For the past eight years, a (northern Indiana) nonprofit called enFocus has brought young technical talent to northern Indiana with the aim of tackling a wide variety of civic projects.
Fellows from enFocus have worked on about 150 projects involving local governments, schools and nonprofit organizations. Their fingerprints are on many initiatives: a ride-sharing program aimed at helping people with transportation issues get to work, pavement temperature sensors that give real-time information on where to place salt and brine during the winter, and a new community paramedic program to reduce the number of persistent emergency calls.
As a result of early enFocus projects, South Bend created a Department of Innovation and Technology to continue working on new ways to solve problems. And enFocus has continued to expand its reach.
In 2018, it began offering its expertise to Elkhart County, and it recently announced it would expand into the private sector with the creation of a new team of fellows focused on industries throughout the region.
“We’re moving into the industrial cluster because it’s a driver of the regional economy,” said Andrew Wiand, executive director of the organization.
Click here to read the full report from Ed Semmler in the South Bend Tribune.
Manufacturing accounts for more than a quarter of the jobs in the north-central Indiana region.