By Niki Kelly | Editor-in-Chief
“We just believe the more owners we can get thinking about this sooner, the more likely the state is to retain more of these businesses.” — Brian Schutt, director of the Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Businesses owned by those aged 55 or older represent an estimated $206 billion in Indiana private sector revenue annually, and Gov. Mike Braun’s administration wants to make sure those businesses are passed on instead of closed down.
Flock Safety is making changes as tensions rise against the surveillance network.
And Secretary of Education Katie Jenner celebrates Indiana’s reading success story.
Have a great week!
Customers line up to order on Darn Good Soup’s reopening day, Nov. 20, 2025. (Courtesy photo by Paul Baechtold)
Indiana working to preserve local businesses across ownership changes
By Leslie Bonilla Muñiz
"Retaining great businesses is as essential as attracting new ones," said Brian Schutt, who leads the recently established Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation. He co-founded Homesense Heating and Cooling, as well as co-working space and startup incubator Refinery46, before Gov. Mike Braun appointed him to the role a year ago.
The office this year launched a "Keep IN" initiative to get small business owners thinking about how to hand off their companies when they leave, instead of closing them down — and prompt potential successors to consider entrepreneurship through acquisition.
COMMENTARY
Books at the Danville-Center Township Public Library on July 29, 2026. (Photo by Jack Forrest/Indiana Capital Chronicle)
From crisis to five years of gains: Indiana’s reading success story
By Katie Jenner
Only a few short years ago, Indiana faced a literacy crisis. Nearly one in five third grade students were not able to read. Today in Indiana, we have a much brighter story to tell. For the fifth consecutive year, more and more Hoosier students are mastering reading with nearly nine out 10 third grade students now reading.
To understand the significance of this moment, it helps to remember where we started.
NATIONAL NEWS
Flock Safety license plate readers are typically mounted on tall poles, with a camera and solar panel on top. The company says its technology is used in more than 6,000 communities across 49 states in partnership with thousands of law enforcement agencies nationwide. (Photo courtesy of Flock Safety)
Flock Safety tightens safeguards as states, cities question surveillance network
By Amanda Watford
Flock Safety is tightening privacy and oversight controls for its nationwide network of automated license plate readers as more communities pull back from the technology and lawmakers across the political spectrum push for new restrictions.
The changes come amid growing scrutiny of a surveillance network that Flock says has more than 120,000 cameras across 49 states and serves thousands of law enforcement agencies and communities.
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