Hamilton County Reporter

House District 29 State Representative Kathy Richardson (R-Noblesville) announced she will not seek re-election to the Indiana General Assembly. Richardson
will seek the office of Hamilton County Clerk in 2018. “I am announcing that in January I will be filing to run for Hamilton County Clerk in 2018 and I will not
seek re-election to the Indiana House of Representatives,” stated Richardson.

“I have been honored and humbled to serve the communities I love in the 29th district. We have accomplished a great deal that has established Indiana as the
envy of many other states,” said Richardson.

During her time in the Statehouse, Richardson partnered with Governors Mitch Daniels, Mike Pence and Eric Holcomb to deliver balanced budgets, lower taxes
and bring great jobs to Indiana. Richardson also served as an elected member of the House Republican Leadership since 2000, the first woman to serve in an elected
Caucus Leadership role in Indiana history.

“Serving as a member of Leadership gave me the opportunity to be at the table when major decisions about our state were considered and have a big influence on legislation,” Richardson added.

Incumbent Hamilton County Clerk Tammy Baitz announced her decision not to seek re-election earlier last week.

“Clerk Tammy Baitz’s decision not to seek re-election allowed me to assess running for Hamilton County Clerk in 2018. The election process has received a great deal
of attention at the federal level, and I anticipate many
changes will be coming very soon at the local level. I believe
Hamilton County could benefit from my experience
with election law and procedures and so I have taken the
decision to offer my service to our citizens as County
Clerk”, Richardson explained.

Richardson is a prominent member of the House
Elections Committee and is a crucial contributor to several
of Indiana’s election reform initiatives. Richardson
is currently the Election Administrator in the Hamilton
County Clerk’s Office and supervises all of Hamilton
County’s elections.

As County Clerk, Richardson hopes to continue her work implementing several measures to improve voter participation, such as electronic poll
books, extending early voting and explore the adoptionof vote centers.

Hamilton County Reporter

Garrick Mallery passed away on Dec. 4 at the age of 89. He was a lifelong Hamilton County resident whose impact on the community spans generations.

Mallery, who began selling real estate while in college in 1948, held the oldest active real estate license in Indiana. He is remembered for his rich and varied service to the Noblesville community, much of which is noted in his obituary on Page 5 in the Wednesday, Dec. 6 edition of the Hamilton County Reporter.

In the 1960s, Garrick organized the Hamilton County Health Department, where he currently served as Chairman. In 1962, Garrick played Santa in the inaugural Noblesville Christmas Parade, continuing for several years afterward. He reprised the role for the 50th anniversary of the parade, and then served as Grand Marshal in 2015.

A statement about his passing from the City of Noblesville reads as follows:

“It is a sad day for our community with the passing of Garrick Mallery. He has been a leader in our city for decades and through his tireless work, it’s hard to throw a stone across Noblesville without having it hit somewhere that Garrick had an impact on. He put his stamp on Noblesville and Hamilton County by appraising, developing, buying and selling real estate, including Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center and First United Methodist Church. With all of his accomplishments, Garrick said his legacy was giving family land dating back to 1984 to Noblesville Schools for White River Elementary. He loved Noblesville and was a pillar in the community. He will be missed.”

Jim White is retiring at the end of 2017 and Zach McKinney is taking over the Transportation Department at the Hamilton Southeastern School District.  I talked with both of them for this podcast.

Tridien Medical, a Fishers firm employing 69 people, has notified the State of Indiana it will close its operations next year.  The Indianapolis Business Journal (IBJ) reports the company plans to begin laying-off workers January 31 next year, with all employees gone by September 30th, 2018.

You can read the IBJ story at this link.

The Hamilton County Leadership Academy (HCLA) has a new executive director and his name is John Robbins.

“I am honored by this opportunity and humbled to lead such an incredible organization,” Robbins said in an HCLA news release. “HCLA has demonstrated its importance to Hamilton County over its 26 year existence. I look forward to balancing the rich history and traditions of the program with a desire to drive innovation and grow HCLA in the future.”

