About Indiana Economic Development Corporation

 

The Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) is the State of Indiana's lead economic development agency. The IEDC was officially established in February 2005 to replace the former Department of Commerce. In order to respond quickly to the needs of businesses, the IEDC operates like a business. Led by Indiana Secretary of Commerce and IEDC Chief Executive Officer E. Mitchell Roob, Jr, the IEDC is organized as a public private partnership governed by a twelve-member board. The IEDC Board of Directors is chaired by Governor Mitch Daniels and reflects the geographic and economic diversity of Indiana. The IEDC focuses its efforts on growing and retaining businesses in Indiana and attracting new business to the State of Indiana.

The IEDC is focused exclusively on economic development and has incorporated all state entities with economic development responsibilities into its organizational structure. With its new structure and improved tool-kit resulting from a successful legislative effort undertaken by the Governor and the Indiana General Assembly, the IEDC is equipped and ready to make Indiana competitive in the 21st Century economy.

E. Mitchell Roob, Jr.
Secretary of Commerce

E. Mitchell Roob, Jr. (Mitch) is the Secretary of Commerce for the State of Indiana and Chief Executive Officer of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC). As Secretary of Commerce, Roob is a member of Governor Mitch Daniels' cabinet and leads the state's economic development efforts. 

Prior to joining the IEDC in January 2009, Roob served for four years as the Secretary of Indiana’s Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA). FSSA is the health and social services branch of state government, including Medicaid, Food Stamps, programs for senior citizens, and services for people with mental illness, addictions and disabilities.

As secretary, he led a major transformation of FSSA including initiatives to install the first agency-wide accounting system and to reduce the long-standing waiting list for services to persons with disabilities and the elderly. Roob also was the principal architect of the Governor’s innovative Healthy Indiana Plan to address the issues of high rates of smoking, low rates of childhood immunizations, and the growing number of uninsured Hoosiers.

Roob’s prior experience includes serving as Director of the Indianapolis Department of Transportation, where he organized the city’s “Building Better Neighborhoods” infrastructure program and worked with Mitch Daniels, then Chairperson of the Competition Initiative, to spearhead the promotion of public/private partnerships.

In 1994, Roob was named President of the Marion County Health and Hospital Corporation, responsible for the Health Department and Wishard Public Hospital. In 1998, he became Chief Operating Officer of the Indianapolis Water Company, then a privately owned utility. In 2000, Roob co-founded Netgov, specializing in Internet transactions for governmental agencies. The company was sold to Lockheed Martin, a Fortune 500 global security company, in 2001.

A native of Northbrook, Illinois, Roob is a graduate of DePauw University, and has a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Notre Dame. He and his wife, Sandy, live in Indianapolis with their two children.

IEDC Board of Directors

E. Mitchell Roob, Jr.