Some good news trickled in early in 2016 when Google announced its state-wide digital capitals across the United States, with Valparaiso taking the honor for Indiana.
It is cool to be recognized by one of the world's largest companies and in the same stratosphere as cities like Salt Lake City, Utah, Atlanta, Georgia and Austin, Texas. But what exactly does it mean to be a Google eCity?
Well, Google teamed up with the Chicago-based market research firm Ipsos to whittle down to the best candidates based on AdWords data and customers within each city. A random sample of businesses participating in the program were then rated on a number of Yes/No metrics based on their online presence (like social media, eCommerce, blogs, among others). Valparaiso appears to have the best score relative to the population in the state. You can read more about the methodology here.
So that's one way that Valparaiso was chosen as the 2015 Google eCity. Google itself cited the entrepreneur mindset in the community, along with proximity to a number of universities in the area. To be exact:
"Valparaiso has campuses for Purdue University and Ivy Tech, as well as Valparaiso University. With an academic background like this, no wonder groups like the Tech Foundry are building the city into a technology hub, creating accelerators, entrepreneurship meetups and more."
Either way, it's a nice ribbon that entrepreneurs can hang their hat on - Valparaiso is a Google eCity. Congrats to all who are using the platform successfully and making our town of 30,000 stand out in a state where the technology scene is consistently growing and being recognized more and more often.