Resiliency

Indianapolis is under a microscope, and what the researchers who put it there find will tell a lot about how the area weathers the economic downturn.


The trio from George Washington University's Institute of Public Policy were in town last month looking for what separates the "stellar from the cellar," said researcher Patricia Atkins.
Indianapolis is one of eight cities in the study funded by the Brookings Institute. They were culled through statistical analysis of metro areas. All lost manufacturing jobs from 1990 through 2005. Besides our burg, they're looking at Cleveland; Charlotte, N.C.; Louisville, Ky.; Rochester, N.Y.; Scranton, Pa.; Grand Rapids, Mich.; and Hartford, Conn.
Indianapolis is one of the cities doing well in the transition, observed Nancy Augustine, a senior research associate on the project. Rochester is not. "The question, then, is: 'What's the special something that makes the difference?' " Augustine said.
Cooperation may be one difference. In meetings last month with 15 local business types, they kept hearing about Eli Lilly and Co.'s willingness to license orphan molecules to others to develop. Think Targanta Therapeutics, which is developing oritavancin into a super-antibiotic.
In Rochester, Augustine said, photographic giant Kodak keeps the research it can't develop under wraps.
She thinks Charlotte's ability to attract outsiders to the city has helped it prosper, so the team was surprised to find that Indianapolis still is filled with natives. "So is that really a defining factor?" she wondered.
Those are the questions they hope to answer. They'll be here again in April or May to wrap up their interviews, then issue the report later this year.
Locals are likely to find many complimentary things about their efforts in the past. As the economy turns again, though, there's no time to dawdle.
No mind games

What do an Ivy League faculty member, a former vice president of a major hospital, an ex-manager of a U.S. embassy and a reporter have in common?
They and 140 others like them think they have the next great idea for changing education, like Teach for America or the New Teacher Project. And all are competing for one of the Mind Trust's first Education Entrepreneur Fellowships.
Winners of the two-year, $200,000 fellowships, which are unique in the country, will move to Indianapolis to work on their projects. Mind Trust President David Harris won't name names, but the breadth of experience in the candidates pleases him. A national panel of experts will choose the winners by May.
Other candidates include a church founder, former Peace Corps members and an ex- partner of a major law firm. "It really says a lot about how strongly Americans feel about improving public education," Harris said. "There are obviously folks from all backgrounds who are interested."


Resiliency
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