City Council Hears Updates From AcceLINX, IAW And Lilly Center
July 16, 2019 at 2:34 a.m.
City Council Hears Updates From AcceLINX, IAW And Lilly Center
By David [email protected]
Brad Bishop, executive director of OrthoWorx, said AcceLINX was created in 2016 as a spin-off of OrthoWorx.
“The idea is to put consulting resources, mentors around people with ideas with the hope of growing them up here in Warsaw or northeast Indiana or having them use the vast resources that we have here in the area,” he said, that can’t be found anywhere else in the world.
He then introduced David Anderson, a consultant with AcceLINX who runs its day-to-day operations.
Anderson said there are a couple of things that AcceLINX does, including consulting services to existing companies. It has engaged 64 entities in discussion since its inception in March 2017, with six of those from the Warsaw area.
“I think overall that just shows the kind of interest in what we’re doing,” Anderson said.
He said AcceLINX has had consulting engagements with 11 entities to support their development and growth, four of those from the Warsaw area. AcceLINX has pending engagements with two other companies in the local area. The consulting team has expanded to nine people.
“Two of our current clients are considering relocation of all or part of their business to the state and the northeast Indiana region. One of those has been looking at Kosciusko County, and it alone may support 160 new jobs over the next four years if it elects to relocate here, so we’re excited about that opportunity,” Anderson said.
He’s working with the Kosciusko County Economic Development Commission, Indiana Economic Development Corp. and Elevate Ventures to try to entice the company to come here.
Anderson said AcceLINX has assembled a database of technical services providers and suppliers nationwide, with 205 in northeast Indiana, all that cater to medical device or orthopedic companies.
More recently, he said AcceLINX has been focusing on new company creation.
“We’re looking for intellectual property that we can acquire as AcceLINX and put a team around it and build businesses here right in Warsaw,” Anderson said.
AcceLINX has looked at 26 different IP opportunities so far, engaging with universities across the state to look at their intellectual properties.
“More recently, we’ve been exploring the opportunity to have an unmet needs discovery problem that would be held in conjunction with Parkview Health and IU. The next step, once you uncover the unmet needs, is to then put teams together that would focus on developing novel solutions and intellectual property for those needs,” he said.
Finally, he said AcceLINX has been investigating “the potential for a muskoskeletal health start-up boot-camp-style educational program, which is a time-intensive, not a labor-intensive, process to further develop business plans for our orthopedic device companies. And that would be with support and equip from Notre Dame’s Idea Center.”
He said capital is usually one of the critical components to a start-up company’s health. AcceLINX has a number of people working on sourcing capital.
“This continues to be a challenge for a lot of start-ups and one of the impediments to our further engagements with start-ups,” Anderson said, but AcceLINX has made some strides there. It now has a grant writer on staff and is working on putting together an early-stage investor network.
Looking forward, one plan for AcceLINX is to establish and expand an AcceLINX facility at the North Buffalo Street project. The goal there is to bring resources to the region and better support those that already exist here.
Before the next speaker – Chris Harrison from Indiana American Water (IAW) – began, Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer said, “It’s always interesting folks think that the municipal water is municipal water. Quite frankly, the city doesn’t provide the water. It’s a private utility. Chris runs the utility here locally.”
Harrison said there were two items he wanted to address, the first being that IAW did receive approval for a rate request from the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission.
He said the filing was Sept. 14, 2018, and “the IURC did come through with a filing for us with an increase of 7.9%, and that will be staged out in two stages.” The first stage was at 1.99% effective July 1, and the second will be at 5.79% in May 2020.
For Warsaw IAW customers, Harrison said they’ll see a 0.96% increase in step 1 for an average bill going from $34.84 to $35.17. Under step 2, the bill will go to $35.87. He said that’s based on 4,000 gallons used per month.
Since 2014, Harrison said IAW has invested $4.3 million into the system. Some of the projects that have occurred are the Market Street phase 1 project – moving water infrastructure accordingly for them – and McKinley Street, replacing mains. Other Warsaw upgrades were on Silveus Crossing, Lake Street and West Center Street.
The other thing Harrison pointed out was that IAW pays $148,000 in taxes annually. IAW has 310,000 customers across the state, serving about 1.2 million people.
Speaking on Lilly Center for Lakes & Streams, Executive Director Dr. Nate Bosch said the four sections that the Center works on, on the city’s behalf, are economy and tourism, protecting human health and community service, aiding public parks and recreational programs, and establishing, maintaining and operating scientific facility and programs.
He said the three lakes in the city generate about $2.5 million annually in property tax revenue. The property values around the lakes total over $288 million, and “the total county lake economic impact is over $313 million.” He said those numbers aren’t static as those numbers fluctuate depending on how clean or dirty the lakes are.
A new thing the Center is working on is the “Clearly Kosciusko County” campaign. “This is a campaign celebrating lakes as unique part of our county’s identity and including the city of lakes right in the middle of our county here,” Bosch said, showing the council a slide of the billboard campaign.
He then discussed the E. Coli study at Pike and Center Lake beaches the center did. The city took action based on the center’s recommendations, and Bosch said the lakes haven’t had the same E. Coli issues since then. “We’re really proud of that,” he said.
He also discussed the Lakes Festival which is held during Memorial Day weekend. He said it’s the largest festival in the county and draw over 6,000 people.
He concluded by mentioning the center’s new home is the Dr. Dane Miller Science Complex on the campus of Grace College in Winona Lake. They hope to have over 1,000 students come through the facility this next school year.
