PIONEER
STARTS
HERE

CELEBRATING THE PIONEERS IN OUR COMMUNITY

Pioneer Starts Here is a digital storytelling platform, powered by NEI (the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership), the regional economic development organization proudly serving our 11 counties. The platform culminates each year at our Pioneer Event and hosts the Pioneer video series and the NEI Pioneer Podcast, which showcases and shares the stories of resilience and perseverance from our region. PSH is the stage that gives the megaphone to the people driving real change in Northeast Indiana.

THANK YOU TO OUR 2025 SPONSORS!

PIONEER VIDEO SERIES

Our ongoing video series showcases some of the biggest talents and brightest minds from our region. People like Ariana McGee, CEO of Navigate Maternity and 2023 Pioneer Award winner, who created a medical device company that pioneered a new way to “save the mommas and the babies.”

PIONEERING STORIES, NOW IN A PODCAST

Powered by NEI, Barrett McNagny and Sweetwater, the NEI Pioneer Podcast will work hand-in-hand with our Pioneer Video Series to tell the stories of our region and those that did it HERE, in NEI.