This is the first Ambition in Bloom column, an ongoing series by John Fernandez, CEO of The Mill, focused on Bloomington's economic development, entrepreneurship, Trades District, and the thriving local innovation ecosystem. Each edition will explore how our community is shaping its future, highlighting the people and ideas driving progress. Get each edition straight into your inbox by subscribing here.
Something is happening in the heart of Bloomington. You can feel it in the Trades District—where startups, researchers, and creative thinkers are transforming ideas into energy. You can see it in The Mill, in the Kiln, The Forge, Bloomington’s new modern office building, in the planning for new housing and a full-service hotel just blocks from downtown. But this momentum isn’t just about buildings or business. It’s about something more: a chance to align our people, our institutions, and our shared ambition to build a city where more people want to stay, grow, and thrive.
At this pivotal moment, our community is coalescing around a new civic platform—a bold, coordinated effort to connect Bloomington’s many strengths into a shared strategy for long-term growth. Not a new agency. Not a marketing campaign. A platform: a shared structure to align our city’s talent, culture, research and economic development.
Because Bloomington isn’t just competing for startups anymore. We’re competing for people.
Every civic leader in town has seen the signs: a startup with traction that leaves for another city; a talented couple who never seriously considers Bloomington, despite our value, because they can’t see a path forward here. A brilliant IU graduate who moves away—not because they want to, but because they don’t know how to stay. The risk isn’t just losing talent. It’s failing to attract it in the first place.
We’ve made it easier to start—but harder to grow. We’ve supported ideas and innovators but struggled to build the long-term infrastructure they need to scale and stay. That’s not because we lack vision. It’s because we haven’t yet created the civic alignment to match it.
This new platform is being built to change that. A platform coordinated through partnerships with the City of Bloomington, Indiana University, and The Mill—whose mission is to serve as the connective tissue for startups, talent, place, and culture. To help Bloomington stop thinking in silos and start acting like the connected community we already are. One where economic development links to cultural vibrancy, university research links to entrepreneurship, and people—from all walks of life—can see a future worth building.
And we’re not starting from scratch. Some of Bloomington’s most successful businesses were built here by solving real problems for real customers, growing without outside capital, and hiring local talent. That spirit—grounded, persistent, and community-focused—is our foundation. Now we need to match it with a structure that helps more people do the same.
This civic platform will serve as that structure. Centered in the Trades District but designed to benefit the entire city, it connects:
- IU-driven research and talent;
- Startups, scale-ups, and established businesses;
- Music, arts, and civic life;
- And public investments in place, infrastructure, and belonging.
It’s not about choosing between economic growth and cultural vibrancy. It’s about choosing both—and organizing ourselves to deliver on that promise.
Over the next few months, with leadership from the City of Bloomington, Indiana University, The Mill, and other key partners, we’ll be taking major steps to bring this vision to life. The goal: to create a platform with real staying power—one that helps our community keep its best ideas and attract even more of them.
We’ve already started identifying bold goals for 2030. They include:
- A reimagined startup support system based at The Mill, with clear on-ramps for founders;
- One hundred new Mill-supported startups launched, creating new jobs and career pathways;
- Ten Bloomington startups scaling up to $10 million or more in annual revenue, rooted in our community;
- Five national companies choosing Bloomington for research or creative outposts;
- And renewed investment in the infrastructure, like better transit, green spaces, and connected venues that link talent, culture, and daily life.
These goals are ambitious. But they are possible—if we move together.
And that’s the call to action.
We need civic leadership. Not just in name, but in action. We need employers, institutions, and elected officials to lean in—not as passive supporters, but as co-builders of this next chapter. We need coordinated investment. Shared governance. And above all, shared belief in the idea that Bloomington can—and must—compete at the highest level.
This is our moment. The foundation is solid. The energy is real. What we need now is coordinated action—among public and private sector leaders alike—to transform momentum into a lasting platform for growth.
So here’s the invitation: Be part of the team shaping Bloomington’s next chapter. Whether you’re an entrepreneur, educator, artist, employer, or resident—there’s a role for you. Join us.
Join the effort to make Bloomington a place not just where good things start—but where they keep happening, because we’ve built the structure to support them. Be part of the team shaping the next chapter of our community’s story.
The platform is coming together. The direction is clear. What we need now is your leadership.
Let’s build Bloomington’s future—together.
John Fernandez is the CEO of The Mill and a former mayor of Bloomington.
