Hi.

I'm your host, George Lepeniotis Notice stepping in for Jeff Rea, who's got the week off.

Thank you for joining us.

Each week as we discuss the region's most important economic development initiatives with a panel of experts.

This week, we're diving into Idea Week, an annual celebration of innovation, entrepreneurship, and the future of business hosted by the University of Notre Dame and its partners in the South Bend Elkhart region.

We'll learn more about the event, its impact, and how it fosters new ideas and opportunities.

Coming up on today's show.

Idea week is a premiere event in the South Bend Elkhart region that brings together entrepreneurs, investors, and industry leaders to explore new ideas, develop business strategies, and celebrate innovation.

From keynote speeches and pitch competitions to networking opportunities and hands on workshops, Ideas Week offers something for everyone looking to shape the future of business.

Joining me today to talk more about the significance of Idea Week and what we can expect this year, are Marty Mechtenberg Senior Director of Entrepreneurship and industry innovation with the South Bend Elkhart Regional Partnership.

Chisonga Mukumbuta, coordinator of entrepreneurship and industry innovation with South Bend Elkhart Regional Partnership and Hannah Ollen Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Navigator with the Indiana Small Business Development Center.

Everyone, thanks for being with us today.

Great to be here.

Thank you for having us.

Marty, I want to start with you to talk a little bit about Idea Week.

I think everyone in Michigan has heard of it, but maybe doesn't know exactly what it is.

Would you give us a little bit of a background and history of what Idea Week is how it came to be?

Absolutely.

It was started in 2017 by Notre Dame's Idea Center, hence the idea week.

Yeah.

Meant right from the get go to be a celebration of innovation and entrepreneurship in the region.

But with, with an element, beyond just a regular conference.

But it's a mashup.

Arts, culture, innovation, entrepreneurship.

You could say a little bit like our version of South by Southwest in Austin, Texas.

Right?

So it's it's not a conference.

It's not a festival.

It's something in between those things.

And so Notre Dame started in 2017.

This year in 2025 is the first year that the South Bend region, a partnership startup, South Bend Elkhart, has taken over the leadership of the event.

Notre Dame wanted to make it more community facing.

And, approached us last year about, taking on the task of transforming it into more of a community facing event.

Awesome.

Before we get to this year, I did want to spend a little bit more time on years past.

It's great that you call it a mash up.

I think that's such a great way of describing it.

It is some substance, some fun, yes, some unexpected collaborations and meetings and greetings.

It's mission.

If you could describe its mission in one statement.

What would you say its mission is?

Yeah.

I should be able to give you an exact mission.

But really, at the end of the day, it's.

It's about it's about possibility.

It's about showing the community here and showing the rest of the region the possibilities that can happen if we if we lean into it.

The great things happening here, the powerful things happening here, the entrepreneurial attitude which has been in existence in South Bend, going back generations and generations and really celebrating that and saying great things are possible.

Now, Chisonga you are fairly new to the area.

You came here to get your master's degree at I USB correct?

That is correct.

So how did you first become involved with Idea Week?

I became involved with Idea Week when I joined, the South Bend Elkhart Regional Partnership, and it's been a wonderful roller coaster working with Idea Week.

Okay.

So I'm really involved on an outlook of it with the logistics side of things.

A little bit of speaker outreach, but that's more of Marty's neck of the woods.

So ever since getting involved with it, I've been looking forward to it and seeing how this wonderful mash up comes together.

Will this be your first year attending?

Ideally, this will be my first year attending a D week, and now I'm getting it from a lens of the side of being an organizer and an attendee.

Well, yeah, you went from zero to firehose, exactly 0 to 100.

So, what what are you looking forward to most when you think about the agenda?

Well, and we said we won't get to this year, but let's let's just sneak it in.

What are you looking forward to most when you think about this year?

We have a lot of wonder ful content coming this year.

I would say, too, that I'm looking forward to right now is we have something on AI powered on AI, which is going to teach us a lot on how to get into that.

And we have one that's called The Power of Content by Melissa Baker, Thomas Frank and Rebecca Rogers.

It's going to be wonderful to see how content itself is just transforming and becoming something that you could actually rely on as a main source of income.

So I'm really curious to see how that goes.

Now, Hannah, you two are, is this your first time attending Ideo week?

Yep.

This is my first year.

All right.

