In June 2025, the Indiana Chamber created the Defense Council in response to interest from member companies in having a collaborative forum to convene the defense and aerospace industries. This convening was in response to the Indiana General Assembly’s re-establishment of the Defense Caucus. The council now serves as a collaborative forum for sharing industry developments and advocacy priorities for this key sector of Indiana’s economy.
The first quarterly meeting of this year was held in March and featured a panel that included remarks by Gavin Laffoon, military legislative aide to U.S. Senator Todd Young, Trevor Foughty and Major General (Ret.) Dale Lyles of Bloomington-based Applied Research Institute (ARI) and Jan Schuler-Hicks, senior manager of economic development planning at the Indiana Economic Development Corporation.
Our next meeting will be held at the WestGate Academy Conference Center in Odon on June 3. We look forward to hearing an update from the Indiana Defense Caucus, Indiana Chamber Defense Council members and the Indiana Defense Task Force, among others.
If your company touches the defense and aerospace industries and would like to more information on the Defense Council, please contact Monica Kozlowski at mkozlowski@indianachamber.com.
