hamilton county business magazine december 2015/january 2016

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DECEMBER 2015 • JANUARY 2016 Plus… • The Carmel Arts & Design District • Reviewing the Annual Review • Social Media Trends for the New Year The Business of Art Aili McGill Executive Director Nickel Plate Arts

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A bi-monthly review of business news and features in Hamilton County, Indiana, USA

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DECEMBER 2015 • JANUARY 2016

Plus…• The Carmel Arts & Design District• Reviewing the Annual Review• Social Media Trends for the New Year

TheBusinessof Art

Aili McGill Executive DirectorNickel Plate Arts

What’s in a name? If the name is Campbell Kyle Proffitt LLP, the answer is 100 years of outstanding legal representation. Hamilton County has changed plenty over the past century. One thing that hasn’t changed is CKP’s firm commitment to meeting the legal needs of its clients. Since our inception in 1915, our reputation for honesty, fairness and results has stood the test of time. Put 100 years of experience to work for you today.

Celebrating 100 Years of Service.

Carmel 317.846.6514 n Noblesville 317.773.2090 n CKPLaw.com100Family Law n Civil Litigation n Probate Litigation n Criminal LawBusiness Litigation n Personal Injury n Corporations n Real EstateEstate Planning n Estates and Trusts n Guardianships and more

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4 December 2015 • January 2016 • Hamilton County Business Magazine

December 2015 / January 2016

Columns

Cover photo by Mark Lee, Great Exposures

ManagementDr. Charles Waldo

TechnologyKristin Fettig

History David Heighway

www.hamiltoncountybusiness.comPublished six times per year by the

Hamilton County Media GroupPO Box 502, Noblesville, IN 46061

317-774-7747EDITOR/PUBLISHER

Mike Corbett [email protected]

CREATIVE DIRECTORBridget Gurtowsky

[email protected]

CORRESPONDENTS Christine Bavender

[email protected]

Deb Buehler [email protected]

Stephanie Carlson Curtis [email protected]

Jeff Curts [email protected]

Rosalyn Demaree [email protected]

Karen Kennedy [email protected]

Patricia Griffin Mangan [email protected]

Shari Held [email protected]

Samantha Hyde [email protected]

CONTRIBUTORSDavid Heighway

[email protected]

Robby [email protected]

Chris [email protected]

Dr. Charles Waldo [email protected]

Kristin Fettig [email protected]

Please send news items and photos to [email protected]

Submission does not guarantee publicationSubscription $20/year

To subscribe or advertise, contact Mike Corbett at

[email protected] 2015 Hamilton County Media Group.

All rights reserved.

Features

Arts & Design District

Platinum Living

Gabriel Lehman

Roundabout

Pitch-In

Dining Out Matteo’s

Chambers Pages

12 Nickel Plate Arts

16

20

22

24

26

28

29

8

10

34

Artist studio at Nickel Plate Arts

December 2015 • January 2016 • Hamilton County Business Magazine 5

Serving Hamilton County and supporting our community since 1880

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6 December 2015 • January 2016 • Hamilton County Business Magazine

Letter from the EditorDecember 2015 • January 2016

Mike CorbettEditor and Publisher

We launched this magazine some seven years ago as a way to help tie together the individual business communities with in Hamilton County. From the start we partnered with the (then) six Hamilton County Chambers of Commerce and offered to help them communicate with you if they would provide me with your address. It’s been a great working partnership. Most of you receive this magazine as a benefit of belonging to a chamber.

As you probably know, four of the six chambers underwent consolidation over the past year or so and we now have just four chambers in the county. So, this seems like an opportune time to do a general upgrade of the mailing list. The chambers each send me bi-monthly additions and subtractions to their lists, but it’s been awhile since we actually refreshed the basic list with updated addresses, contacts, etc. I’m sure it could stand to be scrubbed.

In the transition there may be some casualties, so I’m asking for your help on this. Please keep this edition handy as a reminder that you should be receiving the February/March edition by that first week of February. If you don’t receive it and you think you should have, please go to the website www.hamiltoncountybusiness.com and find the link on the right side to “Update print magazine mailing info.” Fill in the form and we’ll get you back on the list. If you end up with multiple copies and only need one, please let me know that too.

Pardon me if I ignore you

I am grateful that it took six decades before I had a health issue serious enough to warrant spending a night in the hospital. Nevertheless, it happened a few months ago. An MRI revealed a benign tumor in my inner ear that needed to be removed. It was all voluntary and planned beforehand but it didn’t make the experience any more enjoyable. The doctors and nurses are very kind and professional but I sincerely hope I never have to spend another day in a hospital.

So I’m recovering my balance and energy but here’s the thing: I can’t hear out of my right ear anymore. I didn’t know how much I’d miss that hearing but I really do.

The stark reality hit me at the all-county Business After Hours at the Mustard Seed in Noblesville the week following surgery. I was still a bit wobbly on my feet so my wife Joni went along to keep me steady and informed me I was totally ignoring people who were talking to me on my right side! Of course, I wasn’t doing it on purpose…I literally couldn’t hear them.

There may be a high-tech solution to this down the road but for now I’m strictly monaural so here’s fair warning. To avoid a cold shoulder in a social situation, please approach from the left side. The right is out of order. And, if I don’t respond the first time, raise your voice at me…I promise I won’t take it personally.

This is going to take some getting used to and I’ll do my best to make sure I don’t ruin all my relationships by appearing to dismiss people. I’ve just got some work ahead of me to get back to normal. Meantime, I wanted to let you know: it’s not you, it’s me.

See (and hopefully hear) you around the county,

Editor and [email protected]

December 2015 • January 2016 • Hamilton County Business Magazine 7

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8 December 2015 • January 2016 • Hamilton County Business Magazine

ManagementBy Dr. Charles Waldo, Ph.D.

The Annual Review: Maybe it’s Time For Something BetterDo performance evaluations really increase performance? Can they actually DECREASE it?These were two questions I asked the first night of many of my Anderson University Professional MBA program classes. The students often resembled people reading this magazine or working for one of the employers it reaches: They worked for a wide variety of organizations, ranging from self-employed to mega-organiza-tions such as Eli Lilly, Roche Diagnostics, St. Vincent Health Care, and so on. They represented a smorgasbord of func-tions from general managers to CFO’s to CMO’s to supervisors to front-liners early in their careers. Good people trying to improve their performances and chances of moving ahead.

I asked them those two headline ques-tions in the context of determining how their performance in the class would be assessed. Would they prefer: (A) Just one, final exam cover-ing everything or (B) A number of different types of written assign-ments; a grade for discussion; quiz-zes and tests dur-ing the semester; each with con-structive (hope-fully) feedback from me; and a final exam. Virtually all preferred (B). They didn’t want to put all their “grade eggs” in one basket and liked on-going feedback, so that’s what we did. What would you have chosen?

Then I asked them (A) How their perfor-mance was evaluated at work and (B) What process they would prefer, once a year or continuous/frequent feedback? A surprisingly large number of those not self-employed, usually around half, reported they got neither on-going performance feedback from their boss nor a formal, annual review. This was

especially true of those with small orga-nizations where the evaluation process seemed to be “If you get your paycheck assume you’re doing OK.” These results correspond closely with former General Electric CEO Jack Welch’s observations (cited in his book Winning) from his many public training seminars with (non-GE) managers that only about ten percent reported they got formal evalua-tions, whether on-going or only annually.

Exercise in Futility

I asked those students who got annual, formal performance reviews if they thought the process actually improved their performance. Or, if they conducted annual reviews, did they see evidence (or at least believe) that the process improved the subordinate’s performance?

In both cases a large percentage, always more than half, felt the process was an exercise in futility, especially those man-agers who had to wade through the evalu-ations of and have one-to-one meetings with fifteen or twenty subordinates. It was sheer drudgery, very time consuming, and usually done by the command of the HR department, or just another administra-tive chore to get out of the way.

For a fair number of persons “annual per-formance evaluation day” was dreaded and seemed to be mostly a time when the boss unloaded their shortcomings on them. For others, the interview time was

scant and the process minimal, at best. For still others, the evaluation served more as formal documentation of and support for a raise or promotion but not much time was spent on how to improve performance.

