The Cyberinfrastructure Building at IU-Bloomington will be the venue for an April 1 public reception to introduce The Switchboard, an asset-mapping website for Bloomington’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. The reception, co-sponsored by IU’s Office of the Vice President for Engagement (OVPE), will highlight the function and purpose of the Switchboard website and showcase the Cyberinfrastructure Building (CIB) to Bloomington’s entrepreneurial community.
The Switchboard website was developed to encourage the flow of intellectual, financial and human capital among participants in Bloomington’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. This includes venture creators, advisers and mentors, university resources, support organizations, investors and the labor force. By cataloging the resources available to entrepreneurs in Bloomington, the Switchboard can facilitate connections that help entrepreneurs grow their ventures faster.

OVPE and its Innovate Indiana initiative supports the efforts to develop the Switchboard website and promote entrepreneurship in Bloomington. Kirk White, IU’s assistant vice president for strategic partnerships, has served on the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Project Team since its inception. The Entrepreneurial Ecosystem is a collaborative effort by the City of Bloomington, the Bloomington Economic Development Corp., the Bill and Gayle Cook Center for Entrepreneurship at Ivy Tech-Bloomington and Indiana University, funded in part by the Community Foundation of Monroe County.
The rollout event will be held from 5:30 to 7 p.m. on Wednesday, April 1, in the Wrubel Lobby of the CIB. The CIB is the center of information technology at IU-Bloomington and part of the IU Technology Park at Tenth and the Bypass. The CIB is home to the IQ Wall, a wall of 24 monitors, which will be an ideal place to showcase the Switchboard website. Tours of the CIB will be available.
Anyone with an interest in entrepreneurship in Bloomington is encouraged to create a profile on bloomingtonswitchboard.com and to attend the April 1 reception.
[…] In Bloomington and nearby Bedford, a list of upcoming activities can be found by perusing The Switchboard, an entrepreneurial portal established by the Bloomington Economic Development Corp. with support from organizations that include Innovate Indiana. […]