In the glossy world of big business, we sometimes forget that even the grandest of dreams grows from small, humble beginnings. The first Apple computers were built in a mom and dad’s two-stall garage in California less than 40 years ago. Earlier this year Apple’s net worth eclipsed $500 billion for the first time in the company’s history.
Facebook, the social media behemoth, was born in a Harvard dorm room in Cambridge, Mass., less than a decade ago. Despite Facebook’s well-documented troubles on the stock market since going public, co-founder Mark Zuckerberg is still worth a reported $9.4 billion as of last month. He is all of 28 years old.
Could the next Apple or Facebook be lurking right here in our community? Never say never. That’s why we would like to commend the Goshen Chamber of Commerce on the recent launch preview of its aptly named LaunchPad. The business incubator project will offer both space and basic services to local entrepreneurs as they work to develop their ideas, seek investors and craft their business plan.
The open-floor concept in the second level of the Chamber of Commerce building is meant to foster idea sharing, communication and ingenuity among its members utilizing the LaunchPad. It’s a premise that has proven successful elsewhere.
A great local example would be Innovation Park in South Bend near the campus of the University of Notre Dame. Granted, that building was built about six years ago on a much larger scale specifically for the type of business and technology nurturing we’re talking about now.
Still, as Steve Wozniak, Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg have proven, size doesn’t really matter. It’s about getting the right people together to take an idea, a passion, a need to heights beyond what can be imagined.
That may sound romantic, but it’s possible here too. So is the prospect of simply finding a way to make a living through brewing beer, building motorcycles or selling record albums. People representing all three of those endeavours were present Thursday during the Chamber’s unveiling of the roughly 3,000-square-foot incubator space. Any help turning those dreams into reality is something that stands to benefit our entire community.
Chamber President David Daugherty said the space should be completed by next spring. Don’t expect this project to be a quick fix to Elkhart County’s economic challenges. The LaunchPad may be starting small, but fostering good ideas and local innovation should always be a part of the big picture.
Opinion
Related Photos
-
The second floor space in the Goshen Chamber of Commerce building will be renovated into a common workspace for business start-ups beginning in spring 2013. The Chamber hosted an open house of the space Friday. SAM HOUSEHOLDER
Chamber's LaunchPad is a valuable part of the big picture
- Opinion
-
-
Like it or not, Sheriff is going to speak freely
Elkhart County Sheriff Brad Rogers has taken heat the past couple weeks after he commented during a political rally in downtown South Bend that he would not enforce proposed future gun-control legislation within his jurisdiction.
-
Goshen neighborhood stands together on north side
Sometimes a news photographer is at the optimum location at exactly the right time. Goshen News staffer Sam Householder was in such a spot Wednesday.
-
We just can’t thank our moms enough
The purpose of this editorial is quite simple. We just want to say, “Thanks, mom.” And by “mom” we mean all of the great mothers in our community who have gone above and beyond to lead the way in the development of their children.
-
Letter carriers help to Stamp Out Hunger
There’s still time to help someone you probably don’t know.
-
Farmers are positive this will be the year
Farmers and Cub fans have something in common. They are eternally positive and expect a better season next year.
-
It's time to spruce up the Maple City
This is the season and today is the day, finally.
-
Smooth sailing for this year’s regular session
The final gavel has fallen on the 2013 regular session of Indiana’s General Assembly. During the 14-week session, our lawmakers passed nearly 300 pieces of legislation, including the state’s $30 billion biennial budget that contains the largest tax cut in state history.
-
Palm Sunday tornadoes a reminder of sudden danger
It was a beautiful day, most people around these parts who can remember will tell you. It was one of those near-perfect, early spring days, they would likely say, a stark contrast to what early evening would bring on April 11, 1965.
Yes, the Palm Sunday tornado outbreak of 1965, is still very vivid in our local history five decades later. Those were days before Doppler Radar, 24-7 cable television, countywide siren warning systems and even seatbelts in most cars. So, when afternoon turned to early evening, many local residents had little or no warning that killer tornadoes were nearly on top of them. -
Graduation is always a great achievement
While many of us have been waiting patiently – some not so patiently – for spring to finally show up in Northern Indiana, students throughout the area have been busy working on term papers, taking tests and ordering caps and gowns.
-
Carl Weaver has inspired many at GHS
Goshen High School teacher Carl Weaver has created one of the most successful science program in the United States, and we, on behalf of the thousands of students who have experienced the program, thank him.
- More Opinion Headlines
-
Tornadoes, Storms Strike Midwest
'Babyland': Camp Lejeune's Toxic Legacy?
Raw: Heavy Tornado Damage in Shawnee, Okla
Probe Begins After Conn. Commuter Trains Crash
NTSB Begins Investigation Into Conn. Train Crash
Lotto Fever Sweeps the Country
Conn. Commuter Trains Collide; 60 Go to Hospital
Coffee Run Leads to Hatchet Hitchhiker Arrest
Fmr. IRS Head Insists No Politics in Targeting
CDC: Fecal Bacteria Common in Swimming Pools
$1 Million in Jewels Stolen at Cannes Film Fest
NM Mom Chases Down Child Abductor
Raw: Crash Sends Car Into Fla. Pool
Raw: Obama Sits Down With Elementary Kids
Raw: Bear Falls From Tampa Tree
Ousted IRS Chief: Errors Not Caused by Politics
Terror Suspect Due in Court in Idaho Friday
Raw: Driver Ejected From Truck, Over Bridge
Could Tobacco Be the Next Biofuel?
Wash. State Releases Draft Rules for Legal Pot
