INDIANAPOLIS (Aug. 3, 2023) — Today, at the Indiana State Fair, Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch presented Cindy Hoye, executive director of the Indiana State Fair, and Beth Archer, executive director of AgrIInstitue, with the state’s highest agricultural honor, the AgriVision Award.

Now in its 17th year, the award is presented to individuals who have made significant contributions to the agriculture industry and their communities.

“Indiana agriculture continues to grow and is driven by the remarkable contributions of visionary Hoosiers, like Cindy Hoye and Beth Archer,” said Lt. Gov. Crouch, Indiana’s Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development. “With their exceptional leadership and knowledge, the State of Indiana continues to prove itself as a leading force in the agricultural sector. It is my pleasure to award the state’s highest agricultural honor to such deserving individuals.”

Cindy Hoye joined the Indiana State Fairgrounds and Event Center as a marketing director in 1988. She was appointed to executive director in 2004 by former Governor Mitch Daniels. In this role, she oversees year-round operations of the Indiana State Fairgrounds & Event Center, as well as the annual Indiana State Fair. Throughout her time as executive director, she has worked diligently to carry out the vision of the Indiana State Fairgrounds and Event Center.

Ensuring the Indiana State Fairgrounds and Event Center is a premier, year-round gathering place that maximizes its resources to host a wide range of diverse activities is a top priority for Hoye. During her time as executive director, she has overseen projects that enhance and preserve the fairgrounds to better meet the vision of the Indiana State Fairgrounds and Event Center. In May 2014 , the Indiana Farmers Coliseum reopened after a $63 million renovation to the facilities. Today, the coliseum hosts over one million guests annually and over 150 sporting events. Apart from non-fair events, the coliseum functions as an exhibition venue for livestock during the annual Indiana State Fair. The highlight of this exhibition is the supreme and grand drive, where champions from each species are chosen and awarded each year.

Along with ensuring the facilities are equipped for an array of activities, Hoye strives for the Indiana State Fair to be recognized as the best in the country and one that showcases Indiana agriculture and youth in an educational, entertaining and safe environment. Under her leadership, Discovery Hall was remodeled and now houses the Indiana State Board of Animal Health.

She has spent countless hours ensuring various barns and exhibition halls receive the proper renovations to better serve and showcase youth livestock projects. Most recently, a $50 million renovation took place on the Indiana Farm Bureau Fall Creek Pavilion (Swine Barn). Additionally, the Blue-Ribbon Pavilion and Pop Weaver Youth Pavilion received upgrades which enhanced the youth livestock experience.

For 35 years, Cindy Hoye as dedicated her time and talents to the Indiana State Fair. Through her diligent efforts and leadership as executive director of the Indiana State Fairgrounds and Event Center, Hoye has made the fairgrounds a premier gathering place that is committed to hosting diverse activities and showcasing Indiana agriculture and youth across the state.

“Hoosier agriculture is thriving because of leaders like Cindy and Beth,” said Don Lamb, director of the Indiana State Department of Agriculture. “We are thankful for their commitment to advancing agriculture in the Hoosier state. It is an honor to present these outstanding individuals with this well-deserved recognition.”

Since 1992, Beth Archer has been the executive director of AgriIInstitue, an organization that prepares leaders to advance agriculture and serve the industry’s related communities. Under the umbrella of AgriInstitue is the Indiana Agriculture Leadership Program (ALP), a prestigious program that fosters leadership and personal development amongst agriculture leaders.

For the past 31 years, Archer has been a driving force behind the development of future agriculture leaders through her oversight of the ALP program. In this role, she has facilitated workshops and discussions, all while challenging the conventional thoughts of participants.

Archer has overseen the funding process which ensures full programming for each class. Due to her work, approximately 75% of each participants program fees have been covered.

Additionally, Archer works directly with her board to develop strategic plans for continued growth, ensuring the organization’s vision is effectively carried out. Her collaborative approach has fostered meaningful partnerships on the state and federal level. As a result of her leadership, program participants have gained invaluable knowledge and skills, which hold the potential for a promising future for agriculture within the state and on a national level.

