Business

Crowd funding is allowing an entrepreneur from the Lafayette area to sell his invention.

Sean Connell created “A Tool of Multipurpose” (ATOM). He used the crowd funding website Kickstarter for people to pre-order it. That money will allow him to produce the key-shaped tool.

Connell has surpassed his goal by more than $30,000. He says the website he used does have some restrictions, but the screening is done by potential funders who read about the investment or product and the project’s creator.

Purdue’s next vice president for physical facilities is coming from state government.

The university is hiring Indiana Department of Transportation Commissioner Mike Cline. He graduated from Purdue in 1988 with a degree in civil engineering.

Cline has been with INDOT since 2006. When Purdue President Mitch Daniels was governor, he appointed Cline as commissioner in 2010. Governor Mike Pence reappointed him to the position earlier this year.

A new co-working site in downtown Lafayette has a name and a logo.

MatchBOX Coworking Studio is located in the Stein Building at the southeast corner of Sixth and South streets.

The space is owned by the Tippecanoe County Public Library, but the city is leasing it for just one-dollar a year.

Lafayette Economic Development Director Dennis Carson says the logo for the new venture is matchsticks and a matchbox.

A multi-million dollar project in White County has begun. Minnesota-based Magnetation is building a $350 million plant in Reynolds that will recycle iron waste to produce iron ore concentrate. The company is working with AK Steel, which will use the iron pellets produced there.

Magnetation CEO Larry Lehtinen says the facility will use the latest technology to make it one of the most efficient plants of its kind.

Next spring, those traveling around Indianapolis will have a new transportation option. French company Bollore is starting an electric car share program in the city.

Users will pay a monthly fee and a per trip service rate, which have not been determined yet. In Paris, monthly membership is $16 and it costs about $4.50 for a 20 minute trip.

Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard believes the program will help create a more vibrant downtown and attract new people to the area. He says it could mean residents put off buying a car or second car.