Distinguished from other award recipients, Bright Automotive’s team is producing the IDEA, a purpose-built, lightweight, aerodynamic, all aluminum light commercial vehicle. Some of the same enabling technology developed on the IDEA will be directly applied to the EV propulsion conversion of the LLV. Applying the rear electric drive of the IDEA PHEV powertrain to the LLV positions Bright Automotive’s conversion with proven production-intent technology.

“We are thrilled to be working with the USPS to demonstrate how systems thinking can achieve economic solutions that reduce the cost to own and operate the USPS fleet,” said John E. Waters, CEO and President of Bright Automotive. “The adaptation of the electric drive system from our production vehicle uniquely distinguishes Bright Automotive’s LLV conversion in terms of technology, durability and cost. In addition, our analysis and experience in vehicle electrification, vehicle ownership and financing, fleet maintenance, service, and infrastructure development, has shown that an electrified fleet will save the USPS millions of dollars annually, eliminate tons of emissions, and reduce dependence on oil.”

The Bright eSolutions retrofit LLV is fully electric, uses no gasoline, and is capable of covering a high percentage of existing postal service routes. After delivery to the USPS in July 2010, the vehicle will go into service in the metro Washington DC area for at least one year. Bright eSolutions is also collaborating with a top Tier 1 automotive supplier, EDAG, Inc., another recipient of a USPS LLV conversion contract. Bright eSolutions is providing powertrain hardware and software support for two of the five contracts awarded under the program.

The USPS currently operates 142,000 LLVs, which average less than 20 miles of driving per day and have an average fuel economy of only 10 mpg.

Anderson, Indiana-based Bright Automotive is developing the first purpose-built light commercial plug-in hybrid electric vehicle for commercial and government fleets. The IDEA, scheduled for production in 2013, delivers a positive total cost of ownership to fleet customers by providing 5 to 10 times greater fuel efficiency than current fleet vehicles in its class. The IDEA operates in electric mode for 40 miles before switching to an estimated 36-mpg hybrid mode for 100+ mpg potential based on daily driving behavior. The IDEA is also an excellent choice for long-term replacement of the USPS LLV fleet, providing long life aluminum construction, improved functionality and ergonomics, larger payload and dramatic fuel efficiency improvement. Bright Automotive provides details on the IDEA at www.brightautomotive.com.

Bright Automotive is drawing on its team of seasoned automotive executives to provide technical expertise to customers through its Bright eSolutions division. Led by Nigel Francis, Bright eSolutions offers clients expert guidance and consulting on a variety of economic strategies in the field of HEV/PHEV/EV vehicle development, from EV powertrain integration and conversions, to aerodynamics and light weighting. Bright eSolutions – Expertise Delivered.

Source: Inside INdiana Business

Planned to be up and running by Monday, the SCORE chapter’s new offices will bring it closer to many of its clients, who work out of the Flagship.

“The main purpose is we think we can serve our customers, people who want to start up, we can serve our customers a lot better here at the Flagship than where we were at the ABI (Anderson Business Incubator),” said Anderson SCORE Co-Chairman Lyle Crouse. “It seems like out here is where the activity is and out here we’ve got a better chance at helping folks.”

SCORE’s Anderson chapter started in 1983, and it has grown to cover all of Madison County and parts of surrounding counties, as well. When it started, it was housed with the Anderson/Madison County Chamber of Commerce, which also recently made the move to the Flagship.

“We’re with the Chamber out here now and we’re with CED (Corporation for Economic Development),” Crouse said. “Here we’re back together for a better synergy.”

Flagship Executive Director DeWayne Landwehr said having SCORE in the building, near Interstate 69’s Exit 22, will benefit Flagship businesses.

“We have been trying to ramp up our client service offerings,” Landwehr said. “We have been working closely with SCORE all along, but adding them here in the same building certainly does help. We will have a much closer relationship among SCORE, the Flagship and our clients.”

