TECH THURSDAY: Innovation ‘Critical Part’ of Kosciusko Brand

k countyEDITOR’S NOTE: BizVoice® has featured technology/innovation stories throughout its 18-year history. Look for these flashbacks each Thursday. Here is a 2015 favorite.

George Robertson wanted to know the answer to a pretty significant question: “Why is a small city in Northern Indiana (Warsaw) the Orthopedic Capital of the World?”

When Robertson came on board five years ago as the first fulltime executive director of the Kosciusko Economic Development Corporation (KEDCo), he began researching but didn’t have to look far to determine the answer.

“You see it in the stories of the companies, DePuy Synthes, Zimmer Biomet and Dane Miller (founder of Biomet). You see a trend of innovation and entrepreneurship. … Why is one of the largest automated material handling companies – CTB Inc. – in Milford? It’s entrepreneurship and innovation. And it just struck me that that was a critical part of our brand,” he emphasizes.

Read the full story online.

And learn more about the Indiana Chamber’s new Technology & Innovation Council. Our first meeting was earlier this month, and was well-attended. Want to participate? Contact Mark Lawrance at mlawrance(at)indianachamber.com.

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Ag Strength – By the Numbers

agThere’s no doubting the continued strength of Indiana’s agricultural industry (see the state fact sheet). We’ve told the stories often in BizVoice magazine – and will do so in the upcoming July-August issue (with a look at the prominence of ag businesses in Kosciusko County).

But according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service, Indiana did not rank in the top three exporters by state of various products. There are some interesting states and dollar figures included (selected examples):

  • Soybeans: Illinois ($3.1 billion), Iowa ($2.7 billion) and Minnesota ($1.8 billion)
  • Corn: The same three states as soybeans, with Iowa leading the way at $1.1 billion
  • Wheat: Kansas ($1.5 billion), North Dakota and Montana
  • Pork: Iowa ($2 billion), North Carolina and Minnesota
  • Beef: Nebraska ($946 million), Texas and Kansas
  • Dairy; California ($1.2 billion), Wisconsin and New York
  • Poultry: Georgia, North Carolina and Arkansas
  • Fresh fruit: California ($2.5 billion), Florida ($3.2 billion) and Washington

Hoosier Painter Discovers Art of Social Media Marketing

Indy residents strolling down the Monon Trail in Broad Ripple this summer may see a man on his front lawn in a white T-shirt covered in paint (one could argue getting it on your Hanes V-neck is much safer than eating it, like I did as a child — and I prefer blues, thanks for asking). This painter is Etna Green (Kosciusko County) native Justin Vining. If the name sounds familiar, that’s because you might be one of his many, many fans on Facebook.

Vining, a graduate of Purdue and Valparaiso University’s law school, has built such a huge fan base — largely using social media — that he recently quit his job as a corporate head hunter to become a full-time painter. He credits his newfound autonomy to his ability to take the utmost advantage of marketing tools on Facebook.

"Before the suggest-a-(fan page) button was launched on Facebook (in 2009), I had around 500 fans," he says. "Then I just hit up my friends (to suggest him to others) and would incentivize people as well with either free paintings or even money.

"I don’t think it’s as effective as it once was, so part of the trick was using that tool right when it came out. That kind of goes to the overall gist of social media; be in tune with what’s happening today and how to best utilize the changes that occur so frequently."

He notes that giving away paintings to those who recommended him was quite useful in building recognition and rapport.

"It’s such an invasive thing to do — to ask people to endorse something they may not know a whole lot about, so for me the trick was giving away something of big value," Vining explains. "That made them willing to do something a little more personal."

Vining also credits targeted advertising through Facebook to art gallery owners, professional artists, art teachers, etc.

"But that was when you could advertise on Facebook for pennies on the dollar; now it’s a lot more expensive," he contends. "It’s not that cost effective anymore."

In the span of two years, Vining’s Facebook fan base has jumped from around 500 to over 10,100. He places the source breakdown of his Facebook fans as follows:

  • 6,000 – 7,000 from the suggest-a-fan page button from Facebook
  • 1,000 – 1,500 from targeted advertising on Facebook
  • 500 – 1,000 from organic growth
  • 500 from Twitter

"Part of it is also about engaging the fans," Vining says. "Pretty much anybody that leaves a comment — positive or negative — I try to respond to. It takes probably 30 minutes to an hour each day to do that. But just this morning, I was responding to this guy and — since you can now see your message history on Facebook — I realized I’d actually sent him a note two years ago. So I was able to thank him for his continued support."

He adds, "I have a 3% interaction rate — but with 10,000 people, that’s a lot."

When addressing the effectiveness of social media, Vining relays that he’s yet to find much benefit from LinkedIn, with Facebook and Twitter being his core focus.

"Twitter and Facebook are quite different," he says. "I’ll post something on Twitter and I won’t get much interaction at all, but it seems like the bit of interaction I get is like bits of gold. But on Facebook, I’ll post the same things and get tons of interaction, but it’s more surface level. It’s weird. But following up with all those people is fun and can lead to some really cool conversations — and through that I’ve found that there are some pretty established artists who have been following my work for years."

Vining, who indicated all but several of his current paintings are sold or spoken for, typically paints 24 X 48-inch arcylic work (both color and black & white), normally running $500.  He also offers 16 X 22-inch marker drawings for $40.

His work can be found at www.justinvining.com;  www.facebook.com/justinvining; and on Twitter @justinvining. He’s also offered business advice for other artists at Northwest Indiana Creative.

Warsaw a Major Player on Global Commerce Scene

A new study by Indianapolis-based BioCrossroads puts some figures to what many people in northern Indiana already knew — that Warsaw’s niche as a global orthopedics hub is no joke. Inside INdiana Business has the press release:

Now generating more than $11 billion in annual revenues, the global orthopedics sector concentrated in Warsaw, Indiana, represents more than half the U. S. market share and more than one- third of the world’s market for developing orthopedic medical devices.

How does an industry — contained within a community — continue to maintain its strong economic presence and position itself for future growth? BioCrossroads, Indiana’s organization for investment, development and advancement of the state’s signature life sciences strengths, explores and outlines a series of action-oriented responses to this question in a new published report, Warsaw, Indiana: The Orthopedics Capital of the World — An overview, analysis and blueprint for future industry and community growth…

“The Warsaw orthopedics community is one of the most robust and concentrated medical equipment development sectors in the world, and a world-class economic asset that powers growth for all of Indiana,” said David Johnson, President and CEO of BioCrossroads. “The integration of all this research has resulted in a picture of an industry cluster in Warsaw, that is currently robust, respected and globally competitive. While this orthopedics device sector has been tremendously successful to date, our research and the truly global scale of this sector’s reach make it very clear that global pressures now confronting our whole economy, including all our life sciences sectors, have sparked a broadly perceived need for a community and industry engagement strategy focused on education, talent recruitment and retention, workforce and community development to ensure sustainability.

“We’re now in the process of developing a Warsaw-based, regionally focused organizational initiative that can better define and prioritize the challenges and opportunities, and then seek funding to bring the best and most responsive ideas to life,” Johnson added.

Personally, I’m working on an article for the November/December edition of BizVoice about business aviation, which will touch on how Warsaw’s airport has made the community’s climb to the top of the orthopedic world possible. Image Air Charter, an Indiana Chamber member, has had a great deal of success chartering flights for folks in that sector, showing how different companies can truly complement each other to enhance a community.