At a glance
Previous Indiana Chamber of of Commerce Community of the year winners
2013: Bedford
2012: Indianapolis
2011: Kokomo
2010: Terre Haute
2009: Valparaiso
2008: Noblesville
2007: Anderson
2006: Evansville
2005: LaPorte
2004: Muncie
2003: Warsaw
2002: Marion
2001: Greater Lafayette
2000: Jeffersonville
1999: Fort Wayne
1998: Rochester
1997: Batesville
1996: Elkhart
1995: Indianapolis
1994: Kendalville
1993: St. Joseph County
1992: Columbus
1991: Muncie
1990: Bluffton
The Indiana Chamber of Commerce has named Bloomington the 2014 Community of the Year.
State chamber president and CEO Kevin Brinegar said Bloomington was selected from a pool of about 20 applicants for its quality of life as well as its growing life sciences and technology sectors. Having grown up in Bloomington, Brinegar said he could personally speak to the great recreational opportunities the city and its surrounding area has to offer.
"I spent a lot of my youth water skiing on Lake Lemon and Lake Monroe," he said. "And swimming in the 'Breaking Away' quarry by my grandparents' down in Smithville."
The opportunity to see future MLB, NBA and Olympic athletes that IU provides as well as the city's many trails and parks contributed, but the decision was based on more than quality of life, Brinegar said. The city's 65-acre Bloomington Certified Technology Park, IU's School of Informatics, the Cook Center for Entrepreneurship at Ivy Tech and the Bloomington Code School, a workforce initiative seeking to increase computer coding skills of Monroe County residents, all help make the city a major high-tech center for the state.
Bloomington's application for the award, titled "From Cutters to Coders," symbolizes the pride of where the community has been and the anticipation for where it's headed, said Danise Alano-Martin, director of economic and sustainable development for the city.
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