The Bold Plan to Make Indiana America's Next Boom State

Three of us are glorified cruise ship directors. We have to provide safety, entertainment, culinary. We're creating an experience historic charm with future growth. We don't want to be karma. We don't want to be fisher. Well, you're not going to be.

We're Noblesville. I'm going to try and look at the long-term future and what's the best thing that we can do. Serta is leading the way in a way that no one really has. Your heritage, how do you maintain that while also building a vision for growth from South Bend to Evansville and everywhere in between? This is Get In, the show focused on the Hoosier State and the incredible stories happening here today. I'm Nate Spangle, founder of Get Indiana, and I will be your host for today's conversation.

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Now, Chris Jensen has served as mayor of Noblesville since 2020 after previously working in state government and local economic development. During his time as mayor of Noblesville, they have attracted over $1 billion in private investment while advancing infrastructure and mental health initiatives. He currently serves as vice chair of Central Indiana Regional Development Authority. To his left, Scott Vadis has served as the first mayor of Fiser since 2015, leading the city to national recognition, including best place to live in America by money investment while becoming a hub for innovation. Scott also serves as chair of SERTA, an organization he co-founded and championed legislation to create, which drives regional collaboration across central Indiana. Andrew Greenwood is the town council president of Bargersville, not Greenwood.

Bringing experience as an attorney and real estate developer to local leadership. After serving on the Vision 2040 steering committee, he transitioned into public service to help guide the town's rapid growth. Today, we're going to be talking about how these small towns have grown to national spotlight, the business of belonging in these central Indiana communities, and what's next for the Heartland. Guys, welcome to Get In.

Thanks for having us. There we I always feel so good about myself after a bio like that.

Yeah, come on. I will have to start. Who's that guy? Yeah, in the bio we said 1 billion for Noblesville. It's actually over four billion, but you know that is over 1 billion. Rounding air.

Uh what I'd like to start, we're going to start uh down with Andrew. We're going to come this way. I'd love just a little bit of uh an overview of your communities and you know your relation. Are you a lifelong resident? Are you you know relatively new to the area? How long have you been there? And so and so. So Andrew, take us through Bgersville.

Yeah, so Bgersville was founded in 1906. Uh there was a railroad stop depot. That's how it got created. Agricultural area. Uh I've been living there uh almost 20 years. Uh raised my family there.

Uh love it. Uh we've had a lot of growth. So just in the last 10 years, we've uh more than doubled in population. So, we've at the last census, we were the third fastest growing community in the state. Um, so we've had a ton of growth, but I'm really excited about what we've been able to do and grow our town, but stay with our agrarian roots. Um, but we've also, um, you know, really enjoyed being a part of the larger picture of Indianapolis and Bloomington and trying to connect the two.

We have a lot of growth coming to us because of of 69 and the completion of that along with all our neighbors growing. So, uh, we're really excited. about what we've done and what we're doing now and and how we're growing in the future.

And how long have you been in local government?

Uh since 2020.

Heck yeah. All right. Now, this is the one and only ever mayor of Fisers. I recently found this out like from the transition from town to city.

George Washington.

Yeah.

Instead of crossing the PTOIC, it was crossing the Mon River. The White River Pacific. Uh yeah. So, not from Fisers, not from Indiana. Where you from? uh grew up on a farm in North Dakota,

so I'm a long ways from home. Uh but fortunate opportunity. I started as an intern at the town of Fisers and have worked in a variety of different roles and ultimately ended up in politics and been the only mayor that the city has had as you mentioned and really Fiser synonymous with growth. Uh you know 1980s probably 200 people. Today we're probably 110,000 people. Um and for the first couple chapters of that it was really just residential growth like suburban sprawl if you will.

Uh over the last decade and a half, I think what's been really exciting is kind of a different type of growth. You're seeing a lot more economic development, uh a lot more innovation-based economy uh coming to our community, and we're just always kind of forwardleaning, which I really appreciate and have enjoyed, uh being a part of that o over the last decade. So, it's it's a a great community, a lot of fun, and a lot of uh potential yet to come.

Yeah. Okay, talk to me, Chris.

Yeah. Great to be with you. I love to talk about America's hometown. I always ask Scott where Scott's from because one we all have great stories of constituents that get really mad at us about something. One of the best lines Scott got lit up once by somebody who told him he was a disgrace to the Dakotas.

People of the Dakotas, not not just the people. We we won't mention we won't mention what that's one of our favorite lines to use. But yeah, so Noblesville is uh America's hometown. I've lived there my entire life raising four kids there. Um we are now the the ninth largest city in the state of Indiana. uh home to about 80,000 hardworking Hoosiers.

You know, we call it America's hometown because there's something for everybody there. If you're into the music scene, not only do we have great local bands all around our historic square every weekend, but we also have the number one ranked outdoor amphitheater in the world based on ticket sales, which is referred to as Rudolph Music Center, but some people call Deer Creek. I I understand both sides of that. Uh you know, we have a great body of water in Morris Reservoir. We have the White River flowing through our downtown. Uh we are a hub for of for economic growth and innovation.

Innovation Mile, we're home to the Indiana Pacers G-League affiliate, the Noblesville Boom, and home to the Olympic Training Center for USA Gymnastics, which will train all of our Olympic athletes prior to LA in 2028 right here in central Indiana.

Wow. Well, this is the interesting piece. So, listeners out there, you might be thinking, "These guys are competitors. Why are they How did you get them all wrangled into a room together to talk about what the best uh central Indiana community is? The interesting piece is not that long ago, you all came together and decided that central Indiana local officials and government need to be working together to make all of central Indiana better so we can beat our neighbors to the east in Ohio and our neighbors to the west in Illinois and Michigan and Kentucky and the whole nine yards. talk to me about where the idea to start working together came from and why that was so important for Indiana.

Yeah, it it roots actually started with Greg Ballard and Andy Cook. Uh those two mayors had a personal relationship. They liked each other, which is a good foundation. Uh and they said, "Well, we should start meeting." And so a small group started getting together and really it was very informal. It was just they would come together for lunch and and have discussions and it was a good start.

But the problem with it was ultimately if someone got upset or didn't like it or was disinterested, they would just take their ball and go home, which did happen from time to time, you have strong personalities as elected officials and and that can occur. So what we really wanted to do was create something that would really kind of force the conversation and be sustainable well beyond any election cycle that says we are better together than we are apart. And one of the reasons behind that was honestly as you mentioned we're we're getting our butt kicked uh by a lot of other regions who are just ahead of the curve. And I would tell you 15 years ago these would have been regions that we would have probably laughed at and said that they're you know there there's no way Columbus Ohio could compete with Indianapolis. Well today they're they're on fire and and so we need to we needed to come together and I think we had some new blood come on.

Chris came on. Andrew came on that put some momentum behind it and and the time was right. We got the legislature to pass some some legislation to allow us to do this and serta was created and then it just kind of fasttrack to today where we have 32 uh communities around central Indiana working on a variety of things. I mean in the last four years we've done more for regional cooperation than we did in the previous 20 to 30 years in my opinion.

So what are the So Certa Central Indiana Regional Development Authority. You got it.

There we go. Nailed it. It's a mouthful.

Yeah. Right. Hey, you know, it all has to be acronyms. Acronyms are what I've learned in my uh brief foray of learning about local government is acronyms are important. So, what are the important issues that you all are coming together and collaborating on? Cuz there is some competition, right?

When you think about where the where the Pacers GLeague affiliate is going, it's like, well, I'm sure, you know, there might be place to put them on the south side or somewhere different. And so, there is a little bit of competition, but then there also is collaboration. So, what are the things you're collaborating on? Well, Chris and I have talked about this a long time and Andrew too, and I'm sure they have some thoughts on this. Um, I think we have to be a mature enough region to know when we need to compete against each other and then when we need to cooperate. Like there are times, absolutely Chris and Andrew and all of us are going to put our best foot forward because we're competing for something and one of us hopefully wins, but then after that person wins, we still need to come back to the table and then work on other issues and other opportunities that are before us.