Then I asked the students, whether they got a formal review or not, if they had coaching sessions with their boss designed to figure out how their perfor-mance might be improved. Only a small number said they did. What about project planning with their boss or subordinates? Here things perked up. Many had a con-tinuing stream of projects to tackle, some minor and short term, others major and longer term. Some were done solo while other projects were done in concert with a team. But seldom were the process(es) used and skills needed reviewed so a bet-ter job could be done the next time.

What Does it All Mean?

From these classroom discussions, my own experiences in the corporate world, and after reviewing many books and articles, it appears performance assess-ment and, occasionally, planning for performance is a hit or miss proposition. The larger the organization, the more likely a formal assessment process, usu-ally done annually. But nowhere could I find studies that definitively linked formal performance reviews with subse-quent increases in performance. Ditto for coaching for skills improvement. It seems intuitive that coaching should lead to im-provement but that’s not necessarily the case….some bosses just aren’t very good coaches or don’t even try to do it.

Ideas for Improving Performance

Whether or not your organization uses formal, annual appraisals, here are some ideas that bosses and employees might use to improve performance:

…nowhere could I find studies that linked formal performance

reviews with increases in performance.

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1. The boss should adopt a “coach-ing philosophy” to help subordinates identify and obtain new skills leading to doing a better job. “Coaching” is differ-ent than “supervising.”

2. The purposes of performance ap-praisal and coaching are improvement of performance for both the organization’s and employee’s benefit. Most people want to do good work and grow in their abili-ties. Help them.

3. Develop “standards of excellent performance.” How do the boss and sub-ordinate recognize a “great performance” when they see it? Developing standards for excellence can sometimes be tricky and go way beyond simple measurements as “always on time” or “seldom misses a day of work,” although both of these quali-ties are important. For example, if one standard is “Has a great attitude,” how is a “great attitude” measured? If a standard is “Meets or exceeds sales goals,” what con-stitutes “outstanding sales performance?”

4. Performance evaluation and im-provement coaching is much better done on a continuous basis rather than just one time a year. Positive, simple reinforce-ment right now of a good piece of work is your surest bet of getting more good work. Years ago the best seller The One Minute Manager called this technique “catching people doing things right and then telling them.” It works.

5. Conversely, if the boss observes a subordinate not doing things right, don’t hold off on remedial action. Remember, most employees want to do the right thing and problems will not correct themselves. Quality guru Dr. W. Edwards Deming maintained that 85-90% of errors on the front-line were caused by poor systems and bureaucratic hurdles out of the con-trol of the front-liner, the users. Deming should not be ignored.

6. Employees, at whatever level, must realize they are jointly responsible for their own performance improvement. It’s their jobs and careers at risk. Ask them what they need to do better work—then, if reasonable, try to provide it.

7. If you are forced or want to do formal, annual performance evaluations, employees should not be surprised by the outcome. If you give them frequent feed-back and coaching during the year, they should have a pretty good sense of how things will come out. If they are genuinely

surprised at differences between how they think their performance was and how you saw things, first question your own super-visory and coaching skills.

8. Project planning. One of the simplest measures of performance effectiveness is for the employee, with the boss’ approval and/or assistance, to design and take on a project with a defined objective, defined process, defined budget, and beginning and ending dates, all of which can be measured and “dissected.”

9. Employees evaluated as Outstanding or Exceptional should be rewarded be-yond an “Atta boy/girl” or pat on the back or the evaluation will ring hollow. Bonuses count. Promotions count. Admittance to a “President’s Roundtable” counts. A special parking spot counts. An Outstanding performer should not get the same kind of raise as an Average performer.

10. While it should be hoped all employ-ees can be honestly and objectively evalu-ated as Outstanding, that generally is not the case in practice. GE’s Welch divided/ranked employees into three categories: The top 20% (the Stars); the middle 70% (the solid Core); and the bottom 10% (should be looking for another employer). There needs to be some differentiation.

Summing Up. What Do You Think?

While annual, formal, performance ap-praisals are widely done in large and some medium sized organizations, it appears they don’t usually lead to measureable, im-proved performance. And, if done poorly, they can lead to diminished results. Day by day coaching, continuous skills develop-ment, and “catching people doing things right,” are much more likely to yield better results than just an annual review.

What have been your experiences? I’d love to hear from readers and, if there is good response, perhaps there can be a follow-up article on how performance assess-ments are done—or not done—in Hamil-ton County. Please use the e-mail address shown below and let me know whether or not I can use your name. Thanks in advance for your insights. HCBM

Charles Waldo, Ph.D. is Professor of Mar-keting (ret.) in Anderson University’s Falls School of Business. He lives in Indianapolis and can be reached at [email protected].

10 December 2015 • January 2016 • Hamilton County Business Magazine

TechnologyBy Kristin Fettig

Social Media New Year ResolutionsTrends and Predictions for 2016

It is that time of year when predictions, trends and Top Five Lists roll out for the upcoming year. Social media is an ever-evolving medium, and most businesses have reason to pay attention to the lat-est technology, platforms and manage-ment software for 2016. A few will make life easier, and a few only increase the complexity of the social media maze. Here’s what you can expect in the next year on the top social media platforms.

Instagram Advertising: Hire a Good Photographer

Instagram has grown exponentially over the last couple of years, and it was inevitable that with over 60 million users there would be cause for celebratory advertising. Geo-tar-geting and local advertising options will bode well for those in the en-tertainment, retail and restaurant space. Instagram has partnered with some top advertising and marketing agencies to fine-tune their advertising platform. They endeavor to make it easier for the marketer to run campaigns, create image and video alerts as well as simple calls to action and market on the mobile fly. Early feedback is looking good at a recall rate 3 times higher than any other form of online social advertising. So plans for advertising this year need to include a hard look at one of the most popular mobile social media platforms.

Twitter Polls: Check Yes or No

Twitter rolled out a poll sharing option right before the holidays. If you want public opinion on anything—what to have for dinner, favorite baby name, who will win the Big Ten, whom to vote for—just ask Twitter. For those creating polls, it is yet another way to engage with the massive Twitter audience as

well as be heard. “Project Lightning“ is a new way that Twitter will be curating live events. It is along the lines of Snapchat stories. It is designed to include major events, breaking news stories, music festivals and sporting events. The live events will be housed in a new menu on the Twitter app where users can look for 7-10 curated events a day. Twitter will be working out the bugs in early 2016.

Pinterest is Popping

Pinterest is used as a sourcing tool for all of the “products that you could ever want in one place.” It actually controls 23% (and growing) of referral traffic to

e-commerce sites. Because Pinterest is highly visible in nature, companies that really want to sell need to invest in high quality photography and position their products to be visually appealing. Pinter-est has integrated the Buy Now feature and will be enhancing this over the next year with user feedback. Keep in mind that the demographic is still primarily women with an 80/20 split. Encourag-ing more men to start pinning is a goal for 2016. Advertising will also grow and evolve with the Promoted Pins feature.

Is Google+ going to be Google - ?

Google tried very hard to compete with Facebook and Twitter but still wanted “ownership” which really led to the demise…or rather revamping… that is slated for this year. Google+ is being reimagined to offer users Streams, Photos and Hangouts. How exactly this is going

to be done remains to be seen, but we know that Bradley Horowitz and the team at Google are hatching a plan.

Snapchat Snaps Up Advertising $

Just like its predecessors Facebook and Twitter, Snapchat has ventured into ad-vertising. Just like the other social giants, this gives marketers the opportunity to utilize a platform that Millennials are running towards to experience real time social media. Real-time means real quick, and advertisers better be on their game to catch attention with this fleeting content. Snapchat launched Discover, a portal that media brands such as ESPN, Vice, and

Comedy Central use to push out their messages. Although results have been positive, parents should be monitoring the type of information that is actually being “pushed.” The real savvy behind Snapchat is

that the advertising itself is what is being consumed, and brands will be forced to pay attention to be relevant.

Facebook Continues to be the Face of Innovation

Facebook has advanced its advertising tactics and continues to grow a robust, in-clusive and detailed advertising platform. It is making continuous improvements, and is actually trying “customer service” on for size. It has also included an array of new features that really step up the game. A new feature called Carousel ads allows multi-image advertising that links to different pages across your business website. It also will allow for mobile device targeting. A Call-Now button is included that allows the option to directly call your business from an advertisement displayed on a mobile device. Bluetooth beacons will also become more mainstream (they were

Encouraging more men to start pinning is a goal for 2016.

