Chuck Goodrich Talks Data Centers And Conflict Of Interest

Chuck Goodrich Talks Data Centers And Conflict Of Interest - Page 2

Indiana's New Commerce Chief Defends Data Center Push, and conflict of interest concerns the public may have regarding his company Gaylor Electric

Goodrich screens out deals that could benefit his own company, Gaylor Electric.
Data centers can revive rural Indiana but face pushback over water use, taxes, and noise.
Indiana is betting on speed and regional partnerships to attract more semiconductor, defense, and infrastructure projects.

A smiling middle-aged man in a navy blue suit and tie standing in a room with a bar and shelves in the background. — Source: Chuck Goodrich / Chuck Goodrich – provided by Indiana Governor’s office

Chuck Goodrich Talks Data Centers And Conflict Of Interest

Indiana’s New Commerce Secretary Chuck Goodrich — six weeks into the job and still CEO and owner of Gaylor Electric — joined Tony Katz on WIBC to talk growth, data centers, and the awkward fact that he’s now the state official deciding which companies (potentially including his own) get incentives. Katz went straight at it, comparing the setup to members of Congress trading stocks on insider information. “It’s the things that drive people crazy,” Katz told him, “and I know you understand that, sir.”

Goodrich’s answer: a screening process, blessed by the governor’s office and the inspector general, that pulls him out of any deal where Gaylor could benefit and hands it to the president of the IEDC instead. “We’ve not had a conflict yet,” he said — a carefully worded line that leaves plenty of room for later.

The bigger fight, though, is over data centers — the issue that’s turned into a political lightning rod across Indiana, with residents in multiple counties showing up to meetings angry about water use, tax deals, and noise. Katz pressed Goodrich on whether the state has an actual position. Goodrich’s answer amounted to: work with the towns that want them, skip the ones that don’t. “There are absolutely places that don’t want to put computing centers,” he admitted, but insisted the facilities can “revive rural Indiana” by driving property tax revenue and school funding where communities are willing.

That’s the pitch, anyway. It’s also the same state that, as Katz noted on air, lost pieces of a Toyota deal to neighboring states while apparently deciding not to compete for large-scale growth — hardly a reassuring track record heading into a new build-out of semiconductor plants, SK Hynix‘s new Purdue-area facility, and a billion-dollar Rolls-Royce defense investment.

Goodrich says roughly 30 projects have entered the state’s pipeline since he took the job July 13 — spanning semiconductors, defense, health care, steel, and power-grid upgrades. Translation: the administration is betting big that speed and “regional partnerships” will fix what critics say was a Main Street-only approach that cost Indiana bigger wins.

Whether Hoosiers buy that the state’s data-center point man can fairly referee his own industry is another matter — and one Katz made clear isn’t going away just because the inspector general signed off.

Hear Tony Katz break it down live weekdays on WIBC 93.1 FM, or catch the full segment on-demand.

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