You know, it's quick realization that even if you know, Mayor Fisnes and their team in Fischers land a company that maybe we were competing against them on, there's going to be folks that live, work, and play, and stay in Noblesville. And so, we're going to benefit from that. But I think Certa as a whole is is really focused on very big global topics. You know, we're looking at what is an economic identity for the region look like? We're working through that right now. What does an arts and cultural plan look like in central Indiana?

And that's different. You know, my arts and culture in Noblesville is different than arts and culture in Fischers and in Bartersville. you know, across the way. We're looking at down into granular conversations around um data usage and water usage and what does policy look around that. So, we it's a wide swath. Um but we want to make sure that everyone has a role to play in it and every community fits in it.

Yeah. I mean, I think we we've looked at everything from policing to gun issues of some negatives and how do we all work together on that because let's be honest, criminals don't care about the municipality line. Neither do really our residents. I mean, it doesn't really matter if I live in Burgersville or Indianapolis. If Lilyad's a huge campus right on the edge, it's both going to benefit both of our communities, right? And we want to work together and and capitalize on that together.

And so, um, I'm excited because it's given a small town like Bersville that's growing the opportunity to learn from these larger municipalities on things that have gone well, but also things that haven't gone well. Right? Right. So, we get the opportunity to see the science projects that they have going and learn from them and grow our community in a way that's appropriate for us cuz we're not trying to be, you know, I don't think anyone's saying, "Hey, I'm going to Sera cuz I want to emulate Bargers or I want to emulate everything that Chris does or emulate everything Scott does." They're saying, "Hey, what can I learn from this to take back to my community to make this region better?" And if we work together,

we think that will happen. And you know, it's it's so fascinating early on and I still we still battle with this is, you know, there's a lot of communities go, well, clearly, you know, Scott created this just to benefit Scott or it's to build headlines for Scott. You know, you get that and you have to work really hard as a team. You have to show that this is all about the collective good. And and what I'm so proud of is like you have communities that are 2500 all the way up to the city of Indianapolis that are all sitting in the same room talking about and we value the input of everybody and that that has made a huge difference in building a level of trust because 20 years ago we didn't have this. It was all doggy dog, you know, we're all fighting for headlines and so we've come a long ways. We're still not completely there yet, but boy, we've we've come a long ways.

Yeah. I'm looking at the the map here for so furthest west would be Green Castle. Furthest north edges between Tipton and Lwood up there you've got Anderson, New Pal, Cumberland, Bgersville in the south, Franklin, Whitland, Greenwood, Pittsboro. Like this is a good this is a good representation of a lot of central Indiana here.

Well, and 40% of the state's GDP is represented by that map right there.

40%. And so you wonder what the why of what we do every day is because 40% of the state's GDP is represented in central Indiana. So if we can move the needle in any of the areas that we just outlined, we are moving the state of Indiana forward.

How often does this entire group come together?

Uh once every other month.

Yeah, we meet in person once every other month and virtually every the other the alternating months as well.

Okay, so six virtual meetings and six in-person meetings. So take me through last time like the last time you all got together in a room. What was the topic covering across the state of Indiana?

I'll take it because Scott punted me on that. So you know we we as a state and as a nation have really been diving into this data center conversation, right? This is a real hot topic in every community. Um and and and we saw a void probably a couple months ago that you know there just is not much factual information out about data centers. There's a lot of theories, a lot of a lot of thoughts on it. And so we wanted to again we want to lead you know and certainly man we want to lead and and we're not saying pro or con but let's get all the players in the room.

Let's get let's get all of our utility friends in the room all of our energy friends um and have a panel and just ask questions and listen and learn from each other. Again not pro not against you know people there that supported it people there that don't support it but let's get facts on the table. And so we did that the last meeting. I thought it was incredibly I learned a ton. I moderated it and and it was just fascinating to learn from developers, from the IND in the energy sector, um you know, from from folks that are boots on the ground, what this can do in communities and what it can't do.

What was the craziest thing for each of you that you learned from that?

I think for me, the overall dollars that can come in to to support communities um with them was there was there were some there were a lot of zeros after them that I was that I did not realize. I think a lot of things I learned too and I want you guys to chime in but around the energy space that you know a lot of them actually produce and and and can manage their own energy usage. They actually can bring down energy costs in communities if done correctly. They can recycle their own water usage as well. So those were all again things I had read online were untrue. I got kind of some clarity on factual information.

I'm pretty involved in it. So I was one of the people on the panel. Excuse me. So I I kind of had a maybe a better base going into it, but I definitely learned a lot more about from the utility providers how they look at it, which helped me to understand. And then, you know, from just to be blunt, you know, in our community, it's not really a good fit. But I think in general, the region needs to look at it.

And that's the thing that I was the most excited about is I kind of got the nod from everybody like, yeah, we need to have our own plan. We can't just let the utility providers dictate it. We can't just let the developers dictate it. We can't just let the municipalities. We all have to work together. And that and that's really the key because, you know, no one's going to stop uh using Chat GPT.

Your kids are going to continue to cheat on their tests and they're going to need to do all that, right?

Okay. I got teenagers. I know how this works. Hopefully, they're not doing it too much. But, you know, all this stuff's going to continue and we're going to need these aspects so that we're not getting our butts beat in by Columbus and these other municipalities where they've already accepted it and they've had all these data centers built and then we're going to be behind the A-ball and we don't want to be behind.

And one of the things I think Andrew brought up really well, one of the difference between a local elected official and maybe like members of Congress in DC is we have to deal with reality every day. We deal with factual information. uh they get to go spew talking points and do whatever they want to do. We have to go to work and understand this. This is a reality. We can dance around this all we want, but data centers are going to be here in our country to stay. How do we manage them? How do we have conversations around them? And that's what we're trying to do from STO's perspective.

Yeah, that is so interesting. I uh I was having a discussion with someone and had talked about like it's inevitable like data centers are inevitable across America which is like the reality that we live in. But the other piece is like no one no one's constituents, no one's residents are going, "Yeah, like toss one in the center of downtown Fischers or downtown Noblesville." But it's like like yeah, everyone is going to be anti-data center for that aspect. But it's figuring out where the place is, how that works because yeah, you're right. No one is stopping creating fun images on ChatG on Facebook.

It's the same conversation we probably all had about um Amazon, right? Everyone has Prime. and they want their stuff within 24 hours. Well, in order to do that, you have to have warehouses. Well, where are they going to be? You don't want to live right next to it, but you still, you know, you want to order your light bulb or your new microphone that just got broken. Yep. That'll talk about that a little bit.

Right.

So, so that's all kind of weighs into this and all is a factor. And I think that was the exciting part that I think Certa has the opportunity to lead to say hey let's look at this as a region instead of just looking at it Justin Fischers Justin Barersville Justin Anderson like let's look at a region and see if we can help come up with

well and I think there's a you know overarching all these things is where does government go to get better and solve problems. I mean don't assume that local governments know what to do. uh these are new problem sets that we have to face and and some of them are only going to be solved collectively. Before CERTA, before we had this organization, there was nowhere to turn to and so we would have had a very fragmented solution to a variety of different problems in central Indiana. Now we have the opportunity to come together and and to Andrew's point, have a plan, have a vision. I mean, and I wish we were probably 6 months or a year ahead of the curve on data centers.

Um but they came on so quickly. That's the crazy part. It was like overnight it was like a land rush and government, local government frankly just wasn't prepared for that conversation. But now at least we can come together and go, "All right, let's figure this out."

Well, if I can be slightly, you know, in all due respect of our friends at the state level, you know, there hasn't been a real clear vision or or path to success on this topic. And so when that happens, you know, you do have things that tend to run themselves then, you know, and so we're in the business of trying to to wrangle those conversations and have them when there's not a vision on the very top. So that can be a challenge for us sometimes.

