IN Chamber: The Podcast

Nick Smarrelli touts balance and flexibility. Yes, that includes running ultramarathons and endurance races, while he and his wife embrace careers with travel obligations and caring for their three young children. On the business side of the equation, Smarrelli says he’s a big believer in saying “yes”, especially espouses one of GadellNet’s core values in “no excuses” and has the company investing...

That’s the name of the book – literally – as in Keep Your Customers: How to Stop Customer Turnover, Improve Retention and Get Lucrative Long-Term Loyalty. The launch came during the current pandemic, but it’s author Ali Cudby’s career journey and lessons learned that are so important today. She calls herself an “accidental entrepreneur” based on a bra-buying experience in London. Today, her compan...

He’s not the first to note this, but he says it well. “We really know how to build things here. Silicon Valley is very focused on connecting things. There’s a gap in the marketplace for taking those big, complex physical things (that we build) and connecting them to the application layer, with that software layer. This is a huge opportunity for us.” Rob Martens is chief innovation and design offic...

At age 28, Max Brickman is managing director of Heartland Ventures, a South Bend-based venture capital fund looking to connect Midwestern business strengths with coastal technologies. He founded his first successful business at age 15 and led two more start-ups while a student at Indiana University. Thus, he brings entrepreneurial experience of his own to his company’s efforts. It’s a somewhat uni...

Ronald Rochon terms the University of Southern Indiana campus on the west side of Evansville as a “hidden gem.” Beyond the aesthetic beauty, he says visitors will see an “immediate approach in how people respond to one another. We are a campus of choice, a campus of care and a campus of compassion. I love this place.” Rochon notes USI is home to many first-generation students and large numbers tha...

Wabash College provides what President Gregory Hess calls an “intentionally intimate liberal arts experience.” It is one of only a handful of all-male higher education institutions remaining in the country – a status it is safe to say is not going to change. Hess says a clear mission with a focus on excellence of students allows the college to make a difference. It also prompts alumni to give back...

Indiana State University President Deborah Curtis doesn’t think the college residential campus will ever go away, but acknowledges that the growing “some college, no degree” market requires a pivot in serving those students. ISU boasts unique programs ranging from packaging engineering technology (the only accredited program in the nation) and construction management to insurance/risk management a...

If you’re experiencing challenges finding the workers you need – and who isn’t – you certainly realize that simply “complaining” about the lack of talent isn’t going to get the job done. Part of the longer-term play is reaching out directly to students to educate them about careers, including in the trades. Holly Ward of Irving Materials Inc. (aka the “Rock Lady”) and Jesse Johnson of Metal Superm...

Modesty is a good thing – most of the time. One of the exceptions might be when it comes to “selling” Indiana to those who might not be as familiar with the many attributes the state has to offer. We’re not going to recount those many qualities today – you know what they are. Chamber President Kevin Brinegar will share the journey, however, that has propelled Indiana from economic depths in the ea...

Yes, the start of a new decade puts us in a forward-thinking mode. But we couldn’t resist one more look back at Indiana business history in the current issue of BizVoice® magazine. To accompany those features and stories, we offer this conversation with Ray Boomhower, senior editor at the Indiana Historical Society Press and author of a soon-to-be 18 books. Among his many subjects: 1968 and Robert...

Leadership is not easy, and it potentially gets a little more difficult as time goes by. Krista Skidmore of FlashPoint Leadership Consulting brings more than 17 years of experience to the mix and helps clients cope with the many ongoing changes. The prior year brought an emphasis on longer-term experiences and an increased focus on measurement (part of the firm’s brand promise). Trends for the new...

The leader of her own human capital consulting firm says 50% of first-time CEOs are not successful in that role. Why? Among the leading reasons: Not reading the company culture correctly. Bermes & Associates strives to fix that, with executive onboarding the fastest-growing portion of its business. And with a financial cost of at least two times the executive’s salary (to recover, recruit, hire ag...

