The city of South Bend’s department of innovation and technology was named a 2024 Mira Award winner during the 25th annual event April 26 in Indianapolis.
The city was named the Mission41K Exceptional Employer for its hiring practices and use of internships and apprenticeships to guide youth to tech careers.
“Work done by the department in the past decade has been so innovative, the city has won national acclaim as a place where tech is put to work in exciting, useful ways that benefit residents,” according to a press release from TechPoint.
The department was formed in 2016 with only two interns making city records digital. It now has 50 full-time employees, and earned an Indiana Broadband Ready Community designation in December 2022. Denise Linn Riedl is the chief innovation officer.
The city was one of three nominated from South Bend. Raymond Fraser of Vital View Technologies in South Bend was nominated for Rising Entrepreneur, and Aunalytics in South Bend was nominated for Tech Company of the Year.
“Our collective vision is to transform Indiana from an emerging tech hub into a global leader in digital innovation, and tonight was a showcase of amazing innovation and leadership across all of Indiana’s major sectors,” said TechPoint President and CEO Ting Gootee. “Mira’s 25-year-track record provides a valuable innovation awards platform for the highly deserving winners but also for our amazing tech and innovation community overall.”
About 2,000 people celebrated the awards at the annual gala.
Indianapolis-based TechPoint is an initiative of the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership. It focuses on digital innovation.
