Bloomington’s The Mill optimistic with Trades District advisory board
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Bloomington’s new innovation district is currently a few leveled, grassy plots speckled with a few trees and populated by parked city vehicles and dog training get-togethers. That won’t last much longer.
Business acceleration not-for-profit The Mill this week appointed an advisory board of local business leaders to direct the development of the city’s Trades District, an innovation sector planned downtown within the Bloomington Certified Technology Park.
John Fernandez, senior vice president of innovation and strategic partnerships at The Mill, said many technology-based companies and startups are already based in the city, but they are dispersed. Building this district, he said, will allow both a visible economy to point to as well as stoke the type of collaboration and innovation bred when such minds are concentrated.
The goal is for the district to be a regional hub, Fernandez said, where entrepreneurs, investors and industry talent can connect and become more successful as a community. He mentioned the opportunities present for the city being positioned where they are with Crane and Indianapolis nearby.
“What we’re going to do in the Trades District, this is more than just a real estate development,” he said. “It’s much bigger than that.”
This new Trades District will create an area for business professionals both in a residential and commercial sense, Fernandez said. Other places in the community may not have what young workers are looking for, he said, and they want to build that. He said he desires the city’s brand statement to include that the city has a thriving and innovative economy — one that makes others want to invest there too.
“We need to build a neighborhood that kind of feels right for the kind of talent that we want to retain and attract to Bloomington,” he said. “There’s just not that kind of neighborhood right now in Bloomington.”
Fernandez talks about the opportunity this district presents and how the board will help reach those goals.
The new board was chosen to include representation from the existing sectors and stakeholders in the community, Fernandez said. Nine people currently populate the board, but it may grow to 15. He said they would be interested in adding more startup founders to the project, but that presents a challenge as those people usually have packed schedules getting their businesses off the ground.
The collection of people will be used as a sounding board to hear pitches, give feedback and pitch their own ideas, he said. All members are also well-connected, he said, so they can use their networks to extend the district’s messaging and vision.
“We wanted to engage a larger group of stakeholders, business leaders and others from our community that can help not just amplify some of the messaging and give us input on how the trades district is physically developed,” Fernandez said. “But think larger in terms of how we connect the opportunities for economic growth beyond Bloomington.”
The following are the initial board members:
- Sue Aguila: Founder/Owner of Bloomington Bagel Co.
- Isak Asare: Consultant at Aleria Research Corp and Co-Director of the Cybersecurity & Global Policy Program at Hamilton Lugar School of Global & International Studies
- Jay Baer: Owner of Convince & Convert and Founder of Tequila Jay Baer
- Erik Coyne: Ivy Tech Bloomington Chancellor
- Hamid Farzad: Vice President of Global Business Development at BioProduct
- Commercial and Catalent
- Anne Fields Lucas: NavalX Midwest Tech Bridge Director
- Jon-Paul Herron: Director of Network Services at Energy Sciences Network
- Michael Huber: Indiana University Vice President of University Relations
- Bryant Niehoff: Uplands Science & Technology Foundation CEO
Development will take place on 12 acres of mostly undeveloped land on the outer edge of downtown and will fill out the last piece of the 65-acre Bloomington Certified Technology Park. It’s nearby to several already existing hotels and Kirkwood Avenue’s retail and restaurants. Indiana University is about a mile away, and a nearby walking trail serves as an artery throughout downtown.
One of the first major projects to formulate is a 22,000-square-foot tech center, which will break ground later this year. The development will build office and collaboration space and is hoped to be used as a launching pad for further economic development.
Another recent proposal for the area is a $35 million boutique hotel, which will come in front of the Bloomington Redevelopment Commission in the coming weeks.