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Hi there,

My name is Brant Howell and I am a new Orr Fellow with the class of 2010. I am originally from Mercer Island, Washington (just outside Seattle), so it’s fair to say I may be the fellow from furthest away. That being said, the question I most often get is: “How did you end up in Indiana?”

I originally came to Indiana to attend school at Notre Dame. I played varsity lacrosse for the Fighting Irish and had a great time while in college. At the beginning of senior year I was not sure where I wanted to be or what I wanted to be doing after graduation, but I was pretty sure it wasn’t going to be in Indiana. I had had enough of the cold winters and being away from my family. All that changed, however, when I found the Orr Fellowship.

The Orr Fellowship recruits talented graduates from Indiana and places them with high growth start-ups in the Indianapolis area. Working with these small companies allows the fellows to see the inner-workings of a growing firm and to wear many different business hats in a short period of time.  Unlike larger companies where a new hire may stay in one position for six months before seeing the business from a different angle, the new hires at entry-level jobs in Orr Fellowship startups are utilized in as many ways as possible from the first day. In addition to work experience, Orr Fellows have the opportunity to network with an intimate group of young, ambitious minds, receive mentoring by successful executives, and are given access to some of Indiana’s most influential business people and leaders through monthly networking events.

More than anything else, what sold me on the fellowship was the philosophy that was conveyed by the board members during recruitment: good people make all the difference, hands-on experience is everything, and close mentoring relationships are the key to rapid personal development.

I work for BlueLock, LLC, which provides cloud-hosting services and infrastructure-as-a-service to a variety of clients from startups to Fortune 500 companies.

My interests include sports, especially lacrosse, running, training, hunting, hiking, and pretty much anything that involves moving. I also love classic cars and good food.
 

The Orr Fellowship's ROTC took place in Indianapolis, Indiana, just a few days ago, and with all the wonderful new candidates to speak with, inspiring presenters,  and some great MCing by Bob Reish and Matt Lubbers, there was plenty to be excited about. My favorite part, however, was after the event had ended. The last candidates were trailing out and the hosts were gently herding the current fellows towards the exits while flipping the lights off behind us.

Outside, the conversations continued. For a good 30 minutes, almost twenty of the current fellows stood in the not-so-tropical Indiana night, catching-up, telling jokes, and making plans for both the short-term (weekend) and long-term (career). It was already late, we all had work in the morning, and we had already been together for nearly four straight hours. Yet somehow we were simply having too much fun enjoying each others company, conversing about business jobs in Indiana and pleasure, and bouncing our latest ideas off one another to be bothered.

To my left, the ever enthusiastic Jon Corwin rang out, saying he wished the candidates were still around, as this scene was the best example he could think of of what it really means to be a fellow. I had to agree.

Recently, Bob Reish, Matt Barloh and I attended the first career fair of the season! We traveled north to our Alma mater, The University of Notre Dame, and after spending the morning promoting the Orr Entrepreneurial Fellowship in front of several classes, we moved to the fair to further spread the word about this amazing program.

We met some great candidates and had a ton of fun getting to know many of the good prospects for the Orr Fellowship Class of 2011. We had conversations with people we had asked to come see us, and also a surprising number of folks who sought us out after they had heard of our program from friends.

Many candidates were not specifically looking for entrepreneurial companies or technology jobs in Indianapolis, but when we began discussing the fantastic networking opportunities in Indianapolis, and the high growth start-ups we work with, we could see their interest begin to swell. Of course, many of our best candidates had serious offers from big companies and other prestigious post-graduate programs, so with this strong competition it was even more incredible to see the how their eyes would light up when we discussed the opportunities at the Orr Fellowship. Obviously the advantages the three of us saw in the Orr Fellowship resonate with other people.

The recruiting season is off to a great start but there is still much to do. It is obvious already however that the word is spreading about this great opportunity. With a little luck this recruiting season will be the best yet.