-->

Flagship Experiences Growth

DALGrowth at the Flagship Enterprise Center is not only evident in the numbers, Flagship director, DeWayne Landwehr said, but it will show up in the improvements to the community.

“As business owners become more educated on how to run their businesses more effectively, it will do nothing but improve our community and economy,” he said. “The Flagship Enterprise Center being here as a part of Anderson University and Purdue University also draws technical businesses here. Those jobs not only make the community more appealing, but they also provide higher-paying jobs.”

Jobs created by businesses at Flagship pay a wage that is 177 percent higher than the county’s average wage, according to the center’s annual report, with the county average at $29,700 and the Flagship client’s annual wage at $52,500. In 2009, the incubator’s clients’ annual payroll was more than $18.6 million.

Over the last five years, Flagship has created more than 850 jobs. In one year alone, the direct economic impact of the business incubator was more than $53 million.

“While I think we have good reasons to think we’ve accomplished something significant, much more needs to be done,” CEO Chuck Staley said. “We have sponsored several women and minority owned businesses – in fact about a third fall into that category – but the need is far greater.

He pointed to recent successes though with pride – the center was recently ranked as the top job creator out of 16 centers in the state by Indiana Business Journal.

“We always strive to be a center not just for research and development but a center that looks at the bottom line, which to me is job creation, in addition to the technology nucleus we have built here,” Staley said. “I think we remain committed to be an open business center meaning if you have a young company with the potential to create jobs and add to the economy of Madison County, we will do our best to find a place for you and support you.”

Staley said the challenge in the next five years is finding the resources to make a greater impact.

Landwehr said the goal he sees for the future of the Flagship is to continue the regionalizing trend it has helped create in the area.

“I would like to see an even more regional and broader focus than we have now,” he said. “I think we need to take a more regional look at our assets and our ability to draw in businesses. We all need to be continuing to work together as a real economic development community.”

One of the components of the center that doesn’t get as much attention as the businesses creating jobs in the area is the educational aspect.

Barbara Alder, director of Purdue’s College of Technology, said the partnership between Flagship and Purdue is an invaluable one for the community, the students and the center. The program, based in the center, offers four-year bachelor’s degrees in engineering technology, industrial technology and organization leadership and supervision. “The students graduate with the skills to be able to walk down the hallway into the Flagship Enterprise Center and be a valuable asset to any of the companies being incubated there,” Alder said.

The two entities partner in several different ways including students doing internships with the businesses, having center clients speaking to the classes and faculty members participating in Flagship projects. “As we continue to graduate students with four-year degrees and grow programs here, my very strong hope and goal is that the number of graduates from our programs will grow each year,” Alders aid. “And at the same time, I hope the success and size of the number of companies incubated by and graduated from the Flagship Enterprise Center will grow and provide employment homes for our graduates. The vast majority of our graduates stay here and use their skills locally to contribute to the growth of our local economy.”

Source: The Herald Bulletin
Contact: Abbey Doyle, 765-640-4805, abbey.doyle@heraldbulletin.com
Photo by John P. Cleary