December 2015 • January 2016 • Hamilton County Business Magazine 11

in beta testing in 2015). This allows the customer that visits your place of busi-ness to like, check-in and receive more broadcasts regarding your business. It is a real-time, albeit somewhat creepy way of engaging customers. The broadcasts include welcome messages, coupon or sale prompts, shopping tips, notifications and much more.

On Facebook’s social side they now offer chat app rooms. These can be used in a forum where users don’t use location or name: all because of a push from consumers for more privacy options. Facebook is also offering Instant Articles which hosts publishers’ content in a News Feed app. This will grow in popularity as more people and “publishers” become aware and start utilizing it. Facebook’s Buy Now option and new apps available for e-commerce will also grow in usage.

What are WE predicting as it relates to Social Media for 2016?

1. A greater push from consumers to protect their online privacy and ability to remain autonomous. Consumers want to

have options for more anonymous social availability. The popularity of YikYak, Telegram and Whisper will inevitably lead to ways to make truly private plat-forms, not just the illusion of privacy.

2. A focus on Real-Time, in the moment, trending social media posts and content is going to be the driver. The attention span

of the public is getting shorter, and the tolerance for useless content is as well. The Editorial calendar will see a major upheaval as the days of pushing out content on a scheduled dashboard will be limited. What does this mean for the mar-keter? More attentive care for your clients and “living” their business.

3. Brands are going to push back on the forced social advertising costs and they will look for more creative ways to organically reach their followers. We also think this will force some of the platforms to backpedal on their advertis-ing or offer up alternative options. The competition is about to get real.

4. New social media platforms will con-tinue to be gobbled up by the big giants. If you are planning on creating a new platform, start working the numbers right now on how much you plan to sell it to Zuckerberg for.

5. The IoT (Internet of Things) and Wearable’s are going to become a more mainstream topic of conversation and functionality will be discovered instead of just talked about.

6. Finally, we hope brands get much more real about the type of communica-tion and discourse that they have on social media. Focus on the quality, not the quan-tity of your content, and follower base should be a goal for 2016.

No matter what predictions or new tech-nology is down the pike, the reality is that Social Media isn’t optional anymore for brands. Formulating and implementing a solid social strategy is just part of running a business in 2016. HCBM

Kristin Fettig is CEO of Social Order, Inc., a social media marketing and management company specializing in small business.

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12 December 2015 • January 2016 • Hamilton County Business Magazine

Cover Story

Arts Showcase

Nickel Plate Arts Nurtures Local TalentBy Shari Held Photos by Mark Lee

ickel Plate Arts, a Hamilton County Tourism program, has scored some

major coups since its launch in Sep-tember 2012. Its mission is broad: to support and

promote the arts in the six communities around the Nickel Plate Arts Trail (Fishers, Noblesville, Cicero, Atlanta, Arcadia and Tipton), to improve the quality of life for residents and to enrich the visitor experience.

In just three years Nickel Plate Arts has delivered on all counts, thanks to the leadership of Aili McGill, executive director of Nickel Plate Arts, and a handful of passionate staff dedicated to arts and community.

From 2013 to 2014, attendance to the center’s Noblesville 8th Street campus (Judge Stone House and Stephenson House) more than doubled, and it continues to increase. More than 150 people

December 2015 • January 2016 • Hamilton County Business Magazine 13

Arts Showcase

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routinely attend its First Friday events—and many come back.

According to McGill, that’s her biggest accomplishment to date. “To me that’s a huge victory,” she says. “I think that speaks to the fact that we offer something that people are hungry for, and we do it in a good way.”

The center also increased exposure for its mission and local arts more than five-fold from 2013 to 2014. Last year it reached 65,558 people. McGill hopes that aware-ness will develop a community of individ-uals and businesses that actively supports the arts.

In 2014 the art center achieved 501(c)3 status, generated nearly $25,000 for artists, granted $14,000 to other organi-zations to fund art events, provided 46 programs and coordinated 20 art exhibits.

“Nickel Plate is doing a fabulous job of bringing art to the community,” says Nickel Plate artist Beth Forst. “That ac-cess is great for people who want to make their lives just a bit more interesting. I’m just glad to be part of it.” Forst’s artwork can be found in galleries across the Mid-west and Chicago.

Creating an Artist Community

The center supports an artist community of more than 250 artists, including seven artists who have studios on campus. “And that number is expanding all the time,” McGill says.

Artists such as Rodney Reveal from Arca-dia quickly snapped up the seven avail-able studios on campus. “It’s good to have other artists to bounce ideas off,” he says.

Previously he’d rented space in the Stutz Building in downtown Indianapolis, but the drive was prohibitive to productivity. Reveal is known nationally for his wildlife, train and landscape paintings and his nostalgic Hometown series depicting ev-eryday life in Hamilton County.

Rising star Gabriel Lehman (See story page 22) relocated to Noblesville from North Carolina after reading an article featuring Nickel Plate Arts. “I knew there

14 December 2015 • January 2016 • Hamilton County Business Magazine

was going to be a structure in place, and the wheels were moving in that direc-tion,” Lehman says. “And I wanted to be in it. There are great artists living in Noblesville, and Nickel Plate Arts is just tapping into that talent. And they’re go-ing about it in the right way.”

Prior to Nickel Plate Arts, no overarching organization with professional, paid staff existed to promote the arts and local art-ists. Initially McGill, who formerly served as director of operations at Conner Prairie, and a part-time assistant were it. Today, besides McGill, there’s a full-time program coordinator and three-part posi-tions, including an artist liaison.

Focusing on the Business of Art

Each year Nickel Plate Arts sponsors at least one artist gathering to probe art-ists about their wants and needs. And when McGill surveyed the 250 artists in Nickel Plate’s network, she found a wide disparity in their business and marketing skills—two components often missing in an artist’s education.

“Artists are independent business people, so they need to know about busi-ness, and they depend on marketing,” Reveal says. “It’s not all about how good you do art, it’s how you promote your art. You can’t sell your paintings when they’re un-derneath your bed.”

Fortunately the Noblesville Chamber of Commerce offered its assistance. “Bringing busi-ness expertise to the table seemed to be a natural fit for us,” says Bob DuBois,

president, Noblesville Chamber of Commerce. “And having a vibrant arts community is good for economic devel-opment. Art shows off the community in a unique way, and businesses want to relocate or grow in communities that support the arts.”

DuBois called upon his experience head-ing a similar Chamber initiative in a Cape Cod community to help create a Noblesville Chamber-sponsored ongoing

“You can’t sell your paintings when they’re underneath your bed.”

~ Artist Rodney Reveal

Nickel Plate Arts Campus

program of panel discussions and work-shops—all tailored to the needs of the Nickel Plate Arts artist community. And Chamber members such as Coverdale Consulting and Platinum Living Fine Art Gallery responded. The program kicked off in August with a panel discussion.

Topics are tailored to the needs of the Nickel Plate Arts and have included creating structures for legal protection, selling art to a gallery, and marketing tactics. Also on the lineup are: preparing and marketing for a show, developing a unique social media presence, Quickbooks for artists and valuing your art inventory.

“We’re starting slow and we’re starting small so we can make

sure the workshops are effective for the folks in the room,” DuBois says.

December 2015 • January 2016 • Hamilton County Business Magazine 15

Local people making local decisions for local businesses. We know the value of quick decisions and a quick turnaround.

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Your Local Community Bank

The Board of Directors joins the shareholders, employees, customers and communities served by The Farmers Bank in mourning the passing of Karen Miller, President & CEO. We are all indebted to her for her friendship, leadership, and vision. We are thankful for the lasting legacy she has left all of us associated with The Farmers Bank. Because of Karen’s strong leadership, The Farmers Bank has an excellent management team which will continue The Bank’s commitment to outstanding customer service coupled with sound and prudent banking practices. The executive management of The Bank will continue as during Karen’s illness by the collaborative executive leadership of Chad Kozuch, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer/Information Security Officer, Brad Cunningham, Senior Vice President and Commercial Loan Manager, and Mark Novak, Senior Vice President and Chief Credit Officer.

Board of DirectorsKaren MillerAugust 2, 1955 – November 6, 2015

At a modest $5 per event, it’s one of the biggest ROIs an artist can make! And the response has been positive.

“The Noblesville Chamber, Noblesville Main Street, Nickel Plate Arts and the City of Noblesville Economic Development are all working in the same direction to sup-port the creative economy in our commu-nity,” DuBois says. “We’re all doing it from our specific areas of expertise. I think we’re in the early stages of something re-ally exciting.”