He has a background as a businessman himself, an executive with startup companies and has been active in auto racing.  He owned and operated a touring racing series. His deep family roots in the industry led to the creation of the National Short Track Alliance (NSTA) in 2009.

Late last year, his company purchased the fledgling ICAR Top Speed Modified Tour and quickly transformed it into a rising star in grassroots racing. In the first season, the Tour hosted more than 100 teams, doubled revenue, increased sponsorship by 100 percent and sanctioned a race at NASCAR’s historic Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee.

HCLA was founded in 1991, providing a 10-month community leadership development program for adults who live or work in Hamilton County.

The City of Fishers has announced Monday a number of individual companies planning growth,  with a total of 511 jobs on the way and $10.3 million in new investment.

“To see the numbers of homegrown and Fishers-based companies being celebrated today shows that the momentum of initiatives such as Launch Fishers and the upcoming Fishers IoT Lab are critical to the future of entrepreneurship and economic growth for our city,” said Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness in a city news release. “These companies announced today come alongside the more than dozen companies whose growth we celebrated this year.”

Here is a list of the companies announcing new plans Monday:

Aggressively Organic – This agricultural tech firm specializes in innovating within the ag industry.  The company plans on 200 net new jobs and $734,250 in capital investment by 2021. The state of Indiana has offered the company $2.5 million in conditional tax credits and up to $200,000 in training grants.

BrainForest – Another technology company, but centered on brain health and wellness.  This company plans to add 185 new jobs and $7.4 million in capital investment by 2021. The state has offered the company $1.8 million in tax credits and $100,000 in training grants.

Clarke Solutions – This business specializes in engineering services for the life science, medical device, and food manufacturing industries.  Their plans call for 60 net new employees by 2020 and $575,000 for tax credits and $70,000 in training grants.

Complete Structural Consulting (CSC) – This company specializes in engineering services to steel fabricators, general contractors, architects, and steel detailers around the country.  Clark is projecting 30 net new engineering positions along with $1.5 million in capital investment.  $285,000 in tax credits and $75,000 in training grants have been offered by the state.

In Search of Technology –This is an IT firm that specializes in staffing, strategy, and mobile app development for business.  This firm expects to add 36 new jobs. The state has offered the company $472,000 in tax credits over 10 years and $50,000 in training grants.

All state incentives for the companies listed are contingent on the firms hitting their targets for adding employees.

The City of Fishers is touting a big year in job creation, citing  2,185 new jobs and $64.5 million in capital investment committed by firms in 2017.  According to numbers provided by the city, the total average wage for all new jobs announced in 2017 exceeds the county average at nearly $66,000.

At least some restaurants planning to locate in The Yard culinary development, near IKEA in Fishers, have signed their leases and the first restaurant announcement should come in about two weeks.  That’s what Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness told Inside Indiana Business’ news anchor Gerry Dick in an interview that was first broadcast Friday evening, and was rebroadcast Sunday morning.

The mayor said there has been “tons of progress behind the scenes” in attracting eateries to the Yard.  The mayor repeated something he has said several time about The Yard – “Fishers residents are going to be excited.”

“It will be a culinary epicenter on the north side of the metro area when it’s all said and done,” the mayor said about The Yard.

The mayor also talked about a recent announcement that a local technology engineering company, Flexware, will expand in Fishers, adding 68 jobs and planning an investment of $7.8 million .

“We hope to partner with (Flexware) as we continue to develop the IOT (Internet of Things) Lab” Fadness said.  “Our fundamental belief (is) that this is the future of Indiana’s economy.”

The mayor told Gerry Dick there are people already moving into the new IoT (Internet of Things) Lab near Launch Fishers.  Firms should begin moving in during the first quarter of 2018 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony expected around that time.  The city is actively recruiting companies in the fields of manufacturing and agriculture to locate in the IoT Lab.