Flagship clients have heard about SCORE’s move and are happy about it, Landwehr said.

“Most of the clients out here have ended up with a smile on their face because they can see the benefits of the synergy as well,” he said.

SCORE is a volunteer business mentoring and training program that teaches owners of start-ups how to get started in business and counsels those having business troubles on how to turn things around. It has 364 chapters nationwide, including 13 in Indiana, and uses the expertise of retired business people.

Crouse is retired as a vice president for an automotive components supplier in Madison, Wis., and before that, he was a plant manager for Delco Remy. He got involved with SCORE nine years ago when he moved to Columbus from Wisconsin and continued his involvement when he moved back to his hometown of Anderson seven years ago.

“I felt like I had good background that I could help small businesses,” Crouse said. “With my financial background too I could help any business. I get a lot of enjoyment out of volunteering with SCORE. It keeps me from getting stale and keeps me going.”

Anderson’s SCORE chapter also puts on workshops, from how to start a business to how to market, handle finances, create a business plan and get a loan. The chapter has 24 volunteer counselors now.

“We have people who have run a business in Anderson, we’ve got engineers, we’ve got folks to help with business planning, accountants,” he said. “We’ve got a wide variety that could pool their resources together.”

Landwehr said SCORE’s counseling help was invaluable to businesses. “There are some people that have come to me and said, ‘I had no idea how to even get started and SCORE helped me with that,’” he said. “The next thing they know, they’re in cash-flow trouble and SCORE helps with that.”

Contact Aleasha Sandley: 640-4805, aleasha.sandley@heraldbulletin.com
Herald Bulletin

Photograph taken by: John P. Cleary/ THB Photo

It would be difficult to fault Bright Automotive, which is doing research and development at the Flagship Enterprise Center in Anderson, with any of these shortcomings. The folks at Bright, and support staff at the Flagship, are doing everything they can to keep their Idea — a plug-in commercial fleet van touted for its economy and environmental benefits — alive.

The folks at Bright have doggedly pursued financing to bring their vehicle to mass production, making repeated visits to Washington and lobbying government officials to take a chance on their startup company. But the $450 million low-interest federal loan they covet has not been secured. Instead, much of the pot of federal loan and grant money for clean-fuel vehicles and vehicle components has gone to established companies, such as Remy International.

Still, there are signs of hope for Bright. In early February, an Obama administration official visited Anderson and toured the Bright laboratory at the Flagship.

Afterward, the official, Teno Villareal, called Bright Automotive “a great company.” He said, “There’s real excitement about the possibilities at Bright.”

Villareal is a special assistant for the Office of Recovery for Auto Communities and Workers. Clearly, his office is designed to help localities like Anderson. Whether he has any real influence on decisions about grant and loan money is unclear. But it can’t hurt that Villareal visited Bright and came away impressed.

Other positive signs for Bright include contracts with the U.S. Postal Service and the U.S. military to adapt the Idea for potential use by those entities.

Should these contracts put Bright in a position of greater prominence on the national scene, the $450 million loan might come a little easier. With that cash, Bright would aim to produce 50,000 of its Ideas by 2012, employing as many as 5,000.

Bright has not fully committed to Anderson for production of the Idea. But the community certainly has a leg up, given its hospitality at the Flagship, which will soon be expanded by 2,600 feet to accommodate the fledgling company.

The bottom line for the local economy: This is one Idea that’s worth fighting for.

- Herald Bulletin

Pitcher began his job at the Chamber in 1997 after a career in newspapers and public relations for General Motors, Delco Remy and Community Hospital.

Under his leadership, the Chamber has worked with the Corporation for Economic Development and other economic development officials and city and county administrations to bring about diversification of the local economy and industrial sector.

“Our main function is to help the businesses that are already here to grow and prosper,” Pitcher said. “We’ve tried to do that over the years through our programs and services.”

During his time at the Chamber, Pitcher also has seen member businesses go through the worst recession of his career.

