entrepreneurship
Entrepreneur Spotlights
True Blue | Northeast Indiana Region
Mom Water | Indiana Uplands Region
Tell City Soft Pretzels | Indiana First Region What began as a single pretzel stand has grown into a multi-state brand, showing how Main Street businesses can scale while staying anchored where they started. Brought to Tell City, Indiana, in 1858 by a master Swiss baker, the iconic secret recipe was passed down generation to generation. That soft pretzel has catapulted the company into food service, with their products being sold in restaurants, pubs, and stadiums. Tell City Pretzels is making plans to have a national presence in the next five years.
When Indiana high school students Kyla La Rue and Lydia Yoder saw classmates misunderstand Type 1 diabetes, they created True Blue, an education company delivering classroom tools now used across the U.S. and Canada. As Region 5 winners of the STARTedUP Innovate WithIN competition, the founders are now expanding into healthcare settings—proof that Indiana’s entrepreneurship ecosystem works.
Founded in Ferdinand, Indiana, Mom Water grew from a family idea into a nationally recognized brand while remaining family- owned and rooted in Indiana. The company sells one million cases annually and expects that number to grow to five million within the next five years. Three years ago, those cases of Mom Water were sold in two states. Now they’re selling in 40 states, and they’ve grown their team from 13 employees to now 41 workers.
True Blue
Mom Water
Tell City Pretzels
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Office of Commerce 2025
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