You already know, and many nationally have been agreeing with, the following: Start-up companies are thriving in various parts of the country, including here in Indiana.

Recent articles in Forbes and Entrepreneur share the sentiment with an emphasis on college towns and talent hubs.

Forbes: With nearly 50% of millennials looking to start their own business in the next three years, it is not a surprise that the new generation of entrepreneurs aren’t based – or even particularly interested – in Silicon Valley. With students and recent graduates all over the country experiencing startup fever, college towns may just be the next big thing for entrepreneurship.

Even though nearly 47% of venture capital deal value in the U.S. goes to the West Coast, other startup hubs are rising. Cities such as Columbus, OH, St. Louis, MO, and Denver, CO, offer burgeoning and diverse economies with a dense concentration of college students – Ohio State, Washington University and University of Denver, respectively. Along with lower costs of living, the talent and technology emerging from college towns have become a magnet for startups and VC dollars.

“The reason that a tie to a university is so critical is because of the amount of creativity and talent that is walking the halls on university campuses,” says Paul Judge, a technology entrepreneur and investor. “I believe students no longer go to college to get a job, instead they go to college to create their own job.”

In Entrepreneur, Will Koffel, head of the Google Cloud Startup Program, writes:

Companies don’t exist in cities; people exist in cities. The more we venture into the future of distributed work, the less it matters whether talented people operate together under the same roof.

I have the privilege of visiting dozens of cities across the world. Every time I visit a new market, I want to know three things: Where does the talent come from? Where does the money come from? Finally, where do the ideas come from?

In Boston, many great universities pump out business and tech graduates. Bolstered by the rest of New England, Boston startups have plenty of access to talent. Boston’s startup scene is not as big as it could be because some of its talent (and most of its potential investors) do business in New York.

Much farther south, Miami offers its own advantages. Talent is less abundant than in San Francisco or Boston, but that’s fine – Miami knows how to import talent with the best of them. Add in its role as a unique Latin American gateway and a massive center of private wealth, and Miami begins to look more appealing for would-be unicorns. Founders in Miami can think globally from day one and gain access to enough capital to do something about it.

With all due respect to the national experts, there’s no reason Indiana can’t, and shouldn’t, be part of this discussion.

Adam H. Berry is vice president of economic development and technology at the Indiana Chamber of Commerce. He joined the organization in 2019.