Yeah. I mean, if you think about 2015 was when you took over, I bet your first decade maybe you said the word data center 10 times, you know, like

it would have been like a small room. It would have been like a data center would have been a small facility or something like the guys million dollar building a million square feet

were there like you know potentially walking in a Microsoft or a meta or whoever's lawyer in there to talk with you in whatever in Indiana about this that's crazy

but imagine but imagine to that point though we with this panel discussion with Andrew and Chris and the whole group sitting there and saying hey you need to watch out for these speculative guys that come in and don't really have an employer or someone that they're bringing to the table just that equipping a mayor to know what questions to ask is light years ahead of where we would have otherwise been. So I I do think we're trying to provide value back to our members in that regard.

When I was listening to a podcast yesterday, not yours, but a different one, actually an out ofstate one, and there was another governor from another state on it, but talking about data centers about, you know, that they they they could make sense, but you have to you have to put the guardrails in place. What what guardrails does government put in place? Where does where does that make sense? Where doesn't it make sense? you know what, you know, what qualifications does it make sense in certain communities around whatever state it may be? So, I think it's it's asking those hard questions, flushing those out from a leadership standpoint.

Yeah. Are there other pressing topics on municipalities around the state of Indiana right now? Obviously, data centers are huge, but as people think about look looking into, you know, summer's right around the corner. It's, you know, Indiana, the month of May is going to be here. What are municipalities and leaders and municipalities across the Hoosier State thinking about in 2026 besides data centers? Well, I think our job every day is to wake up, make sure our citizens are safe, right?

Job number one of every local elected official, you know, public safety. You know, we're lucky in Noblesville to be ranked the 12th safest suburb in America in 2025. Um, we but that's not easy. Scott has really led the way on kind of a a gun task force in central Indiana. Talking about getting bad guns off the streets in in in central Indiana. You want to talk about that?

Andrew said it so well earlier. Criminals really don't care about political boundaries, right? And uh and so we have to be able to share information and share experiences. And we we pioneered the Crime Gun Intelligence Center uh several years ago and it's a regional collaborative that is going after trigger pullers, the worst of the worst. I mean, these are the folks that you can you can trace multiple shootings, multiple murders back to. And we have Fischers police officers, these guys probably have uh police officers in that group right now today that are down in Indianapolis chasing the worst of the worst.

But they have a Fischer badge on because I think offense is your best defense. And so I think us coming together is great. But I think, you know, we we all have financial constraints, right? Costs of everything are going up. We saw significant property tax reform that came out of the legislature the last couple years. So, everyone l literally this year, I think, is just trying to figure out where they're landing financially.

And then looking into the 27 budget going, okay, well, where where does this put us with fuel prices now going to $4 a gallon? Uh, you know, that that plays into asphalt, that plays into your fleet, the whole thing. So, I think that financial pressure if you're talking about statewide is a massive massive issue. And then I think for central Indiana, one of the most compelling things is what is our vision? Who are we? Who are we aspiring to become?

And I think our our economic development task force that we have is is trying to tackle that to say, okay, like 20 years from now, what do we want central Indiana to be known for from an economic perspective? That's that's a big challenge that we're trying to tackle this summer. when you think about 20 years in the future uh and after and maybe you guys are still in office rounding out. Yeah. But uh look, where do you see Central Indiana when you look back on the legacy that everyone right now in central Indiana is is currently forming? Where do you guys see it going?

Well, I think we're on an upward trajectory if we can tackle the hard questions right now. Um I think we had a great base with going after sports, right? you know, the amateur sports capital of the world. And I think it it was a great run. It continues to be a good run. We have all these wonderful things that have happened, but I think we really have to set the stage for the future. Um, and that future will change, right? So, I think some of the work that we're looking at in terms of life sciences and aggro science and other businesses and do, you know, how do we go and attract these companies that are going to be here for the long run? How do we get the next Lily?

You know, h how do we and how do we retain Lily, right? and and and what does that mean for every community? And so I'm excited about the next 20 to 50 years. And I always try and take the step back and go, okay, I'm not I'm not going to worry as much about, you know, Anna who lives around the corner who's upset about data centers. I'm going to try and look at the long-term future and what's the best thing that we can do. And I feel like this group of of SERA is leading the way in a way that no one really has. So there's been kind of a political void in my opinion of leadership. And I'm not pointing fingers at any one person, but I just feel like this group is so strong and if we can work together that we will kind of set that trajectory right.

And I think we're trying to take this a multiplepronged approach. You know, you have an identity issue that we're working through and we have good friends that are working, you know, Indie Chamber and others that are working on that branding, that marketing for Central Indiana, Speed City, you know, you I'm sure you've heard it. Um, you know, and and what does that mean to business? What does that mean to culture? What does that mean to sport? All those things.

But then our job on our side too is to come alongside that and prove that we can execute what what what are those industry sectors that make sense? You know, life sciences for example. And we have a great partnership now with the IEDC to help drive home that that life science initiative in central Indiana. Um but we we got to be able to point to the Roes of the world, the Lilies of the world, the Steanado groups, the you know, whatever it may be. Um and show that we can land the company, develop the workforce, have the quality housing, and execute down the road. just not just have a brand but have a true um boots on the ground approach.

Well, you guys talk about, you know, Certa though, the work that you all are doing here in central Indiana is really bringing some of the sharpest minds in local government together to solve big problems. when you when we put this episode out, I'm sure there will be people all across the state, whether it's northern Indiana or southern Indiana, like there's young, ambitious leaders that want to make an impact in their communities that might not be geographically in central Indiana to be a part of Zerta. What advice do you have for municipal leaders across the state on how to oh whether it be develop or just create a great place to live, work, play to create a better community.

I mean, we're not the only ones doing it right now. There's a lot of great communities across the state of Indiana that are doing it. And I think my message to all those individuals would be to identify what what does your community mean? You know, what does Rochester, Renley or Lrange, whatever that may look like? Excellent. what is what what does that community want to identify then and then find those leaders at the table in that community to get around the table to help develop that plan and and show up and be a part of it and also then identify what are the regional entities around the state there's strong RDAs in southwest Indiana northeast Indiana northwest Indiana regional development authorities which is what is the central Indiana regional development authority there's others around the state so they just need to show up and be a part of the conversation and keep investing in our communities that's what we have advocated for um you know, we've invested ready dollars on main street programs to help continue to grow our state's population because you're either growing or you're dying.

Um and I think those political leaders across the state know that Chris and I get this a lot. Well, you're from Hamilton County, so therefore, you know, you you guys have it easy.

Yeah. We say down here in broader, you guys are from north of the wall.

Yeah, exactly. No, I'm clear. I'm clear. But I I think the ultimately what needs to happen is every community just needs to figure out what the best possible version of itself could be and pursue that doggedly, you know, and not everyone's going to be a Noblesville. Not everyone's going to be in Indianapolis. Not everybody wants to be a Fisers by any means. So what is it that you want to aspire to become? And then take every resource you have, every ounce of political will you have and and exert that and and expect it to take time. You know, that's the other thing. People are so impatient these days, but you know, Brainer and Caramel didn't build Caramel in a year. It took over a decade of tireless efforts and to create that vision. And so I think as Andrew said, you know, you're if you get so consumed by putting out the fires of the day, you're not playing the long game.

Yeah. And that's what we're after.

And one thing I think the three of us intimately know is that the state of Indiana has just some natural challenges. You know, we our winters aren't great. You know, our beaches aren't exactly uh we got some shoreline up in northern Indiana. We certainly do. you we have what southern Indiana folks call mountains. They're beautiful hills, right? You know, and so we have some natural barriers, you know, and our our best day is when we we we have to pull even with the the Tennessee's, the North Carolina, the Florida, the Texas that are really on this, you know, uh hamster wheel every day. We've got to be on the wheel every day doing our best to keep up with them to keep telling our story and and so we know that and we've got to make sure our state knows that, too.

Okay. So, when you think of regional regions, right, you think of central Indiana. Who are the two or three regions that are out in front of us that we're chomping like at the heels of trying to get past and who are the the two or three regions maybe right behind us that we're trying to keep distance between?

