Madam Chief Justice, Governor Holcomb, Lt. Governor Beckwith, Governor Bayh, General Rokita, President Pro Tem Bray, Speaker Huston, Maureen, family, friends, fellow Hoosiers:

It is with immense gratitude that I stand before you to accept the honor of serving as Indiana’s 52nd governor.

On such a momentous occasion, I must acknowledge both our state’s storied history and its bright future.

For 208 years and counting, Indiana has been a home for hard-working Hoosiers, small business owners, aspiring titans of industry, teachers, non profit leaders, and many others. From the earliest days of our statehood, our settlers and immigrants were risk-takers and trailblazers who built the state we recognize today. Yes! They embarked westward seeking a new start, fertile land, freedom, and opportunity.

Through honest hard work, they built homes, fed their families, and cultivated the strong communities we take pride in every day.

When I walk through the woods near my home in Jasper, I do it often, I think of these early pioneers who built our great state out of the wilderness. These hard-working Hoosiers gazed upon the same forests when they established Vincennes as our territorial capital in 1800, and Corydon as our first state capital.

Our early settlers faced a crossroads: retreat in fear of the challenges this new land would bring, or view the vast contours of our state as an opportunity worth embracing? History reveals they listened to the voice of inner resolve that said a path not yet taken is a path to be pursued.

These aims of our founders were not all that different from ours today.

Our great nation will soon observe 250 years of prosperity, and Indiana will have been an integral piece for most of those years. From our Hoosier veterans who fought for the Union in the Civil War or stormed the beaches of Normandy in World War II, to the everyday heroes who currently stand at the ready, Hoosiers have always been willing to step up to protect our families, friends, and neighbors. That’s what we’re about. We do not take that commitment for granted.

Undeterred by challenging periods throughout our history, Hoosiers have emerged stronger after every trial. We have grown from the dirt roads of Vincennes into the Crossroads of America. From the farms to factories, our entrepreneurs have created thriving small businesses and some of the most important operations on Earth, supporting critical industries and the daily lives of American citizens. In the face of any challenge, Hoosiers have stepped up to take our state to unprecedented heights and we’re not going to stop doing it.

Today, we face a new crossroads. We find ourselves seeking the same freedom and opportunity for which our ancestors journeyed here. And this time, we don’t have to travel far to achieve it.

The next four years will have special meaning for Indiana and this country. While today we are seeing a transition from one administration to another here in Indiana, we are a week away from seeing a similar transition in Washington, D.C.

However, the opportunity ahead is far more significant and I am optimistic that the next four years see not only a change in leadership at the state and federal levels, but also a transfer of assumed power from the federal government back to the states.

For too long, Washington has focused on Washington, and not on the American people. That is why the states must assume a leadership role.

In Indiana, we have a strong foundation, built on the shoulders of the fearless, hard-working Hoosiers, small business owners, talented entrepreneurs, and persevering leaders who laid the foundation upon which we will build.

That same entrepreneurial drive must live within each of us to face today’s challenges.

Let us listen to this higher calling of our Hoosier spirit. Let us draw upon the cooperation and determination our younger years required, not tied down by government burden, choked by economic strain, or hindered by fear of the future. We don’t want to do that.

At this crossroads, we face clear choices:
We can be the risk-takers and trailblazers that Hoosiers deserve in leadership, or maintain the status quo.

We can rest on our laurels as a great state to have a business, or chart a new path like our pioneering predecessors to make Indiana the standard-bearer for small business growth. I intend to do that.

We can accept high healthcare costs as inevitable, or take on the opaque system to lower costs and increase transparency for all Hoosier families, like I did in my own business 16 years ago.

We can settle for complacency in our education system, or empower parents and prepare our students for the jobs that will power the future.

We can accept rising property taxes as an unfortunate fact of life, or explore every avenue to reduce the burden on hard-working Hoosier families and businesses. I guarantee you that we’re going to give it one good shot at getting that back in place where it needs to be.

We can let government inefficiencies impede our success, or reshape government to sincerely serve the people. How about that?

Now is the time to empower the next generation of hard-working Hoosiers and once again pursue freedom and opportunity without fear.

As the physical “Crossroads of America,” Indiana is perfectly situated to lead our nation through the proverbial crossroads we now face. Let us listen to the entrepreneurial spirit that dwells within so many of us, the path of optimism to be pursued, so others may follow.

I am committed to be a Governor of not just words, but action, as we create a prosperous future for all Hoosiers.

It will take teamwork. It will take partnership. It will take collaboration. This is why we should all feel a spirit of optimism.

Now it’s time to get to work.

Thank you, and may God bless our great state.