Growing Pains

From its inception Nickel Plate Arts was designed to become an independent entity. The target for becoming opera-tionally independent of Hamilton County Tourism is 2018. The jury is still out on how realistic that timeline is, but McGill notes that if they miss it, it will only be by a year or two.

Meanwhile, Nickel Plate Arts faces two “interesting” challenges moving for-ward. Both involve growth. One is that as a young organization, Nickel Plate Arts doesn’t yet have a solid support

base. “To grow at a rate where we can operate independently we’ll have to ag-gressively grow our donor and sponsor list,” McGill says.

The second challenge: Nickel Plate Arts is rapidly outgrowing its campus. Facil-ity limitations have already maxed out

attendance to all its major programs, and McGill notes Nickel Plate could fill another eight studios “without even trying.”

“There’s so much potential here, and we’re really excited to be in the thick of that and working towards that potential,” McGill says. HCBM

Portraits on Doors

16 December 2015 • January 2016 • Hamilton County Business Magazine

rt can be incred-ibly powerful.

It can evoke a memory, an emo-tion, or a mood. It

can make us feel joyful or melancholy. It

can take us on a journey. It can enrich our lives. It can be a passion, an obsession or just a hobby.

But for an artist or a gallery owner—those who create, distribute and promote art as a way of life—can art be more than just a passion or a hobby? Can it be a sustain-able, even profitable, business model?

For many artists and gallery owners who have cast their fortunes with the thriving Carmel Arts & Design District, the answer is a resounding “yes.”

“There’s a Vibrancy Here”

Take a stroll down Carmel’s Main Street on an ordinary Tuesday afternoon and you’ll find a street bustling with activity; shoppers darting in and out of stores and restaurants, meeting friends for coffee, and most importantly, looking at and buying art. And try to take that same stroll during any one of the myriad spe-cial events that take place there weekend after weekend—Carmel on Canvas, the Second Saturday Gallery Walk, Porchfest, the Art of Wine, Jazz on the Monon or Artmobilia, just to name a few, and you’ll be jockeying for sidewalk space with not hundreds, but thousands of other art lov-ers. Simply put, the joint is jumpin’.

“There’s a vibrancy here you don’t see in other places,” said Cathy Bauder, artist

and owner of the Inspire Studio Gallery. “I believe that our arts district rivals New York, Chicago and the west coast. There are so many galleries in such a concen-trated, walkable space. We have visitors here from all over the country who come because they want to experience these artists and this arts district first hand. And we have artists from Chicago and all over the country hoping to be represent-ed here. It really is amazing,” she said.

Bauder serves as the vice president of the Carmel Arts & Design District Gallery Association. “I moved my gallery here in 2013 because Carmel had a reputation for being supportive of the arts,” she said. “And that is certainly true.”

That sentiment is echoed by Jim May, Executive Director of the newest gallery

By Karen Kennedy • Photos by Mark Lee

Carmel’s Arts & Design District

Spurs Economic Development

December 2015 • January 2016 • Hamilton County Business Magazine 17

30ARTISTS ... 300COSTUMES 20ACTS ...“DAZZLING”

-The Washington Post

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on the scene, the Hoosier Salon. “We relo-cated to Carmel’s Arts and Design District from our previous location in Broad Ripple because we saw great potential in being a part of what is going on in Carmel,” said May. “We want to be seen as not just an-other store front, but an organization that is a cultural resource for the city.”

The Hoosier Salon’s business model differs in that it’s a not-for-profit. While the artists who are represented get paid commis-sion on the sales of their work, all other proceeds from sales are channeled back into the community—a partnership with the high school provides arts education programs and the Salon participates in other arts outreach initiatives as well.

Arts in Partnership

While the visual arts are thriving to the north, the performing arts continue to flourish just a bit south near the City Cen-ter in the Center for the Performing Arts.

“It is refreshing to be in community where the leadership gets it—where they believe in the power of the arts to build a com-munity and as an economic engine,” said Tania Castroverde Moskalenko, President and CEO of the Center for the Perform-ing Arts. But as far as the business of the performing arts goes, the business model is not so clean cut.

“For-profit organizations are straight forward; simply put, they exist to make a profit. The not-for-profit organizations

18 December 2015 • January 2016 • Hamilton County Business Magazine

are more complicated as they are mis-sion driven, not profit driven, and their purpose is to serve others. The Center for the Performing Arts is a not-for-profit, mission-driven organization and so we present many concerts, programs, and projects where we actually lose money. That’s a tough concept for many to understand. That doesn’t mean we don’t balance our books, we do, we just have to bridge the gap through other means, such as fundraising, in order to make the budget work.”

Moskalenko also sees great potential in the Midtown redevelopment project.

“I am very excited about the Midtown redevelopment as it will help bridge the geographic distance between the Arts & Design District and City Center and will

provide us with greater opportunities to explore partnerships, co-promotions, etc. There is also fantastic potential for creative and cutting edge performing and visual arts programming in the Midtown corridor itself,” she said.

A Long Term Vision

The Carmel Arts & Design District did not emerge by chance. It is the result of the long term vision of Carmel mayor Jim Brainard, who first presented that vision to citizens back in 2003. He clearly es-tablished the area with archways defin-ing the district and had a logo developed to brand it. Brainard saw the district as an economic development tool for at-tracting tourism as well as jobs and new businesses to the city.

Gallery Walk at Hoosier Salon

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French Bleu Fine Art Gallery

Magdalena and Jerry Points Gallery of Art

December 2015 • January 2016 • Hamilton County Business Magazine 19

“There are currently more than 200 busi-nesses within the Arts & Design District, about half of which are related to the arts or design,” said Brainard. “These busi-nesses provide jobs, pay taxes and are important partners in our city’s overall economic development plan, which places a huge emphasis on the quality of life factors that are key to attracting larger businesses, corporate headquarters and a highly educated workforce.”

The district also helps bolster Hamilton County’s overall attraction of visitors. Ac-cording to the Indiana Office of Tourism Development, tourism is the third largest industry in Hamilton County and supports more than 10,000 jobs. In other words, art has become a big business in Carmel.

What’s Next?

“We see the development of Midtown as being a major boost to the Arts & Design District,” Brainard continued. “When we created the City Center, we intended it to become the new downtown. Connect-ing the Arts & Design District with the City Center will provide the potential to keep our shops and galleries busy with

thousands of daytime office workers and evening residents. We will also continue to place an emphasis on public green spaces, beautiful design elements and special events.”

Given that the Arts & Design District is currently nearly 100% leased, that model seems to be a formula for both artistic and economic success for gen-erations to come. HCBM

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Gallery Walk

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20 December 2015 • January 2016 • Hamilton County Business Magazine

Profile

Platinum Living Fine Art Gallery offers unexpected variety By Rosalyn Demaree

Photos by Mark Lee

alk into Platinum Living Fine Art Gallery and your first

thought might be, “Toto, we’re not in Noblesville anymore.”

But you are.

The 12,000-square-foot (and growing) gallery on Logan Street just a block east of Courthouse Square sells original oils painted by nearly 20 interna-tional artists, accented with equally impressive art glass and sculpture. It’s the quality of art more often found in large city museums than mid-sized downtowns.

It’s the kind of art that draws people to any-sized town.

“Fine art galleries are a significant destination in a downtown,” said Miah Michaelsen, Indiana Arts Commis-sion deputy director. “People like unique experiences in downtown areas. Authentic experiences. When you find something unexpected, you feel a little different about what else might be there.”

A fine art gallery can be one of the biggest game chang-ers in a community’s economic development, she added. Other business people and residents wonder what else is possible when a nearby, high-dollar gallery finds success.

Platinum Living is not local art, although gallery owner and longtime Carmel resident Jacquelyn Fry Bilbrey supports local arts and says many area artists visit the gallery to inspire their muse.

“You can’t do it all. You have to specialize in something,” confides Bilbrey, who has concentrated in working with international artists all 36 years of her interior design and art sales career.

World-class Art

Her gallery is world class. Among the works are ones by Ilona Kustan, a Ukrainian artist who’s “really hot in Eu-rope right now and is known for the detail she includes

Jacquelyn Bilbrey and Mary Ann Newcomb of Platinum Living Fine Art Gallery

December 2015 • January 2016 • Hamilton County Business Magazine 21

in her work,” Bilbrey said. Petro Poro-shenko and Vladimir Putin, presidents of the Ukraine and Russia, are among Kustan’s collectors.

