Data Realty, a firm that specializes in data storage and analytics, was the first company to move from Innovation Park at Notre Dame to Ignition Park near downtown South Bend. SBT File Photo
There are plenty of examples of innovatying pioneers throughout Michiana's history.
James Oliver's chilled plows helped settle the Midwest and Great Plains in the 1800s. In 1911, two brothers in Benton Harbor started the Upton Machine Co. -- now Whirlpool, the world's largest appliance maker. Vincent Bendix, a trailblazer in automobiles, aviation and other industries, founded a powerhouse company in 1924 in South Bend and ended up holding 5,500 patents.
Inventive minds are still at work in the region.
AM General, with its headquarters in South Bend and main plant in Mishawaka, is at the forefront of design for military vehicles and also operates Mobility Ventures, a spinoff company making vehicles that are accessible to people with disabilities.
Elkhart County continues to strengthen its position as the hub of the recreational vehicle industry with companies finding ways to build lighter RVs and improve fuel economy.
Inovateus Solar is a South Bend company that designs and installs solar power systems nationwide. Its work can be found on top of the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago as well as carports at a General Electric facility in Connecticut.
But the region has lost some of its innovative dynamism over the decades.
Consider as a benchmark the 5,500 patents that Bendix and his company held from the 1920s and early 1930s. That's just one company.
All the residents of Berrien, Cass, Elkhart, LaPorte, Marshall and St. Joseph counties combined were granted a total of 4,129 patents between 1990 and 2011, according to data from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
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