“I know, of course, a lot of the economists say that the worst is over and the recession’s over, but unlike previous recessions, this one doesn’t seem to increase hiring, which is really what we need to do,” he said. “I’ve not seen it quite this bad this long.”

Although he’ll be leaving the Chamber, Pitcher plans to stay in Anderson, where he has lived for the past 24 years.

“I came down here with GM for what I thought was going to be three or four years and it turned out to be 24 years,” he said. “We have 24 years’ worth of roots. It’s really become home to us. At this point, we’re hoping to stay in Anderson and do some volunteer work.”

Pitcher also plans to continue following the economic progress of Anderson, which he said is in a prime position for growth over the next three to five years.

“I think the next three to five years are going to be good for Anderson and Madison County because of our location and the fact that Indianapolis is moving up (Interstate) 69,” he said. “I think our location is a strong plus for us.”

Chamber office manager Rita Puckett said Pitcher would be missed at the Chamber.

“He’s been here 13 years, so it’s definitely sad when you have a change,” she said. “He’s done so much good work for the Chamber. Changes do happen, and you try to just make the best of the situation.”

Chamber board chairman Mike Latchaw said Pitcher had served the Chamber well in his time there, leading the organization in projects including a move from downtown Anderson to the Flagship Enterprise Center on the city’s southwest side.

“I think he’s just been a really overall strong advocate for the community,” Latchaw said. “That’s his main positive, I think. Times have changed a lot, and our Chamber is going through a struggle just as well as most businesses are. It’s a struggle to give everyone what they think they want from the Chamber. I think Keith has done a pretty good job of providing what the Chamber members would want as far as being a business advocate for the community.”

Latchaw said the board was starting to put a preliminary search committee together to find a replacement for Pitcher, who plans to retire May 1 but said he would stay longer if needed.

Pitcher said he had been thinking for a year about retiring and he felt mixed emotions about leaving his job.

“It’s been a great run, but I think probably it’s time for a leadership change,” he said. “It’s probably time for some change for me as well. I thought, well maybe it’s time to take a little time to smell the roses.”

Contact Aleasha Sandley: 640-4805, aleasha.sandley @heraldbulletin.com.
The Herald Bulletin

Teno Villarreal, special assistant for the Office of Recovery for Auto Communities and Workers, spent the day in Anderson on Wednesday, finishing with a stop at the Flagship office of Bright.

Company officials told Villarreal they hoped to receive funding that would allow them to create as many as 6,000 jobs related to the Idea, Bright’s original design for a light, efficient and environmentally friendly utility van.

“Bright Automotive is all about jobs,” Lyle Shuey, vice president in charge of marketing, told Villarreal. “We’re positioned to do that as fast as we can, but we’ve been challenged with funding.”

Villarreal said he would be taking his observations back to Washington, where Bright has filed an application to secure federal loans of $450 million to begin mass production.

“It’s great technology, a great company,” Villarreal said after meeting with company officials. “There’s real excitement about the possibilities at Bright.”

Company CEO John Waters said after meeting with Villarreal that Bright would have a strategic announcement this year. “We feel like within six months we’ll have some pretty exciting announcements coming out,” he said.

Shuey discussed with Villarreal his years connected with the auto industry, starting with positions at local General Motors plants that began in the early 1990s. “We’re here for a reason,” he said, calling the area the Silicon Valley of electric vehicle technology, dating back to GM’s production of the EV-1 experimental electric car.

He touted the Idea as a vehicle that would be a homegrown, American product that would also create jobs for U.S. suppliers.

Before his visit to Bright, Villarreal got a taste of Anderson’s GM legacy when he toured local GM sites with a delegation of city economic development officials.

“We lost 25,000 employees and 8 million square feet of manufacturing space,” Economic Development Director Linda Dawson told Villarreal before the tour. “We are still left with all the property” after GM’s bankruptcy.

