Digital Neighborhood Alliance. A consortium of Bloomington's fastest growing companies dedicated to expanding technology employment in downtown Bloomington.

Aug 11, 2016

Local Technology Employers to Negotiate Collectively with City

Companies form Digital Neighborhood Alliance to help expedite expansion in Trades District

Bloomington, IN — Technology employers planning to bring more than 150 jobs to The Trades District have formed a new organization in hopes that it will expedite the planning and development of buildings to house their companies, employees and events.

“These are the fastest growing companies in Bloomington, and they all share a vision for a neighborhood where we will grow our companies and strengthen our tech community together”, said Ari Vidali, CEO of Envisage Technologies. “Tech companies have to move quickly in order to keep up with rapidly changing markets. The Trades District presents an opportunity to dramatically accelerate the creation of high-tech jobs, but specific plans for developing the site must come together quickly to be a viable solution for our existing companies.”

The new group, known as the “Digital Neighborhood Alliance” was formed by 9 local companies with specific space needs and an immediate desire to locate their corporate headquarters within the Trades District. The group’s founders have had many meetings with city officials about potential development plans, but they say that little progress has been made.

“We recognize how challenging it is for city officials to negotiate development agreements with a number of different entities who all want to locate within a few acres. It’s our hope that designating representatives to negotiate on our behalf will make the process easier for everyone involved. We’ve built consensus amongst the tech employers on the key issues and we’re willing to give up some autonomy in order to help move the process along. Our leadership is well aware of the specific needs of each individual company and broader tech community. We’re giving them our proxy in order to get things moving,” said Michelle Cole, Envisage’s Chief Operating Officer.

Members of the group have agreed on several key elements that they wish to see in the newly developed Trades District:

Secure office space for high-growth companies
Below market rent for early stage companies
Graduation space for new companies emerging from The Mill
Event space to house tech community events like The Combine, Startup Mic Nite, and Ignite
Local retail that will foster creativity and create additional places for informal interaction
Outdoor gathering space
Walkable streetscapes
Ample parking, including both onstreet and offstreet parking

“Even though we may end up with multiple building projects with separate ownership structures, it’s critical that we plan this development together. Our goal is not to create a collection of office buildings, but a vibrant neighborhood where knowledge transfer and inspiration will occur daily as a result of natural interaction. This means that retail establishments, green space, workforce housing and public spaces are every bit as important as office buildings,” said Brad Wisler, cofounder of SproutBox and CEO of Periodic, both of which he hopes to move into the Trades District.

Matt Laherty, CEO of intelligent lighting provider Platformatics, pointed out the benefits of such a neighborhood to the broader community. “When you have a collection of high growth companies within close proximity, it becomes much easier for customers, partners and outside investors to see the momentum in our economy. This will have a massive impact on our ability to attract the capital necessary to keep creating information based jobs for years to come.”

The group’s founding companies are:
Envisage Technologies
SproutBox
FormAssembly
Cheddar
Platformatics
Periodic
ConsulTech
Mavenly
RideAmigos

About The Digital Neighborhood Alliance

The Digital Neighborhood Alliance is a consortium of Bloomington’s fastest growing technology companies who are dedicated to expanding technology employment in downtown Bloomington. Our mission is to accelerate growth of Bloomington’s technology economy by promoting collaboration between technology companies including their founders, shareholders and employees. Central to that goal is promoting the development of Bloomington’s built environment in a way that will maximize opportunities for interaction and create a continuum of affordable work spaces.