And you were coming at it a little different.

I mean, you're with the IC.

Is BDC, right?

So you're more focused on the small businesses.

What is it that you, in your view, small businesses can take away from attendance at an event like Idea week?

A lot.

But one of the most important things that I think they could take away is the connection and networking opportunities.

Especially for entrepreneurs in the region, there's going to be a whole collection of local and national leaders and individuals.

That it would be great to be connected with just to get some, some authentic connections and conversations going on.

Hopefully that will open up some new opportunities.

Yeah.

That's great.

Marty, as we think about the history of the event, I know that, it's been going on since 2017 and it's always been very well attended.

Yes.

And supported well by the University of Notre Dame.

And everybody, I think by the nature of it being at the Idea Center and, it being part of that collaborative process.

But there are other partners who also participate in Idea Week and have historically done that.

You want to talk a little bit about those sponsors or those partners and what they what what someone who might want to attend can expect to see.

Sure, sure.

And you're absolutely right.

From the get go, the idea, which has always been a very collaborative event, you can't do an event like this without involved inviting multiple partners into the into the conversation.

So this year yeah Notre Dame obviously our top line sponsor, our top line level of support expertise.

But beyond that we have many other sponsors for source Bank, Gary Tony Family Foundation, beacon.

I mean, there are all this in our website.

I won't list them all.

Momentum Entrepreneurship Hub.

We've had a great outpouring of support for the event because it is free.

Yeah.

I think that's important to mention.

This is not a paid event.

Anybody who wants to attend content for free, with the exception of a couple of the the play pieces, like the concert and the comedian.

But but the sessions, the workshops, the keynotes, the panels are all free and open to the community.

And while the play sessions are important, right, I mean, it's important to have that mash up, but really, for someone either a small business person or someone with an idea, right?

Is someone someone to even beyond before before even having being a small business person, someone just with with an idea could benefit from attending this campaign.

Right.

That is absolutely true.

That is absolutely true.

As you think about, years past, what what are some of your.

I know you've attended a number.

Yes.

What what have you thought of as you thought?

Man, that was great.

And I really want to make sure it continues forward.

Yeah.

You know, they've had great keynote speakers over the years.

Very inspirational people coming into town.

You know, there's nothing super tactical always about going to a keynote.

But a lot of times you walk away just feeling like, okay, they started from nothing.

They built this thing like, I feel like I can do that too.

Yeah.

You walk away really feeling inspired by some of the stories, some of the entrepreneurs who started with very minimal means and have built companies have, have, have like transformed the industry that they work in.

And I've always found that absolutely inspirational.

That's one of the strongest things about idea, because we get to hear from those folks and in many ways interact with them.

Yeah.

Oh yeah.

Many of the speakers over the years have been fantastic about hanging around, going to the happy hours, visiting, Travis Suarez back, who founded Hydro Flask, came last year, spent the whole day talking to students, talking to anybody who wanted to talk to him, which was really great to have that level of connection with the with an entrepreneur who built a multi-million dollar company.

All right.

Well we're there.

Let's talk about 2025.

So it is the dates are, the end of April.

Correct?

What are your exact dates, Chisonga?

It's April 22nd, all the way up to April 25th.

Okay.

All right.

So it's that week.

As we think about it, song, are you able to tell us?

I know we have a famous podcaster.

Yes, we have Ashley Flowers of the number one leading.

She is the number one leading female podcaster in the United States right now.

It's called Crime Junkie.

She's going to be coming.

It's going to be fun.

It's going to be big.

She's going to be talking about her journey and how she's scaled up her empire.

I feel like this is something that people really need to listen to, having such a big presence, especially in an age where many of our ideas, our content generation, and there is so much opportunity in that field.

So having someone who's gone through it is very valuable to to those that might be thinking about going through that.

So true.

That is very true.

And, I heard something about mention of a comedian.

Who do we who who's coming?

So on the Friday 25th of April, we're going to be having Saheb Singh, who is an upcoming comedian.

I feel like this is something that people should not miss.

It's a nice way to end the week.

Very funny.

Good laughs.

And where's his performance?

Is it all happening at the Idea Center?

Good question that you asked.

This is going to be happening at stockroom East.

So right downtown South Bend next Howard Park.

That's where Stockroom East is.

It's going to be happening.

It's going to be great.

