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Senior Vice President, Entrepreneurship and Small Business | Indiana Economic Development Corp.
Helping Hoosier entrepreneurs and small businesses succeed is what motivates David Watkins. Watkins’ IEDC entrepreneurship team is involved with ecosystem development, entrepreneur support, capital access, public-private partnerships and storytelling, which includes the annual Entrepreneurship Indiana yearbook. In 2023, his team assisted more than 11,000 entrepreneurs and small businesses. It also secured nearly $100 million for the State Small Business Credit Initiative, launched a pre-seed fund (investing in an idea as opposed to a product), and launched Indiana’s first loan program for underrepresented entrepreneurs—the Legend Fund.
Getting here: After a fellowship in the budget office of the city of Cincinnati, Watkins moved to Indianapolis to manage programs in the U.K., Middle East, Australia and New Zealand at the Institute for Study Abroad—where he also met his wife through a co-worker and started his MBA. He went from there to IUPUI to be assistant director in the international affairs office. After completing his MBA, he was hired as director of operations at the Indiana Economic Development Corp.’s Small Business Development Center.
First job: Paperboy
Givebacks: Various advisory boards through the IEDC
Influential moment: Taking over as director of the Indiana Small Business Development Center just before the pandemic hit. “While the work assisting small businesses was tough at times, I’m immensely proud of the team and the way we collectively stepped up to serve in a bigger way than ever before.”
Advice: Hard work done well makes titles irrelevant. “You can be a leader no matter where you are on the org chart. Position and title alone don’t make leaders.”•
Check out more Forty Under 40 honorees.
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