Briefs
Business
Local resident awarded entrepreneurial fellowship
Bargersville native Isaac Duke has been selected for the Gov. Bob Orr Entrepreneurial Fellowship. The program aims to develop leadership in Indiana’s next generation of business leaders and entrepreneurs.
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Named for the late governor, the fellowship pairs high-achieving college graduates with some of Indiana’s high-growth companies for two-year tenures of executive-level mentorship, networking, job skill development and professional growth. Since its inception in 2001, the Orr Fellowship has placed more than 230 fellows with Indiana companies.
Duke earned a degree from Anderson University in economics and management and will work at IT consulting company Appirio for his two-year fellowship.
He was selected as one of 45 Orr Fellows from more than 800 applicants, with an average GPA of 3.7 among the class of 2015. The program has a five-step application process that includes multiple networking events and interviews. Candidates are selected based on superior academic performance, extracurricular involvement, demonstrated leadership potential and job experience.
Associate broker named at real estate agency
Donna Crawford has joined Greenwood-based Weichert, Realtors — Tralee Properties as an associate broker. She is serving buyers and sellers in Indianapolis, Greenwood and Whiteland.
Crawford joins a team of 19 agents at the company, which serves the greater metropolitan Indianapolis area, including Marion, Johnson and Morgan counties.
A current resident of Indianapolis, Crawford is a member of the Metropolitan Indianapolis Board of Realtors. She is a graduate of REAL University and holds real estate certifications.
Prior to real estate, Crawford was in the customer service industry for more than 30 years.
Information: 883-3333, TraleeProperties.com
2 Greenwood women tabbed for leader series
Two Johnson County women, Linda Gibson and Beenu Sikand, have been selected to participate in the annual Richard G. Lugar Excellence in Public Service Series women’s leadership development program.
Gibson is a member of the Greenwood City Council. She oversees operation of Custom Plaques, a family-owned manufacturing business, and has two children.
In 1996, she and her husband, John, founded Flags for Greenwood, a nonprofit organization to raise funds to purchase American flags to be displayed along Greenwood’s streets. Initially the group started with 254 flags. The Avenue of Flags in Greenwood has grown to more than 900 flags spanning more than 24 miles of city streets.
Gibson is also a board member of The Social of Greenwood, the Greenwood Village South Retirement Community and the Indiana Utility Shareholders Association. She is retired from Ernst & Young.
Sikand is an alumni board member of the University of Indianapolis and board member of the Johnson County Development Corp. She is also a Realtor with Berkshire Hathaway Realty Group in Indianapolis, where she specializes in residential real estate.
In 2005, Sikand was ranked the No. 2 Realtor in sales in Indiana and Ohio with Century 21. According to the Indianapolis Business Journal, she was ranked fourth in real estate sales in Indianapolis as an all-star solo agent. She has received many awards and nominations recognizing her excellence in this field.
She also received the Distinguished Alumni Award in 2009 from the University of Indianapolis for her contribution toward her community and for excellence in her field.
Greenwood city engineer joins transportation board
Mark Richards, Greenwood director of community development services and city engineer, has been appointed to the board of directors of the Central Indiana Regional Transportation Authority.
Westfield Mayor Andy Cook also was named to the board.
Both were appointed by Gov. Mike Pence.
The Central Indiana Regional Transportation Authority was created in 2004 to expand and improve mass transit in the region. It is governed by a 17-member board appointed by the governor, elected officials who represent 10 counties in the region, as well as municipalities, the Indianapolis Regional Transportation Council and the labor organization for IndyGo employees.