Awesome, awesome.

You know, as you think about, this year's event.

Is there a part of it that you're looking forward to more than others, or a part of it that you feel would help entrepreneurs more than others?

Well, one of the events that I'm particularly excited about, in part because the Small Business Development Center has been, interested in seeing what we can do to help, creative entrepreneurs in the area.

There's a panel with Polina Ostrov from pattern magazine.

And she has been a big advocate for, just bringing awareness about the value of the creative economy in Indiana.

So that would be a great event for anyone who's into design.

Our creativity.

And not just those people, but anybody in economic development who wants to learn more about the value of the creative economy in our region.

You know, and, Marty, that goes back to what you were really saying about these unique opportunities in the mash up.

It it really is.

If someone wanted to spend all week attending idea week, could they.

Well, Tuesday through Friday.

Yes, there would be something every day for them to attend, either a networking opportunity, workshops, fashion, a keynote, a play activity, right?

A concert, a comedian, whatever it might be.

You know, we, I should say real quick, none of this is happening at the Idea Center.

Okay.

Right.

We we've broken the the two big days.

Kind of a tactical day, which is Wednesday the 23rd.

That's the workshop day.

And that will be held at the Downtown library.

The community learners and Learning center wing of the downtown library.

That's a full day of workshops, very tactical.

We want people to go to those sessions, walk away and be able to implement ideas into their business, and to unpack that for us, for sure.

What does that day look like for someone who wanted to spend the day at the library doing tactical work session?

Yeah.

So that day is probably the most like a traditional conference.

So there are going to be 13 different workshops happening and different tracks.

So you have to make some choices.

You can't go to all of them.

And there'll be three running at any given time.

Two in the morning, two in the afternoon, a lunch break in the middle.

There will also be opportunities for three one on one sessions, one with government contracting, one with IP law and one with, plug and play, which is a which is a big, venture capital fund.

So you can attend sessions, you can go to one on one sessions, all day long.

And on that day afterwards there'll be a happy hour.

And that's the night of the.

Okay go concert as well.

So.

Got it.

And that concert is happening in downtown South Bend.

That concert is happening at the Morris downtown, South Bend.

All right.

We are thrilled to have them coming.

So for our viewers who may not want to attend the sessions, they can still go to the concert.

Absolutely.

Concert is running.

It's part of idea Week.

But you can buy tickets.

Yeah.

Yeah, anybody can buy a ticket, but the value really is that the value is that every day session that you're that all day session that you're talking about at the library.

Yeah.

That's awesome.

And then, that is Tuesday.

That is Wednesday.

That is Wednesday.

Yeah.

Okay.

All right.

Yeah.

There will be a launch party Tuesday.

Okay.

At the Momentum Entrepreneurship Hub, which is a new co-working and entrepreneurs support space coming online.

Yeah.

That'll happen Tuesday, Wednesday, all day tactical workshops, tons of great information.

And then the concert.

And then going into Thursday, which is more inspirational.

Yeah.

When we talk about it, was that a strategic decision to remove it from the Idea Center?

Well, historically it's actually been held at different venues around the region.

So the Idea Center isn't really designed for a conference.

It's it's it's classrooms and it's it's offices.

So it's been held at the Embassy Suites.

Last year it was at the Century Center in downtown South Bend.

Okay.

It's been held a variety of different locations around the region.

And that's interesting because I think for those of our viewers who may or may not have attended in the past, it's good to understand the concept because the two can blend together.

Yes.

Right.

Idea week.

Idea center.

Yes.

You know.

Yes.

And so, as as you think about the overall arching kind of philosophy of this year, what do you hope will be the takeaway?

What do you hope to accomplish as far as a broad vision of a successful come, a conference, what would you call a successful 2025 idea week?

Yeah.

Yeah.

It partly goes back to what I mentioned earlier.

Just the sense of possibility.

So what I would love to see are entrepreneurs coming to this event, walking away with tangible, tools that they can start to implement, but also going to the day on Thursday and walking away feeling very inspired by the stories that they've heard, the keynote speakers that have have given inspirational messages.

I would love for all of our regional entrepreneurs to walk away feeling like a real sense of possibility, a real sense of momentum happening in our region, and a real feeling that I can build something here that could become great.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Chisonga you mentioned, you know, you're working now with the, with the South Bend Elkhart Regional Partnership.

