>> AGRICULTURE IS ANOTHER IMPORTANT SEGMENT OF THE GREATER LAFAYETTE ECONOMY, FROM GROWING FOOD TO PROCESSING IT.
DELPHI-BASED INDIANA PACKERS CORPORATION MANUFACTURES AND DISTRIBUTES FRESH PORK, BACON AND PROCESSED HAMS UNDER ITS
INDIANA KITCHEN BRAND TO MORE THAN 25 COUNTRIES. ALSO, FOR MORE THAN 150 YEARS, INGREDIENT SUPPLIER TATE AND
LYLE HAS BEEN HELPING CUSTOMERS MAKE FOOD HEALTHIER AND TASTIER. >> OVER THE LAST FEW DECADES, THE COASTS HAVE BEEN KNOWN FOR
SOFTWARE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY, WHILE THE MIDWEST HAS BEEN THE POWERHOUSE IN MANUFACTURING AND AGRICULTURE.
THAT'S WHERE THE WABASH HEARTLAND INNOVATION NETWORK COMES INTO PLAY. THE NEW INTERNET OF THINGS
REVOLUTION GIVING THE NEARLY $40 MILLION INITIATIVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO FLIP THE SCRIPT AND BECOME THE EPICENTER OF NEXT
GENERATION MANUFACTURING AND DIGITAL AGRICULTURE. THE ORGANIZATION RECENTLY PEGGED IOT AG FOUNDER JOHNNY PARK TO
LEAD WHIN. HE JOINS ME ALONG WITH PURDUE CENTER FOR REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY AND REGIONAL
DEVELOPMENT SPECIALISTS MELINDA GRISMER. WELCOME BOTH OF YOU TO THE PROGRAM.
JOHNNY, I'LL START WITH YOU. FIRST OF ALL, WHY DID YOU TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY? YOU WERE A SUCCESSFUL
ENTREPRENEUR WITH A COMPANY THAT WAS SOLD, PURDUE FACULTY MEMBER. WHY TAKE THIS ROLE WITH WHIN? >> MY WIFE AND I CAME TO THIS
REGION ABOUT 20-SOMETHING YEARS AGO, WE GREW TO LOVE THIS PLACE AND PROUDLY CONSIDER INDIANA AS OUR HOME.
AND AT THE END OF THE DAY, MY PERSONAL MISSION IS ABOUT SERVING PEOPLE AND I SAW THIS OPPORTUNITY IS ULTIMATELY ABOUT
SERVING THE PEOPLE IN THIS REGION AND NOTHING CAN EXCITE ME MORE. >> YOU BRING A NICE SKILL SET
WITH THE ENTREPRENEURIAL BACKGROUND TO THE TABLE HERE. WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT WHIN, WABASH HEARTLAND INNOVATION NETWORK,
IT'S A REGIONAL NETWORK, WHAT'S THE BOTTOM LINE, WHAT'S IT ALL ABOUT? >> LET ME STEP BACK A LITTLE BI.
SO WE HAVE BEGUN, WE'RE AT THE BEGINNING OF WHAT MANY PEOPLE CALL THIRD WAVE INTERNET. THE FIRST WAVE WAS ABOUT
BRINGING WORLD ONLINE, THE SECOND WAVE WAS ESSENTIALLY ABOUT BUILDING APPS AND SERVICES ON TOP OF THE INTERNET, AND THE
THIRD WAVE INTERNET IS AS THE INTERNET IMGRATES SEAMLESSLY AND PER VASIVELY PRETTY MUCH EVERY ASPECT OF LIFE, IT'S CHANGING
HOW WE LIVE, HOW WE INTERACT WITH EACH OTHER, HOW WE COMMUNICATE, HOW WE LEARN, HOW WE WORK.
SO WE SEE A TREMENDOUS OPPORTUNITY HERE. SO WE WANT TO BECOME THE FORERUNNER AND THE LEADER OF
I.O.T. AS A PRIDE OF AGRICULTURE AND MANUFACTURING. SO WHIN, WABASH HEARTLAND INNOVATION NETWORK, IS A
10-COUNTY CONSORTIUM IN NORTH CENTRAL INDIANA TO REALLY DEVELOP THIS REGION INTO THE GLOBAL EPICENTER OF DIGITAL
AGRICULTURE AND NEXT GENERATION MANUFACTURING. >> MELINDA, I KNOW THERE WAS A BIG SURVEY OF FOLKS IN THE
REGION HERE. TALK ABOUT TAKEAWAYS. >> A BIG PART OF THIS GRANT IS REGION BUILDING.
