Indiana Governor Eric J. Holcomb’s strategy of balancing the state's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, projects that connect and grow communities, and more relies on the strength of his team, especially in these trying times.
The governor has spent the last few days touring Northwest Indiana, visiting local towns and even celebrated the recent groundbreaking for the West Lake corridor project, a transportation project thirty years in the making, which will connect the South Shore line from Hammond to Dyer via an 8-mile rail.
“A lot of people have been working on this for decades. It is a no-brainer. So when I got elected and started looking at priorities, this just seemed like... We have to get this done. This is our moment when all of our stars align,” Governor Holcomb said.
“We take the approach of building one Indiana for all. If double-tracking the South Shore Line of expanding the West Lake corridor is good for the region, that is good for the rest of the state, as well.”
The governor made a stop in Valparaiso and met with local leaders and media to discuss business planning and dealing with the fallout from a pandemic.
“What I’m thankful for is having a great team, and having that team assembled before something like COVID-19 washed up on our shores,” said Governor Holcomb in an exclusive interview with Chris Mahlmann in our Great News Studio.
The governor expressed the importance of having a good team, already in place, in order to help deal with any challenges that may arise, up to and including a global pandemic.
“COVID-19 came out of left field. We didn’t have much time before we saw it start taking off in Indiana and in other places around the world.”
The governor's advice? Don’t wait until after the fact to assemble your “Dream Team.”
“When we first began putting together this administration, I said that there’s three boxes that we need to check—folks need to be honest, they need to be humble and they need to be hungry. That’s what was really needed, because these are all folks who are experts in their fields. They all wanted to be part of something special,” said Governor Holcomb.
“We feed off of each other’s strengths.”
On dealing with public uncertainty during COVID-19, the governor was optimistic.
“We all need hope. I want to convert that hope to opportunity. No matter what the challenge is, before we get there, folks need to understand that there are people available to help you overcome,” he said.
“That’s the ‘Hoosier Psyche.’ The understanding that we can and we will eventually be on the other side of COVID-19.”
“We can and we will do big things.”
For more information, check out our full, exclusive interview here: https://www.facebook.com/NWI.Life/videos/1727070747470744.