10 million people, tens of thousands of activities, and over 200 countries, that is the power of Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW). GEW, which is powered by the Global Entrepreneurship Network and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, is a global celebration of entrepreneurs and the people who support them. 

Indiana kicked off GEW by publishing a first-of-its-kind entrepreneurship yearbook, Entrepreneurship Indiana 2022, featuring 100 success stories throughout our entrepreneurial ecosystem. Entrepreneurship Indiana 2022 celebrates the innovators, the dreamers and the risk takers – shining a spotlight on our best and brightest entrepreneurs that are fundamental to the Indiana of tomorrow.  Entrepreneurs from every corner of the state, from all industries and all backgrounds were featured in the yearbook. 

In true “book tour” fashion, we celebrated GEW by traveling to entrepreneurship hubs throughout the state to share Entrepreneurship Indiana 2022 and recognize the founders featured in the yearbook. We were honored to be joined by Cecilia Wessinger, director for global community at the Global Entrepreneurship Network, to celebrate Indiana as an emerging global entrepreneurial ecosystem. 

Central Indiana

Our tour kicked off in Central Indiana with The Heritage Group. Each year, The Heritage Group Accelerator brings hardtech startups into Indiana’s entrepreneurial ecosystem and equips them with the resources to grow their business. We joined in on celebrating the 2022 accelerator participants and brought in Entrepreneurship Indiana 2022 honorees for the Hardtech Showcase. 

Pictured: Shane Bivens and Stuart Lowry of ArcticRx (Indianapolis)

Pictured: Laken Richardson of Snapped and Foam Homies (Terre Haute)

Northern Indiana

Our next stop brought us to the historic Lerner Theatre in Elkhart where we joined the South Bend – Elkhart Regional Partnership for the second annual Founder Factory. Founder Factory is a summit of entrepreneurs, investors, and enthusiasts in the region for a day of insights, inspiration, and motivation. The summit featured key notes from Jewel Burks Solomon of Google for Startups and Justin Dawkins. Our very own Julie Health joined Bethany Hartley of the regional partnership and Cecilia Wessinger of the Global Entrepreneurship Network to talk about the power of fueling our entrepreneurial ecosystem. 

Pictured: Joseph Luten of Importin’ Joes (South Bend)

Pictured: Myriam Nicodemus, one of the 16 independent creative entrepreneurs that contributed to Entrepreneurship Indiana 

Southern Indiana

We wrapped up the week at The Mill, Bloomington’s center for coworking and entrepreneurship. The Mill was a buzz with entrepreneurial activity that day, starting with Elevate Nexus where one of the yearbook honorees, FoodMeets, pitched to potential investors. We brought Global Entrepreneurship Week to a close celebrating our Southern Indiana founders. 

Pictured: Jill and Bryce Morrison of Mom Water (Ferdinand)

Pictured: John Heitz of Red Pepper & Family (Madison)

Pictured: Nimish Bhat of OmegaSkin & Family (Bloomington)

What Now? 

There may be one week a year dedicated to celebrating entrepreneurs, but that doesn’t mean the work stops here. Every day is Global Entrepreneurship Week for the IEDC entrepreneurship team, and we are just getting started. Stay tune for more to come, and be sure to grab your virtual copy of Entrepreneurship Indiana 2022 and nominate founders for 2023 by visiting EntrepreneurshipIndiana.com.