In November 2024, she and her team put on Global Entrepreneurship Week for the state of Indiana, helped publish the third annual Entrepreneurship Indiana Yearbook, and hosted Indiana’s inaugural Entrepreneur Support Organization (ESO) Summit that brought together 150 ecosystem builders from all corners of the state and marked the launch of their own Ecosystem Builder Playbook. Morgan Allen has worked with Indiana’s lead economic development agency – the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) – since 2019; her work has been central to advancing the accessibility and growth of entrepreneurial resources in the state. Here’s a closer look at the IEDC’s key initiatives, their impact, and Morgan’s vision for the future of the field of ecosystem building:
The Evolution of Indiana’s Ecosystem
“Indiana has always had a strong ecosystem. We’re a community that thrives on Hoosier hospitality. And that’s the core of ecosystem development: the willingness to help each other and to be welcoming to people who are new at the table.”
When Morgan first joined IEDC, the ecosystem was rich in potential. The pieces of the puzzle were all there but not as systematically connected as they are today, six years later. During COVID, the IEDC realized that there was no single place for entrepreneurs to go and find all the information they needed to start and grow a sustainable business.
As in so many ecosystems, communication among stakeholders was limited leading to the duplication of efforts and overall inefficiencies in the ecosystem.
“At IEDC, we wondered how the state could come in, not as a meddler in local ecosystems but as an infrastructure builder to help provide the connections and the resources for our ecosystem to operate more efficiently and effectively.”, says Morgan.
What started with the desire of building the infrastructure for entrepreneurs and support resources has grown into a virtual front door for the ecosystem and a 13-person team that helps entrepreneurs navigate their statewide ecosystem.
ConnectIND: A virtual front door & concierge service to Indiana’s ecosystem
In partnership with EcoMap Technologies, IEDC launched ConnectIND in 2023: a virtual platform that serves as a gateway to Indiana’s entrepreneurial resources. Not only do entrepreneurs receive a curated list of resources depending on their location, stage of business and specific challenges, but they get matched with one of IEDC’s ten ecosystem navigators: Full-time staff dedicated to helping entrepreneurs connect with the right resources at the right time.
Ecosystem Navigators meet with entrepreneurs, assess and help them prioritize their needs, and – based on those conversations – make recommendations and introductions to the right people and organizations. In 2024 alone, over 700 entrepreneurs received this concierge service. Thanks to the built-in translation feature, ConnectIND is available in the top eleven languages spoken in Indiana.
Jackson County: A case study in rural ecosystem building
Jackson County is a rural community that had never strategically focused on entrepreneurship leading up to 2024. They were one of 16 recipients of IEDC’s Community Collaboration Fund pilot, a micro grant program that encourages entrepreneurial support organizations to work together to solve real problems for the entrepreneurs in their ecosystem. Since receiving this grant, six different entrepreneurial support initiatives were launched under the helm of the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce. During Global Entrepreneurship Week 2024, they hosted an open house for their first coworking space that will launch in 2025. Both the city of Brownstown and the county committed a significant amount of funding to bolster these efforts.
Morgan adds, “Something that Dan Robison and others in Jackson County have been really intentional about is serving historically under-served entrepreneurs. When we look at our business demographics in the state of Indiana, the largest portion of minority owned businesses in the state are owned by Latino entrepreneurs – yet not many stakeholders have successfully engaged them in a meaningful way.
In Jackson County, which has a large population of Latinos, the question became, ‘How can we intentionally work with them?’ They hired someone from that community who met with budding entrepreneurs and existing Latino business owners to ask ‘What do we actually need?’
Now Jackson County has a formal plan for how to engage Latino entrepreneurs and the resources to execute it. In Jackson County, rural Indiana.”
Seeding an ecosystem mindset among ESOs: Community Collaboration Fund
IEDC implemented the Community Collaboration Fund pilot in 2023 and expanded the program in 2024. Community Collaboration Fund grants range from $5,000 to $40,000 and require entrepreneurial support organizations (ESOs) to work collaboratively to bridge community gaps. Since launching the pilot in 2023, the program has achieved significant results.
“It’s meant to be seed funding to provide the protection to be collaborative: You can try out a new partner. You can try something innovative to fill a gap.When you’re always strapped for funding, it’s hard and risky to try something new. Community Collaboration Fund grants are our answer.”, Morgan explains. “A lot of times it ends up being programmatic. Other times it focuses on a less tangible but equally important need within the community: It could be the lack of a shared space or the need for a forum for people to come together to connect. It really runs the gamut. In our first year, we disbursed $1 million through 32 awards, but we had received over $3 million worth of requests so we hope to continue to be able to fund these community collaborations. Awardees know best what their local ecosystem needs and if – instead of pitting them against each other to compete for funding – we make their joint effort a prerequisite for funding, we are able to seed that ecosystem mindset. As a result, we grow the pie and the entire ecosystem is better off.”
The role of Government in entrepreneurial ecosystems
“We live in an environment in which people are easily put off by public service work but my experience has been different.” Morgan explains about her efforts within state-level government. “I’ve worked for the state of Indiana for over five years now, and I couldn’t ask for a better way to pour into my community and to make a tangible impact on not only my family and my friends, but the future of our state. Being able to build a state that I’m proud of and that I hope my kid will be proud of and will want to live in – you can’t do that elsewhere. I can’t think of any other ecosystem role that affords you the sandbox to be creative and flexible, and drive change on a systems level.”
With this level of statewide ecosystem building efforts, it’s hardly surprising that the Global Entrepreneurship Network chose Indiana to host the 2025 Global Entrepreneurship Congress: four days of actionable intelligence, collaboration, and collective progress for ecosystem builders, founders, and government partners.
Hosted by the Global Entrepreneurship Network in a different rising entrepreneurial city around the world each year, the Global Entrepreneurship Congress will take place from June 2-5, 2025, at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis. Morgan declares, “For the first time since its inception in 2009, GEC returns to the United States, and we are honored to host it right here in Indiana. This is a unique opportunity for our state to shine bright on the global stage, showcasing our vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem and the incredible talent that calls Indiana home.”
Looking ahead
Morgan envisions a future where entrepreneurial resources are universally accessible across Indiana. Even though she and her team are pioneers in building a statewide entrepreneurial ecosystem, their work is far from done. Morgan explains, “It’s one thing to have a virtual front door and concierge service to help entrepreneurs at any stage find the information they need. It’s another thing for them to know that the website even exists. And it’s another thing for people to realize their entrepreneur potential. So often still, I talk to someone who is working on a brilliant business idea but has no idea that they are in fact an entrepreneur. And that this first idea or product might only be the beginning of their entrepreneurial journey.”
Morgan’s work with the IEDC delivers more than just advancement for Indiana; it sets an example for how state governments can help build the infrastructure for ecosystem development.
As Morgan powerfully states, “Government work is work worth doing,” reminding us of the profound potential public initiatives hold for creating lasting change.
Join Morgan, her team, IEDC and Indiana’s entrepreneurial community for the Global Entrepreneurship Congress!