David Holt, who has headed Conexus’ logistics council
from the start. Its success, according to Holt, is based on
the idea that the private sector leads and the public sector
holds back until it is appropriate to follow.
Holt recently spoke with Mark B. Solomon, DCV’s
executive editor–news, about Conexus’ evolution, why
other states haven’t copied its approach, and how the
group communicates the strengths of Indiana’s assets—
such as having more “pass-through” interstate surface
arteries and being closer to the U.S. population’s midpoint than any other state.
QHow did Conexus Indiana get started?
AWe were founded by the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership,
which had five economic clusters,
one of them being logistics. We were
seeded with a $3 million grant from
the (Eli) Lilly Endowment. That was
used for workforce development and
allowed us to begin communicating
with logistics executives about the
role they could play in helping the
state support their companies. I was
brought in with a background in transportation and workforce development.
I had also worked at the White House
and in Congress, so I understood the
nuances of the political process and its
impact on industry.
In 2008, we created an educational curriculum of
logistics and advanced manufacturing, and began connecting with schools to build interest and participation.
We divided Indiana into three regions—North, Central,
and South—and we partnered with high-level logistics
executives around the state. We went to market in 2010
with a statewide logistics plan that basically identified all
logistics needs for the next 30 years.
QWhere is the organization today?
AThe executives we are involved with have always been volunteers, and we have far more of them
today. Our expanded roster was vital in helping us begin
the next major phase of our work, which was to help
coordinate projects on a local level. The six regional
logistics councils drafted infrastructure plans that iden-
tified road needs of all 92 counties. We delivered the plan
to INDOT (the Indiana Department of Transportation),
which it funneled to our General Assembly. The General
Assembly is now debating mechanisms to fund about $2
billion per year in road infrastructure, maintenance, and
new capacity projects.
We have also expanded our efforts in workforce development, especially when it comes to working with universities. We have worked to get high school students and
students attending (two-year) junior colleges interested
in the field. We have endorsed logistics curriculums at
Ball State University and the University of Evansville. We
send executives to business schools to talk to students
about getting logistics degrees. We will
then bus interested students to logistics
companies so they can get a feel for the
work at these facilities.
QYou played a role in helping reroute westbound intermod-
al traffic from the Chicago area to
Indiana, where it could be moved via
rail faster and more cheaply to the Port
of Prince Rupert in Vancouver, B.C.
You also helped scotch a state tax rule
that would have discouraged compa-
nies from relocating to Indiana. Yet
you consider Conexus’ mission, and
the council’s role in it, to be that of a
catalyst rather than an initiator. How
does that square with those two achievements?
AThose efforts came from the private sector. Conexus is more of a connecting point. We come up with
ideas, and the private sector drives the work. We con-
nect the ideas to the right people. If you build, design,
and make available the assets so our economic devel-
opers can support our companies, then the state can
attract new companies because we have what they need.
For example, when a transport funding bill was up for
debate, the chairman of the House transportation com-
mittee asked Conexus to identify people to testify. We
asked a real estate developer, who testified about what
would be needed to attract warehouse and distribution
center development to the state.
We don’t have any hard data to illustrate how our
work has generated economic benefits. Any data would
