Microloans make the difference for small businesses
Dozens of small businesses have been helped by microloans—smaller than $50,000—from the Indy Chamber’s Business Ownership Initiative.
Entrepreneurship
Articles
Firms find gold helping vendors sell on Amazon
Amazon has become such a colossal retail force that scores of companies have formed specifically to support Amazon vendors. And some of those firms are based in Indiana.
Under Daniels, Purdue unleashes surge of startups
Before Mitch Daniels took the helm, the university used its intellectual property to create about eight startups annually. The school has been averaging nearly three times that each year since.
Entrepreneur a master of ‘creative renovation’
Tom Battista’s latest project is The Idle, a work-in-progress micro park between Fletcher Place and Fountain Square where visitors can contemplate downtown highway traffic.
Carmel resident’s cooking school for kids keeps growing
Drewry, a 35-year-old Carmel resident, launched Sprouts Cooking School out of a spare bedroom in summer 2015. Since then, demand has ballooned.
Indy entrepreneurs to launch Airbnb for event venues
The online marketplace, slated to launch in August, aims to connect venue owners and seekers. It’s led by two minority entrepreneurs.
Racing spinoffs feed local economy
Several businesses launched by entrepreneurs who honed their skills in the racing arena are in high-gear growth mode.
Wisconsin accelerator laying groundwork for Indy expansion
Gener8tor, a Wisconsin-based startup accelerator, is looking to set up shop in Indianapolis within the next year. Today, there are no application-based accelerators in the area.
Indy slides, Indiana inches up in annual startup survey
Indianapolis fell closer to the bottom in Kauffman’s annual startup survey, but the state moved up one spot.
Speak Easy targets artists with Tube Factory venture
The not-for-profit co-working organization is using a new grant to fund “Arts and Entrepreneurship” programming, and it’s opening an outpost at the arts-focused Tube Factory.
3-year-old CraftMark Bakery already employs 265, plans big expansion
The commercial bakery, which makes frozen bread dough and cookie dough and baked flatbreads for Subway and other quick-service restaurants, started out big and says more growth is coming.
DeveloperTown has success helping larger firms innovate
DeveloperTown has been growing revenue about 40 percent annually over the past five years, a rate that far exceeds what leaders expected when they founded the company in 2010.
Label maker DuraMark sees ‘immense’ growth prospects
The company says it patented all-digital production process allows it to produce labels faster, cheaper and in smaller quantities than by the traditional screen printing method.
Indy 500’s first presenting sponsor sees growth spike, gears up for more
Since local entrepreneur Mike Protogere bought D-A Lubricant Co. Inc. in 2002, the manufacturer of oil, grease, antifreeze and other industrial products has shifted into overdrive and punched the gas.
Chamber to bring national pitch program for entrepreneurs to Indy
Called 1 Million Cups, the weekly program has a format designed to be more collaborative and educational than more typical pitch events. It’s already in more than 100 other communities.
Indiana’s tech scene has a lot of things going for it, but venture capital isn’t one
The average amount of venture capital flowing into Indiana companies per deal is the lowest in the Midwest and among the lowest in the country.
Anderson University leads effort to draw young entrepreneurs with student debt
An Anderson University fine-arts-major-turned-entrepreneur has helped develop a unique student-loan-forgiveness program that encourages recent Indiana graduates to set up shop in Anderson.
Former Fever star Catchings buys Indianapolis tea shop
Eventually, Tamika Catchings plans to franchise Tea’s Me and develop her own blend, likely called “Tamika’s Tea.”
Inspection firm grows with changing auto industry
Steve Cage started a quality-control business focused on the automotive industry near the peak of the Great Recession. In 2009, the company made $8 million in revenue. In 2016, revenue hit $122 million.
Vogue owner survives 30 years of changes in music, customers and Broad Ripple
This year, Steve Ross, 62, celebrates three decades as owner of The Vogue, perhaps (after the Central Canal) Broad Ripple’s most enduring landmark.