire life. And while a bipartisan group has encouraged Democrats to vote Republican and endorsed Chambers in the upcoming gubernatorial primary election, he said it hasn’t changed his campaign.
“I’m speaking to the (Republican primary) voters in the state of Indiana … that’s really what our message is focused on,” Chambers said.
Entrepreneurship and a gubernatorial campaign
Chambers said his family emphasized the value of hard work early, part of the “strong ag(ricultural) heritage” passed down by his father and grandfather — who both grew up on farms.
That work ethic was further fueled by professors at Indiana University who encouraged his entrepreneurial drive.
But while his father and family friends exposed a young Chambers to entrepreneurship, he said the same isn’t happening today to inspire the next generation of small business owners. The Kauffman Indicators of Entrepreneurship, he has noted, lists Indiana 44th in the nation for the percent of people employed by young firms.
“We’re chock full of really smart, innovative (and) creative people and we don’t talk about it; we don’t fertilize it,” Chambers said. “We don’t support it in any way that’s meaningful.”
At a Fishers technology “Internet of Things” lab designed to cultivate innovation in March, Chambers further detailed plans to support Indiana businesses — including a proposal to create a new cabinet position geared toward entrepreneurs.
“Eighty-five percent of the economy is made up of small- and medium-sized businesses,” Chambers said, listing famous Hoosier entrepreneurs like Eli Lilly, the Simon brothers and Gene Glick “We have great entrepreneurs in this state and we could have even more of them if we would just spend a little time and effort.”
One ongoing effort overseen by the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) — which Chambers led for two years under Holcomb — would be Connect IND, which offers navigators to explore potential resources for entrepreneurs.
Another idea would be shoring up Innovate WithIN, a year-long program for high school students that culminates in a statewide pitch competition.
Economic growth, fueled in part by entrepreneurship, is what will allow Indiana to invest in schools, reduce its Medicaid rolls and invest in law enforcement, he said.
Consistently, Chambers has said he believes that Indiana is great but could be even better — a distinction, he said, comes down to the economy and growing it in a way that benefits even the single mothers working two jobs.
“It’s unacceptable to me that our average wage is below U.S. average. It’s unacceptable to me that a mom has to work two jobs. It’s unacceptable to me that our (gross domestic product) is below U.S. average. We’re not an average state,” Chambers said.
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Referencing his “Play to Win” economic proposals, he emphasized the need to attract high-paying jobs to grow wages — noting that the IEDC reported record-breaking wage growth and private investment during his time leading the quasi-public agency.
His opponents have frequently attacked the IEDC — and, by extension, Chambers — saying the entity spends too much of its time and funding going after top-tier companies, including the LEAP innovation district in Boone County.
But securing larger investments has invigorated some of Indiana’s smaller municipalities, he observed, including Kokomo, which was one of the nation’s three “fastest dying cities” in 2008, according to Forbes.
“Today, with $11 billion of economic development investment under construction, it’s thriving,” Chambers said. “Two thousand new homes are being built. The Dairy Queen’s doing better (and) the dry cleaners are doing better … Kokomo, from 2008 to 2025 and 2025, has been transformed and is transforming.”
“A rising tide lifts all boats in these scenarios,” he concluded.
Much of Kokomo’s growth comes from a combined $6.3 billion investment in battery manufacturing plants for electric vehicles.
As for LEAP, Chambers said that was an example of a long-term plan that will revitalize all of Indiana. Had Indiana been prepared with something like LEAP, it would have snagged Intel’s $20 billion investment that went to Ohio, he said.
State of the race
Despite having an approval rating of 69%, according to an April poll from State Affairs/Howey Politics Indiana, nearly all of Holcomb’s potential successors have frequently criticized his administrative actions — including his second-in-command, Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch.
But Chambers hasn’t taken that route, giving Holcomb’s leadership an “A” letter grade in a March 26 debate.
Chambers dismissed the criticisms as the actions of “career politicians” trying “to score political points.”
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“They’re talking points; it’s not real facts,” Chambers said. “I saw the things he got done and, by the way, that I got done. We broke records in economic development. We did more for entrepreneurship in my two years than had been done in prior history.”
He called the actions of career politicians — an insult he has lobbed at other contenders, notably Braun — as a surprise in his first foray into politics.
“I don’t think they provide respect to the voters. I’ve tried to roll out what we’re going to do through policy and tell the voters what we intend to do,” Chambers said. “It’s an interesting journey — politics — but I’m a business guy. I believe in this state and that’s why I’m running. This is a service job, to me. Not a career change.”
But Chambers has modeled himself after former Gov. Mitch Daniels, who left his term as president of Purdue University to head its foundation at the end of 2022. In a March advertisement, Chambers labeled himself and Daniels as political “outsiders.”
“He came from a business background and brought in a business problem-solving approach. I’m not going to say I’m going to be a Mitch Daniels governor, I’m going to be a Brad Chambers governor. But that’s the mold,” Chambers said.
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