Indiana technology leader will receive award at TechPoint Mira Awards Gala presented by BKD CPAs & Advisors at JW Marriott Indianapolis on May 12th

INDIANAPOLIS (April 24, 2011) — TechPoint is pleased to announce that Aprimo Co-founder Bill Godfrey is the initiative’s 2012 Trailblazer in Technology Award recipient for significant and lasting contributions to the high-tech economy in Indiana. The Trailblazer in Technology Award is part of TechPoint’s annual Mira Awards program recognizing excellence and achievement of Indiana’s outstanding technology industry performers and contributors, and focuses attention on the broader issue of the important role technology plays in Indiana’s economy. Godfrey will receive the award at TechPoint’s Mira Awards Gala on May 12, at the JW Marriott – Indianapolis.

Godfrey and his business partner Rob McLaughlin co-founded Aprimo with a revolutionary vision to automate marketing in ways no one had ever achieved before. Serving as president and CEO of Aprimo, Godfrey helped to build the large and valuable Indiana employer for 12 years prior to the company being acquired for $525 million in 2010 by Teradata Corporation, the world’s largest company solely focused on data warehousing and business analytics.

“The positive impact Bill Godfrey has had on Indiana’s tech sector is immeasurable. He has influenced and inspired so many through his perseverance as a professional and the core values he established and has lived by as a leader in his own company and in the technology industry,” said Jim Jay, president and CEO of TechPoint.

Mark Hill, chairman of the TechPoint board of directors, said “Bill’s leadership and dedication to the tech sector has been a key factor in Indiana becoming the epicenter of marketing technology that we are today. Beyond creating a thriving company of significant value, Bill has also helped to attract and train a generation of software developers and other technology workers. These highly skilled professionals are now part of the Indiana tech sector gene pool, and they are creating products, companies and wealth of their own here in Indiana.”

Godfrey served as Vice President, Corporate Development at Tivoli Systems, an IBM company that specializes in network management and enterprise support solutions and was responsible for identifying and executing strategic industry relationships. He served as Vice President, Marketing at Software Artistry, Inc., the industry-leading developer of software solutions for the consolidated service desk market, acquired by Tivoli in 1998. Godfrey arrived in Indianapolis in 1991 as a Kauffman Fellow and intern at CID Equity Partners.

“It's an incredible honor to be recognized as a TechPoint Trailblazer in Technology, not only for the honor itself, but because of who the past winners are and what they mean to me,” Godfrey said. “Scott Webber and Bob Compton offered me my first job at Software Artistry in 1991, and I hold them both in very high esteem. I’m grateful for the opportunities I have had and I am proud to be part of Indiana’s tech sector.”

Godfrey was named Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year in 2002, has been included in BtoB Magazine's Who's Who List since 2006, and had been one of Indiana Business Journal's "Forty Under 40." He earned his MBA from the University of Notre Dame and earned his bachelor's and Master's degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Kentucky.

The TechPoint Trailblazer in Technology Award was created to recognize individuals whose vision and efforts in advancing technology have made a lasting and significant impact on Indiana. Previous winners include Scott Dorsey, Robert Compton, Jo Ann Gora, Scott Webber, Wil Davis, Michael McRobbie, Mark Hill, Scott Jones, Jim Eifert, David Becker, The Lilly Endowment and Martin Jischke.

Each Trailblazer is among the state’s most influential thought leaders on technology issues, and has been a catalyst towards the growth and success of Indiana’s high-tech community.

For the past 13 years, TechPoint’s annual Mira Awards have put a spotlight on Indiana’s high-tech all-stars, understanding that celebrating success is one way to create more of it. The Mira Awards are Indiana’s largest and most visible technology awards program; learn more at https://techpoint.org/Mira. This year’s Mira Gala awards ceremony will be held on May 12th at the new JW Marriott Indianapolis.

About TechPoint
TechPoint is Indiana’s statewide technology initiative focused on growing Indiana’s tech sector by promoting the successes of technology companies and professionals; supporting the formation, expansion, and attraction of technology companies; and advocating appropriate public policy. For more information, please visit techpoint.org.

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EDITOR’S NOTE: A TechPoint video with Godfrey may be viewed here – http://bit.ly/It5vNS

A high-resolution photo of Godfrey is available for download here –
https://techpoint.org/documents/bill_godfrey.jpg