New category to recognize exceptional work during COVID-19 pandemic

TechPoint is adding a new category to its annual Mira Awards. The “Pandemic Pivot of the Year” award recognizes exceptional efforts by tech companies in the face of a challenging year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Entries for the awards are due by Jan. 22, 2021.

“As we started looking at the nominations and applications coming in early, we realized that many of the state’s tech employers had done amazing work responding to and even overcoming some of the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, but those efforts didn’t fit into our standard category selection,” said Mike Langellier, president and CEO of TechPoint. “We realized that if we didn’t do something, some truly inspirational stories weren’t going to get told. The tech industry is known for its creativity, adaptability, and resilience, and if ever there was a year to recognize those qualities, it’s this year.”

The new award category is expected to be a 2021-only honor. Tech companies that revamped their normal course of business, created a new offering or otherwise rose to the challenge of the pandemic, are encouraged to apply.

To be eligible, companies must be headquartered in Indiana or at a minimum have a significant Indiana-based operation or division/business unit with employees who work and live within the state. Special attention will be paid to those applicants who demonstrate creative, bold, unique and/or innovative solutions that are supported with available data and positive outcomes.

Any company, startup, scale-up, city, school, team or individual may apply for a Mira Award. It is not required that an applicant be nominated by someone else to enter the awards. The Categories & Criteria Guide and the online application form are available at www.techpoint.org/mira.  

Scheduled for April 22, 2021, the annual Mira Awards gala recognizing the “Best of Tech in Indiana” will again be conducted in a virtual format as it was for the 2020 awards.

Questions about the new category should be directed to Joshua Hall of Techpoint.