Reconnecting to Our Waterways (ROW) convenes and supports community partners to enhance quality of life, investing in innovation, analysis, cultural advancement and environmental quality along Indy waterways and in adjacent neighborhoods. Join us as we launch a Development Accelerator jointly with our partners to help better link the real estate community to opportunities for revitalization and partnership along Indy’s targeted waterways. The ROW Development Forum will provide a panel discussion of content experts with info on resources available to advance difficult and underutilized properties in each of ROW’s waterway areas.  Following the panel, meet with potential partners, experts and community representatives over appetizers and libations, and tour a successful ROW collective project, Big Car’s Tube Factory.

When: Thursday, May 10^th from 4:00-6:00pm
Where: Big Car’s Tube Factory, 1125 Cruft St, Indianapolis, IN 46203
Format: Event partner panel discussion followed by networking with ROW Waterway representatives and content experts.                                                                                                                                    

RSVP: Register via Eventbrite.

Meet Our Panelists:

Angela Smith Jones, J.D.                                                                                                    Deputy Mayor of Economic Development                                                                  Office of Mayor Joe Hogsett – City of Indianapolis 

In January 2016, Angela Smith Jones was sworn in as Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett’s first Deputy Mayor for Economic Development. Under her purview, Smith Jones oversees Develop Indy, the city’s economic development organization, and Employ Indy, the city’s workforce improvement board. Leading these organizations, Smith Jones directs the strategies of business retention and expansion, attraction of new companies, job growth, and the development of a strong workforce pipeline for the city of Indianapolis. Jones has led the attraction and expansion of Dow-DuPont, Salesforce, and fostered the growth of Indianapolis’ marketing tech sector with targeted initiatives.

Prior to assuming the role of Deputy Mayor, Smith Jones served as General Counsel and Director of Policy and Legislative Affairs with the Indy Chamber. As an Indy Chamber lobbyist, Angela advocated for both state and local legislative bodies on issues impacting the business community. Specifically, Smith Jones led efforts to impact legislation focused on a pro-growth, pro-talent economy, including advocating on behalf of immigration and non-discrimination policies, supporting the 2016 Marion County transit referendum and championing the expansion of early childhood education funding.

Through her leadership role at the Indy Chamber, Angela worked with the Indianapolis Mayor’s office, City-County Council and the State Legislature to represent the Indy Chamber as decisions were made impacting business in the Indianapolis region. Angela also served as the staff liaison to several Indy Chamber councils and committees to develop policies and positions of the Indy Chamber, as well as create the legislative agenda. Before working with the Indy Chamber, Angela was a Director with the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency (IPLA) where she worked with several boards in creating policy and regulating their professions. Prior to the merger of IPLA and the Health Professions Bureau, Angela served as the Deputy Director of the Health Professions Bureau and the Director of the Medical Licensing Board of Indiana.

Angela Smith Jones, a native of Indianapolis, is a graduate of DePaul University College of Law in Chicago, Illinois where she earned her Doctor of Jurisprudence. Prior to law school, Smith Jones completed her undergraduate studies at Miami University, in Oxford, Ohio, with a degree in Broadcast/Journalism. Angela Smith Jones serves on the boards of Employ Indy, 16 Tech Community Corporation and Innovation District, and the Indiana Latino Institute.

William D. Zink                                                                                                                                                                              Senior Vice President of Construction and Development                                                                                        with Strategic Capital Partners

Will has a background in architecture, real estate finance and construction. He moved to Indianapolis in 2014 to pursue his vision for purposeful new development and historic preservation in his home town. Will draws on his experience living in the architecturally vibrant cities of New York, Nashville and New Orleans.

Will is Senior Vice President of Construction and Development at Strategic Capital Partners. At SCP, he is responsible for the oversight of all aspects of the construction process, including feasibility, design, final budget, contract negotiation, construction operation and owner’s representation. He is also the owner and principal of Oakridge Properties, an Indianapolis-based real estate development firm that specializes in adaptive reuse of commercial and residential properties.

Will previously worked for Pepper Construction Group as an Assistant Project Engineer. He began his career at Merrill Lynch in New York as a financial analyst in their Real Estate Investment Banking Group, where he developed models and underwrote many equity transactions in the REIT and Hotel & Leisure industries. He has held Series 7 and 63 licenses, and has traded NASDAQ listed securities.

Will has a BS from Vanderbilt University, where he was president of the Vanderbilt Peabody College and a senator in the university’s Student Government Association. He holds a Masters of Architecture from Tulane University, is an Associate AIA member, and LEED BD+C accredited professional.

He is currently a board commissioner for the Indianapolis Housing Agency, a board member of The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, the Indianapolis Museum of Contemporary Art, a member of the advisory board of the Real Estate Development Program at the University of Indianapolis, co-founder of the Poverty Institute at the University of Indianapolis and a mentor for the Starfish Initiative program.

He and his wife, Alison, have two children, Liam (4) and Claire (2).

Ian Nicolini                                                                                                                                                                                Vice President of Indianapolis Economic Development                                                                                          Executive Director of Develop Indy

Ian Nicolini serves as the Vice President of Indianapolis Economic Development for the Indy Chamber where he oversees Develop Indy, an economic development organization dedicated to growing Marion County businesses, attracting new business investment, and implementing the Mayor’s vision for economic development. In Ian’s first full year in this role, Develop Indy reported 86 successful relocation and expansion projects leading to 6,613 new jobs and $1.37 billion in new investment, with more than half of these job commitments coming from the booming technology sector. Under his leadership, Develop Indy helped to attract or retain more than 11,000 local jobs, as Marion County’s unemployment rate dropped to 3.5% and the city earned additional accolades as a top tech destination from the Brookings Institution, Forbes, Money Magazine, Fast Company and more.

Prior to joining the Chamber, Ian was the Town Manager in Speedway, Indiana where he oversaw nearly $200M in economic development projects, was responsible for all public services of the 100th Indianapolis 500 as well as a town of 12,000 residents all while managing a team of 125 employees and a $20M annual budget.

Ian, his wife Collette, and their daughter Evelyn live in Speedway with their two adopted pit bull terriers.