Leaves and temperatures are falling across Indiana. That can only mean one thing. This month, the Indiana Chamber presented its prestigious awards for Business Leader, Government Leader, Dynamic Leader and Community of the Year. The nods mark a year of high achievement for the honorees, and in many cases the efforts that spurred these awards go back a lot farther than 12 months.

Featured as cover stories in the current edition of BizVoice:

  • Ogletree Deakins Business Leader of the Year: Humble beginnings in life helped develop his compassion and tenacity. Both qualities have served Kevin Brinegar well as he’s made bettering the state’s business climate and seeing Hoosiers thrive his personal pursuit the past three decades. Along the way, under his guidance, the Indiana Chamber has grown into the second largest state chamber in the nation.
  • Birch Bayh-Richard Lugar Government Leader of the Year: Sometimes it takes a vocal advocate. For the last two years, that’s exactly what Elaine Bedel has been to the Indiana Destination Development Corporation. As secretary and CEO of the state agency, its mission to attract and retain talent, graduates and visitors has become her passion.
  • NextEra Energy Resources Dynamic Leader of the Year: Rupal Thanawala, longtime community advocate and CEO of tech and business advisory firm Trident Systems LLC in Fishers, says of her growing company, “We walk in the door, say ‘what’s your challenge?’ And we fix it.” That attitude goes far beyond Trident to her civic work.
  • Cummins Community of the Year: Columbus is the complete package. A robust business climate, philanthropic spirit, exceptional workforce and quality of life opportunities illustrate what a thriving place it is. One that’s punctuated by magnificent architecture, which makes it a destination for visitors and attraction for residents.

The new BizVoice also contains several additional features, including:

  • Short on Talent: The need for workforce talent remained the top concern in 2022 for Indiana employers – and by a wide margin. In response, more and more Hoosier companies are springing into action with various initiatives to address the talent shortage.
  • Let the Light Shine In: Henry County is known for a fair amount of Hoosier history. After all, hoops aficionados are quite smitten by the famed New Castle Fieldhouse, the largest high school gym in the country, and the historic Hoosier Gym in Knightstown (from the film, Hoosiers). Its town with a flavorful name, Spiceland, also lays claim to business history, having been home to Draper Inc. since 1902.