Education Indiana University | Name Alex Smith | |
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Born November 6, 1986 (age 37) ( 1986-11-06 ) Fort Wayne, Indiana Occupation Entrepreneur and Philanthropist Known for Co-founder of 3BG Supply Company
Co-founder of A Better Fort
Co-Founder of BAALS Music Festival
Creator: #HipHop4theCity Project
Music Manager: Nyzzy Nyce Spouse(s) Michaela Smith (m. 2013) | ||
Alex Smith (born November 6, 1986, Fort Wayne, Indiana) is an American entrepreneur, community activist, and philanthropist. He is the co-founder & CEO of the venture backed 3BG Supply Co. (Panzit International), an industrial automation and distribution company and the winner of Fort Wayne Business Weekly's "Emerging Company of the Year" award, Business Weekly's overall "Innovators of the Year" award and named a nominee in TechPoint's 16th Annual Mira Awards which recognizes the best in technology in Indiana. Nominees are chosen by more than 40 subject matter experts, of which, 3BG was nominated Tech Innovation of the year.
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He is also the co-founder of A Better Fort, co-founder of BAALS Music Festival, creator of the #HipHop4theCity (MY CITY) music project, and the business manager of Nyzzy Nyce, an American rapper and founder of the Hurricane Music Group. Smith is a recipient of the 2014 Fort Wayne Business Weekly "40 Under 40" award, Journal Gazette’s FOCUS: Rookie of the Year in 2014 and a Bishop Dwenger Hall of Fame Inductee as Alumnus of the Year 2015.
Biography
Alex Smith was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana where he attended Bishop Dwenger High School. Following high school, Smith enrolled in Indiana University where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in Public Financial Management prior to working as a financial planner at Galecki Financial Management. Smith left financial services and co-founded 3BG Supply Co. (Panzit International). In 2014, the company was awarded Emerging Company of the Year and overall Innovators of the Year by Fort Wayne Business Weekly.
Smith is married to Michaela Smith.
The MY CITY Project (HipHop4theCity)
In 2012, Smith facilitated a music project entitled,"HipHop4theCity" (aka The MY CITY Project). It was a community driven hip-hop project that involved the collaboration of many local musicians and most notably American rapper, Nyzzy Nyce. This project showcased the region's undiscovered talent while simultaneously bringing awareness to community involvement, the arts, and what young people are able to do for a community's civic pride when they collaborate and work together. Coverage of the project sparked a newly renewed sense of civic pride within the young population of Fort Wayne that attracted the attention of national economic development publications and blogs and inspired other civic initiatives such as the annual MY CITY Summit.
Philanthropy
Smith is involved in volunteerism, community activism and downtown development initiatives in Fort Wayne, and co-founded A Better Fort, an organization with a focus on community empowerment and the retention of young talent through service opportunities, philanthropic endeavors, innovative projects, and cultural discovery. The organization has also raised capital on behalf of other local nonprofits in need of funds.