In each of the past
eight years, the Robert D. Orr Indiana Entrepreneurial Fellowship has taken 10
of Indiana’s best and brightest college
graduates and placed them in integral positions for two years at sponsoring Indiana companies.
The success of that
program hasn’t gone unnoticed by area businesses, more and more of which are
seeking to tap into the state’s pool of talent.
Beginning with the
2010 class, the Orr Fellowship will double in size from 10 to 20 Fellows. Plans
call for that number to double again in each of the following two years, with
80 Fellows planned by 2012, helping meet the increasing demand.
"This really
authenticates the value of this program, that despite these economic times, businesses
still have a demand for fresh talent. They’re bullish about it, even,” said
Scott Brenton, co-founder of the Fellowship program and Chief Operating Officer
at Angie’s List.
“Some of our past Fellows
have gone on to found their own businesses, while others have high-ranking jobs
right here in Indiana.
Some are off at graduate school at some of the nation’s finest universities and
we’re actively working to recruit them – with their enhanced skills – back home
again to Indiana.”
Executives at Indiana’s
fastest-growing entrepreneurial companies handpick Orr Fellows, and those
selections benefit from unique exposure to these same executives during a
two-year Fellowship assignment.
Orr Fellows meet
regularly with Indiana’s
most accomplished business and community leaders to discuss leadership
development. The Fellows also participate in community service projects,
including mentoring at New
Tech High
School through a partnership with the TechPoint
Foundation and the Common Goal program through the Greater Indianapolis Chamber
of Commerce. An international trip is planned at the conclusion of the
Fellowship for the next group of Fellows, Brenton said.
The process to select Fellows entails an exhaustive, statewide search. Current
Orr Fellows scour thousands of resumes provided by Indiana's colleges and
universities, looking for a combination of high grades and leadership. The best
candidates are the presented to the Fellowship board for consideration.
The board, which has
recently been expanded, includes Brenton, Angie Hicks and Bill Oesterle (all
with Angie’s List), Mike Fitzgerald (Oxygen Education), Mark Hill (Collina Ventures),
Jim Jay (TechPoint), Matt Konkle (Sigma Micro), and Gary Lemon (Director of
Management Fellows, DePauw). Mike Langellier (Experian Decision Analytics) and Alison Sales Roach (Compendium Blogware) are former
Orr Fellows and also on the board.
“This isn’t your
typical fresh-out-of-college first job,” said Roach, a 2003 alumnus who is now
president of Compendium Blogware, a host company for the Fellowship. “The
Fellowship really delivers on its promise to expose Fellows to what it’s like
to run an up-and-coming business. I was able to work side-by-side with a
built-in network of peers and business leaders that exposed me to challenges
and experiences that would have taken years to gain at other companies.”
Companies offering
fellowship positions include: