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player ready...Northwest Indiana has the greatest chance of a renaissance, Gov. Mike Braun told attendees of a Hobart Chamber of Commerce luncheon Tuesday.
“The more I come here, I like what I’ve seen in Northwest Indiana,” Braun said. “It’s probably got the most marginal opportunity to grow.”
Braun was the guest speaker at the Hobart Chamber of Commerce’s luncheon, which took place at Avalon Manor banquet hall in Merrillville. Braun did not mention the Thursday tornado that came through Merrillville during his talk, though his office said he planned to meet privately with Andrean High School officials after the luncheon because of the devastation there.
Northwest Indiana residents, including those from Hobart, also gathered outside Avalon Manor to protest Braun and the state’s pro-data center actions.
Tuesday’s luncheon was a private chamber event.
Jim Juarez, president of the NWI Chamber and the Crown Point Chamber of Commerce, and John Yelkich, incoming president of the Hobart Chamber of Commerce, took part in a fireside chat with Braun, asking questions about regional development and the strength of Indiana businesses.
Both Juarez and Yelkich asked Braun several questions about the Chicago Bears’ decision to proceed with plans for a Hammond stadium.
“It’s a tale of two states,” Braun said. “One that made it so easy that now I think they know where they spend the next 50 to 60 years, regardless of the past.”
The Bears reached out to Braun about six months ago to ask about potentially moving to Indiana. During the 2026 legislative session, state Sen. Ryan Mishler, R-Mishawaka, drafted legislation to lure the Bears to Northwest Indiana, which passed and was signed into law.
Braun, on Tuesday, called the move “a great piece of legislation.” He also said that the Bears’ board made the unanimous decision to focus on Indiana and commended Hammond Mayor Tom McDermott for his work to get the football team to the region.
Outside of the Bears, Braun said the region has other strong developments, including the incoming Lake County Convention Center and FedEx facility in Gary. Development throughout Northwest Indiana will help the rest of the state, he added.
Braun believes Indiana’s economy looks strong, and he hopes that the Bears’ decision to move forward with the Hammond development will encourage other businesses to work with the state. He also claimed that Indiana is growing twice as fast as both Illinois and Ohio.
The governor said he’s also working to make Indiana a place where small business owners want to work, and he wants to ensure that people who grew up in the state want to return for work. Braun also said he wants to ensure that local governments and school districts are strong for residents, adding that it will help the state grow economically as well.
“We’ve got to make sure that we paint the picture of economic opportunity,” Braun said.
Members of five groups against data center development in Indiana protested outside the Hobart Chamber of Commerce luncheon Tuesday. Theresa DuBois, a Hobart resident who participated, said that Indiana has done “poor policy development” about data centers.
“They’ve really given cities, counties and municipalities’ governments the power to give tremendous tax breaks to them,” DuBois said, adding that the facilities are costly and create construction jobs but not many to run the data center.
Braun did not mention data centers during his Tuesday talk.
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Carlie Dunn, a Michigan City resident who also participated in the protest, said she believes that political leaders at the state level have put local governments in the position where they need to allow data centers, especially after legislation, including Senate Enrolled Act 1 from the 2025 general assembly.
However, Dunn also believes that local leaders need to defend their communities to Indiana’s decision-makers.
“I don’t think (Braun) has seen the impact and how many people are against it all over the state,” Dunn said. “He needs to be faced with what the reality is — that we’re not happy with this.”