Indiana Launches Small Business Program to Expand Hoosier Small Businesses' Role in State Procurement
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana Gov. Mike Braun announced this week the launch of the Indiana Small Business Program, designed to strengthen the Hoosier small business environment and to promote and facilitate the participation of qualified Indiana small businesses in state procurement.
The program will give eligible homegrown small businesses greater opportunities to compete for state purchases and will increase the volume of state goods and services procured from Indiana-based small businesses. It works by expanding the existing Buy Indiana program, so more Indiana businesses qualify to receive points in the procurement process.
"Indiana's small businesses are the engine of the Hoosier economy, and we are committed to supporting their continued growth and success," Braun said. "Small businesses are ready to do business with the state, and we are making that easier than ever."
The launch follows a significant policy shift: earlier this year, Braun signed Executive Order 26-17 suspending race- and sex-based contracting preferences in the state's supplier diversity program, after Attorney General Todd Rokita issued a legal opinion finding the Minority and Women's Business Enterprises preferences unconstitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause. Braun said at the time that a new initiative would help more Indiana small businesses compete for contracts, and ordered the Office of Management and Budget to develop procurement policies promoting small business participation by Oct. 1, 2026.
"State procurement can be a valuable pathway to growth for Indiana's small and entrepreneurial businesses, and creating meaningful access to those contracting opportunities can help more of them compete," said Vanessa Green Sinders, president and CEO of the Indiana Chamber of Commerce. "As the new program is implemented, the Indiana Chamber looks forward to working with the administration and business community to evaluate how it is working in practice and help ensure the experiences of Indiana businesses inform its continued development."
"This program gives the state an opportunity to strengthen participation by Indiana small businesses while maintaining the competition and accountability that are essential to responsible procurement," said Lisa Hershman, Indiana Secretary of Management and Budget. "Our focus is on creating a program that is practical for businesses, workable for agencies, and delivers value for Hoosier taxpayers."
For Indiana's vast community of small business owners, the program lowers the threshold to the state government as a major buyer; for the state, it marks a pivotal turn toward rebuilding its supplier-support framework on constitutional footing.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: Diego Delso 摄，CC BY-SA 3.0（Wikimedia Commons）