Bilbrey’s knowledge about every piece of art is remarkable. She knows the artists and is well versed in their styles. While admiring the detail in Kustan’s “The Per-former,” Bilbrey points to the dimension of the small dots on the subject’s high collar, explaining how Kustan uses the handle end of the brush to get that effect.

Bilbrey‘s awe of Josep Domenech, who flew from Barcelona for the opening of his October exhibition at Platinum Living, is palpable as she tells how he doesn’t use a brush. He paints with his fingers and cloth, removing paint instead of adding it.

Bilbrey has studied art throughout her life but majored in business at Ball State because “my father would only pay for my education if I got a business degree. He said interior design was not a valid oc-cupation,” she tells before smiling, “It was excellent advice.”

Not only is the quality of art at Platinum Living rare in retail galleries, the size of some pieces is uncommon, too.

Bilbrey believes her collection of very large pieces by Jose Royo, a Spanish mas-ter painter who will be 74 in December, would be difficult to find elsewhere. There are pieces with 78-by-78-inch images. Framed, and every painting at the 5-year-old gallery is framed, they’re 93-by-93. Royo must be one of Bilbrey’s favorite artists; his serigraphs line her office

Art as an Investment

Her clientele is a prime reason Bilbrey offers work only by living, international artists. Most of her buyers—some of whom have relied on her advice and style for more than 30 years—are beginning collec-tors wanting pieces of distinction or inves-tors wanting to diversify their portfolios.

Each piece comes with a certificate of authentication and an appraisal, said Mary Ann Newcomb, gallery director. “Those are like the title to the car. They

go in the lock box. We give them another copy in an envelope to tape to the back of the painting, so the kids don’t sell it in a garage sale someday.

Newcomb and Bilbrey watch and keep their buyers abreast of what changes in the art world. When an artist’s work increases in value, buyers get an updated appraisal.

Once an artist is established, Bilbrey explained, the value of his or her work increases. European artists’ work increas-es in value a little faster than American works. Royo’s work, for example, in-creased almost 20 percent in value last year. When an established artist dies, values start growing, sometimes skyrock-eting, almost immediately.

“Once art goes up, it continues to go up,” she said.

As does business at Platinum Living. Bilbrey opened another 6,000-square-foot gallery on the second floor of the building in November. “I want to carry as much art as I possibly can,” she said. HCBM

Jose Royo Yolanda Antal Angelica Privalkhin Garmash

Pier Toffoleti Ferjo Ilona Kustan

22 December 2015 • January 2016 • Hamilton County Business Magazine

Gabriel Lehman

ast August at the Noblesville Art Fair on the Square, a spectator asked artist Gabriel Lehman’s permis-

sion to take a few photos of his art. Fortunately Lehman agreed. Those photos were posted on Reddit where they made the front page, and were subsequently picked up by Tumblr and 9Gag, giving Lehman instant

mega-exposure.

For a time he couldn’t keep up with the sales and commissions. “Sales just exploded overnight,” Lehman says.

But that wasn’t the end of the story, or even the highlight. Shortly afterward, during a totally unrelated business deal, Lehman’s father-in-law showed Lehman’s website to Dan Jorgensen, a mover and shaker in international art

By Shari Held

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December 2015 • January 2016 • Hamilton County Business Magazine 23

circles. He saw potential for sales and of-fered to represent Lehman.

Lehman’s art contains a smattering of surrealist René Magritte, impressionist Claude Monet and Norman Rockwell, but it’s also heavily influenced by the cartoon characters he’d drawn as a child.

“I’ve held strong to that cartoon world,” he says. “Because the only rules in a cartoon world are the ones I make up. That’s why you’ll see giant teapots flying in the air in my art.”

Besides international exposure, additional opportunities and the chance to focus on

large-scale art, Lehman, age 39, is grateful for what this means to his craft. “It gives me room to breathe,” he says. “Now I can take one fantastic idea and work through it, enjoying the entire process, and finding out what I’m capable of.”

And the price tag for a large-scale painting in his new collection will start at six figures!

Vagabond Days

Lehman’s story is even more fantastic when you consider he didn’t pick up an artist’s brush and palette until 2009! But he paid his dues for his fairytale ending.

He had conceptual dyslexia so college wasn’t an option after school. After a stint as a singer-songwriter in Nashville he moved to the artistic community of Wilm-ington, North Carolina where he supported himself by laying carpet.

“Then I found myself in a bad spot,” he says. “My hands started to go bad, and I really needed to transition to something else.”

That something else was painting. He put in 60- to 70-hour weeks, laying enough carpet to survive, painting through the night and schlepping his work in neighbor-ing states and Indiana, which he visited often to see his family. For a while he was

literally homeless, hauling his tools and paintings in his car and couch surfing at friends’ homes.

Even after moving to Noblesville three years ago Lehman still continued to travel 800 miles to the East Coast every other weekend until he built up a client base in Indiana—and got “discovered!”

Those vagabond days are behind him now. He recently married, and he and his wife Jamie live in Greenwood, closer to her work. And they’ve collaborated on a book, Paper Airplanes, due to come out soon.

“It’s been a crazy year,” Lehman says. “It was a hard road to get exposure. You find out how much you really want something when you have to get it the hard way. I’m just grateful I don’t have to do that anymore.” HCBM

24 December 2015 • January 2016 • Hamilton County Business Magazine

RoundaboutA Summary of Recent Retail ActivityBy Samantha Hyde

NORTHERN HAMILTON COUNTYSheridan senior living apartment com-plex Spicewood III opened in November. Railer’s Main Street Market IGA closed its doors this fall after 38 years at 207 S. Main Street in Sheridan.

CARMELThe historic Oak Hill Mansion has been purchased by Thomas Caterers of Distinc-tion and will be rebranded as Black Iris Estate. The iconic facility will close at the end of December and reopen in May under the new name. Bob Zehr owned the Mansion for 14 years.

A new stand-alone restaurant, Firebirds, is being built at 9611 N. Meridian Street. Tom Wood Ford at 3130 E. 96th Street is under construction with a 45,000 SF addi-tion and major renovations.

CorVel is expanding its offices at 301 Pennsylvania Parkway and 550 Con-gressional Boulevard. Guggenheim is renovating and moving into the first floor at 301 Pennsylvania Parkway. The former occupant, Pillar Group, has moved to new offices at 11708 N. College Avenue. Paganelli Law is expanding its footprint at 10401 N. Meridian Street.

Giant Eagle’s new Market District and GetGo Café & Market held their grand openings in October at 11505 N. Illinois Street. Indiana Municipal Power Agen-cy has built a new conference center at its corporate headquarters at 116th Street and College Avenue. The Central Bark Park is now open at 1427 E. 116th Street.

Graeter’s has opened a new ice cream shop in the Nash building at 918 S. Range Line Road. This winter, Godby Hearth & Home is opening a showroom on the first floor of the Indiana Design Center. R&D Distributing held a grand opening in September at its new facility at 859 W. Carmel Drive.

Hollywood Sports Center is open for business at 12345 Old Meridian Street. Travel Authority has moved into the former location of Sharkey’s Cuts for Kids at 12525 Old Meridian Street. Korean restaurant Omoni is coming to Merid-ian Village Plaza at 136th and Meridian streets in the former location of Jersey’s Café. The owner of Jersey’s Café has opened a new restaurant, called Jeet? by Jersey, at 820 E. 116th Street.

The new Edwin the Duck store opened this fall at 252 W. Main Street. Breakfast and lunch restaurant Wild Eggs is new to the Meridian and Main development at 1438 W. Main Street. Health tech com-pany Cureatr has opened a new office at 13295 N. Illinois Street.

The 50,000 SF, 20-bed Indiana Spine Hospital is slated for construction at 13225 N. Meridian Street. InWelligent Healthcare is moving into the St. Vin-cent Carmel Medical Professional Build-ing at 13450 N. Meridian Street.

The Mezz 42 at 8813 3rd Avenue SW held its grand opening on November 6. Inner You Pilates studio has moved from 14950 Greyhound Court to 14400 Clay Terrace Boulevard. H Curated, which sells one of a kind salvaged mer-chandise, has opened in the Indiana Design Center.