Well, I I think Columbus, Ohio absolutely is is one of those. Research Triangle is that aspirational boy, we'd like to catch up to those folks. Detroit honestly has turned turned itself on and and really moving forward. the Motor City, I put Louisville in there, too. Louisville is waking up big time, too. So, you know, a lot of those would have never been in the same pure category as us. Nashville is obviously completely on fire. Um, and so, yeah, I mean, all of those used to be probably

in our range,

in our range or even slightly behind us and they've they've leaped past us,

but but we're within striking. We can get those. Why do you guys think that is like what do you think the the gap has been that uh maybe I mean from a Nashville perspective that's accelerating growth?

I think they identified something they wanted to go after that and doggedly pursued it as he said to steal his term. I love that term but you know they said hey we're going to go after the music industry. We're going to go after this and you know they had some history with that but then they went after tech with it right and hammered it. Yeah. Well, cuz cool just comes with like if you have the music and the indie artists and the whole 90 like people that work from their laptop and that whole jazz like comes with that.

Well, also point out, you know, like Detroit for example, I think was they are a product of just a real downturn. I mean, they were down in a very bad spot. They didn't they didn't have Yeah. They didn't have a choice, right? It was sink or swim. And I think once they found some success, success breeds success in my opinion. You know, when you start winning some things, people are paying attention,

which is crazy. I went to Detroit when I was maybe a sophomore in high school on a a literal mission trip through our church to Detroit. And they said, this fact I'll never forget is there were enough vacant houses in Detroit that each homeless person or person that was experiencing house uh housing issues,

housing,

housing insecure could each have two houses.

Wow.

Like that was a wild because they had just been riding such a high like Detroit historically is like you know and then obviously a downturn. Well, and I think uh alignment I talk about alignment all the time. So the private sector, the philanthropic sector, and the public sector and our residents all coming together and saying, "Well, this is the mountain we're going to climb. Five years ago, maybe even to today to be I would argue if you were to go around and ask each one of those groups, where are we going?"

Yeah.

I don't think we would get a cohesive vision for where it is we're going as a region. I think Nashville, if you were to go there and ask them, they're pretty clear on where they're going. in Columbus, I think they're pretty clear on where they're going. We've got to get to that point where our residents feel it and believe it. Our business community is invested in it. Our philanthropic community is investing in it. And our public sector leaders are making the decisions and the policies and articulating the vision that everyone wants to go to.

I think that that's the piece. There are so many organizations that are kind of setting the tone, you know, like there's a lot of different, you know, whether it be

mayors, serta, chambers, economic development, like where does that leadership and direction come from? Like who where should it come from?

That's a great question. I mean, there is no nobody, you know, taps you on the head and says you now your group is now in charge. Like that doesn't that doesn't exist. And because we've had this quagmire, you have 47 different groups all trying to be relevant in this conversation, doing different things, well intended. Yeah.

But it all adds up to nothing.

I think that's the hard part, too, cuz uh Hoosiers are just the best people, right? Like they're so kind. And the fact of um I think through like a Nashville, I talked with Christian Anderson at uh length about this topic of just central Indiana's identity. And you think of music city. didn't mean country music city, didn't mean folk music city, just music city. Uh, and everyone kind of rose in that direction and, you know, rappers and country music artists and pop singers all like ended up there and tech people outside of that.

Indiana, especially Indianapolis, like we're we're so kind that we don't want to like we're the amateur sports capital, speed city of the like this this and everyone's thing is part of it and that makes it really hard to have a a specific identity. So it is I am curious to see how that all ends up shaking out and how that all those boats can get aligned and rowing in the same direction.

Well, I think two things. One, I think that we talk a lot about the huser humility that we have in Indiana, which I think is cute and great. We need to probably chuck that to the side and be bold on who what we stand for and and what we believe in and who we are and tell our story better. I would also say one of the things we learned from Detroit is that you know 20 years ago a lot of our cities even in Indiana that were had their eggs in one industrial industry basket around the automotive industry um lost their rear end on it

right and so we have to not only be about we have to have a diverse subset of an economic base and to make sure that we can ride through different highs and lows and Detroit has learned that and has started to diversify their economy and that's what you're seeing them come back from. Yeah, it is interesting of like how you can have uh like diverse industries but like a cool chic marketing aesthetic, you know, like music city or sin city or wherever just like rolls off it.

Sin city maybe not for us. I don't know that that it factor is going to be really uh you're right there's a convergence of like an economic reality and then this quality of life or like that hook that says like this has got a cool component to it when you that's magic. I think that's the lightning in the bottle kind of scenario. And one you can manufacture the other one has to almost come organically. Like the economic one I think you can manufacture. You can be intentional about that. That other it factor I don't like that's lightning in a bottle I think. And when it happens you got to capitalize on it. You got to recognize it. But I don't know that you can like manufacture it.

Maybe Indiana's just Indiana's podcast needs to really push into that of giving us the filter. Right.

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That's kirkland-mainstreet. org. The interesting piece I want to talk about is all of your communities are growing exponentially. You know, if you think a little bit of like have a tiger by the tail of, you know, stacking on new residents, new businesses, $4 billion, new uh professional sporting teams coming to all these areas, doubling growth. What I'd like to dive into is how you manage keeping current residents happy, excited, um pumped to still live there, attracting new residents, kind of this three-legged stool of uh housing, residence, business, like the whole nine yards. uh what you guys are prioritizing and how you manage all that.

I think that's a really great question because I think the three of us sitting here represent

different phases of that. So I'd probably start with Andrew who's like I think really in the midst of it which is hey we are a small town and now we're we're experiencing growth.

That's probably the first phase second phase. I'm probably third phase in that. So you want to talk about

Yeah. I mean what we've tried to do like I said earlier is learn from everybody else. You know uh we want to authentically grow. So I always say that we're gonna have responsible growth. So we're gonna, you know, pay homage to our agricultural roots. So we're not going to demo buildings and build fivetory towers or sevenstory towers.

It's just not who we are. But we still have a ton of residential growth. So figuring out the right areas, the right products, you know, architecture doesn't make a great community, but everyone wants to talk about it, right? And I'm and I'm constantly asking these guys, hey, what do you think makes your community so great? How do we do that? And then I try and bring those aspects that I see in all these other communities and say, "Hey, let's do this.

Let's do that, but let's do it our way. Let's do it the Bargersville way." So, we've done that. You know, I mean, we've made a major commitment to our downtown. We made a major commitment to infrastructure. We're trying to build our bones so that we're set up for the future.

Well,

yeah.

Yeah. I'll just chime in. I mean, Andrew said Burgersville was founded in 1907 06.

06. Yeah. And so, I mean, like Noblesville, for example, 1823, you know, so we just had our bsentennial. Scott and I had this conversation a lot because, you know, we are very much the historic county seat. There are there are families that have generational heritage in Noblesville. I remember when I would when I ran for mayor the first time, I was not considered Noblesville enough cuz I was not born at Riverview Hospital in Noblesville.

And like that's how much how that's how much they take it seriously. So, we're trying to blend that historic charm with future growth. People hear it all, you know, Scott, you probably hear all the time. People say like, "Oh, we don't want to be caramel. We don't want to be fishers." Well, you're not going to be.

We're Noblesville, you know, and we've developed our our downtown, which is a historic downtown square. We haven't touched a single historic building as we've redeveloped that downtown. We've just simply added some components to it to make the businesses thrive more, to make it a more pedestrian friendly community out on the east side, kind of near Scots area, which actually we share a school district out in that area. HSC schools, you know, you're going to see a lot of new growth out there. That's where you see the arena, that's where you see innovation and tech um coming in. So, it's a constant battle.

Um, and change is hard for anybody. You know what I mean? Like, you know, whether it be a data center earlier, people don't like a new neighborhood going in. You know, I mean, that that's always a challenge. There's very rarely is somebody saying, "Yes, we want that new growth." You know, there's just there's a lot of opinions about it and we're trying to walk a fine line every day.

