Why South Bend?

Q: How will the Midwest Institute for Nanoelectronics Discovery (MIND), Innovation Park and Ignition Park benefit South Bend?

A: The Midwest Institute for Nanoelectronics Discovery (MIND), Innovation Park and Ignition Park will attract companies to South Bend, helping transform both the economy and the region.  The first building at Innovation Park is a three-story, 54,000-square-foot brick structure.  It includes collaborative areas, wet and dry labs, conference rooms, office suites and incubation facilities for ventures at various stages of development.

In addition, the Eddy Street Commons, a mixed-use project next to Innovation Park, is a boon to new companies, serving as a literal and figurative link between Notre Dame and South Bend.

Ignition Park, so named for businesses that "have Ignition and are taking off," is situated on as much as 140 acres on the grounds of the former Studebaker Corp., the legendary auto manufacturer that used to be the economic backbone of the local economy.

Since 2000, old abandoned buildings on the Ignition Park site have been torn down in the state's most aggressive brownfield reclamation effort to make way for a mixed-use complex of buildings arrayed in a park-like environment.  When high-tech and life-science companies move in, they will build structures worth hundreds of millions of dollars, and will add higher-paying jobs to the local economy.