Growth Alliance Blog

2018 Focus Groups! We sat down with 10 groups of young professionals (77 total participants) to chat about how we could make our corner of the world an even better place. Here is what we found.

Aric Pryor, president of Evansville-based Quarion Technology, walked away with the $10,000 grand prize for his startup pitch at the 10th annual Innovation Showcase in Indianapolis.

It's true. We created an alley for selfies. But more than an alley for over-sharers (we're kidding...kind of), Self.e Alley at 318 Main is about celebrating our community, creating conversations, increasing our city's walkability, and connecting with the 'e is for everyone' regional brand.

“I get by with a little help from my friends” should be Cheryl Mochau’s theme song. The personal chef was inspired to start her business, Food Tours, after a girlfriends’ getaway to Saint Louis with her bff. Feeling in need of a pick me up, Cheryl invited her friend to take a road trip to break out of a cooking rut. They walked “The Hill” district, stopping in authentic Italian bakeries and restaurants along the way, sharing entrees on a self-made walking tour. Mochau and her gal pal had so much fun they repeated the adventure in Franklin and Nashville, TN and Louisville, KY. And thus, the inspiration for Food Tours of Evansville was born.

The Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation understands that tomorrow's employees are today's students, and that's why they encourage all students to sign up for the Governor's Work Ethic Certificate program. Watch this video with Governor Holcomb, Mayor Winnecke, and Superintendent Smith to learn more about how the EVSC is helping students get to the #NextLevel.

Hillary Melchiors is a doula. She gets to be there for one of the most significant events in a woman’s life. Ironically, her original career plans didn’t include babies in her own picture, let alone become the focus of her career. She also didn’t plan on starting her own business as she prepared herself for a life in academia. Babies certainly have a way of turning life upside down.

Growth Alliance and USI representatives toured the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) – Crane Division to discuss our Partnership Intermediary Agreements and increased opportunity for Technology Transfer in Southwest Indiana. View this blog post to learn about recent development and opportunites.  

Many companies have intellectual property and may not even realize it. Martin suggests that every business should do an annual IP audit. When advising business start-ups, he suggests they start with deciding on a good name for the business and to trademark it. While a unique name is easier to trademark, a descriptive name helps with marketing. New businesses are advised to do some research to make sure you are not infringing on someone else’s trademark before spending money to market or brand your business or product.

Losing a job is extremely stressful. For Mike Stagg and his partners, it presented the opportunity to start a new business and created a passion for bringing high tech jobs into Evansville.

The data team at realtor.com has located the housing markets where millennials (age 22 to 36) make up the largest share of home buyers, and our home sweet home made the list!