2023 COMMUNITY INNOVATION AWARD WINNERS
We had a blast at the 2023 Community Innovation Awards! Thank you to everyone who came out to help us celebrate our community’s bright lights. Special thanks to our event sponsor, TechPoint, for supporting innovation across Indiana, and to Oliver Winery, our beverage sponsor. (If you missed it, sign up for notifications to be part of next year’s event!)
Scroll past the gallery to see all winners!
FAST 15 MVP AWARDS
The Fast 15 Awards recognize the MVP employees who drive innovation at our companies. Dennis Trinkle, Senior Vice President, Talent, Strategy, and Partnerships at TechPoint presented the awards. He was assisted by two of last year’s winners: Hanping Guan, Director of Entrepreneurship at the IU Innovation and Commercialization Office, and Alisha Schott, Commerical Loan Officer at German American Bank.
ASHLEY WESLEY
Donor Relations Director, Boys & Girls Clubs of Bloomington
DIEGO ACHIO
CEO and Co-founder, Traduality
AUSTIN BURTON
Business Development Specialist, St John Associates
SARAH CADY
Employer Consultant, Ivy+ Career Link, Ivy Tech Bloomington
ANSLEY FENDER
CEO and Founder, GrantCycle
JONELLE GROSS
Operations Manager, Loren Wood Builders
ALLISON HAWK
Student Service Communications Specialist, Ardeo Education Solutions
SANDY HAYES
Office Manager, Consider It Done Transitional Services
MARKEITH HINES
Sales & Business Development, Silicone Depot
TIANA IRUOJE
Director of Student Engagement and Success, IU Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering
BRITTA LOUCAS
Marketing Specialist, St John Associates
ADAM PRICE
Business Education Teacher, Bloomington High School South
ILENE SCHAEFFER
Regional Vice President, Private Banking, German American Bank
KIM TARTER
Busiess Development Representative, Fire Dawgs Junk Removal
ASHLEY WESLEY
Donor Relations Director, Boys & Girls Clubs of Bloomington
DIEGO ACHIO
CEO and Co-founder, Traduality
DIEGO ACHIO
CEO and Co-founder, Traduality
ALLISON HAWK
Student Service Communications Specialist, Ardeo Education Solutions
ILENE SCHAEFFER
Regional Vice President, Private Banking, German American Bank
DARIN BAGLEY
Critter Wrangler, Scaly Tailz
SANDY HAYES
Office Manager, Consider It Done Transition Services
KIM TARTER
Business Development Representative, Fire Dawgs Junk Removal
AUSTIN BURTON
Business Development Specialist, St John Associates
MARKEITH HINES
Sales & Business Development, Silicone Depot
ASHLEY WESLEY
Donor Relations Director, Boys & Girls Clubs of Bloomington
SARAH CADY
Employer Consultant, Ivy+ Career Link, Ivy Tech Bloomington
TIANA IRUOJE
Director of Student Engagement and Success, IU Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering
ANSLEY FENDER
CEO and Founder, GrantCycle
BRITTA LOUCAS
Marketing Specialist, St John Associates
JONELLE GROSS
Operations Manager, Loren Wood Builders
ADAM PRICE
Busines Education Teacher, Bloomington High School South
BEST PLACES TO WORK
The Best Places to Work Awards recognize the area’s best employers and provide organizations with valuable employee feedback. Our own Andy Lehman, Head of Accelrator Programming, presented the awards.
BOSTON SCIENTIFIC
Honorary Member
First year on the list
GERMAN AMERICAN BANK
Rank: 1
Fourth year on the list
FIRE DAWGS JUNK REMOVAL
Rank: 2
First year on the list
LOREN WOOD BUILDERS
Rank: 3
Fourth year on the list
ARDEO EDUCATION SOLUTIONS
Rank: 4
Sixth year on the list
CLUTCH FABRICATION AND DESIGN
Rank: 5
First year on the list
IVY TECH COMMUNITY COLLEGE, BLOOMINGTON
Rank: 6
First year on the list
MONROE COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
Rank: 7
First year on the list
TRADUALITY
Rank: 8
Second year on the list
ST JOHN ASSOCIATES
Honorary Member
Fourth year on the list
BOSTON SCIENTIFIC
Honorary Member
First year on the list
GERMAN AMERICAN BANK
Rank: 1
Fourth year on the list
BEST PLACES TO WORK
- German American Bank—4th year on the list
- Fire Dawgs Junk Removal–1st year on the list
- Loren Wood Builders—4th year on the list
- Ardeo Education Solutions—6th year on the list
- Clutch Fabrication and Design–1st year on the list
- Ivy Tech Community College, Bloomington–1st year on the list
- Monroe County Public Library–1st year on the list
- Traduality—2nd year on the list
HONORARY MEMBERS
St John Associates—2023 Best Place to Work in Indiana
Boston Scientific—2023 Best Place to Work, US News
FUSE BUSINESS INNOVATION AWARDS
The Fuse Business Innovation Awards recognize the accomplishments of both companies and individuals in our community’s thriving technology and innovation scene. This year’s awards were presented at the gBETA BragBox Breakfast on October 3.
TINA PETERSON
Community Leader of the Year
JULIE ADAMS
Bill & Gayle Cook Entrepreneur of the Year
REUBEN VANDEVENTER FOR SECONDSIGHT
Company of the Year
RAVI BHATT
Mentor of the Year
TINA PETERSON
Community Leader of the Year
JULIE ADAMS
Bill & Gayle Cook Entrepreneur of the Year
ARI VIDALI & JULIE ADAMS
Bill & Gayle Cook Entrepreneur of the Year
NOMINEES
Ari Vidali (Envisage/ Vector Solutions)
Julie Adams (Oliver Winery)
RAVI BHATT
Mentor of the Year
NOMINEES
Ravi Bhatt
Richard Millunchick
Audrey Wessel
SECONDSIGHT
Company of the Year
NOMINEES
Cardinal Spirits
Folia
SecondSight
E2E ADVISING
Rising Star of the Year
NOMINEES
E2E Advising
GrantCyle
rScan
BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF BLOOMINGTON
Partner of the Year
NOMINEES
Boys & Girls Clubs of Bloomington
Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC)
Regional Opportunities Initiative (ROI)
TINA PETERSON
Community Leader of the Year
Michelle Cole
Adam Gross
Tina Peterson
Rahul Shrivastav
Ben Swanson
THE MILL SIGNS RDC AGREEMENT TO MANAGE THE DEVELOPMENT AND MARKETING OF THE TRADES DISTRICT AND TECH CENTER
Newsworthy Event of the Year
NOMINEES
The Mill signs RDC agreement to manage the development and marketing of the Trades District and Tech Center
Cardinal Spirits named best craft distillery, does community equity fundraising
Blueprint Stats acquired by Sports Info Solutions
Erik Coyne named new Chancellor of Ivy Tech Bloomington
Flywheel Fund expands, with more plans to grow