WINONA LAKE, Ind. (AP) — The Indiana Economic Development Corp. has created a new program aimed at attracting new resources and increasing access to capital for Indiana entrepreneurs.

The agency will use its 21st Century Research and Technology Fund to create a statewide entrepreneurial network to engage private investors and regional partners in creating and supporting new companies.

Executive Director Mark Becker of the Northeast Indiana Fund says the program incorporates the best aspects of other national models developed in Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Oklahoma.

The corporation says it hopes to attract an additional $30 million in matching federal and private funding to support Indiana entrepreneurial efforts.

The program called Invest Indiana was announced Thursday at a meeting of the corporation’s board of directors in the northern Indiana community of Winona Lake.

Blame it on Starbucks. Consumers seem to be looking for ways to personalize everything they buy. It’s not just picking apps for their phones, special touches for their shoes or music for their iPods, but down to customizing everything from mashed potatoes to the water they drink.

Last week Kraft, the Northfield-based food giant, introduced its first new brand since the DiGiorno pizza line in 1995: MiO, a squeeze bottle of flavoring and a dropper priced at $3.99 that allows consumers to doctor their water to taste with such flavors as strawberry-watermelon and pomegranate.

“Consumers are really looking to have their personal tastes reflect in all things they’re doing and using,” said MiO senior brand manager Liza Laibe. It’s particularly important for millennials, which Kraft pegs as those age 18 to 39.

Kraft is expected to back MiO with the full force of its marketing muscle. Laibe declined to say how much would be spent but said television ads, from McGarryBowen Chicago, will begin airing in late March. Full Article…

Today’s guest author is John Durfee. John finds many of the principles he learned in the military are ones that he uses in the business world.

Marketing Artillery – A Soldier’s Perspective

The “freedom” aspect of Operation Iraqi Freedom officially started after the
US invasion of Iraq and we found out there weren’t any Weapons of Mass Destruction.
The mission turned from a matter of finding WMDs to rebuilding a broken society and
infrastructure. We turned from a fighting force to one that suddenly had be reflective of
how we appeared, how we acted, and to get the message across that our actions were for
the benefit of the local Iraqi people. In a way, we had to market ourselves to the Iraqis
and succeed, if a goal of long term sustainable peace and development we started would
take root.

Full Article…

The Roth IRAs or individual retirement plans as they are commonly called, are becoming popular savings plans. The advantage of this system is that taxpayers, on meeting certain eligibility criteria, can contribute a certain amount of their income compensation into the Roth IRA account, and the economies that grow in it will be tax-free. Of course there are some important differences between roth ira and ira, so you need to analyze your situation before opening Roth IRA.

One thing to keep in mind is that the tax benefits accrue only when an individual withdraws money from the account. Withdrawals are subject to certain limits in order to be tax free. First, a person who is 59 and a half years old or has suffered some form of disability may make withdrawals after five years. The withdrawals will be tax free if the person needs to buy, build or rebuild his first home.

Additionally, on contributions, there are certain set limits. Full Article…