The Indiana Economic Development Corporation, the state's economic development agency, is hiring a national public relations agency to improve Indiana's reputation after the fallout from the Religious Freedom Restoration Act debate.
The agency, along with the Office of Tourism Development, aims to enhance the state's image and "remind the country that Indiana remains a great place to live, work and visit."
"Now more than ever, we want to remind the world that Hoosiers welcome everyone and that Indiana is a great place for individuals, entrepreneurs and businesses to reach their full potential," Victor Smith, Indiana Secretary of Commerce, said in a statement.
The IEDC has signed an initial agreement with Porter Novelli, which has represented a wide range of well-known customers including Walt Disney, HP and UPS.
The amount the IEDC is paying the public relations firm has not been released.
During the RFRA debate, companies threatened to stop doing business in Indiana, governors from other states banned state-sponsored travel to the Hoosier State and organizations canceled conferences in Indianapolis.
The Disciples of Christ, a mainline protestant Christian denomination that is headquartered in Indianapolis, was one of the first groups to ask Governor Mike Pence not to sign the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, and threatened to move its convention, which is expected to generate nearly $6 million in revenue for the city.
But, like many companies, the group is now reversing its decision because the law was amended to specify it cannot be used to discriminate against those in the LGBT community.
On Monday, the board of the Disciples of Christ voted to keep its annual assembly in Indianapolis.
"We were pleasantly surprised by how they did address the concerns that we had with RFRA, and that this law cannot be used to open the door to the kind of discrimination that we feared," the denomination's General Minister and President Sharon Watkins said.
The state's agencies are not the only ones trying to restore Indiana's image, though.
Chris Gahl, VP of marketing and communication for Visit Indy, says his group has been working overtime to let concerned organizations, like the Disciples, know about the RFRA fix.
"We've been on the phone every day to work with them and courting them back to reassure them that Indianapolis welcomes all," he says.
Gahl says the only other convention that cancelled because of the law, the AFSCME Women's Conference, has also announced plans to return to Indianapolis.
The Senate budget proposal released last week allocates $1 million in each of the next two years to the state's tourism budget to help improve Indiana's reputation in light of the RFRA debate.
