Fairbanks Foundation Helping Fund ‘Talent Magnet’
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe chief executive officer of the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation, which provided a $2 million grant to help 16 Tech hire Bob Coy as its first CEO, says the innovation community will be a place "that changes the face of Indianapolis and our state." Claire Fiddian-Green says supporting 16 Tech speaks to a key piece of the foundation’s strategy, which is boosting the Indianapolis economy by strengthening the life sciences sector.
During a Studio(i) interview with Inside INdiana Business, Fiddian-Green said she expects the 60-acre community to become a "talent magnet" for top innovators from around the world.
16 Tech Community Corp. this morning officially named Coy its first president and CEO. He most recently led Ohio-based venture development organization CincyTech. In his nearly 12 years with the organization, it invested more than $680 million into 70 startups. Coy says he was attracted by 16 Tech’s "big vision" as well as support from the business and public sectors.
Fiddian-Green points to the Indiana Biosciences Research Institute, the centerpiece of 16 Tech, as a crucial piece of the future of Indiana’s life sciences sector. She says this year’s hiring of Rainer Fischer as chief scientific and innovation officer shows the type of talent the center can attract. Fischer previously led the Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology in Germany. At the time of his hiring, IBRI CEO David Broecker called Fischer the "epitome of world class talent" that the institute is trying to recruit.