Economic Jobs Indianapolis

• Just adding people will no longer solve the problem:  Rob talked with us about how not too long ago, simply adding educated people to a country's workforce and not necessarily worrying about productivity gains within that workforce would bring about increases in economic growth for the country.  That day in age is long gone now and becoming more productive as a workforce with less resources is driving economic growth much more than simply adding another body to the stem.  
• Finding new and innovative ideas to solve big problems is as important now as it ever has been: Much of the time in conversation with Rob revolved around the issues that the Lilly Foundation has identified in education and health care and how they are trying to solve them.  One thing I found refreshing about his approach to solving issues was trying to find workable solutions on a small scale before advocating them on a large scale.  For example, in the education field, the Lilly Foundation doesn't try and solve entire country's problem in one big cash-flush solution, but instead they take small, but calculated, bets on Indianapolis and Indiana based initiatives that are innovative and take new approaches to solving problems of things such as getting more students to graduate and improving the quality of education.  Then if they see success in these smaller initiatives they advocate these solutions on a larger scale, thereby advocating for more proven and refined solutions then ones that are great in theory but may not be great in practice. 

While many of you out there are suffering from a case of the Mondays, I, on the other hand, am coming off a weekend buzz that will surely last me for the rest of the year.  What happened that was so great, you ask?  Well, on Saturday the Little Giants of Wabash College defeated, smashed, and slaughtered (I think you get the idea) the little Tigers of DePauw University in the annual Monon Bell football game.  The prize - the infamous Monon Bell that has been passed from victor to victor for the past 116 years.

As Natalie Ciambrone, a fellow Fellow of mine, so eloquently noted in her post regarding the Monon Bell game last week, this unique tradition does bring people together from both sides of the rivalry.  In fact, many of the Orr Fellows were able to meet up this year for some friendly trash-talking before the game.  You can see what went down from the picture below (that's Katie Veatch and myself, in case you were wondering).  With both schools well-represented in the Orr Fellowship, this little rivalry will certainly remain a topic of conversation for many years to come.

Ok, ok, so it's about that time in the post that I have to say something enlightening and at least half-related to the Orr Fellowship.  Well, here's my valiant attempt at doing so.  Historically, many Wabash College and DePauw University students have been successful in securing their place in the Orr Fellowship.  But how are these liberal arts students even remotely prepared to take jobs in these fast growing Indianapolis companies that inherently require experienced employees with a great deal of business-related knowledge?  The answer is simple, really.  These two universities do a tremendous job at teaching their students how to think and learn effectively.  In a sense, working in a start-up company is extremely similar to getting a liberal arts education.  While at Wabash, I remember taking classes in Theater, Art, Music, Economics, Math, English, and Religion (just to name a few).  In a way, it was extremely difficult to develop a way of thinking that was sharpened to be single-discipline minded.  It is this flexibilty and broad way of thinking that permeates within a entrepreneurial business which often requires its employees to wear many different hats while performing day-to-day operations.

So why do I think that liberal arts students make great Orr Fellows?  They make great fellows because of their ability to think critically while still keeping all interests of the business in mind.  This, I propose, is an invaluable skill that every business, whether small or large, needs to look for when it comes to hiring.  So, no matter what your background is in school, or what discipline you ended up studying, just remember - the Orr Fellowship is looking for students that can fill a variety of roles within a company, while working hard and learning to thrive, no matter what they end up doing.

On a lighter note - ding, dong, ding, dong, ding, dong...

Sorry Dannies, that's the Monon Bell that will be ringing in Crawfordsville for at least the next 363 days...  Better luck next year!

• the presence of a network of young professionals like myself to share ideas, concerns, successes, etc.
• the pipeline of Indiana business leaders that fellows are given the opportunity to interact and build relationships with
• the position and ability to join a small, start-up company and, through hard work, be able to make an impact within the organization
• knowing that I'm making a good investment in my career by being in an environment that forces me to learn as much as possible about running a small business