On behalf of the Northeast Indiana Defense Association, we want to thank you for attending the 1st Annual NIDIA Legislative Breakfast held on July 15, 2016 at Ivy Tech – Fort Wayne. 

We hope that you found the breakfast and networking/discussions informative and worthwhile. The primary goal of this conference was to bring together legislators, community partners and business owners/leaders to have an open dialogue regarding the abilities of the defense industry businesses within Northeast Indiana.  During this year’s program, we were pleased to roll out our recently completed report “Indiana Defense– A legacy of Innovation and Manufacturing and National Security”.  The report was based on critical success factors presented in the Purdue University’s Center for Regional Development’s Defense Manufacturing Assistance Program (DMAP) study.

The study shows the region has the kind of critical mass with the industry that defense employers like to find where they work, by highlighting the $2.8 billion in defense awards that have come to Northeast Indiana since 2005. 

Your presence helped to make this event a great success and your enthusiasm and positive spirit will continue to help move our region forward.  We wish you all the best and hope that you continue to be engaged with the Northeast Indiana Defense Association.  Stay tuned for upcoming events by visiting http://nidiaonline.org/.  We anticipate posting the Indiana Defense– A legacy of Innovation and Manufacturing and National Security handout in the next few weeks online.

Stacey Smith
President & CEO, Prarie Quest Consulting (PQC)
2016 NIDIA Legislative Breakfast Chair