| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Grant Funds Effort to Link Patent-Rich Region with Job-Creating Businesses ELKHART, Ind. (Aug. 1, 2008) - Indiana Secretary of Commerce Nathan Feltman announced today the state's plans to invest $100,000 over the next two year in a program here aimed at linking the region's patent-producing businesses and academia with manufacturers and marketers in the region who could transform new technologies into new jobs for Hoosiers. The two-year grant will provide funding to the North Central Indiana Business Assistance Center located in Elkhart to boost efforts to link businesses and entrepreneurs in Elkhart, Fulton, Kosciusko, Marshall and St. Joseph counties with technologies and innovations that have the potential to create new jobs in the region. "Elkhart and the surrounding area have a long history of innovation and routinely produce more patents per capita than any other region in the state," said Governor Mitch Daniels. "By linking the innovations from the region with companies who can transform the technologies into jobs, we will strengthen and further diversify the region's economy." As part of the effort, the North Central Indiana Business Assistance Center will augment their online listing of patents and companies (http://www.michianatech.org/) by hiring a professional to actively identify research from the state's research universities and find companies who could use the new technologies to expand their company's product offerings and workforce. "An economic development strategy in today's world would not be complete unless it includes innovation, new ideas and new business ventures," Daniels said. The North Central Indiana Business Assistance Center plans to announce the hiring of the selected professional in the coming weeks who will be charged with bolstering the organization's efforts to link businesses in all of the region's industries with innovations that could lead to new job-creating ventures. "Proactively identifying opportunities to link companies and researchers together to develop new innovations will increase the technical base of our region," said Philip Penn, president of the North Central Indiana Business Assistance Center. The grant is part of the state's Regional Economic Development Partnership Program first announced in 2007. The program, operated by the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, provides matching grant dollars to multi-county efforts aimed at creating and implementing initiatives that increase regional competitiveness in job creation, workforce development, entrepreneurship and the development and targeting of industry clusters. "This program encourages communities to think, plan and act regionally," Feltman said. "We know that when companies make expansion decisions, they consider the regional assets, including the regional workforce, infrastructure and cultural amenities. Therefore, it is essential that each region clearly understand and market their regional strengths when going after new economic development opportunities." The program builds upon the importance of regional networks and collaboration as noted in the state's economic development plan released in 2006, Accelerating Growth. About IEDC
Established under Governor Mitch Daniels in 2005 to replace the former Department of Commerce, the Indiana Economic Development Corporation is governed by a 12-member board chaired by Governor Daniels. Indiana Secretary of Commerce Nathan Feltman serves as the chief executive officer of the IEDC. Since the creation of the IEDC, the state has posted three consecutive years of record-breaking commitments for new jobs. For more information about IEDC, visit www.iedc.in.gov. -30- |