Twenty-two Wooden Key Hallmark stores in Indiana and Illinois closed last spring, including the Carmel location at 2150 E. 116th Street. Carmel Clay Fire Department is building a new main-tenance and training facility at 5225 E. 106th Street.

FISHERSIKEA plans to build a 296,000-square- foot store on 35 acres of undeveloped land at Exit 205 between I-69 and USA

Oak Hill Mansion

Edwin the Duck

Parkway. Construction is to begin next year for a 2017 opening.

Midstate Trucking Equipment at 11021 Allisonville Road is building a new addi-tion for office and service spaces. Heather Brown Face and Body Salon has opened at 11057 Allisonville Road in the former location of The UPS Store. Medical Ther-mography of Hamilton County joined Living with Intention, in September at 11979 Fishers Crossing Drive.

A new Pita Pit restaurant is opening at 8395 E. 116th Street. Launch Fishers has welcomed Open Gym Indy to its co-working space. Four Day Ray Brewery is slated to occupy the first floor of a new 16,000 SF building at 11671 Lantern Road.

School of Rock held its grand opening on October 31 at its new location at Olio Road & 116th Street. The former Forum at Fishers Ice Arena at 9022 E. 126th Street reopened in September as the Fuel Tank at Fishers after a $2.5 million renovation.

Northview Church

Northview Church has opened its new Fishers campus at 14842 E. 136th Street. Instacart has expanded its grocery de-livery services to include Fishers.

NOBLESVILLESun Development announced plans to build a 198 room Embassy Suites Hotel at Exit 210 on the southwest corner of Olio Road and Tegler Drive. The hotel would also include 20,000 square feet of conference space and 5000 sq ft of meet-ing space.

Hamilton County’s second Sonic Tan is slated to open at 5641 Pebble Village Lane. Former retail space at 5633 Pebble Village Lane is being converted to a new gym facility, Workout Anytime.

Embassy Suites Hotel

December 2015 • January 2016 • Hamilton County Business Magazine 25

Michelangelo’s Italian Bistro at 550 Westfield Road has undergone a relaunch with a new look and menu. Smith House Events & Designs opened in September at 444 Lafayette Road.

1 of One Art Gallery held its grand re-opening in October with a new tenant, The Rugged Company, which sells men’s personal care products. Lil Bloomers also opened its doors in October at 982 Logan Street. Legacy Christian High School at 470 Lakeview Drive is preparing to wel-come its first freshman class in fall 2016.

E-cigarette retailer Hoosier Vapes is moving into 2350 Conner Street. The Sal-vation Army has opened its first Ham-ilton County family store at 585 Noble Creek Drive. Noodles and Company is opening a new restaurant at 17143 Mer-cantile Boulevard.

The former Wooden Key Hallmark at 16787 Clover Road is the new home of America’s Best Contacts and Eyeglass-es. Nemo’s Sports Pub & Grill has closed at 15887 Cumberland Road. Elite Liquor Store is renovating the space with plans to open soon. Noblesville Pet Wellness Clinic opened in early September in the same building.

Popular food truck Dhaba Indy is opening a new Indian restaurant at 14350 Mundy Drive. Pizza 317 is slated to open at 14580 River Road. Rally Rock Ride closed its doors at 14460 Herriman Boulevard last spring, and now VCA Stoney Creek Ani-mal Hospital is expanding its adjacent suite into the empty space. Community Health Pavilion at 9669 E. 146th Street is adding the Community Imaging and Infusion Center to its medical offices.

The former Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt store at Hamilton Town Center is the new home of European Wax Center. Pittsburgh-based Primanti Bros. is plan-ning its first Indiana restaurant at 13871 Cabela Parkway.

WESTFIELDCrossfit Thrive yoga studio opened in November at 17406 Tiller Court. The

Smith House Events & Designs

Johnathan Byrd’s Fieldhouse at Grand Park is adding extra tenant space for additional health and athletics-related companies to lease.

A new salon, Grand Style Station, has opened in downtown Westfield at 203 Jer-sey Street. The Union, a new co-working facility, is planned for 136 N. Union Street. Bash Boutique is now open at 149 N. Walnut Street.

Redwood at Andover apartments, located on Shady Nook Road between SR 32 and 191st Street, held its grand opening in October. Copper Trace

senior living community held its grand opening in November at 1250 W. 146th Street. HCBM

Bash Boutique

26 December 2015 • January 2016 • Hamilton County Business Magazine

Pitch-In

Notes from all over the county

Carmel was named 2015 Community of the Year by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce for its 20-year effort to reinvent itself. “The powerful combina-tion of business growth and quality of life amenities that make the city a great place to work and live is rarely seen,” said the Chamber.

Conner Prairie was awarded $125,000 by the Institute of Museum and Li-brary Services to fund a planned maker program in 2017. Maker programs are spaces dedicated to creativity and in-novation through hands-on exploration with technology, materials and ideas. The museum will match grants and plans to draw inspiration for its space and programming from its existing historic crafts and trades programs that visitors experience daily.

The holding company of First Farmers Bank & Trust is acquiring Citizens Ex-change Bank. Based in Converse, Indiana northeast of Kokomo, First Farmers has 36 locations in Indiana and Illinois com-munities, including one in Sheridan.

Hamilton County Area Neighborhood

Anderson Birkla Investment Partners will develop, and Woolpert will design The Proscenium, a $60 million mixed-use development on the site of the old Party Time warehouse at Range Line Rd. and Carmel Drive. The 6.5-acre develop-ment will include 225 one- and two-bedroom residential units, 20,000 square feet of retail, 60,000 square feet for office use and 1.8 acres of public green space. A

parking garage will be built beneath the development. The project is expected to take up to two years to complete.

The Proscenium

Two co-working spaces are being developed in the county, one in Carmel and one in Westfield, in the wake of the extraordinary success of Launch Fishers.

The Carmel Business Accelerator occupies the first floor of the building at 706 Pro-Med Lane, near the intersec-tion of 136th St and US 31. Conceived as a hybrid of high end office space and a business incubator, the 6000 square feet of space offers both private offices and cubicles for rent on a month to month basis, and is open for business.

In Westfield, The Union is a 3800 square foot co-work space downtown on the corner of Union and Penn Streets offering private office suites as well as meeting and event space. The open concept features stand-ing desks, couches and cubbies. All rooms will have projection or multi-media capabilities and be open 24/7 to members. The initial 10 member-ships will be $200/mo. and office suites start at $400/mo. The Union plans to open in January.

The team launching the Carmel Business Accelerator: (l-r) Alex Morozov, Alla Morozov, Nate Thornberry, Shannon Krueger, Teresa Darling, Felix Shalit, Nate Ehman, Brett Ridoux, Tom James

The Union

Development (HAND) convened the in-augural Neighborhoods NOW Conference in November at the Forum Conference Center in Fishers. 125 guests attended fifteen workshops organized under the themes Growth, Affordability, Seniors and Neighborhood Development. The purpose was to explore how diverse stakeholders can work together to address prevalent community development issues.

The first outdoor skating rink in the Indi-anapolis area is open at Hamilton Town Center. A partnership is renting the space west of the Mall through January. The ice sheet is refrigerated to keep it solid even when outside temperatures are above freezing. The Rink is open every day. Cost is $12, which includes skate rental.

Noblesville native Katie Harvey joined Conner Prairie as director of individual giving.

Jeff Marston was named senior director of Xfinity communities for Comcast’s Heartland Region, which in-cludes the states of Indiana, Kentucky and Michigan.

Katie Harvey Jeff Marston

Carmel resident Mark Novak was pro-moted to Senior Vice President/Chief Credit Officer at The Farmers Bank.

Chad Kozuch was promoted to Senior Vice President/Chief Financial Officer/Information Security Officer.

Chad KozuchMark Novak

December 2015 • January 2016 • Hamilton County Business Magazine 27

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28 December 2015 • January 2016 • Hamilton County Business Magazine

Dining Out

By Chris Bavender

Matteo’s Changes HandsNew owner plans to enhance the Italian cuisine at the Noblesville landmark

Ask most little boys what they want to be when they grow up and you’ll prob-ably get the standard answers—fireman, police officer, cowboy. But Adson Franco had a different career path in mind as a child—he wanted to own a restaurant.

“My mother is a chef so this business is all I know and all I ever wanted to do,” Franco said. “Watching my mom create and execute her dishes to perfection al-ways impressed me. It was not only about eating her delicious meals, but more about watching her put those dishes to-gether, as well as watching her customer’s reactions to every bite.”