Yeah. I think I'm probably on the tail end of it. Um certainly went through the battles of changing Fisers from a bedroom community into a more dynamic city that had commerce and mixeduse developments and things of that nature. and and I went through all I got bloodied in battle with residents that didn't want to see that type of change. I think where we are today is a culture in Fisers where people kind of have self- selected in or out of that product. And really what people want more and more is like, well, what's new?

What are you bringing next? And it's it's not a, oh my god, what are you bringing next? It's more like, well, what restaurant are you bringing? It's it's it's more exciting.

It's a culture shift. Culture shift culture shift.

What do you get the most feedback about? Like what do people whether whether they're whether they're uh in the comments online or they're seeing you out in public, what do people ask for?

Food.

I feel like it's always disillusioning. You can work your butt off to bring in like a really great company, like a really great company that's going to pay really great salaries and people are like, "Okay." And then you announce a a restaurant and that that will hands down be the most popular thing that you hear about. is like when I remember when we brought Portillos in game changer we left you know we we were able to land a couple years ago $200 million Bastion Solutions their North American headquarters a Japanese um Toyota manufacturing company huge highpaying jobs we worked for years and people were like

oh that's that's lovely and they golf clapped it you know and then like a few months later Costco came in across the street of which I don't think we had anything to do with we might have put a road and they're like hell yeah reelect that guy you know what I mean like that is amazing you know and I'm like okay give the people what they want.

Yeah. I mean, sometimes it's like the things that generate the biggest ROI don't generate the headlines and things that Yeah. You talk about a Costco that they probably had no circled as soon as the population data, right? They pulled the population data and infrastructure.

But it's like, you know, it's it's really, if you think about it though, it makes all the sense in the world. As I thought about it, it's like, well, I wouldn't talk about that at my kitchen table.

You know, I wouldn't talk about Bastion or or Life Science Company Fishers, but my family would enjoy going to a restaurant. Yeah. Whatever. Yeah. So, it's what is relevant to them in their homes.

What's the golden goose for for communities? Like, if you think around like the entire country, who who are people chasing and trying to entice to like, "Hey, come put this restaurant or this thing or

Trader Joe's. Whoever can land at Trader Joe's in central Indiana is the is the winner."

Uh, yeah. I think anything culinary, like any popular restaurant, people would absolutely die for. You know, we we landed uh IKEA a number of years ago. I had, to Chris's point, kind of like Costco, I had absolutely nothing to do with it. I didn't travel to Europe to try to recruit IKEA. They showed up one day and said, "We want to go here. And if you aren't okay with our blue building, we're not coming here." And that was basically basically it. Um but Top Golf, those kind of like just those info or those entertainment places I think are pretty popular.

When I think it speaks,

what about a place like Barard?

So we have Tax Man. So Tax Man was founded.

They were started there, right? They were started there and they've expanded and we have a winery and we have all those local grown things that people love. But I I'll hear more about the new um you know farm to table restaurant than I will about anything else. And then trails and parks

people love

that we've started to do that. So that would you know those are the things that people don't really see or understand but then they use it. You know I'm driving in this morning at 6:00 in the morning and I see probably 20 people walking on the trail and I'm like

that's a good point. This is interesting too when thinking about building up like Tax Man, right? Starting there like all these like FDR in Fishers, right? Yeah. Oh gosh. Yeah. Great spot too. Like when you think about

attracting new commerce, new restaurants, new industry, uh North American headquarters versus building up locals. How do you balance that? What are the support systems that local entrepreneurs and change makers need in their local from their local level to really make uh long-standing businesses that people love?

I think there's two different types of entrepreneurs, you know, like the we we founded uh co-founded Launch Fishers with John Wexler a number of years ago and and that's still going strong and that's more of the ventureback startup kind of company like I'm going to create the next software company. the the hard part and I think Chris has an advantage in this regard is like if you're um if you want to start up a small culinary like if you want to start up a restaurant uh in Fisers because most of our construction is brand new your rent numbers are really high and so if you're

a startup restaurant it's going to be tough but you look at like around the square Nolesville Square there's great opportunities there and it's kind of the got the like the eclectic culture to be like a great place for culinary startups and restaurants you got some great ones in there already. Um, and so it's it's how do you how do you leverage that? Real estate is so expensive.

If you're a first time food entrepreneur, you're probably not starting.

You're not going to The yard

or like Yeah. Midtown Caramel probably not like the best. Even though it's like, oh yeah, if we if we could just get there, we'd get so much foot traffic, but it's like, yeah, you got to have x amount of money versus I even think out to like Danville, like their square is getting redeveloped. like a few of these other places where you can still get decent rent prices to like prove your concept that people actually want your thing.

Well, it's a great example of this is like Fox Garden in Fortville. Guys started it up on a limited budget and has turned that into kind of a juggernaut in Fortville and people will travel from uh bigger communities to go there because they just love the feel of that.

Yeah. And what they even opened another spot up in Lapel, I think like they got a bunch of cool stuff. And I think it's the Fox Gardens of the world that know that, you know, every day we're trying to balance how do we support that mom and pop business that started but also bring in that corporate, you know, um, lion chasing company because they go hand in hand. You know, you cannot just invest in just Main Street India that it's not going to work. You have to balance that. You have to also be globally competitive to bring in big businesses here because they're going to drive population. And at the end of the day, that's what we need is skilled population growth with with expendable income that they can go support the Fox Gardens of the world. And I think local entrepreneurs in in especially in central Indiana understand the balance there.

I've talked to a bunch of municipal leaders across the state. And for some reason, even in like places where I would say like aren't the biggest like rural Indiana out 2 hours from Indianapolis and the biggest problem they talk about is housing. They're just like like housing just seems to be like a constant struggle that I hear about all the time, no matter the size of the community. Now, why is housing such an issue? And is it like this chicken or the egg thing where it's like if we have more housing, we could get more workers, we could attract bigger businesses, or like is it the chicken or the egg? Or why is housing just something that everyone is talking about?

Well, it's certainly a relevant conversation these days. I think you're talking to the wrong three people. Uh because we've had the opposite problem. We have an unbelievable amount of demand to I mean, there are no shortage of builders that want to come into our communities and build houses in. This is their like if you're a rural community. I'm from Bourbon, Indiana, a town of 1500 people. Let's talk about Bourbon right there. There's no mayor of Bourbon. But uh if they were trying to attract a developer, it would be more challenging for them to attract a developer to come to Bourbon to build housing to get more resident. Like that is the wheel that a lot of these smaller municipalities are facing.

I think it's a a good example of that one size doesn't fit all when it comes to this conversation. you know, to their point, and I think this is where the legislature gets off a little bit in a in a struggled area because they try to fix it with one sw foul swoop. But in in Bourbon, Indiana, you know, I always think about our good friend Dan Ryden, mayor of Muny, Indiana. Um he had to go out, he used um some city dollars, some redevelopment community committee dollars to purchase a plot of land. The city put in all the infrastructure, sewer, water, roads, and then he convinced a builder to come in and build homes on that lot. You know, he had to do that.

And now he's built some momentum with that with that group. But but that is totally foreign to the three of us. I mean, we are batting them away. And you know, I said in six years in Noblesville, we've built 5,962 new homes, for example. Um, and a lot of it's supply.

Big numbers, guys.

You know, but I I will tell you nationwide, we're at a three 3 to four million uh unit shortage on houses. Here in Indiana, that's about 50,000 units short. So, it is a supply and demand issue. It's a land price issue. Um, there's a lot of factors at play here. Um, but there are we we've got to be able to convince the the bourbons of the world and the builders of the world to go invest in some of our smaller communities to help rise the tide.

Well, and if you think about the the what happened in the recession is it cleaned out all the smaller mom and pop builders and all you really have left are like national home builders and national home builders go for economies of scale. So, they're not coming in and building five homes in bourbon Indiana. they want to build 250 homes at a time. And so it's really hard for a smaller community to attract those folks and if they're not there, you don't have a lot of the guys with the pickup truck that'll come out and build, you know, one or two homes or the development prices to do that are very difficult.