Under her guidance, the ALP has become a premier leadership program that aids in the development of agricultural professionals. Archer has created a large and growing network of agricultural leaders who will continue to lead and push the agriculture industry forward for years to come. Her commitment to AgriInstitute and its programming is immeasurable, but immense.

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Attorney General Todd Rokita thanks Thomas M. Fisher, Indiana’s first-ever solicitor general, for more than two decades of service

Fisher set to take on private sector role at EdChoice

Attorney General Todd Rokita announced this week that Solicitor General Thomas M. Fisher will depart next month to take a leadership role with a nonprofit advocacy group.

“The people of Indiana received an incalculable level of value from Tom’s service,” Attorney General Rokita said. “He is a highly skilled and talented lawyer who could have made millions of dollars with his God-given talents over the last 20 years. Instead, he put those talents to good use for the people of Indiana, and as Hoosiers, we couldn’t be more thankful.”

The solicitor general oversees litigation involving constitutional challenges and other issues of vital interest to the state government.

Fisher will join EdChoice, a nonpartisan organization dedicated to empowering every family to choose the educational environment that best fits their children’s needs.

“I am a lawyer who believes in a calling,” Fisher said. “And after two decades in the Office of Attorney General, I have been called to advance the cause of liberty on a new front.”

Nonetheless, leaving his current position was not an easy decision, said Fisher, who joined the Office of the Attorney General in 2001 and became solicitor general in 2005.

“It has been the professional honor of a lifetime to serve the people of Indiana as solicitor general, representing Hoosier values, common sense and the rule of law in courts here and across the nation,” Fisher said. “I am grateful to Attorney General Rokita and his predecessors — Attorneys General Hill, Zoeller, and Carter — for affording me this challenging and gratifying opportunity. The people of Indiana are fortunate to have had such distinguished and visionary leaders as these to handle the important legal affairs of our state.”

Fisher also expressed gratitude to all the colleagues with whom he has worked over the years in the Office of the Attorney General.

“This is the finest, most consequential law firm in the state,” Fisher said, “and we should all be proud of the exceptional service our deputy attorneys general, paralegals and staff provide daily to Indiana citizens. I wish every citizen could see firsthand the hard work and dedication these talented professionals put forth daily to safeguard liberty and the rule of law.”

As solicitor general, Fisher has argued five times before the U.S. Supreme Court and dozens of times before the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals and the Indiana Supreme Court. Fisher’s practice has also included authorship of dozens of amicus curiae briefs in the U.S. Supreme Court and lower courts on a wide range of issues, including climate change, telephone privacy, law-enforcement defense, legislative prayer, Ten Commandments displays, the definition of marriage, abortion regulation, blocked railroad crossings, and the right to trial by jury, among many others.

Asked to name the three most memorable cases he has argued, Fisher cited Crawford v. Marion County Election Board (defending Indiana’s robust voter ID law in the U.S. Supreme Court), Meredith v. Daniels (defending Indiana’s school choice scholarship law in the Indiana Supreme Court) and Planned Parenthood v. Members of the Medical Licensing Board of Indiana (defending Indiana’s new law protecting the unborn in the Indiana Supreme Court).

Fisher has received numerous awards for his efforts. Among others, he is a two-time recipient of the National Association of Attorneys General Best Brief Award for excellence in U.S. Supreme Court brief writing, was named a Fellow of the exclusive American Academy of Appellate Lawyers, and was recently awarded the prestigious Senior Peck Medal by his alma mater, Wabash College.

“Without question, Tom Fisher is one of the finest public servants you’ll ever meet,” Attorney General Rokita said. “On top of that, he has one of the sharpest legal minds of his generation. While we’re certainly sorry to see him go, we also look forward to cheering his success in his next chapter.”

Robert C. Enlow, president and CEO of EdChoice, said his organization is elated to hire a leader of Fisher’s caliber.

“With the rapid growth of universal choice in education over the last three years, Tom Fisher will be joining EdChoice as it expands its legal affairs work,” Enlow said. “With so many new programs and efforts around the country, there is more need than ever to provide legal services to the school choice movement.”

Attorney General Rokita is now conducting a nationwide search for Fisher’s successor.