It was that special experience, Franco said, that made him want to own a res-taurant that would provide a simi-lar dining experience to guests. He knew to achieve that goal, however, he’d have to learn as much about the business as possible. So he set out to do just that—working as a dishwasher at an Italian restaurant to becoming General Manager at Fogo de Chao and every position in between—soaking up all the knowl-edge he could.

Quality and Authenticity

That hard work paid off for the 33-year-old in mid-August when he became co-owner of Matteo’s in downtown Noblesville. Franco’s two partners in the endeavor are Patricio Daneri and Edson Silva. Franco and Silva worked together

at Fogo for six years.

“A good friend of mine who owns several busi-nesses—who I consider to be great at what he does—intro-duced me to the idea last Novem-

ber. He always knew it would be a matter of time before I would own a restaurant,” Franco said. “He has been a big fan of Mat-teo’s for a long time and knew the owner and that he had been thinking about slow-ing down.”

For Matteo Di Rosa the decision to sell— after 30 years in the restaurant business with 13 of them at Matteo’s—was based on deciding it was “a good idea to change.”

“I love the restaurant and it was a hard to leave the downtown square but I feel com-fortable that Adson will do the same or better job than me,” Di Rosa said. “I chose Adson because he is very honest and hardworking, and he loves what he does, so I decided to pass on Matteo’s to him.”

Pass it on to a man who knew the “quality and authenticity” of Matteo’s menu was the reason it had always been successful. Franco plans to enhance the menu by adding a few prime cuts of steaks, as well as seafood. Popular menu items range from the traditional spaghetti and lasa-gna to Gnocchi Sorrentina, homemade potato and semolina flour dumplings cooked in a Pomodoro sauce with moz-zarella cheese and fresh basil. Signature dishes such as the Tortellini Matteo’s are also must haves for guests.

“It’s a cheese stuffed tortellini in our cream sauce with ham, mushrooms, onions and parmesan cheese,” Franco said. “We also run off the menu Signature dishes every weekend.”

Matteo’s40 N. 9th Street, Noblesville, IN 46060317.774.9771Lunch Mon. – Fri. 11am–2pm Dinner Mon. – Sat. 5 pm–10:30 p.m. Sun. 3pm–9pm

The bread, oil, mozzarella, pastas and desserts are all made in-house, adding to the restaurant’s appeal Franco said.

When it comes to the dining experience, ambiance is key. Walk into Matteo’s, located on the courthouse square, and you’ll take a trip to Italy—without ever leaving Indiana. Dark wood and deep, vibrant colors are found throughout. Col-orful murals of people enjoying a meal together are prominent in the bar area, while similar art is displayed around the dining area.

“Guests feel the authenticity from the moment they walk in. We take pride in our Italian culture, and that shows in every element of the restaurant,” Franco said. “Our décor is inspired in the medi-eval palaces of the Roman Empire.

As for what the future holds for Di Rosa, only time will tell he said.

“I wish I could see into the future but for now I am going to take care of my family. I am definitely open to more restaurant opportunities with Adson if he wants to expand,” he said. “I also own a building in town (where South of Chicago Pizza is located) and I just finished remodeling and am looking for tenants.” HCBM

Adson Franco, General Manager, Co-Owner

December 2015 • January 2016 • Hamilton County Business Magazine 29

Noblesville Chamber 14701 Cumberland Rd.

Suite 106 Noblesville, IN 46060

317-773-0086

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.noblesvillechamber.com

UPCOMING EVENTS & HAPPENINGSAre you interested in joining one of our working groups or committees? Contact [email protected]

DECEMBER 2015December 9/11:30am-1:00pmCHAMBER HOLIDAY LUNCHEONPurgatory Golf ClubElementary and High School Musical Groups Perform

December 11/7:30am-9:00amALL COUNTY LEGISLATIVE SERIES BREAKFASTMansion at Oak HillTopic: Legislative Session Preview w/ Kevin Brinegar, Indiana Chamber President

December 15/7:30am-8:30amRIVERVIEW HEALTH AT WORKCourtyard by MarriottThe benefits of employer-sponsored wellness programs. Free health screenings will be offered to employers and managers. Advance registration required.

JANUARY 2016January 8 or 15/ 7:30am-9:00amALL-COUNTY LEGISLATIVE SERIES BREAKFAST New Location: The Bridgewater Club Topic: Meeting with Legislative Delegation

January 27/11:30am-1:00pmCHAMBER BUSINESS LUNCHEONPurgatory Golf ClubTopic: State of Hamilton County w/Commissioner Steve Dillinger

January 12, 19, & 26/8:30amTECH TUESDAY WINTER WORKSHOPSTentative schedule

MARK YOUR CALENDAR! 2016March 3/ 4:00pm-7:30pmTASTE OF BUSINESS IN NOBLESVILLE Hamilton County Fairgrounds Expo Hall

Follow us at:

Legacy Partners

EZPC Indy LLC15252 Stony Creek Way Suite 104Noblesville, IN 46060www.ezpcbusinnessservices.com

Associated Insurance Services, LLC 3815 River Crossing Pkwy. Suite 180Indianapolis, IN 46240www.aiscoverage.com

Noblesville Counseling Center, LLC984 Logan St., Suite 203Noblesville, IN 46060www.Noblesvillecounseling.com

Marco’s Pizza 111 South Harbour Dr.Noblesville, IN 46062www.Marcos.com

— NEW MEMBERS —

December 15/7:30am-8:30am/ Courtyard by MarriottCREATING A HEALTHY WORKPLACEWellness programs should fit the organization’s mission and values, while still focusing on the needs of the eligible participants based on high risk factors and medical claims. The framework for creating an organization’s plan will be shared from development to implementation through evaluation.

Join us to learn about the Chamber’s new program targeted to improve employee wellness and your company’s bottom line.

RIVERVIEW HEALTH @ WORK ~ Healthy Employees = Healthy Business = Healthy Bottom Line

Free cholesterol and glucose screenings will be available from 7am–7:30am. A 12-hour fasting is required and participants will receive immediate results.

To register for the meeting and free screening, visit our website at www.noblesvillechamber.com or by calling 317-773-0086.

To learn more contact our Riverview Health at Work liaison: Mindi Matthews, CHWC Director of Health & Wellness 317-770-4130 [email protected]

January 27/11:30am-1:00pm, Purgatory Golf ClubSTATE OF THE COUNTY PRESENTATION Presented by Steve Dillinger, Hamilton County CommissionerGreat opportunity to see a recap of 2015 in Hamilton County and what plans lie ahead for 2016. Always a popular luncheon! Public is welcome. Register online or call 317-773-0086.

— Tech Tuesday Sponsor —

— Legacy —

— Presenting —

— Executive —

If you would like information on the 2016 Corporate Partner Program please contact our office at 773-0086.

THANK YOU! 2015 CORPORATE PARTNERS

December 2015 • January 2016 • Hamilton County Business Magazine 29

MARCH 3, 2016 • 4:00PM-7:30PMHAMILTON COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS EXPO HALL

30 December 2015 • January 2016 • Hamilton County Business Magazine

A stronger voice. A significant presence. A new business advocate in an ever-changing marketplace. The Carmel and Fishers Chambers have joined to become OneZone.

December & January Events

Thursday, January 21 | 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. | Ritz Charles

134 exhibitors. 950 attendees. Tastings from the best restaurants & food/drink providers.

Unlimited networking & business building opportunities.

Tickets: $5 for members/$10 for guests

December

Wednesday, December 2: Young Professionals After Hours 5 to 7 p.m. | Flix Brewhouse

Friday, December 11: Legislative Breakfast 7:30 to 9 a.m. | The Mansion at Oak Hill

Tuesday, December 15: December Awards Luncheon 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. | Ritz Charles

Wednesday, December 16: Business After Hours 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. | E.F. Marburger

January

Friday, January 8 | Legislative Breakfast 7:30 to 9 a.m. | The Bridgewater Club

Wednesday, January 13: January Luncheon 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. | Ritz Charles

Thursday, January 21: Taste of the Chamber Business Expo 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. | Ritz Charles

Reservations are required for all events. Call 317.436.4653 or sign up online at www.onezonecommerce.com.

December Luncheon: Annual Business Excellence Awards

Legislative Breakfast Series December through March

Join us to recognize local companies

and individuals for business excellence

and impact.

