Long-time champion of business earns Birch Bayh-Richard Lugar Government Leader of the Year award
The Indiana Chamber of Commerce will highlight 100 years of helping businesses at its 33rd annual awards dinner Nov. 16 in Indianapolis.
The chamber will present four awards, including one to Elaine Bedel, who was appointed the first secretary and CEO of the Indiana Destination Development Corp. in 2019. She will be honored with the Birch Bayh-Richard Lugar Government Leader of the Year award.
Bedel said she is incredibly honored to receive the award.
“I do believe this is less about me and more about the mission and work of the Indiana Destination Development Corporation,” Bedel said. “We are focused on raising the perception of our state by sharing Indiana’s quality of life and quality of place stories in order to attract and retain visitors, talent and graduates.”
Bedel served as president of the Indiana Economic Development Corp., starting in 2017. She also is the CEO of Bedel Financial based in Indianapolis. Currently an executive on loan, she founded the company in 1989. She said she felt comfortable taking the call from Gov. Eric Holcomb to become president of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation in 2017.
“The firm was in a good place with a management team that could easily step in to run the company,” she wrote.
As for what's next for the Indiana Destination Corp., she said they are focused on getting organizations from municipalities to educational institutions to associations involved in the IN Indiana campaign.
“We are proud of everyone with roots in Indiana, and we want their presence known,” she said.
Bedel also has been honored by the Indiana Academy of Arts and Sciences, recognized as the 2015 Women Business Owner of the year by the National Association of Women Business Owners, inducted into the Business Hall of Fame by the Junior Achievement of Central Indiana, and received the Financial Planning Association’s “Heart of Financial Planning” Award.
Birch Bayh and Richard Lugar both served as Indiana senators, facing off in 1974. Bayh took the win by 5 percent. Both died in 2019.
Other awards include:
- Cummins Community of the Year: Columbus, Indiana
- NextEra Energy Resources Dynamic Leader of the Year: Rupal Thanawala, CEO of Indianapolis-based Trident Systems, a technology firm
- Ogletree Deakins Business Leader of the Year: The winner will be announced at the awards.
The chamber's black-tie gala will include speakers Mitch Daniels, Evan Bayh, Mike Pence and Gov. Eric Holcomb, among others. The chamber was formed in 1922 and serves 25,000 members, according to its website, www.indianachamber.com.
