The Crawfordsville | Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce held its first-ever Fireside Chat event earlier this April, offering community members the opportunity to hear directly from the State Treasurer Daniel Elliott and State Comptroller Elise Nieshalla. Elliott and Nieshalla shared important updates, financial goals, and big plans moving forward for the state of Indiana.

Daniel Elliott serves as the 56^th state treasurer, focusing on finances in fiscal responsibility, economic growth, and smart investments. Elise Nieshalla’s state role oversees accounts payable and reporting by managing transactions, maintaining transparency, and ensuring accountability of taxpayer dollars.

The state officials reportedly confirm that the state of Indiana is in its most prosperous financial position in decades. With only six cents cash in hand 20 years ago, the state now has $676 million cash in hand due to smart investments and settling debt. This amount rolls into the reserve funds for a total of $2.5 billion in cash reserves. This provides up to 40 days of operations, should the state of Indiana ever face a crisis. One major contributor to this stability is the last two years of fundraising. Elliott has raised a total of $1.24 billion for the state of Indiana, doubling in two years what had been raised in the ten years prior.

Indiana also has a moderate-sized pension fund of $50 billion, comparable to other states. But what sets it apart is how well-funded it is.

“Lots of states have pension funds that are a similar size or bigger, but very, very few have one that is well-funded,” states Elliott. “We go between 85 and 90 percent. In a couple of years, we’ll be 100 percent funded. That’s almost unheard of in the state of Indiana.”

This means that civilians in Montgomery County—teachers, nurses, firefighters, etc.—can count on their pensions. In recent years, Indiana was rated as the #1 state in the country to build a business. The Indiana Bond Bank provides excellent rates on loans to provide financial assistance to business professionals and civilians alike.

“The state of Indiana is ranked third in economic outlook by the American Legislative Exchange Council,” reports Nieshalla. “And our growth rate for our gross state product is twice that of Illinois and Ohio, three times that of Kentucky, and six times that of Michigan.”