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Rose-Hulman Ventures: Inspiring Innovation in Indiana
Terre Haute, IN---Rose-Hulman Ventures is demonstrating its commitment to
creating new technology driven businesses, providing unique education
opportunities, and ultimately enabling the innovation economy in Indiana. To
these ends, Rose-Hulman Ventures hosted a focused leadership forum titled
Inspiring Innovation in Indiana on Thursday, March 27, 2003. The mission
is to convene community leaders and entrepreneurs from around the state to
begin identifying specific opportunities to collaborate in building
innovation-based businesses.
The objectives of the forum
are:
1. Clearly communicate Rose-Hulman
Ventures’ statewide partnership model associated with the Lilly Endowment
grant received in December 2002
2. Better understand and share regional development efforts from throughout
the state
3. Lay groundwork to determine co-investment and partnership opportunities
in specific business ventures
Jim Eifert, president of
Rose-Hulman Ventures stated, “The potential economic, educational, and
technological gains for the entire state of Indiana are unlimited with this
type of collaboration.”
The participants at the forum are leaders in their respective communities
and institutions that are knowledgeable regarding economic development,
entrepreneurial opportunities, and new business formation, according to
Eifert.
David Becker, chairman of TechPoint commented on the day’s events, “Based on
my twenty years experience in the technology community in Indiana, this will
go down as a landmark event.” Becker added, “It’s the first time we have
gotten people together on a statewide level from Scottsburg all the way to
Elkhart. It’s economic development. It’s major universities. It’s
entrepreneurs. It’s companies all in the room at the same time. But more
importantly, it’s sharing ideas, opportunities, and best practices.”
The Inspiring Innovation in Indiana participants include:
o Anderson University
o City of Anderson
o Ball State University
o Bloomington Star Center
o City of Elkhart
o Columbus Economic Development Corporation
o Crane Division, Naval Surface Warfare Center
o Emerging Technology Center/ARTI
o Evansville Small Business Incubator
o Greater Lafayette Progress Committee
o Hammond Development Corporation
o Indiana Health Industry Forum
o Indiana State University
o Indiana University
o Indy Partnership
o Lilly Endowment
o Major Hospital - Shelbyville
o Purdue University
o City of Scottsburg
o City of Shelbyville
o Suros Surgical Systems - Indianapolis
o TechPoint
o Terre Haute Department of Redevelopment
o City of Vincennes
o Vision 2000 – Evansville
o West Central Indiana Economic Development District – Terre Haute
The forum is expected to
leverage Indiana’s technological infrastructure to define new economic and
community development projects.
About Rose-Hulman Ventures
Rose-Hulman Ventures is creating economic growth and career opportunities
for technical professionals in Indiana. Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
was awarded a $29.7 million grant from the Lilly Endowment, Inc. to
establish Rose-Hulman Ventures. A $24.9 million grant was awarded in 2002
from Lilly Endowment Inc. to build upon the success of programs at Rose-Hulman
Ventures to expand educational and professional practice experiences for
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology student and facility.
For the fourth consecutive year, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology is
ranked No. 1 by U.S. News and World Report magazine among all colleges and
universities that offer the master’s as the top degree in engineering. The
ranking is based on a national survey of higher-education engineering
educators.
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