So it's it's really it is kind of a rock and a hard place conversation for a lot of communities in Indiana today.

Yeah. I uh one I just had mayor Ry uh on the podcast. Oh, fantastic. And you talk about 50 years of population decline and then being able to reverse that over the last three again comes from having housing and getting people.

He had to think outside the box, right? and he had and again that's something that we couldn't even fathom doing but he had to do that and he's built some success on it and I just think it's impressive

when you are again I said uh when you have a tiger by the tail and you're growing like a weed how do you maintain your heritage and maintain your you know your agriculture your historic town square like the bedroom of homeiness that is Fisers how do you maintain that while also building a vision for growth

well for us it's pretty clear we've tried to set aside areas where hey if you're going to build in this area like near our downtown we're going to have certain architectural standards and we're going to try and match what we have whether it's commercial or residential then this area is designated for commercial growth so a lot of it's in our planning department and we're actively working on a housing plan I don't like calling it housing diversity it's a plan it's trying to address the area of where do we have the needs you know we have about 15,000 people now in the town of Bgersville and we'll probably be a city in the next 5 to 10 years Oh,

so as that happens, how does a town become a city? Like what makes a town a town?

Scott, Scott can tell you all about that. Um, you vote on it in a referendum typically

like on the ballot like all the residents say, "Do we want to be a city?"

Correct.

Wow.

Certain number of residents have to get a certain number of signatures to get on the ballot and then it's just a referendum question.

Wow. Okay. That's And the the difference would be cities have mayors and towns do not.

That's correct. Yep. Huh? But it's just like a something that people vote because I always thought it was like oh maybe like the it's like a the misconception once you hit a certain amount of people you like what's the biggest town in

there's an aspect to there's an aspect to it that once you get to a certain level of population you have certain requirements you have to handle. So it's easier to be a city than to be a town in order to match.

I think we would have been I think we would have been the biggest town in Indiana.

Like it probably is like a westside like

Avon there's no cities in Hendris County. So Avon Planefield, uh, and Brownsburg, none of them are cities.

I think when we were a town, um, right before we became a city, we were probably around 70,000, I want to say. So we were, we would have been the

Wait, there's not a city in Hendricks County. Correct. Danville is not is a town.

That's interesting.

Yeah. And I think that I mean, Scott and I would certainly advocate for the city model. I think when you have a a mayor uh with with executive authority, you you know, sometimes can drive that vision a little bit better. I mean we get to a point a town the 70,000 people with a town council and town manager that is a rough way to back yourself into clarity there. So um but again that's for individuals to decide.

Yeah. Okay. Um talking about uh after we went down that rabbit hole talking about when you are in high growth mode you know you spend a decade going from town to city to IKEA and portillos. How do you maintain your identity while also pushing growth? I think we're a little different than these two. Um because Fisers really didn't have much of an identity. I mean, it had no downtown. I mean, there was no town square. There was no, oh, we have this collection of beautiful old neighborhoods. I mean, Fisers was kind of created out of a cornfield in the 80s. If you think about

Yeah, that is kind of interest because you guys in the last couple like the last decade or two or whatever built the like whole downtown like form where I feel like it was like form stack and a few of those places came in early.

Yeah. No, I mean, literally, you're building it from scratch because if you were to go back to the 80s and late '7s, it was it was just corn fields. Um, and so I I mean, honestly, and I'm sure people would vehemently agree to this statement, I kind of forfeited the, hey, we're going to hold on to our 1800's heritage and just said we're leaning in and we're going to be a forwardleaning city. Because honestly, we didn't really have a lot to hold on to. We had a few things. um you know and and like you think about the nickel plate railroad we turned it into

a trail you know we we're like constantly trying to evolve and grow and that's really become our identity more so than reaching back I think we're reaching more forward not because I look down on the folks that are celebrating their history it's just we didn't we didn't have anything you know there weren't very many buildings older than 1981 in

and that became very clear when when we did uh convert the rail line to a trail you know back in the day there was massive conversation around this and Scott, you know, the people in Fischers were like, "Yeah, trail, let's go." People in Noblesville were incredibly resistant to that. And he always would ask me like, "What's the what's the difference here?" I go, "Well, we got to understand in Noblesville, the nickel plate rail line, for example, people still live there that said, "Hey, my great-grandfather worked on that rail line." You know, there was that heritage that that buyin that took us to to your question. You know, finally a long conversation of, "Hey, a rail line that's not going anywhere.

I mean, the rail line is there's no trains on it. It's it's it's been deemed inoperable. You know what? A better way to honor your family's heritage by having a trail with some historical markers along the way that celebrates that history. That is a much better use of of that space. I say in Noblesville, our first mixeduse development is called the Levenson in 100 years.

Uh it was built on a parking lot in downtown Noblesville, named after a historical family, the Levenson family. Has the architecture standards that Andrew mentioned to fit into our downtown. And oh, by the way, when we excavated the parking lot that it's on, underneath it were the original bricks from the original opera house in downtown Noblesville. So, we actually reused those bricks in the lobby of the Levenson to honor that original opera house. So, I think it's tying in that historical features into new development, and that's what we've tried to do in downtown. I think one of the most fascinating things about change for our three communities that we're going through that maybe not all communities in Indiana are going through is that um for the first 20 years of growth like in Fisers from 1980 to 2000 it was all people leaving other places in Indiana and moving to Fisers.

Today um it is incredible where people are coming from to locate to Fisers. I mean, we are becoming a global city where I'm astounded when I meet people and I'll ask them like, "Well, where are you from?" They're like, "They're from other countries. They're from Texas. They're from Washington. They're from New York."

And some of them are just choosing to live here. I mean, they've done their research and they're like, "Yeah, we just decided to move to Fischers, Indiana." It blows my mind. But this next wave of population growth for all three of our communities, honestly, will not come off of the farms of Indiana. All of those people, the vast majority of them, have already been moved. if they're going to move.

I I keep uh bringing this up too, saying like central Indiana does continue to grow and I felt like for the last decade it is at the expenses of farms in Indiana because it's like there is the opportunity and because you know central Indiana has done a really good job of creating and bringing these cool companies and North American headquarters and G-League basketball teams and the whole nine yards

that I'm like

at some point, yeah, we do need to start working how do we get people from Columbus, Ohio to come to Indianapolis. Indiana that's happening now. I don't I don't think you're going to see

that first wave, which was literally everyone came off of a farm somewhere in Indiana, went to Ball State or IU or Purdue and then they got married and they decided to move to the suburbs. That storyline that dominated the 80s and 90s that is not I don't at least not in Fischer predominantly who's coming in now.

Well, I think it that needs to not happen too. I mean, we cannot be a state of having you know and I think we all we all know that from our seat. We have to grow by bringing people from other states and other countries to Indiana. That that's the secret sauce. And we have to continue to work and and help share our knowledge with our rural community friends, the Bourbons of the world and helping them to continue to grow, too.

Yeah. Right. You need the the Munies and the Bourbons and those places to be great places for their residents so that we can all work together to start, you know, getting some Buckeyes into the Hoosier State. So, talking about recruiting from around the country, I think that Fisers and Caramel maybe. Was there just like some big announcement that came out and you guys were like in the top 10 for something? What was that?

I don't remember what the ring It was six and seven. I remember that, but I don't I don't I don't come on.

I don't I don't know what the specific was. But what I will say is we're very fortunate in Hamilton County in particular that um Fisers and Carmel and Noblesville and Westfield are often ranked in a lot of these things. And to be honest with you, I never paid much attention to those. They weren't a big thing to me. But now that people are so transient, it shocks me. Like I will talk to someone and they'll say that they literally looked into Fisers because it was ranked on this magazine and and decided to move there. I'm like, "What?

It matters."

Yeah, it matters. Like I I never used to think

I I scrolled through Fischer Tik Tok and like found the places.

