印第安纳州启动“小企业计划”，扩大本土小企业参与州政府采购
印第安纳州州长迈克·布劳恩（Mike Braun）本周宣布启动“印第安纳小企业计划”（Indiana Small Business Program），旨在强化本州小企业营商环境，推动并便利符合条件的印第安纳小企业参与州政府采购。
该计划将为合格的本土小企业提供更多竞标州政府采购订单的机会，并提高州政府从印第安纳本土小企业采购商品与服务的总量。具体做法是扩充现有的“买印第安纳”（Buy Indiana）计划，让更多本州企业有资格在采购评审中获得加分。
“印第安纳的小企业是胡希尔经济的引擎，我们致力于支持它们持续成长、走向成功，”布劳恩说，“小企业已经准备好与州政府做生意，我们现在让这件事变得前所未有的简单。”
这一新计划的出台有其政策背景：今年早些时候，布劳恩签署第26-17号行政令，暂停了州供应商多元化计划中基于种族与性别的合同优惠。此前州总检察长托德·罗基塔（Todd Rokita）出具法律意见，认定少数族裔与女性企业计划中的相关优惠违反宪法第十四修正案的平等保护条款。布劳恩当时即表示，将推出一项新的计划，帮助更多印第安纳小企业竞标州合同，并责成州管理和预算办公室在2026年10月1日前制定促进小企业参与州采购的政策与程序。
印第安纳商会主席兼首席执行官瓦妮莎·格林·辛德斯（Vanessa Green Sinders）表示：“州政府采购可以成为本州中小企业和创业企业成长的重要通道，为它们创造真正可及的合同机会，能帮助更多企业参与竞争。随着新计划落地，商会期待与州政府及商界合作，评估实际运行效果，确保印第安纳企业的真实体验能指导计划的持续完善。”
州管理和预算秘书丽莎·赫什曼（Lisa Hershman）则强调：“这个计划让州政府有机会在保持采购竞争与问责——这是负责任采购不可或缺的——的同时，扩大印第安纳小企业的参与度。我们的目标是让计划对企业实用、对机构可行、为胡希尔纳税人创造价值。”
对印第安纳数量庞大的小企业主而言，新计划意味着州政府这个大买家的门槛正在降低；而对州政府来说，则是在合宪框架下重建供应商支持体系的一次关键转向。
Indiana Launches Small Business Program to Expand Hoosier Small Businesses' Role in State Procurement
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana Gov. Mike Braun announced this week the launch of the Indiana Small Business Program, designed to strengthen the Hoosier small business environment and to promote and facilitate the participation of qualified Indiana small businesses in state procurement.
The program will give eligible homegrown small businesses greater opportunities to compete for state purchases and will increase the volume of state goods and services procured from Indiana-based small businesses. It works by expanding the existing Buy Indiana program, so more Indiana businesses qualify to receive points in the procurement process.
"Indiana's small businesses are the engine of the Hoosier economy, and we are committed to supporting their continued growth and success," Braun said. "Small businesses are ready to do business with the state, and we are making that easier than ever."
The launch follows a significant policy shift: earlier this year, Braun signed Executive Order 26-17 suspending race- and sex-based contracting preferences in the state's supplier diversity program, after Attorney General Todd Rokita issued a legal opinion finding the Minority and Women's Business Enterprises preferences unconstitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause. Braun said at the time that a new initiative would help more Indiana small businesses compete for contracts, and ordered the Office of Management and Budget to develop procurement policies promoting small business participation by Oct. 1, 2026.
"State procurement can be a valuable pathway to growth for Indiana's small and entrepreneurial businesses, and creating meaningful access to those contracting opportunities can help more of them compete," said Vanessa Green Sinders, president and CEO of the Indiana Chamber of Commerce. "As the new program is implemented, the Indiana Chamber looks forward to working with the administration and business community to evaluate how it is working in practice and help ensure the experiences of Indiana businesses inform its continued development."
"This program gives the state an opportunity to strengthen participation by Indiana small businesses while maintaining the competition and accountability that are essential to responsible procurement," said Lisa Hershman, Indiana Secretary of Management and Budget. "Our focus is on creating a program that is practical for businesses, workable for agencies, and delivers value for Hoosier taxpayers."
For Indiana's vast community of small business owners, the program lowers the threshold to the state government as a major buyer; for the state, it marks a pivotal turn toward rebuilding its supplier-support framework on constitutional footing.
图片来源：Diego Delso 摄，CC BY-SA 3.0（Wikimedia Commons）
