Software gets a lot of ink in the local and national media. And for good reason. Nationally, software-as-a-service (SaaS) has become a burgeoning industry, and central Indiana has become a major Midwest SaaS hub.
SaaS firms essentially develop and code software and then license and sell it through monthly or annual subscriptions. The growing SaaS sector in Indiana has given rise to such companies Hc1, SmarterHQ, Springbuk, Sharpen Technologies, Lessonly, MetaCX, Perq and others.
But there is no software without hardware, and Indiana is making its mark with hard technology too.
The hardware side of technology is something state officials – and the Indiana Chamber – have been emphasizing for several years. On June 27, 2019, Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb signed into law the Indiana Data Center Sales Tax Exemption as an incentive to lure more data center construction to the state, a measure supported by the Indiana Chamber.
Now, there’s a new attraction. The 65-mile corridor running from West Lafayette through Lebanon to Indianapolis has become what some are calling the Hard Tech Corridor in the Heartland. With Hoosiers’ experience in advanced manufacturing, biosciences and lab-to-life facilities, this looks to have a major impact on the state’s economy.
Before we get into that, let’s take a step back and define hard tech.
In the simplest terms, hard tech is technology that touches hard stuff, including aerospace and transportation initiatives, bio-pharma operations and semiconductor manufacturing plants, as well as other advanced manufacturing facilities. Hard tech isn’t as sexy as software, but at some point, software must touch hardware, including manufacturing equipment, energy grids, medical devices, vehicles and even seemingly mundane items such as home heating-air conditioning systems and refrigerators.
Hard tech jobs – which usually carry high five- and six-figure salaries – are certainly no less appealing than those in the software sector.
So why is Indiana poised to become a hard tech hub? There are two primary drivers. First is its available workforce. With an abundance of advanced manufacturing brainpower on hand plus Indiana colleges and universities pumping out engineering and technology experts, Indiana has the trained workforce needed to power this sector. That effort is getting a big boost from Purdue’s new Semiconductor Degrees Program, which began this summer and is the first of its kind in the nation. Ivy Tech Community College is also part of this initiative, which officials say will supply half of the 50,000 engineers needed in the U.S. in microchip manufacturing by 2030.
The second reason is forward-thinking private and public sectors making investments needed to create a 65-mile corridor that is getting national notice.
Three important hard tech pillars have been rolled out.
In West Lafayette, Purdue officials recently spotlighted the importance of its 460-acre Discovery Park District, which is designed to be a futuristic smart community that will serve as a lab-to-life case study of the latest autonomous technologies.
The $1 billion mixed-use development of housing, retail, restaurants, high-end manufacturing, and industry and research-driven partnerships is already an economic and commercial success. Discovery Park is just four years into a 30-year master plan, and already “uniquely extending the impact and reach of a leading Big Ten university into its surrounding community,” notes Mung Chiang, John A. Edwardson dean of engineering and executive vice president for strategic initiatives.
Discovery Park District will be a combination of a connected community and testing grounds for private-sector partners. The intent is that the real estate development will provide best-in-class products and services to about 10,000 people who will live, work, learn and regularly visit there, enabling companies to innovate connectivity solutions by deploying them first at Purdue.
At the other end of the corridor is 16Tech, a fast-growing network of dynamic spaces, programming, tenants and partners that are creating an ecosystem where bold ideas and emerging enterprises can thrive. The 50-acre complex is on the west edge of downtown Indianapolis and includes a 5G laboratory and facilities housing a variety of makers, high-tech manufacturers and cutting-edge restauranteurs.
The first completed building in the district, Innovation Building 1, opened in August 2020. A state-of-the-art office-lab facility, the building’s tenants include the Indiana Biosciences Research Institute, Central Indiana Corporate Partnership and its initiatives, Indiana School of Medicine and various start-up labs.
The innovation hub is home to flexible and private office space, the Machyne makerspace, and the AMP, an artisan marketplace and food hall showcasing local culinary entrepreneurs and vendors. The Emerging Manufacturing Collaboration Center at 16Tech offers state-of-the-art equipment and space.
By 2030, the 16 Tech Innovation District will be home to more than three million square feet of office, lab, retail and residential space, and operations there will create more than 3,000 jobs.
Smack in the middle of these two hard tech stalwarts is the LEAP Lebanon Innovation and Research District along Interstate 65 in Boone County. LEAP stands for limitless exploration/advanced pace.
The state plans to use the rural site to attract companies in the advanced manufacturing, research and development, life sciences, technology, and microelectronics and semiconductor industries.
The Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) has roughly 6,000 acres under contract for the development. The first big announcement concerning LEAP came late this spring when the state announced pharmaceutical behemoth Eli Lilly and Co. would spend $2.1 billion on two new manufacturing facilities situated on 600 acres on the north end of the development.
Indiana’s goal is to surround the Lilly facilities with suppliers and other tech-driven firms, while the southern area of the development would have headquarters, research and development facilities and advanced manufacturing. This model may be replicated by communities like Warsaw, seeking to retain orthopedic manufacturing as its anchoring industry.
While it might look like these are three separate and unrelated happenings on Hoosier soil, Chiang insists they must be looked at collectively.
“Purdue University under Mitch Daniels has been trying to generate talent, jobs and knowledge – and do it working together with stakeholders at many levels,” says Chiang, who will replace Daniels as Purdue president Jan. 1, 2023. “This corridor gives us the concentration and connectedness in hard tech this state needs. These 65 miles are an outstanding place where talent, jobs and knowledge can be created. And it’s all hard tech, where technology touches real stuff. Where the virtual meets the physical.”
Indiana’s Hard Tech Corridor is coming together at the perfect time, Chiang adds, pointing to the recent passage by the U.S. Senate of a bill championed by Republican Indiana Senator Todd Young.
The CHIPS and Science Act passed the Senate last week 64-33 and the bipartisan bill is expected to pass the House as well. The package, worth $280 billion, includes $52 billion in subsidies to entice companies to manufacture semiconductors in the U.S. It also includes a whopping $200 billion for research into cutting edge scientific fields, including quantum computing, artificial intelligence and robotics.
“It’s time to go on the offensive, and that is exactly what this legislation, which has gone by many names – from the Endless Frontier Act to the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act to CHIPS-Plus – will do,” Young said in a statement last week.
“Senator Young’s bill will be key,” Chiang emphasizes. “Part of the (bill) is providing for the creation of regional tech hubs. We are set up to take advantage of this. With the way Indiana has positioned itself and the potential provisions of this bill, it gives me goosebumps whenever I think about what this can do for our state.”
