This is the second in a series of blogs featuring the Venture Club, written by Evening MBA student Kelci Dye.

January of 2018 marked a fresh start for the Venture Club of Indiana, with new goals for the upcoming year. At its annual meeting on January 22, John McDonald, president of the Venture Club of Indiana and CEO of the fast growing, venture-funded firm ClearObject, discussed what the Venture Club of Indiana stands for and new plans for the expansion across the state.

I was energized with the information shared – particularly the importance of increasing funds available in Indiana for new ventures. The president shared statistics about the relatively large size of our state’s economy, but the shockingly low amount of venture capital available compared to other similarly-sized states. For example, Indiana has a slightly larger economy than Colorado, but Colorado has more than eight times the funds available for start-ups! This hinders Indiana from being a highly attractive location for new ideas and businesses to form and grow.

After this meeting, I feel like I have a better understanding of the importance of having a rich environment for ventures to thrive in our state. New ventures are imperative to our economy and business environment.

Additionally, in order to have successful ventures in our state we need strong, competent leaders to direct these start-ups through the crucial beginning years.

Therefore, the essential relationship between the Venture Club of Indiana and the IU Kelley School of Business Evening MBA Program is much more apparent to me, now that I better understand the significance of these ventures for our economy.

Let’s make 2018 the year that many others also grasp the importance of having a strong environment for ventures in our state.