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Thanks for tuning in each week as we seek to bring you the stories, the communities, the people and the companies driving economic growth in our region!
About 500,000 businesses start each month in the United States. Have you ever thought about starting a business? Have a great idea for a new product or service that you think consumers could be interested in? Interested in learning more from experienced entrepreneurs about the tools and resources that could help get you started? Then this is the show for you.
This week we had the chance to welcome Jason Whitney, Program Manager-Launch Indiana and Launch Fishers and David Terrell, Director of the Indiana Communities Institute at Ball State University. Jason is an entrepreneur originally from Richmond, Indiana. David has worked in the entrepreneurial space at the State level and now at the University.
Launch Fishers is a co-working space located in Fishers, IN that working to start and build high-potential enterprises across a broad range ofcategories including technology, health information, lifesciences, biotech, consumers products, agri-tech and more.More than just a space, however, Launch Fishers offers its members the opportunity to connect and collaborate with like- minded individuals.
The State of Indiana has recognized how important spaces like Launch Fishers are to the State’s economic development success and is encouraging similar developments in every corner of the State. In addition, the State has recognized certain tools and resources are needed and has worked to develop those.
The Indiana Small Business Development Center (ISBDC) is a primary resource. The Statewide network includes a north central Indiana hosted operation based at IUSB. In addition, the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) is another primary resource of the State. Several years ago, the State of Indiana launched Elevate Ventures to provide additional support and resources for those high growth potential companies seeking to grow.
The State continues to offer new opportunities to support business starts. Last year, Governor Pence introduced a plan for a $1 Billion Innovation and Entrepreneurship Initiative.
Like Launch Fishers, co-working spaces have been popping up all over Indiana over the past decade. In North Central Indiana, a number of great spaces exist like Catalyst One in South Bend, The Branch in South Bend, Launch Elkhart, Launch Pad Goshen, and Eddy Street Executive Suites in South Bend. In fact, our field correspondent George Lepeniotis took us out to Catalyst One in South Bend for an interview with Catlin Courtney, the head of the site. Courtney gave us an overview of the space and a closer look at what the space has to offer.
On the show we talked about how new business starts often don’t get the attention they deserved. Many communities are focused on trying to land the big companies that grab the headlines rather than the small starts that may take some time to grow. Others are realizing that attracting new businesses can sometimes be few and far between and a more effective approach is to start and grow your own businesses.
Finally, we talked about the risks involved with starting a business. Some will make it, some will not. In Fishers, they celebrate those risks with their Fail Fair.
We hope you enjoyed the show! Don’t forget to tune in next week as we take a close look at the Indiana General Assembly and their deliberations over the 1,000 filed bills and the development of the $15.6 billion dollar budget. Business leaders from across the region will weigh in on key legislative priorities.