“It’s obvious of the tremendous impact (the center has) not just on our city but the entire county. Your work is critical,” Thallemer said.
Brad Bishop, executive director of OrthoWorx, said AcceLINX was created in 2016 as a spin-off of OrthoWorx.
“The idea is to put consulting resources, mentors around people with ideas with the hope of growing them up here in Warsaw or northeast Indiana or having them use the vast resources that we have here in the area,” he said, that can’t be found anywhere else in the world.
He then introduced David Anderson, a consultant with AcceLINX who runs its day-to-day operations.
Anderson said there are a couple of things that AcceLINX does, including consulting services to existing companies. It has engaged 64 entities in discussion since its inception in March 2017, with six of those from the Warsaw area.
“I think overall that just shows the kind of interest in what we’re doing,” Anderson said.
He said AcceLINX has had consulting engagements with 11 entities to support their development and growth, four of those from the Warsaw area. AcceLINX has pending engagements with two other companies in the local area. The consulting team has expanded to nine people.
“Two of our current clients are considering relocation of all or part of their business to the state and the northeast Indiana region. One of those has been looking at Kosciusko County, and it alone may support 160 new jobs over the next four years if it elects to relocate here, so we’re excited about that opportunity,” Anderson said.
He’s working with the Kosciusko County Economic Development Commission, Indiana Economic Development Corp. and Elevate Ventures to try to entice the company to come here.
Anderson said AcceLINX has assembled a database of technical services providers and suppliers nationwide, with 205 in northeast Indiana, all that cater to medical device or orthopedic companies.
More recently, he said AcceLINX has been focusing on new company creation.
“We’re looking for intellectual property that we can acquire as AcceLINX and put a team around it and build businesses here right in Warsaw,” Anderson said.
AcceLINX has looked at 26 different IP opportunities so far, engaging with universities across the state to look at their intellectual properties.
“More recently, we’ve been exploring the opportunity to have an unmet needs discovery problem that would be held in conjunction with Parkview Health and IU. The next step, once you uncover the unmet needs, is to then put teams together that would focus on developing novel solutions and intellectual property for those needs,” he said.
Finally, he said AcceLINX has been investigating “the potential for a muskoskeletal health start-up boot-camp-style educational program, which is a time-intensive, not a labor-intensive, process to further develop business plans for our orthopedic device companies. And that would be with support and equip from Notre Dame’s Idea Center.”
He said capital is usually one of the critical components to a start-up company’s health. AcceLINX has a number of people working on sourcing capital.
“This continues to be a challenge for a lot of start-ups and one of the impediments to our further engagements with start-ups,” Anderson said, but AcceLINX has made some strides there. It now has a grant writer on staff and is working on putting together an early-stage investor network.
Looking forward, one plan for AcceLINX is to establish and expand an AcceLINX facility at the North Buffalo Street project. The goal there is to bring resources to the region and better support those that already exist here.
Before the next speaker – Chris Harrison from Indiana American Water (IAW) – began, Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer said, “It’s always interesting folks think that the municipal water is municipal water. Quite frankly, the city doesn’t provide the water. It’s a private utility. Chris runs the utility here locally.”
Harrison said there were two items he wanted to address, the first being that IAW did receive approval for a rate request from the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission.
He said the filing was Sept. 14, 2018, and “the IURC did come through with a filing for us with an increase of 7.9%, and that will be staged out in two stages.” The first stage was at 1.99% effective July 1, and the second will be at 5.79% in May 2020.
For Warsaw IAW customers, Harrison said they’ll see a 0.96% increase in step 1 for an average bill going from $34.84 to $35.17. Under step 2, the bill will go to $35.87. He said that’s based on 4,000 gallons used per month.
Since 2014, Harrison said IAW has invested $4.3 million into the system. Some of the projects that have occurred are the Market Street phase 1 project – moving water infrastructure accordingly for them – and McKinley Street, replacing mains. Other Warsaw upgrades were on Silveus Crossing, Lake Street and West Center Street.
The other thing Harrison pointed out was that IAW pays $148,000 in taxes annually. IAW has 310,000 customers across the state, serving about 1.2 million people.
Speaking on Lilly Center for Lakes & Streams, Executive Director Dr. Nate Bosch said the four sections that the Center works on, on the city’s behalf, are economy and tourism, protecting human health and community service, aiding public parks and recreational programs, and establishing, maintaining and operating scientific facility and programs.
He said the three lakes in the city generate about $2.5 million annually in property tax revenue. The property values around the lakes total over $288 million, and “the total county lake economic impact is over $313 million.” He said those numbers aren’t static as those numbers fluctuate depending on how clean or dirty the lakes are.
A new thing the Center is working on is the “Clearly Kosciusko County” campaign. “This is a campaign celebrating lakes as unique part of our county’s identity and including the city of lakes right in the middle of our county here,” Bosch said, showing the council a slide of the billboard campaign.
He then discussed the E. Coli study at Pike and Center Lake beaches the center did. The city took action based on the center’s recommendations, and Bosch said the lakes haven’t had the same E. Coli issues since then. “We’re really proud of that,” he said.
He also discussed the Lakes Festival which is held during Memorial Day weekend. He said it’s the largest festival in the county and draw over 6,000 people.
He concluded by mentioning the center’s new home is the Dr. Dane Miller Science Complex on the campus of Grace College in Winona Lake. They hope to have over 1,000 students come through the facility this next school year.
“It’s obvious of the tremendous impact (the center has) not just on our city but the entire county. Your work is critical,” Thallemer said.
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