“It has created some problems for us,” she said. But with the growth of the Flagship Enterprise Park and the promise of Bright and other alternative-energy businesses, “We are well on our way for a tremendous recovery in Anderson.”

Villarreal said his visit marked an outreach designed to help Anderson understand how Washington might be able to help the community, and to help Washington understands the community’s needs.

“Our office really acts as an intermediary. We’re a red-tape cutter,” Villarreal said, between local communities hurt by the decline of the auto industry and federal agencies that can offer assistance.

Anderson-based Bright Automotive’s prototype vehicle, the Idea, is a plug-in hybrid utility van designed from the ground up as a fleet vehicle that can achieve gasoline efficiency of up to 100 miles per gallon.

Contact Dave Stafford: 648-4250, dave.stafford@heraldbulletin.com

On Wednesday, the city’s Board of Zoning Appeals approved a special exception for an amended development plan at the Flagship, which will include a one-story 2,600-square-foot addition off the northeast corner of the building.

krM Architecture associate Dave Montgomery, who has worked on designing the addition, said it would house some office space and a large open space for Bright.

“They just feel like they need more room,” Montgomery said. “I’m not sure what they’re going to do in there.”

The addition will be free-standing and connect to the Flagship with a concrete patio. It will look similar to the current Flagship building, Municipal Director Assistant Director Tim Stires said.

“This new office complex, which will house the Bright Corp. hopefully as it gets started, will be another piece in the city’s economic development effort,” he said.

Last year, Bright introduced its Idea, a 100-mile-per-gallon utility van. The company is working on securing federal funding to continue its operations in hopes of expanding into mass-producing the Idea. Company leaders have not yet said whether they would build their manufacturing facilities in Anderson.

Municipal Development Director Michael Widing said an Indiana Department of Transportation grant would provide for additional landscaping near the new addition. The grant is part of INDOT’s project to create a truck lane from Enterprise Drive to Interstate 69 that is set to open soon.

Contact Aleasha Sandley: 640-4805, aleasha.sandley@heraldbulletin.com.

The Anderson University, located near Scatterfield Road [by the old Park Place Elementary], is a Christian based college. While attending there for a few hours I enjoyed myself to the fullest. They took us on a view of the campus and they also allowed us to participate in a CSI type class. We got to study different DNA’s, understand what DNA is, and my absolute favorite catch the “bad guy”. When all the “work” was done, we had the chance to eat. The food was good and I was very well pleased.  I also enjoyed their café. It made me think, Anderson University doesn’t sound that bad!

On the 3rd of February 2010, we visited the Flagship off of I-69. We got the chance to tour the building and hear from many different inventors. The first person to speak was Todd Rimer. He was very enlightening. He told us the truth about the real world. He told us how it’s hard, but if will pay off in the end. The second man to come up was named Pete Bitar. His inventions were amazing, although one of them scared me! :] I enjoyed him. He spoke and told us that if you are committed things can be achievable. After we had lunch we went to the Purdue part of the building. There we got to create a lever type building that could hold marbles. Although my group came in third, it was a great opportunity. It taught us teamwork and creativity skills. From that room we moved into another one where we got to open up computers. This was by far my favorite. I enjoyed taking the pieces apart and then putting them back together. It was fun, but it made you pay good attention so you wouldn’t mess up.

Both places were amazingly fun and I would love to do it again. I would recommend Anderson University to anyone. The Flagship I recommend they visit also. Two things I’ve learned from both places are: One, nothing is impossible if you commit. Two, you won’t know until you look for yourself. 
By: Paris, Anderson HS

As excited as I was about getting out of school for a JAG fieldtrip, I had hoped it wouldn’t be too dull. Before the trip, I figured AU would be all conservative women preaching about Jesus Christ. Flagship, I pictured boring old men talking about business related thins I couldn’t care less about.

