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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe Indiana Economic Development Corp. this month unveiled ConnectIND, an online portal meant to give entrepreneurs the tools they need to start companies and grow them.
The move is part of the job-creation agency’s effort to prioritize growing jobs locally in addition to attracting employers from other places.
In general, the portal provides resources for funding, business planning, locations, networking and more. It will also connect entrepreneurs with a network of navigators the IEDC is hiring to work throughout the state.
We think those navigators will be the most important piece of this program.
Of course, cataloging re-sources is helpful—especially because the IEDC can emphasize the information that pertains specifically to Indiana rules, regulations, tax laws and more.
But what many fledgling entrepreneurs need is someone to talk to, someone who understands the challenges they are facing and the anxiety they are enduring as they navigate what can feel like a scary and risky path.
IBJ reporter Susan Orr details the IEDC’s efforts on page 3A and writes that the agency has already added five navigators, each of whom is working for a regional Small Business Development Center office. The IEDC is now working to hire five more navigators and is awarding grants totaling $2 million, or $100,000 per SBDC office, for the next two years, to cover the navigators’ salaries.
There’s an opportunity for people outside the IEDC to help as well. In fact, the agency is counting on that.
Orr reports that a vendor hired by the IEDC is using proprietary algorithms to pull information into the portal from elsewhere on the web, and the IEDC’s entrepreneurship team vets the information. But, at this point, some of the entries in the portal don’t include much detail.
The goal is for the IEDC and others around the state to add to the portal over time so it’s continually enlarged and updated. Users can apply to become verified managers for their organizations, which grants them the ability to edit and add to their profiles.
“We fully intend that this is a living, breathing resource,” David Watkins, the IEDC’s senior vice president of entrepreneurship and small business, told Orr.
And officials are hopeful that’s just what will happen.
Earlier this month, the IEDC rolled out ConnectIND to a “friends and family” group of users and, over one week, the database grew from about 2,000 pieces of information to 2,800.
That’s important, because without robust participation from outside the IEDC—and diligence within the agency—the information will almost certainly grow stale and less useful over time.
So if you think you have something to offer some budding entrepreneurs or a resource that could help a company grow, you might want to check out connectind.com and add some information. And if you’ve got an idea you want to turn into a company, you might find some resources there to help.•
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