Mirro to Accelerate Elevate Northeast Indiana
November 19, 2019
Dr. Michael Mirro, a key investor in startup and early-stage companies in Indiana, has been selected board chair of Elevate Northeast Indiana, a partnership between Northeast Indiana and Elevate Ventures that promotes entrepreneurship.
Mirro succeeds Marilyn Moran-Townsend, who in 2017 became the first chair of Elevate Northeast Indiana. Mirro assumed the role in October 2019.
Mirro said that Moran-Townsend’s leadership was critical to making entrepreneurship top of mind, as well as building a deeper culture for entrepreneurs to thrive.
Dr. Michael Mirro, board chair of Elevate Northeast Indiana
The board will work strategically to deploy resources and mentoring to key clusters in the region, including advanced manufacturing, medical device, life sciences, insurance, and data science to name a few.
“Our economy is dependent on a very vibrant entrepreneurial community,” Mirro said. “We need to do everything we can to cultivate that activity and continue to build off of our entrepreneurial culture. We have a lot of support organizations in the region that are helping and Elevate needs to be fuel for all the activities.”
Dan Meek, who joined Elevate Ventures on Nov. 4 as the regional Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EIR), will be a great fit to foster innovation and provide the much-needed fuel in northeast Indiana.
“Dan has experience on all sides of entrepreneurship, not only in coaching startups but also being part of a startup himself,” Mirro said. “A lot of his experience has been in commercialization and medical device startups so it’s natural for him to be here helping entrepreneurs that are in that space.”
Mirro said that while Meek has specific experience in the medical device industry, his extensive background gives him the capability to help entrepreneurs across many industries.
Entrepreneurs and others from the 11-county region who are interested in meeting Meek can join Elevate Ventures at a nearby Meet & Greet:
Huntington-Kosciusko-Wabash-Whitley counties: Monday, Dec. 2, 4-6 p.m.; Jo Young Switzer Center, 604 East College Ave., North Manchester. Click to register.
DeKalb, LaGrange, Noble, Steuben counties: Wednesday, Dec. 4, 4-6 p.m.; Kendallville Event Center, 615 Professional Way, Kendallville. Click to register.
Adams, Allen, Wells counties: Thursday, Dec. 12, 4-6 p.m.; Indiana Wesleyan University—Fort Wayne Education and Conference Center, 8211 West Jefferson Blvd., Fort Wayne. Click to register.
