Indiana manufacturing tariff job losses reached an estimated 9,100 positions in 2025 — the second-hardest hit state in the Midwest, behind Michigan's 12,400. Indiana households absorbed roughly $2,600 in added annual costs from tariff-driven price increases, about double the national average of $1,300. Four other developments landed the same week: a $9.1 million apprenticeship grant package from Governor Braun, an IURC commissioner on the record about data center load, a 1,520-megawatt gas plant filing in Spencer County, and a $6.25 million expansion in Wayne County.

Indiana Manufacturing Tariff Job Losses Rank Second in the Midwest

A joint study from the Midwest Economic Policy Institute and the University of Illinois' Project for Middle Class Renewal — drawing on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and modeling from Yale University's Budget Lab — estimates 2025 tariffs cost Midwest manufacturers 41,700 jobs across six states. Indiana accounts for roughly 9,100 of them.

The detail most coverage skips sits inside the Yale modeling: it projects long-run U.S. manufacturing output expanding even as employment falls. One plausible read is capital-for-labor substitution — surviving manufacturers absorbing tariff costs by accelerating automation instead of rehiring. The model does not decompose the mechanism, but the output-up/employment-down pattern is consistent with it, which means hiring could lag even if tariffs ease. The wildcard is the Supreme Court weighing the constitutional validity of IEEPA-based tariff authority. Treat 9,100 as a floor, and stress-test the reversal scenario against every supply-chain restructuring decision your team made in 2025 assuming tariffs were permanent.

$9.1 Million in Apprenticeship Grants Carries a Curriculum Trade-Off

On July 22, Governor Braun announced $9.1 million in new U.S. Department of Labor grants flowing through Indiana's Department of Workforce Development. A $4 million SAEF4 grant targets advanced manufacturing, which state officials describe as the sector most underserved by apprenticeships in Indiana. A $5.1 million RESTART grant connects formerly incarcerated adults 25 and older with employment, training, and registered apprenticeships, with $4.3 million earmarked for direct regional service delivery. Commerce Secretary Chuck Goodrich noted Indiana has added nearly 14,000 apprentices since Braun took office and ranks second in the nation per capita.

Under the SAEF4 group-sponsor model, trade associations and postsecondary institutions handle curriculum design and compliance on behalf of your facility. You shed the administrative burden and give up control over what apprentices are actually taught. If your fastest-growing roles require high-voltage or electrification credentials the current sponsor framework has not designed for, closing that gap is your problem, not the sponsor's. Know what you are trading before you opt in.

Data Center Load and a 1,520-MW Gas Filing Collide on the Indiana Grid

At the 2026 Indiana Ag Policy Summit in Columbus on July 29, IURC Commissioner Bob Deig — a Braun appointee — joined a fireside chat where data center grid load was the dominant tension. Indiana Michigan Power is already proposing rate decreases in territories where data center revenue, including Google's Fort Wayne site, offsets costs. At a 1,000 kWh residential baseline, NIPSCO runs roughly $78 per month above Duke Energy Indiana, and the industrial spread runs in a similar direction, though the mechanics differ by tariff class. House Bill 1007 requires proposed data centers to cover 80 percent of increased generation costs, and Deig is responsible for enforcing that mechanism — but no compliance timeline or enforcement process has been published. Whether data center load growth gets socialized onto your industrial rate is structurally unresolved.

On July 20, I&M filed a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity with the IURC to build the 1,520-megawatt Rockport Energy Center, a natural gas combined-cycle facility in Spencer County replacing two retiring coal units. An IURC decision is expected in early 2027, construction would begin that year, and commercial operation is targeted for summer 2030 — roughly 1,200 construction jobs and 30 to 40 permanent roles. I&M states the project is already incorporated into its upcoming rate reduction filing and non-fuel rate freeze. The binding constraint here is turbine supply rather than regulatory approval. GE Vernova, Siemens Energy, and Mitsubishi Power are all running record backlogs with lead times stretching up to eight years. AEP disclosed on its Q2 2026 earnings call that it has secured 13 gigawatts of gas turbine capacity across fleet plans through 2031; whether Rockport's specific 1,520 megawatts sits inside that reservation has not been publicly confirmed. A decision delay past early 2027 puts the project in direct competition with every other AEP build for those slots.

J.M. Hutton Commits $6.25 Million to a Richmond Truck Cab Line

J.M. Hutton & Company, a precision metal fabricator in Richmond, is investing $6.25 million in a new truck cab line and projects 37 new jobs by 2029 — its first large capital commitment under new ownership. The line targets the EPA 2027 greenhouse gas OEM sourcing window. The incentive package is performance-based with a cliff at year-end 2029, which puts hiring and output milestones on a fixed clock for Hutton and for anyone quoting into that supply chain.

Questions for Your Morning Huddle

Q: How many Indiana manufacturing jobs did 2025 tariffs cost?
A: An estimated 9,100 — second-highest in the Midwest behind Michigan's 12,400, out of 41,700 lost across six states. Treat that figure as a floor, because the Supreme Court review of IEEPA tariff authority could move the picture in either direction.

Q: Should we enroll in the SAEF4 group-sponsor apprenticeship program?
A: Only after auditing the proposed curriculum against your actual open roles. The group sponsor handles compliance and curriculum design, so any high-voltage or electrification credential the framework does not cover remains your responsibility to fill.

Q: Will data center load raise our industrial electricity rate?
A: It depends on your service territory and it is not yet settled. Indiana Michigan Power is proposing decreases where data center revenue offsets cost, while House Bill 1007's requirement that data centers cover 80 percent of increased generation costs has no published enforcement process — pull your utility's current docket filing to see which direction your territory is heading.

Q: What should we do about the Rockport gas plant filing?
A: If you take service on I&M's industrial rate, pull the upcoming rate reduction filing and confirm where Rockport capital costs sit relative to your current contract. The IURC decision is expected in early 2027, and a delay past that date pushes the project into a tighter turbine supply queue.

For the line items that carry generation and fuel cost changes onto your bill, read our explainer on fuel adjustment charges for Indiana C&I operators. For the broader tracker picture ahead of I&M's rate case, see our report on the IURC investigation into Indiana utility tracker charges.

If you want your facility's exposure quantified before the next filing lands, start with the TEG Energy Decision Blueprint.

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