It's kind of this kind, you know, not only does that matter like youth sports,

it matters matters. That's a huge driver of people to send to to communities. I mean like even I mean it's unbelievable. You dive into it. That's you know often times like sports moms are the ones making a decision of where they're going to land within a community.

Heck yeah.

I mean I used to say it is kind of jokingly but I mean we three of us are glorified cruise ship directors. I mean you can pick whatever Carnival line you want to go on but we have to provide safety, entertainment, culinary. I mean it's basically we're creating an experience.

Yeah. And we're marketing that to the world. They'll be like, if you're going to have this experience, come have it here. And they can pick literally wherever they want to go. I mean, it's crazy. And only one of us here actually worked on a cruise ship.

That's a shout out to Chris. Thank you very much.

Look at that.

20 years ago.

Well, I love it. Gentlemen, we've come towards the end of the show where we have some rapid fire questions to round it up. Um, Andrew, I want to start over here and we'll go this way. So, this question is brought to you by our friends at JC Hart. They're a leader in creating enjoyable living experiences at apartment communities all across Indiana and beyond. Check them out at homejccheart.com. My question for you, why do you call Indiana home?

Well, I went to IU. Uh my wife's from here and uh after going back I grew up out east, went went to school in New York and then came back. Uh I love it. Um it's affordable. It's a great place to raise a family. And the Hoosier humility humility is real. Um and I think that the trajectory is wonderful. And I'm excited about the next 50 years.

Yeah. the people. Like there's just something about the accessibility of people here. I mean, you can make three phone calls and get to literally anyone in Indiana. I don't know where that exists anywhere else. Like, it's just incredible.

Yeah.

Yeah. I'll just say, you know, my parents chose it for me. They they were the ones who grew up here and and decided to raise their three kids here. And and but I will say that the people, the opportunity, we all have kids now that we're all raising in these communities. And so, you know, I think anytime you have kids, that changes your perspective. And that's probably why we all three do what we do is to make them so, you know, obsessed with central Indiana that they never want to leave.

Yeah, absolutely. I love that. Okay, now we have some fun ones. I really cooked these up. So, if you were start, if you had to pick a place in Indiana to live that's not in Serta, you got to go somewhere different, where are you going? And no repeats. Sorry.

I would say one of my favorite places is Poli, Indiana.

Oh, yeah. right in Orange County. They have a a beautiful square. Um it's also they just renovated it and just a few miles from beautiful West Ben uh resort and well I love the casino as well. So I would say I would say Poly Indiana and also has a skiing pale Peak.

Go Rams.

Yep.

Uh as an IU grad. I got to go. I knew you were going to be mad at me. Uh Bloomington like I just you know when I was there I fell in love with it. It's a great college town.

Yeah. No repeats really.

We we could allow it. We'll allow it.

It'd be Bloomington. Yeah.

Yeah. I mean, it's

anyone from I I went to school there. That's what drew me to Indiana. Um, and I love going back and I only live 30 minutes from it now. And, uh, it's just a the rolling hills of southern Indiana. Something special.

I'm actually uh in two weeks going down and talking to Mayor Thompson.

Yeah.

And doing a whole thing. It'll be it'll be fun. I mean, obviously, talk about a place that's been in the news recently. Shout out to Coach Zigg. All right. Now, I want you each to say something nice about each other's communities.

All right.

Well, I'll do that. All right. Here we go.

I I mean, I do work in both of their communities, so I love their communities because it helps to provide for my family.

Um, but uh, you know, I think Scott's done a wonderful job of really creating something from nothing. He's not kidding. I mean, in the '9s when I first came to Indiana, you went to Fischers and you were like, it's nothing, you know, and and he didn't have some of the natural resources that other communities have. So, I think he's done a great job with that and I think he's a good leader. Um, and I really appreciate all that he did to help set up Sarah and everything he's doing. Uh Chris is uh he is uh very excitable, very but I I but very um passionate about Noblesville and I truly appreciate that because he took what was a sleepy town. I'll be honest, a sleepy city that was the county seat and has really put a lot of vigor and and excitement around it and grown it in a way that I appreciate because it's different from Fisers,

right? and and and he's done it in a way where the downtown is is cool. The peony festival, I didn't even know what a peony was until I talked to him. Um and then and then, you know, the other ideas and the way to grow out, you know, around the edges and everything else. I think he's just done a really good job of encapsulating development in a way that helps to grow in a responsible way, but also has really put Noville back on the map and it really wasn't there.

Uh I would say, you know, Andrew's done a great job on the south side. I think he's setting the standard for for development. And you know, people don't realize in their formative years, which is what Margerville is in right now, they're in their formative years like a teenager. You know, they're about to grow at a very rapid pace. And he's so thoughtful and the community is being so thoughtful about how it grows. That's something that is incredibly valuable that future residents don't even know the value of that yet.

But like you you want people at the helm during those formative years to accomplish that. And Chris is like, you know, he is an unapologetic champion for a city. And I think that's um in a in a place in a space where, you know, you talk about who's your humility. You your community needs someone who believes to their core that they have the greatest city in the state of Indiana or in the country and is willing to work as hard as he possibly can to accomplish that. Um those leaders are incredibly valuable in a time where a lot of people can just kind of get down, you know, just be like, well, it's not going to be easy. I'm not going to do it.

you know, it's not we're not that great and and I think Noblesville is it believes in itself in in a time where a lot of communities aren't believing in themselves.

Yeah. I'll just echo um you know, Andrew, first of all, I consider both these gentlemen really good friends of mine and I'm we're lucky to have served together. But what Andrew's done in Burgersville mixing that the housing stock which the southside really needs with that with the the agricultural background that is Burggersville, I think is a very difficult job, but I think he's managed that very very well and and focused on quality of life down there. And like I said, the housing stock I think is really, really important for central Indiana. You know, Scott, I can talk a lot about, you know, whether he has a difficult community. If you think about um you know, not only did it not have a downtown, it has a major interstate flowing right through the middle of it.

Uh which is not easy for development. So, he kind of has two sides. You know, you have the the downtown area where city hall is and whatnot. And but then across the way, the yard is phenomenal. Great restaurants there. But I want to hearken back and use the word hearken for my North Dakota friend.

I'm going to go back to, you know, I really admire the way he led probably almost a decade ago around mental health. You know, we've really been passionate about it in Noblesville and leaned into Noble Act and Mental Health Monday, but I give Scott Thadness a lot of credit for starting the conversation around stigmree fissurers. You know, before I mean, at the infancy of this movement around mental health, Scott was there leading the way. Um, and and I really applaud what he's done there to really take that band-aid off and let people um, you know, realize it's okay to not be okay. Yeah. Amen.

Um, when thinking about the young uh politically ambitious listeners that are going to watch this that might want to build a career in public service, what advice would you have to the political science major that's graduating this spring from wherever and across the state of Indiana and wants to go out and make an impact?

I would say, you know, I think some people have a misconception about the three of us. We're pretty on the younger side that we just walked into these opportunities. I always say my first job out of college, I worked for a lieutenant governor. I and by worked for her, I drove her around and carried her purse to all 92 counties. Um, and and it was grunt, right? It was it was back in the day at the at the grassroots level, bare bones, understanding what government did. And then I went home to my hometown and raised my hand and said, "Hey, I want to be involved." And so I showed up um you know, I I showed up and I kept showing up and I I kept asking where I can serve, where I can volunteer. Um and be willing to do any job along the way to make your community better.

Yeah. I think uh I I am scared to death of young people who have a great deal of political ambition.

They're very scared. They're very scary.

Even old people with a great deal of political ambition.

When I when I hear people like that, I just want to tell them, you know, if you like watching political commentary or you envision yourself doing that kind of thing, like don't don't go into public service. But if you find a a subject matter that you're truly passionate about, like you just you believe that you have an idea or a way to do something that will benefit whatever group of people you care about, then then run for office, you know, and I think local government is the living embodiment of that. That's why I like local government so much is you really are I mean every day you wake up and you got to go do this work and it's work. It's not no one cares about my opinions on a lot of the national narratives. it's just go fix my stop sign. And uh and so I think you got to really think about who you are and what you want to do and be self-aware and then figure out where to plug in appropriately.