The complexity of the opioid (and other drug) epidemic is enormous. A sometimes overlooked – but vitally important – component is the impact on the workplace and the role of the employer. Enter Indiana Workforce Recovery (IWR). In less than two years, IWR has shifted the conversations and provided pathways for organizations to invest in their employees and offer solutions. Jennifer Pferrer of the...

He’s a co-founder of the Culture of Good. She’s a leader with Ingram Micro Mobility. They are working together to implement the former at the latter with an ultimate goal of Ingram Micro being a company that “not only delivers products but delivers hope.” Or, in other words, making both the workplace and the world better places. It’s a proven process that helps organizations find a cause that alig...

She’s 33 years old. She’s the president of a 36-year-old market research and insights organization (SMARI) started by her father. Her home is a ranch, where she takes care of a growing family of animals (delivering a calf at 3:00 a.m. and leading a high-powered business meeting a few hours later is a classic). Meet Katie Ittenbach of SMARI. She talks millennials, leadership, moving up the ranks fr...

Julie Benezet gave up a law career to enter real estate development and later was an early executive at Amazon. Both provided valuable lessons in overcoming the unknown – “we lived change every hour of every day” at Amazon – and adapting to evolving circumstances. Today, she coaches executives and guides companies on making the most of the rapid change that is taking place. Benezet shares best pra...

When it comes to boosting the skills of your workforce, Joe Santana uses an old story to advise "look nearby before you go to a far off land." In other words, do all you can to build up current employees. Employee networks are an important ingredient, along with properly using diversity and inclusion to address challenges. Santana shares insights learned during his business career and consulting w...

Donna Brazile first became involved in politics at the age of nine when she supported a City Council candidate who had promised to build a playground in her neighborhood. She has worked on 10 presidential campaigns, including Al Gore’s 2000 effort that ended up in the Supreme Court. She also served as the interim chair of the Democratic National Committee. Among her current roles: adjunct professo...

Dana Perino spent seven-plus years in the White House, including being the first Republican woman to serve as press secretary (for President George W. Bush). She now serves as a Fox News host, commentator and author. In our conversation ahead of her co-keynote (with Donna Brazile) at the Indiana Chamber’s 30th Annual Awards Dinner, she points out that when she left the White House in January 2009...

Danielle Shockey has two decades of public education experience and is in her second year as CEO of the Girl Scouts of Central Indiana. The two factors are coming together with the recent announcement of the organization being a program partner in an all-girls school focused on STEM education. It’s a natural combination. The Girl Scouts have a rich STEM history and an ever-growing STEM focus. Our...

Today is the slowest rate of change we will ever experience going forward. That’s one way that futurist Jack Uldrich opens his presentations. He sometimes closes with the statement: “The best way to predict the future is to create it.” It’s what occurs in between that matters. It’s having awareness of the rapid developments taking place, it’s having the humility to accept the evolution and it’s ta...

Does your organization view information technology as the “cost to keep the computers running” or “critical to the growth of your company”? Jack Mansfield of Bell Techlogix is among those working to help ensure the latter replaces the former. He has seen many changes in his 16 years at Bell, with he and his team making sure “we are in alignment with where technology is going.” Elevated customer ex...

Congress is suffering. Susan Brooks, representing Indiana’s 5th congressional district, is trying to alter that in several ways. Her history of authoring bills with bipartisan partners provides her the opportunity to continue to have a direct impact despite the Republicans now being in the minority in the House. Federal responses to the opioid epidemic, school safety and expanded broadband needs a...

The number is daunting: 1 million-plus jobs becoming available in Indiana in the coming years. Fred Payne, commissioner of the state’s Department of Workforce Development (DWD), views that as an opportunity. The keys to an effective workforce system, he says, are engagement, training and time to review/reflect for any needed course corrections. DWD has a variety of programs to assist both employer...

A young mom wanting to get playgrounds in her neighborhood fixed led to a career in political activity and community service. Sheila Brillson Matias, mayor of Michigan City from 1996 to 2003, is back home guiding the Leadership Institute at Purdue University Northwest and the Society of Innovators. She talks about bringing common sense to government 20-plus years ago, the importance of effective c...