Mike Simmons

Mike Simmons, Co-Founder and CEO of T2 Systems, believes the pitch for the city of Indianapolis is that you won't find a city that has more to offer for the quality of life and the cost of living, than what Indianapolis provides. He believes Indianapolis is doing all the right things to make this a place people want to live.

We’ve been fortunate to have a great “backyard” to work with-in here in Indiana. We have terrific universities with great national presence. We started with the license for ND and grew to include IU & Purdue. JSK Apparel being an Indiana company was a positive during the approval process. This year we added the University of Kentucky and plan to launch Auburn and Michigan come Fall 2008. Having success stories in Indiana has been important to our growth.

Jeanine Stewart
JSK Apparel

Marvin Richardson

Marvin Richardson, President and CEO of Arcadia Health Care, mentioned what he heard overall at the roundtable was a very positive message that everyone enjoys owning and operating businesses in Indiana. He believes it's important to help create an environment where people want to move to Indiana, both as a place to live, as well as a place to work.

Bringing together fast track companies in Indiana to share insights and ideas is a tremendous opportunity for both the companies and our economy. Having the ability to learn from other successful entrepreneurs regarding their experiences dealing with a myriad of areas proved to be very beneficial. For example, we had the opportunity to discuss such critical topics as securing investment/growth capital, workforce development challenges in key talent areas, and working with state and local government on tax abatement issues/opportunities. I believe the insight gained from this meeting as well as the future interaction with these individuals will translate into positive results as we grow our company.

Brad Lawson
President & CEO
YourEncore, Inc.

As an Indianapolis based Apparel Company, JSK Apparel’s goal is to establish itself as a major provider of females fashion apparel in the Pro Sports and Collegiate Markets. Fortunately for JSK, we are located in a state and a region that houses major universities with great traditions and diehard fans. We are also fortunate to have access to excellent resources. For example the manufacturing of our women’s fashion jerseys takes place in Indianapolis not the garment districts of New York or L.A. Unfortunately, for JSK that in order to be competitive in our women’s fashion tees arena, it is necessary to seek sourcing outside of the United States in markets such as Asia, Indonesia or South America.

We currently purchase open market goods in the United States. But as our company grows, seeking sourcing abroad is not a maybe, but a must do. However, it becomes important that JSK stay true to our corporate code of ethics. In a perfect world, everything would be made in the good ole USA. Even better, everything would be manufactured in Indiana! However, this is not a perfect world. So if we must go overseas, let us make sure that the resources we use are not … less than perfect.

Sherry Compton
JSK Apparel