Talk a little bit about the partnership and what its mission is even beyond Idea Week.

Okay.

It's a good question.

So that's the regional partnership.

The main mission or outlook of things would really be to improve the per capita of the region.

The main outlook of the region and making sure everyone benefits from this.

It's bringing together resources.

We're here to help.

I'll give an example of my specific role as coordinator of Entrepreneurship and Industry innovation.

A large part of what I work with is working with startups.

Putting them together with the resources they need when it comes to funding.

We have something called the Proof of Concept Fund, where we fund these startups and help them get on the feet, get on their ground and start up well.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And in the same for the, Small Business Development Center is, is is the broader mission to help small business folks get that leg up?

Yeah.

So we work with small business owners anywhere from before they've actually started their business.

They just got a plan or an idea together all the way through, you know, fully establishing their business.

So we're a free resource.

There's no cost to work with the Sbdc.

So we want to make ourselves as accessible to as many entrepreneurs as possible.

And speaking of that access, how is it that an entrepreneur can find you and more about you and your resources other than your website, of course.

So one way is to contact me.

As the ecosystem navigator, it's my role to connect entrepreneurs with the resources that they need when they need them.

And we will also be out and about at idea Week.

Since I'm an ambassador for Ida week, you can find me there, and I'll be wearing a a blue shirt.

And, I can I can answer questions about it there.

Awesome.

Yeah.

Marty, from your perspective, as you think about the South Bend, Elkhart Regional Partnership and Idea Week, but even beyond Idea Week, what is it about our region that really drives entrepreneurship?

Because we really are a very entrepreneurial, region.

What what makes us such fertile ground for your business?

Yeah, 100%.

I mean, South Bend was founded by, you know, entrepreneurs in a lot of ways.

Right?

And, built some of fantastic companies over the, over the centuries.

In fact, one of our panels on Thursday is on Centennial Companies.

So we're calling it The World According to Sustainable Companies.

And we have three companies here in the region Elkhart Brass, MTI, engineering and labor Booth.

And these are companies that have been there are fourth, even fifth generation companies based here in the region, still in business, still pivoting, still staying innovative.

And they're not the only ones.

Now we hear about the all Studebaker went out of business and so on and so forth.

I honestly, I sometimes think of Ida week as a way to exorcize the ghost of Studebaker like we don't.

You know that did happen.

But that was also an amazing burst of entrepreneurship, and it does not need to continue to define us.

Its failure doesn't.

Right?

There's amazing new stuff happening.

And, we need to keep our eye on the future.

It's a competitive world.

This is a great region full of creative people.

We've got the University of Notre Dame as an anchor institution of higher education, plus ESB plus Ivy tech, plus Saint Mary's.

I mean, we've got great, great higher ed resources here.

And I think we've got the kind of Midwest work ethic to, to put, put our minds to an idea and bring it to reality and work it through.

Yeah.

And look at Elkhart.

Yeah.

What a what a great manufacturing community it is.

Yeah.

And I was actually just going to say that, you know, Elkhart, when we talk about Studebaker and its effect and impact on South Bend, what we forget a lot of times is that before being a successful car company, that, like many American car companies, you know, went away.

But before was that it really was a very successful coachbuilder.

Right.

And that coachbuilding enterprise, that coachbuilding spirit remains in our area in Elkhart.

I mean, when you look at an RV, it is just it's a large coach.

Yeah.

And, it's really good.

You know, I think that that skill set still remains, so that's awesome.

When we shifting that to the focus of Idea Week and those interactions, someone that I tend to do, we can expect to meet people in industry similar to their own accounting.

Absolutely absolutely.

Yeah.

I mean we're idea week is is for many people.

It's not necessary for every single person out there, but it is for those in business, in entrepreneurship, interested in innovation.

So you are going to meet people, you're going to meet other small businesses.

You're going to meet investors, you're going to meet successful local companies, whether they be 100 years old or relatively new startups.

Yeah.

You know, we have, you know, we we anticipate 4 or 500 people attending over the course of the couple of days, not including the concerts.

Yeah.

So and, you know, you mentioned investors.

I think that's a great part of this.

In fact, the university idea week yourselves, other regional partners have really worked hard to make sure that that funding isn't an overcome a hurdle for an entrepreneur.

Right.

