In a piece about the Forbes Reinventing America event for Centric, Indy’s innovation advocacy group, Jason Williams draws a line in the sand and dares doubters of Indiana’s innovation credentials to cross it.

Forbes’ Reinventing America event helped validate what we’ve known all along. Indiana is a center of innovation that demands global attention. Leaders throughout the state and region are creating environments for innovation within their own organizations. And more great companies can be born here to follow suit. Or as Mark Kvamme (CEO of Drive Capital in Columbus, Ohio) reminded us, “California doesn’t have a monopoly on coming up with good ideas and having smart people.”

We all have access to the people, the technologies, the ideas and the networks to drive Indiana innovation. How are you going to use them?

Williams includes great quotes from featured speakers including high-profile locals like Angie Hicks of Angie’s List, Phil Burkholder of Rolls-Royce, Scott Dorsey who co-founded ExactTarget (now Salesforce Marketing Cloud), and, of course, Indiana Governor Mike Pence.

News coverage from Forbes’ Reinventing America so far has focused on Steve Forbes asking: “Why shouldn’t Mike Pence run for president?” Speculation about a Pence presidential run and some opposition to President Obama’s recent climate deal with China may be all you’ve heard about from the conference, but our contributors tell us it was incredible and inspiring.

Come back to techpoint.org next week for stories about the panels and speakers focused on innovation and how you can learn from the masters and apply it to your own business and career.

PHOTO CREDIT: Photo of Steve Forbes and Governor Mike Pence included in the graphic above by Lesley Weidenbener, TheStatehouseFile.com.