Dave Johnson BioCrossroads President Speaks at
Terre Haute Economic Development Corporation Annual Meeting

Terre Haute, IN—David Johnson, President and CEO at BioCrossroads was keynote speaker at the Terre Haute Economic Development Cooperation’s 2005 Annual Meeting held Tuesday, May 10th. Hosted at Ivy Tech State College, the event attracted corporate CEO’s and other company representatives from surrounding counties and a variety of industry sectors.

Indiana’s life sciences industry is significant because of its size and versatility. The life sciences industries have high growth potential and the job market is generally stable. Johnson stated, “Indiana gained jobs in the life sciences at more than twice the rate of the nation from 2001 to 2003, rising 4.5 percent compared with the 2 percent national increase. In total, more than 578,000 Indiana jobs are directly or indirectly tied to the health industry and account for more than $21 billion in wages.”

Johnson continues, “Indiana has the 2nd highest concentration of biopharmaceutical jobs in the nation and the state has the 5th largest pharmaceutical industry in the country in terms of total sales, shipments, receipts and revenue. Indiana is home to global industry giants like Eli Lilly and Company, Cook Group, Guidant, Anthem, Zimmer, Biomet, Dow AgroSciences, Roche Diagnostics and DePuy, major research universities, plus dozens of smaller life science companies.”

The Greater Terre Haute’s life sciences asset base consists of: Glas-Col, IU School of Medicine’s regional campus; Landsbaum Center for Health Education; North American Latex Corporation at Sullivan County; Tredegar Corporation; Terre Haute Regional Hospital and Union Hospital; Vigo County School Corporation Career and Technology Programs; Indiana State University; Rose Hulman Institute of Technology; Ivy Tech State College and Saint Mary of the Woods College, to name a few.

Johnson noted four-steps for continued growth within the life sciences: (1) Inventory of Strengths—whereby we identify and become full aware of what we have and then tell the rest of the world; (2) Workforce—recognize what skill-sets are needed for continued job growth, work with education institutes, K-12 and the secondary education institutes, and recruit human talent whom are skilled in the life sciences sector; (3) Give Life to Collaborators—identify real estate, current productions, and leadership within universities and educational institutes; and (4) Money—the smaller businesses are the wave of the future, no longer will you see new big employers take hold.

Steve Witt, THEDC President, commented the next few years will be ones of growth: new residents, new visitors and new business opportunities. “We will see the creation of new industry sectors, driven by development such as BioCrossroads. We will also witness a time in our community where potential, if not used to lament what could have been, describes the world of opportunities that are a reality in Terre Haute and Vigo County.”

Outgoing Chairman, Jeff Pittman of Ivy Tech State College noted how David Johnson gives great insight on the common denominators to economic success in the life sciences shared by many of the communities in Indiana. Pittman said, “Attracting industry and other businesses to Terre Haute and the surrounding area is the reason forward thinking business leaders founded the THEDC. Terre Haute, A Level Above describes the future of our community and surrounding area.”

Rick Burger, of Cinergy/PSI and the newly elected Chairman of the THEDC Board gave closing remarks noting, “The Terre Haute community has a process of melding leadership agendas across institutional lines. Citizens have come to expect ‘things to happen’ and a ‘can-do’ attitude pervades.
Burger also announced the THEDC 2005-2006 Executive Committee: Chairman, Rick Burger; Chairman-Elect, Paul Thrift; Vice-Chairman, Tom Dinkel; Secretary/Treasurer, Mark Fuson; Immediate Past Chair, Jeff Pittman; and Members, Mayor Kevin Burke; Commissioner Paul Mason; Greg Gibson; Rick Jenkins; and Brian Miller.

As the lead economic development organization, the THEDC explores creative alternatives and partnerships in which it can collaborate and leverage resources as a means of elevating regional economic competitiveness. It proactively identifies new investment opportunities and assists existing businesses with their ongoing needs and servers as a one-stop source for business assistance.
BioCrossroads is a privately funded economic development organization that was formed to capitalize on our strong life sciences foundation by attracting new business opportunities, intellectual property and capital to Indiana’s life sciences industry. BioCrossroads supports basic scientific research, creates new business and research opportunities and continues to build more entrepreneurial and venture capital capacity.

For further information on the THEDC contact: Steve Witt, President or Lisa Johnson, Marketing Communications Director at 812.234.2524 or switt@terrehauteedc.com or ljohnson@terrehauteedc.com

For information on BioCrossroads visit www.biocrossorads.com