01.15.21
Fuel for Success
Karl R. LaPan, President & CEO, The NIIC
Excerpt – As appeared in Fort Wayne Magazine
Our region has long been a hub of innovation, producing many game-changing firsts. Fort Wayne has given the world the television, the gas pump, the refrigerator, the handheld calculator, the home video game, and the first in-home washing machine.
In addition, we also see how other powerhouse families and founders capitalized on game-changing opportunities. They built from scratch successful businesses like Do-it-Best, Tippmann Group and its family of companies, Ruoff Mortgage, Sweetwater and Ft. Wayne Metals. Offering best-in-class manufacturing, our centralized location, transportation network, a dynamic entrepreneurial support system, an excellent business climate, and access to talent, Fort Wayne affords significant strategic advantages to today’s innovation companies.
However, past accomplishments are not a predictor of future success. Despite previous achievements favorable public policies and a cadre of innovators, our future pipeline of founders is fragile. Today, ideas and people know no geographic boundary. They are not place-based restricted in exploiting and commercializing ideas into solutions. It can happen anywhere.
Read the full story on Fort Wayne magazine.
