The Indy Chamber has been named the 2021 Chamber of the Year for its response to the COVID-19 pandemic and support of small businesses. The award was presented by the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives, a trade association that represents chamber and economic development leaders across the U.S. ACCE says the award is its most prestigious and is awarded to organizations that “made an impact on key community priorities.”
Indy Chamber President and Chief Executive Officer Michael Huber said the acknowledgement by peers is rewarding. “The events of the past 18 months forced so many businesses and organizations to make difficult choices, and this award is an affirmation of our decision in March 2020 to focus on the needs of small businesses in the Indy Region,” said Huber in a news release.
When the pandemic hit and the state locked down a year and a half ago, Indy Chamber pivoted its operational model to respond to the crisis that was forcing businesses to close.
“We at Indy Chamber made a strategic decision to take our staff of about 55 and literally reassign everybody to the front lines of the proverbial battlefield,” said Huber in an interview with Inside INdiana Business. “We had a huge meeting of our folks when we said, ‘okay, we’re all going to be doing small business services because the greatest vulnerabilities are coming.’”
The challenges of the past year and a half have transformed our world, and few industries have been as affected as travel, tourism and hospitality. In many ways, our third annual list of the World’s Greatest Places is a tribute to the people and businesses at the forefront of those industries who, amid extraordinary circumstances, found ways to adapt, build and innovate. It shines a light on ingenuity, creativity, revitalization and reopenings in destinations across the world.
To compile this list, TIME solicited nominations of places—including countries, regions, cities and towns—from our international network of correspondents and contributors, with an eye toward those offering new and exciting experiences.
On that list:
Indianapolis may be a smaller city, but it’s packed with standout restaurants, museums and sports centers. Its latest draw is the Bottleworks District, a $300 million reimagining of the historically significant spot where a Coca-Cola bottling plant operated from 1920 to 1969. The heart of the area is the boutique Bottleworks Hotel, which occupies the top floors of the 1920s Coca-Cola building with faithful Art Deco design and a beautifully restored spiral staircase. Nearby, the new Garage Food Hall is a lively open space of over 20 local vendors, including La Chinita Poblana, a beloved Asian-fusion taco spot, and Axle’s Garage Tap, with 20 craft and specialty beers on draft. Rounding out this 12-acre entertainment and hospitality complex is the Living Room Theaters, showing a mix of mainstream and independent art films. —Aniesia Williams
Elanco Animal Health Inc. cleared a final oversight hurdle Wednesday to secure $135 million in bonds for its new headquarters at the former General Motors stamping plant property west of downtown.
The project was given a final, and unanimous, approval by the city’s Metropolitan Development Commission—the last step necessary to allow the city to request the funds from the Indianapolis Bond Bank.
The MDC also allowed the site to be turned into its own tax-increment financing district, permitting the city to finance the debt over the 25-year maximum set out by state law, instead of the 21 years left on the downtown TIF.
At the mid-way point in 2021, Indiana has already more than doubled the dollar amount from capital investments and grants received last year by local tech companies and the state has easily surpassed the $358 million high-mark, which made 2019 a record-breaking tech investment year.
Those dollars don’t even include the $240 million raised in April by Chicago-based ActiveCampaign, which is searching for larger office space in Indianapolis to house its growing team here. In its capital announcement, ActiveCampaign said it plans to use those dollars to invest in product development, which is based in Indianapolis, ongoing global expansion, and acceleration of partner ecosystem initiatives.
Indiana tech’s 2021 capital raises also also don’t include the venture capital funds raised by High Alpha ($110 million) and Sixty8 Capital ($20 million), much of which will be invested in Indiana companies.
Marian University in Indianapolis says it is doing its part to help fill the engineering talent pipeline in Indiana. The university this month broke ground on the E.S. Witchger School of Engineering and earlier this year selected Dr. Binh Tran as the school’s founding dean. Marian President Dan Elsener says the launch of the school in the fall of 2022 will stimulate growth in central Indiana and beyond.
“If you understand the ecosystem in Indiana, we’re a manufacturing state, biomedical engineering state,” said Elsener. “We have a great medical school here in central Indiana. We see the need for diversity in the engineering field…and we found an outstanding national leader to lead the effort.”
Corteva Agriscience (NYSE: CTA) is celebrating its second birthday this month as a standalone company. The Delaware-based company, which spun out of DowDuPont (NYSE: DD) in 2019, employs some 2,000 people around Indiana with its Global Business Center located in Indianapolis. Executive Vice President of Business Platforms Rajan Gajaria says the future for Corteva in the Hoosier State is very positive as the company looks to continue its growth.
Gajaria discussed Corteva’s work in Indiana in an interview on Inside INdiana Business with Gerry Dick.
“We love to collaborate with not only different places like Purdue and other folks right here in Indiana, but Indiana is a very important business center for us, not only from an employment perspective, but even for our farmer customers,” said Gajaria. “One out of every three bags of corn sold in the state of Indiana come from Corteva. One of every three bags of soybeans sold in Indiana come from Corteva. So yes, it’s an important place for us – for employment, for talent, but also for the customers.”
A new report from the National Academy of Inventors and the Intellectual Property Owners Association says two Indiana universities are among the top 100 in the world that were granted U.S. utility patents in 2020, and one in the top 10.
The Purdue Research Foundation is ranked No. 6 globally with 175 patents, up from No. 13 the previous year.
Indiana University is ranked No. 53 after having received 53 U.S. utility patents last year. IU moves up 18 places from its ranking in 2019.
South Bend-based INVANTI has launched a $2 million Beta City Fund and says it is looking for its next cohort of talent. The startup studio says it is seeking “initiators” to take part in a three-month program to guide them from the “pre-idea” stage to a pilot for a scalable company.
INVANTI says “initiators” are people don’t have fully-formed ideas for a business, but “are motivated to solve problems they are connected to and encounter frequently in their home cities and beyond.”
Indiana’s incoming secretary of commerce says juicing the state’s entrepreneurial ecosystem will be a priority as he seeks to keep economic development momentum rolling. Governor Eric Holcomb selected Indianapolis-based Buckingham Companies founder and Chief Executive Officer Brad Chambers as the state’s new economic development chief last week and Chambers says building the state’s historic innovation pipeline will be a priority.
“There’s no better example of an entrepreneur than looking more than 125 years ago at Colonel Eli Lilly. He started a business that is still around today generating dynamic economic contributions, high paying jobs and contributing to our state’s economy,” said Chambers, who adds he wants to “pour some fertilizer on the state’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.”
