The IBJ Media team—including reporters and editors from Indianapolis Business Journal, Indiana Lawyer and Inside INdiana Business—worked for months to pull together the Indiana 250 list and collect information about the honorees.
We started by deciding what we were looking for: Men and women who live in Indiana and are making a difference locally, regionally or statewide in business, philanthropy or community (preferably in all three). We decided not to include elected officials. And we decided not to be bound by titles. We knew there would be many CEOs on this list, but we were open to people working in all areas of organizations who were making an impact.
First, we opened a nominations process. We asked our readers and viewers to tell us about the people they thought should make the list. Meanwhile, we began emailing, calling and meeting with business and economic leaders from all parts of Indiana to learn about the movers and shakers in their communities.
We scoured the names of people serving on the boards of community foundations, not-for-profits, public companies, economic development organizations and chambers of commerce. We asked reporters to come up with lists of people they viewed as leaders.
And over several months, we began putting names into a spreadsheet. We spent hours debating people, researching companies and calling community leaders for help. Some names went on the list and came off again later. Other people were added at the last minute as they gained new responsibilities in a job or made a new contribution in their community.
In the end, the Indiana 250 list is subjective. It is not comprehensive. We have missed great people who should be on it. And we’re confident you will disagree with at least some of our choices.
The good news is that we’re going to do it again next year. And there will be changes. So we’d like to hear what you think, who you think we missed and what we should do differently next year.
But for now—on behalf of my colleagues, Indiana Lawyer Editor Olivia Covington and Inside INdiana Business President Gerry Dick—we hope you enjoy reading about these influential leaders and that you learn a little something new about all of them.
Lesley Weidenbener, editor
Indiana 250
Indianapolis Business Journal