SO WHAT WE WANTED TO DO FROM THE VERY BEGINNING WAS GO OUT INTO THE 10 COUNTIES DURING THE COUNTY FAIR, WE THOUGHT THAT
WOULD A REALLY GOOD TIME TO LAUNCH IT IN JUNE AND JULY, WE HAD ABOUT 2500 RESPONDENTS TO THAT SURVEY, AND WE WERE TRYING
TO MEASURE VITALITY, EDUCATION AND CONNECTIVITY, AND IN THE VITALITY AREA, WE REALLY FOUND THAT PLACE MAKING, PHYSICALLY
OUR PARKS AND TRAILS ARE A REAL PRIDE POINT FOR OUR RESIDENTS, WE WANT TO BUILD ON THAT THROUGH THIS I.O.T.
>> SO QUALITY OF LIFE IS IMPORTANT. >> RIGHT, ALMOST BEFORE JOBS, SO MAKING SURE WE INVEST IN THAT.
TWO, EDUCATION, WE FOUND OUT THERE WAS A REAL PRIORITY FOR ALIGNMENT OF WORKFORCE AND EDUCATION.
SO ACROSS THE REGION, HOW WE CAN ALIGN THOSE IN A MORE STRATEGIC KIND OF WAY. AND THEN THE THIRD ONE, WHICH
HAS REALLY LED US INTO OUR REGIONAL CULTIVATION FUND AND CONVENING WHICH IS COMING UP NEXT FOR WHIN, IS THE MANDATE
REALLY THAT WE RECEIVE 52% OF RESPONDENTS SAID THAT THEY REALLY THOUGHT THE COMMUNITY HIGH SPEED INTERNET WAS VITALLY
IMPORTANT TO THE REGION SO WE'VE ALREADY BEGUN -- >> WHAT COULD THIS LEAD TO? >> I COULD DREAM A PICTURE OF
WHERE THE REGION IS A PLACE WHERE MILLIONS OF THOSE SENSORS ARE MANUFACTURED. WE HAVE OUR BIDDING OF
TECHNOLOGY AT PURDUE THAT CAN POTENTIALLY REVOLUTIONIZE HOW SENSORS ARE MANUFACTURED AT A COST OF 100ETH PERCENT, PRETTY
REVOLUTIONARY, BUT NOT ONLY THAT, WE WANT TO BE NARROWED AS A REGION WHERE OUR PRODUCERS AND MANUFACTURERS ARE FULLY ADOPTING
DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES AND DEMONSTRABLY REAPING BENEFITS FROM IT SO THAT OTHER PEOPLE WHO ARE WANTING TO GET INTO THE
SPACE WILL COME AND LEARN AND THIS IS A PLACE -- WE WANT TO BE THE FORERUNNER OF AGRICULTURE AND MANUFACTURING AS APPLIED TO
I.O.T. >> HOW ABOUT THE BUY-IN? 10-COUNTY AREA, COLLABORATION IS KEY TO THIS.
WHAT'S THE BUY-INSOFAR? >> I THINK THE BYE-IN HAS BEEN GREAT. IT WAS GREAT VISITING WITH
RESIDENTS ON A ONE ON ONE BASIS. WE'VE DONE THAT IN MANY WAYS WITH LOCAL ELECTED OFFICIALS AND IN ALL KINDS OF WAYS, BUT I
THINK WHAT'S CHALLENGING SOMETIMES IS FOR US AS COUNTIES TO LIFT OUR HEADS OUT OF OUR VERY IMPORTANT WORK TO CONNECT
WITH OTHERS REGIONALLY, SO I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO GIVING THAT KIND OF -- THAT CATALYST TO THE REGION TO BE ABLE TO DO THAT.
>> ALL RIGHT. THE WABASH HEARTLAND INNOVATION NETWORK IS ROLLING, VERY IMPORTANT INITIATIVE HERE IN THE
REGION.