I don't know that overcome a bulls word, but that it isn't a insurmountable hurdle.

Is that still the case?

I mean, and Hannah, maybe you can speak to that.

There are resources available for entrepreneurs that will help lessen that economic risk of starting your own business.

Yeah.

That may come in a variety of forms.

But loans are very often, what people are seeking when they're wanting to start a business.

Some of those loan types can be, a barrier for some small business owners.

And so we do have resources in the area, like cdphe friendly, and the, Business Development Corporation.

Who work with small business owners to get them the kind of capital that they need to get going.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And then, you know, Marty, if you if you think back of the previous years, would you say that there has been direct investment in entrepreneurs as a result of idea week?

Yes.

Yes.

We know that has happened.

We know that's happened because this is this is our chance to bring investors to the region, whether they're coming from Chicago or some other city.

You know, we're not Boston, we're not San Francisco, but we can attract investment here.

And if we didn't do things like idea week, it would be hard to get on folks radar in a lot of ways.

Yeah.

So by pulling off an event like this and making it into a big, exciting mash up, we do attract investors.

We have a number of people coming from Indianapolis, Chicago, other bigger metros, and they're taking a hard look at South Bend and the whole, South America region.

And that's one of the reasons we do this.

And so in addition to getting intellectual knowledge in, in addition to getting some stories about success and path and coaching and that thing sort of thing, an entrepreneur can expect to come to Idea Week and meet people that might be willing to invest in them.

Yes.

Yeah, there's no promises.

But if you're if you want to meet an investor, this is probably your best opportunity to do so.

Better than the Starbucks.

Better than the random random Starbucks.

That's right.

Yes.

All right.

Yeah.

So Chisonga as you think about 2025 and what's coming, you've been working hard on it, right?

Yeah.

I think, I can tell that this has been a big part of your planning.

What?

You know, do you feel like, there's been a significant, change from years past?

Do you feel this year's agenda is going to be a new twist?

From what I've noticed since I wasn't there the previous year?

Sure.

But I have noticed this event.

It just keeps getting bigger and bigger this week.

Let me start by just saying we're going to start with the launch party on Tuesday, at Momentum Hub.

And that's going to be happening.

And it's going to be really amazing.

Okay.

So I'm just going to say you already.

I'm just so excited for this.

But it's awesome.

It's definitely going to be bigger.

There's a lot that's going to be happening, a lot of more speakers that are going to be there, a lot more content.

It's it's really going to be wonderful.

So I'm really thankful.

Tuesday kicks off the launch party.

Tuesday kicks off the launch party that's going to be happening at Momentum Hub.

It's a new space and a good chance for people to come in and see what they're able to.

And where's Momentum Hub?

Momentum hub is right downtown on Michigan Street and then on Michigan Street near the old Salvation Army building out South Michigan.

Got it.

And something.

And then Wednesdays at the library, Wednesdays at the library, downtown, South Bend.

Yeah.

And then Thursday, Thursday is at the, South Bend City Church.

It's new facility in the old Tribune Building, which is a great space, which is a great space, fantastic space.

We we're really happy to partner with them.

And then Thursday is that inspirational day, right?

That's when we have the keynotes, the panels.

There'll be a lot of excitement that day.

Less maybe tactical knowledge, but a lot of inspirational things.

Yeah.

We've got high name people coming.

In addition to Ashley Flowers, we have Max Yoder, who's also a hometown hero in a way.

Ashley, by the way, is from this area.

Max Yoder, sold a company called lesson Lee a few years back in Indianapolis, originally from Goshen.

And he's going to give a great keynote lunchtime keynote speech on mental health for entrepreneurs.

Where does that happen?

All of this is happening in South Bend City Church on Thursday.

So all day we'll be there all day on Thursday.

We we were joking with people like, this is the day you call in sick.

You're like, oh, hey, boss, I can't make it.

I'm not feeling good today, but secretly you're going to spend the whole day being inspired by awesome stuff at, at that venue.

Well, thank you to all three of you for being with us today.

Yeah, we really, really appreciate the time and look forward to 2025.

Idea week it it'll be after this episode airs, but, look forward to seeing it.

And then we can recap on another episode.

Great.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Great to be here.

That's it for our show today.

Thank you for watching on knit or listening to our podcast.

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I'm George Lepeniotis I'll see you next time.

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