Yeah. Just to echo what they said, I think you have to spend the time. The bottom line is you got to love it, have passion for it, and you have to spend the time to learn uh you know what matters. Yeah. Because whether you're 23 or 53, um, when you go talk to Edna about her yard,

you don't want to not know what you're talking about.

You mentioned Edna twice now. I feel like

one of my constituents, lovely lady.

Shout out to Edna.

Yeah. I would also give the advice, make sure you wear a blue shirt and a blue jacket cuz clearly that was the I'm sorry I didn't I'm sorry I didn't wear one today.

Yeah, I'm over here. Like come on.

We knew what you were wearing. Well, uh I I think that that is interesting and listening being like the number one most important thing is really listening to the people that you are serving. Super important. And then like you know young people go volunteer. Like if you you want to get elected to an office do whatever you can for free like take no money and go make your area a better place and people will see that and get behind that. Um absolutely. Okay, as we wrap up the show, I do want to know looking forward 2026 beyond, what can we expect? What can we look for? What are you most excited about when it comes to each of your communities? We'll start in Burggersville and work back this way.

I mean, I'm most excited about the continuous redevelopment of our downtown. I think we're going to have a few more restaurants, which everyone's excited about. Um, and you know, we finished up our park plan and uh bike and pedestrian plan, so everything kind of connects now with PASS, and we'll continue to do that. we'll have some additional development and growth in appropriate places and we'll capitalize on our location. Um, you know, we're we're right in between Bloomington and Indianapolis and we are the gateway to the south and uh, you know, with 69 being completed now and uh, the way everything flows, we'll uh, we'll have some exciting announcements that are going to come out here in the next probably year or two that will really kick off a lot of development and commercial activity that we need. You know, I'm so proud of my team.

I have like every chance I get, I I I want to shout out to the team of people I have around me. Like they're truly incredible and they allow me more time to think about what's next cuz they're dealing with day-to-day. But uh I think Fischers is going to have a good year. Uh we've got some really big things in the pipeline that we're going to roll out. We've been heads down feel like for the last four to 6 months getting these things lined up, but uh here very shortly I think we're going to

we're going to definitely uh turn some heads with some some large announcements. So, we're excited about that. And um it just takes time. These things take forever, you know? They just take forever.

Uh and then by the time they we like cut the ribbon, it's like my least favorite day cuz you've been dealing with it for like four years like move on to the next thing. But yeah, there's some good things in the pipeline. I'll just echo what Scott said about the team though too because all three of us are able to do our job because of the great people that are that are getting kicked in the teeth behind the scenes to make us look really good. And I will also say too, not only do we all communicate a lot, our teams communicate with each other, which is really important. We've tried to express that down the way. I think for Noblesville, you know, we're undergoing some construction in downtown right now to widen our sidewalks to make it more of a pedestrian friendly downtown and not just a vehicular downtown.

So that's a huge upgrade for us. First infrastructure upgrade in 30 years in downtown. also say, you know, breaking ground on the Olympic training center. Uh again, to think to have all the Olympic athletes going to LA 2028 in gymnastics training in central Indiana is a big deal and uh pretty honored to have that going forward.

That's that's really cool. Underrated. Well, wait, this is also starting to make sense. Wait, isn't did Simone Biles husband

I would like to think that was a part of a broader scheme to have Simone Biles moved to central Indiana, but uh you better believe we're, you know, trying to get her to move to Noville. I mean, I think that you might have had like did you influence the Colts free agency?

We get blamed for all the things we have no control over. So, I'm going to take credit for Simone Biles coming.

Chris is working on his floor exercise for 28. I think he's got a shot. It's going to be a rhythmic performance, guys.

The Serta gymnastics competition. I'm in. Okay, rounding out. These are the same questions that we ask every guest who comes on the show. Rapid fire. Uh, we'll start here with Mayor Jensen. What is a hidden gem in Indiana?

You know, and I'm not sure it's super hidden, but like the lakes of northern Indiana, the Kaziasco County, Warsaw area, um I think it's just a beautiful area of the state with just some real natural terrain and wonderful lake uh property up in North Central Indiana.

Yeah, you're talking Tippy and Tippy Lake. Yeah, they're great.

Beautiful part and and also a great example of of pairing that with industry with it being the orthopedic capital of the world.

Mhm. Okay, I'm going to go a different route. Uh Anderson Speedway,

the school bus races and the trailer races.

North Dakota's coming out, folks.

I mean, if you want a a great family entertainment, uh go up there and watch the trailer races at the Anderson Speedway.

Oh, yeah. That's fire.

I would say I like the riverfront down by Louisville and and all the opportunities down there uh for recreation.

Um it's just a cool area.

I would also say Madison, Indiana is pretty cool, too. If you've not been to like the regata, the Madison area is beautiful,

dude. Uh the crazy part is that when you stand on the banks of the Ohio River, it is so large. Like it's almost like I went to the overlook down there. It's like a little restaurant right there on the river and they have us this nice view and you see a bend and I'm just like

some point someone had crossed this on horses with like wagons and stuff. Like

I would have turned back around. No way. Okay, finally this is your chance to uh show some love. this how we source new guests and learn about other people across the state that are doing amazing things. Who's a Hoosier we need to keep on our radar? Someone who's doing big things. Uh I think Mel Reigns, you know, I mean, the first woman president of um you know, the Pacers and I think she's involved in so many different things uh that it it's really I don't know how she has time, but I think she's someone you really have to watch. And and I'm I'm really proud of the Pacers for doing that. And I mean, just everything she's involved in is wonderful.

Yeah. I'm going to have to go with uh David Becker, first internet bank uh founder, legendary entrepreneur in central Indiana, philanthropist, uh and just the most downto-earth dude you'd ever meet from Monrovia, Indiana.

Yeah. Proud to Tiger alone. Let's go.

I'm going to go with uh the chief innovation officer of the Greater Fort Wayne Chamber, Brenda Gerber Vincent. um is a a I think a rising star in the Fort Wayne area and is also an incredible human being that has a really bright future and trying to move that metropolitan area moving forward.

Dude, I went up for the first time as an adult like not too long ago. It's pretty fun. Like it's a cool spot. There's they've done a lot of work to really flip the needle. I mean so many places I was down in Evansville is actually I might be one of the first people to in 3 days I was in Southbend Fort Wayne Evansville like back to backto-back days and just like getting the the lay of the land there. It's uh there's some really cool stuff going on in the south side of Indie, the north side of Indie up in northern Indiana, southern Indiana, everyone's just got it going on. Um I love it.

Y'all, thank you so much for coming on the show today and sharing your expertise. Thank you for the work that you're doing. I think that on service level a lot of people say Noble Fishers, Barersville, they're competing all against each other trying to get this person or that thing or this company. And to know that behind the scenes monthly you guys are, you know, talking, chatting, sharing ideas, helping make our state, our central Indiana region a better place, like that pumps me up. So appreciate y'all. If people want to learn more about you, if they want to connect, if they want to do that, how can they?

They can text me on my cell phone, 317509-3134. These guys won't give it theirs out.

317 3765720. Boom. And uh we did prank call Chris one time. He gave his cell phone out which was really

not great.

Really?

What do you How do we get a hold of you, Andrew?

Just drive south and start yelling his name.

Yeah, that'll

There you go. I love it y'all. Hey, thanks for coming on and we'll talk to you'all soon.

This show is made possible by our friends up at Sweetwater. Whether you're looking to start a podcast or take your content to the next level, click the link in the description to see all my gear recommendations at Sweetwater. If you want a behind-the-scenes look at everything we're doing across the state, make sure you follow me on Instagram and Tik Tok, Nate Spangle. Thank you so much for listening and being a part of what makes the Hoosier State great. We'll see you next time here on Get