I had never actually toured a college campus with my education in mind. But Anderson University has so many unusual resources. They have a huge workout facility, and a great sports center. We toured their campus radio station, which was cool but not really my interest. We had a mini Biology session where we played forensic scientists and used DNA to determine who a culprit in an imaginary crime was. The staff and few students we met with at AU were very nice, and seemed genuinely happy to be there.

The Flagship blew me away, though. At first we just sat and listened to people talk, it was starting to bore me. Just as my attention was fading, Pete Biter pulls out a suitcase, plugs it in, and a lightning bold erupts out of it, buzzing like mad. It shocked me back to reality, and then I became interested. It seemed like they really tried to interest us. My favorite part by far, was the computers part. We disassembled and reassembled an actual computer. Handling it was exciting.

Both of these field trips blew me away. I had a great time at both places, and I definitely recommend visiting and touring both areas.
By: DeAnna Petry

On our first JAG field trip, we visited the Flagship Enterprise for a tour of the building. Owners of two small businesses located in the facility, talked with us about their companies and we participated in interactive projects with professors from Purdue University. We learned about inventions and worked on HTML web formatting in the computer lab. I learned there are opportunities out there for me.

The highlight of my trip was when Tammy Rimer of Community Networks talked to me. We discussed an excellent opportunity for me to receive mentoring. My experience was great!

For our second field trip, we visited Anderson University for a tour, talks, and participation in excellent cold case projects. The criminal case project was especially fun because we got to do hands-on activities and learn about DNA and paternity testing. I learned quite a bit about identifying DNA and how paternity is determined.  We toured the dorms and saw the workout facilities in the Wellness Center. I learned the rules that must be followed when attending the University and I learned that they have great food! Overall, the experience was great. I enjoyed the tour guides, the food, the facilities, the students, and especially the art department! It was a great opportunity.
By: Tonee Smith

The Anderson Business Incubator, home to five budding entrepreneurs, is receiving needed and renewed emphasis in a partnership that should signal better success for the program.

Anderson’s incubator concept needs stronger input from business experts. Now, it should get that focus.

Emerging in Indiana as city-backed opportunities in the mid-1980s, incubators provide start-up assistance to promising entrepreneurs. Hoosiers with innovative ideas get a chance to test concepts using office or warehouse space within a city’s designated incubator area. If they find success, they can move on; it not, the cost of the investment is far lower than establishing a free-standing store or shop.

In late 2005, the National Business Incubation Association in Athens, Ohio, estimated that approximately 1,100 business incubators were operating in North America, up from 950 in 2002. Previous studies have shown that 87 percent of firms that graduated from incubators stayed in business. The U.S. Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy has reported that two-thirds of new employer establishments survive at least two years, and 44 percent survive at least four years. Other statistics that business incubators increase the survival rate of start-ups from 35 percent to 87 percent.

One criticism of incubators is whether municipalities should become involved with starting up new ventures. The answer is a clearly in the affirmative.

As a way to promote jobs, cities should create incubators in unused facilities, providing tax breaks to both the owner of those empty buildings and to those willing to start their venture in the incubator.

Last week it was announced that the Anderson Business Incubator, located in the city-owned former police headquarters at 700 Meridian St., will be shuttered and hopefully sold. The five incubator firms will be moved into empty retail space. The city will decrease its ABI funding from $75,000 to $25,00.

The good news is that the incubator program will expand into a city partnership with the Flagship Enterprise Center and Anderson University. Flagship executive director DeWayne Landwehr and AU Falls School of Business dean Terry Truitt are supportive. There will not be a physical site for the incubator, which is bound to reduce the visibility of the program. However, there should be a more concentrated focus as entrepreneurs find retail space with the Flagship’s help.

The partnership is encouraging. Local entrepreneurs will have a helping hand through business experts. The city can promote the concept that it wants to create jobs and keep its business outlook moving forward. And we can all be rewarded when Anderson is recognized as the home of new technologies and products.

-Herald Bulletin-