Fadness also touted job growth in Fishers during 2017, citing 2,500 new jobs this year and over 4,500 new positions created since he took over as mayor in 2015.

“We think that momentum is going to continue into 2018” said Fadness.  “We feel very confident that we’ve struck the right nerve on where we need to be with future of the economy.”

When news anchor Gerry Dick asked about IKEA and Top Golf, the mayor immediately cited the work by city staff to minimize traffic jams in that area of the city.  “I think a  lot of people were waiting for that kind of shoe to drop,” said the mayor.  “Our engineering team did a great job putting the infrastructure that they needed to really make that work.”

As to how local Fishers residents feel about these developments?    “I think people love it, said Mayor Fadness.  “Top Golf has 2-3 hour waits…IKEA has done really, really well.”

Hamilton County Reporter

Hamilton Southeastern had an easy day on Saturday, cruising past GreenfieldCentral
73-46 in a home game.

The Class 4A No. 8 Royals outscored the Cougars in each quarter, leading 19-7
after the first period and 32-16 at halftime.

Three Southeastern players wound up in double figures, with Sydney Parrish leading
the way by scoring 18 points. Molly Walton was next in line with 13 points, followed by Tayah Irvin with 11. Both Walton and Irvin made three 3-pointers; HSE had 11 triples as a team. Amaya Hamilton and Parrish each pulled seven rebounds.

The Royals had 20 team assists, Walton dished out six, while Malea Jackson handed out four.

The Royals are 8-2 and play at Pendleton Heights on Tuesday.

In the junior varsity game, Southeastern won 48-30. Lydia Self led the scoring with
12 points, followed by Bri Baker with nine, Hallie Hill with seven, Ella Zingraf and
Lauren Morris with four each, Brin Bair and Ashley Wilson with three each, and Kaleigh
Stewart, Tess Milton and Allie Poyer with two each.

Hamilton County Reporter

Fishers lost another tough one on Saturday, as Fort Wayne Snider beat the
Tigers 63-61 at the Tiger Den.

It was a close game throughout. Fishers led 16-15 after the first quarter and 35-29
at halftime, but the Panthers worked their way back into the contest in the third
period.

Willie Jackson had a solid game, scoring 22 points and making 14 of 17
free-throw attempts. Jeremy Szilagyi drained two 3-pointers on his way to 15
points.

The Tigers are now 1-3 for the season and will play at Carmel next Saturday.

Hamilton County Reporter

Hamilton Southeastern notched its biggest win of the early season on Saturday, upsetting Class 4A No. 2 Fort Wayne North Side 75-67 in an overtime game at the Royals’
gym.

Aaron Etherington made a 3-pointer with four seconds left in
regulation to tie the game at 61-all and send it to the extra
period. The Legends made the first basket of the overtime on a 3-pointer, but HSE went
on a run to take the lead and also made some key defensive stops.

North hit one more 3-pointer to cut Southeastern’s lead to four with 30 seconds
left, but the Royals hit their free throws down the stretch to secure the win.
“Our guys were resilient tonight,” said HSE coach Brian Satterfield. He credited his
team with fighting back when it got down, playing together, moving the ball and
getting quality shots.

Four different players scored at least 15 points for the Royals. Noah Smith led the
way with 21 points, followed by Etherington with 16 and Nick Bowman and Mabor
Majak with 15 each.

“We know that we got different guys that can step up,” said Satterfield.

The Royals totaled 43 rebounds on the night, with Chaz Birchfield collecting nine
boards. Etherington had eight rebounds, Majak grabbed seven, and Bowman and
Smith both had five. Birchfield also handed out five assists.

“The biggest thing was what we did on the boards,” said Satterfield.

Finally, the Royals totaled eight blocked shots on the night. Majak, a 7-foot-1
sophomore made four blocks, with Etherington and Smith both making two.

“We got some length,” said Satterfield. “That’s one thing we like about this team.”
The Royals are now 3-0.

They will play at 4A No. 7 North Central next Friday, then
host Center Grove on Saturday.