Tuesday, December 15

11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Ritz Charles

Reservations are required.

Keep up-to-date on issues that impact

the business community and the 2016

legislative session.

Friday, December 11

7:30 to 9 a.m.

The Mansion at Oak Hill

Reservations are required.

10305 Allisonville Rd., Ste. B | 317.436.4653 | [email protected] | onezonecommerce.com

December 2015 • January 2016 • Hamilton County Business Magazine 31

Gold Member Mr. Window

Silver Members Keystone Realty Group Thomas Caterers of Distinction Weybright Companies

Bronze Members Be Now Fitness & Training Citizens One Home Loans CloudOne Corporation College Nannies and Tutors HOODZ Kitchen Exhaust Cleaning Indy Metro Airport LearningRx Mattingly Concrete Inc. PK Partners, LLC Willow Springs

Basic Members Alliance Consulting & Testing Bluebridge Digital BODY By GymRoots Castleton Manor Apartments Delta Construction Everything But the House Fortitude Private Wealth Franklin Window and Door Gandolfo’s Deli GDN INFOTECH Imperial Foot Spa JDS International Inc. The Laser Agent Lightbound Nova Hydraulics Open Gym Indy Premier Designs Jewelry Rooster CSI, LLC Springhill Suites by Marriott - Carmel Sweeney Hayes LLC, Attorneys at Law UZOOX Cell Phone Repair Wings Etc. - Fishers

Interested in joining OneZone? Call 436.4653 or visit onezonecommerce.com.

Ribbon Cuttings New Members

Want to celebrate your new business with a ribbon cutting?

Let’s talk.

Grillilant Foods

OneZone Leadership Partners

facebook.com/onezonecommerce

@onezonecommerce

New! Mobile App

Look for OneZone and download.

Wings Etc. California Closets

Holiday Inn Express DQ Grill and Chill Smashburger

Flamme Burger Open Gym Indy Edwin the Duck

Ambiance Day Spa Gandolfo’s Deli Northview Church

Copper Trace Sr. Living Clearwater Commons The Wellington

Medical Thermography Market District & GetGo

OneZoneCommerce.com

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32 December 2015 • January 2016 • Hamilton County Business Magazine

Cicero70 N. Byron St.PO Box 466 Cicero, IN 46034317-984-4079

Sheridan PO Box 202 Sheridan, IN 46069317-758-1311

NEW MEMBERRed Bridge Real Estate

Jaren Barnes

UPCOMING EVENTS & HAPPENINGSUPCOMING EVENTS DECEMBER 2015Thursday, December 34:00pm-6:00pm OPEN HOUSE & RIBBON CUTTINGRed Bridge Real Estate, CiceroThursday, December 1011:30amHOLIDAY CELEBRATIONSheridan Community BuildingFriday, December 117:30amLEGISLATIVE BREAKFASTThe Mansion at Oak Hill “Legislative Preview” with Kevin Brinegar

JANUARY 2016Friday, January 87:30amLEGISLATIVE BREAKFASTThe Bridgewater Club

Thursday, January 2811:30amMEMBERSHIP LUNCHEONRed Bridge Park Community Room, Cicero

SEPTEMBER MEMBERSHIPLUNCHEON

Dick Shoemaker, Adjunct Professor at Ball State University, spoke at our September Luncheon on today’s advertising and public relations environment.

Endeavor Communications celebrated the opening of their Atlanta office with a ribbon cutting in September. The telecommunications company provides telephone, cable, cellular and security systems.

RIBBON CUTTING

ANNUAL DINNER & CASINO NIGHT

Dr. Kent Erb, representing Riverview Health, accepts the award for Business of the Year.

Dr. Erin Merrill-Macy/Creekside Chiropractic accepts the Health and Wellness Service Award.

Brenda Garrod/Mama’s Cupboard accepts the Charity of the Year award.

Connie Pearson was the winner of the Public Services Award.

Brian Jones was the winner of the Education Services Award.

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Westfield Chamber of Commerce130 Penn St.Westfield, IN 46074317-804-3030

UPCOMING EVENTS & HAPPENINGSDecember

Hamilton County & Westfield Tourism:An overall look at the county’s tourism industry

including the impact of Grand ParkPresenters: Brenda Myers and Brad Coffing

Hamilton County Tourism and Hamilton County Economic Development

Thursday, December 17thThe Bridgewater Club

Legislative Preview A look at the Coming Session of the

Indiana General AssemblyPresenter: Kevin Brinegar

President and CEO, Indiana Chamber of Commerce

Friday, December 11The Bridgewater Club

JanuaryMembership Luncheon

Join the Westfield Members as they meet their board of directors and hear about plans and changes for 2016

Hamilton County Tourism and Hamilton County Economic Development

Thursday, January 21The Bridgewater Club

For details and online registration, please visit: www.westfield-chamber.org or call 317-804-3030

RIBBON CUTTINGS

Economic Development BreakfastChris Larson, Director of Informatics for the City of Westfield, along with fellow city associates Matt Skelton, Erin Murphy, Michelle Krcmery and Curt Whitesell, owner of WKRP Indy Real Estate Profes-sionals presented a great program at the final meeting of the 2015 Economic Development breakfast series sponsored by Charleston’s.

Smashburger

Redwood at Andover

Holiday Inn Express and Suites

Northwalk Neighborhood

Business After HoursAll-County Business After Hours hosted by Mustard Seed GardensTeresa and Mark Skipper opened up their lovely facility to all members of the Hamilton County Chambers. A great time was had by all. (photo by Cindy Stout)

Westfield Welcome www.westfieldwelcome.com

Westfield WorksAvailable jobs!www.westfieldworks.org

NEW MEMBERSRandie Bonwell The Bonwell Tanner Real Estate Group501 Congressional Blvd., Ste 220Carmel, IN 46032317.222.1304www.BuywithBTG.com

Bryan Criswell21st Amendment Wine & Spirits3404 E. 146th St.Carmel, IN 46033317.706.0710www.21stamendment.com

Heather Gordon-EdwardsGorman and Bunch Orthodontics16407 South Park Dr., Suite AWestfield, IN 46074317.867.1133www.gormanbunch.com

Corky HustonHuston Electric1105 E. 181st St.Westfield, IN 46074317.804.9009www.hustonelectric.com

Sonal Patel Gandolfo’s New York Deli2796 East 146th St.Carmel, IN 46033317.798.2184 www.gandolfosdeli.com

Lou Ann TaylorAlerding CPA Group4181 E. 96th St.Indianapolis, IN 46240317.569.4181www.alerdingcpagroup.com

2016 Additional Upcoming Events• February - March Legislative Breakfasts Series at The Bridgewater Club

• April 19 All-Vounty Chamber Luncheon

• June 6 Westfield Chamber Classic Golf Outing at The Bridgewater Club

• August 5 All-County Women’s Luncheon

• September 23 Lantern Awards at the Palomino Ballroom

Also:• First Thursdays Westfield Young Professionals

• Third Thursdays Westfield Chamber Luncheons

• Throughout the year Several all-county networking breakfast, & business after hours

December 2015 • January 2016 • Hamilton County Business Magazine 33

WESTFIELD

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estfield-chamber.org

34 December 2015 • January 2016 • Hamilton County Business Magazine

Saving an Architectural GemSheridan’s historic school slated for renovation

Hamilton County HistoryBy David Heighway

he Blackhawk Commons project

by HAND, Inc., which will restore and refurbish

the old school building in Sheridan, accomplishes a

double purpose. Not only will it provide needed housing, but it will also help to preserve an important architec-tural site in county. The old Sheridan High School was created as a point of community pride.

The previous high school building had been built in 1895 during the prosper-ous times of the natural gas boom and was expanded in 1913. It was a two-story, twelve room brick structure and held around 250 students and was located on the north side of town near the location of the current library. By the 1920’s, it had become run-down and decrepit, possibly due to the failure of the natural gas boom with the resulting financial downturn and loss of county population. However, its condition became a moot point because of a massive fire that oc-curred on January 2, 1928. Cold weather had frozen the city fire hydrants and the building was a

total loss. Classes did continue and were held in the City Hall, Farmers Bank, and various lodge halls.

Art Deco Design

For a new high school, the community decided to build a showplace. The noted architects McGuire & Shook were hired and they created what was then an ultra-modern Art Deco design. Architectural historian Glory-June Greiff says this is possibly the oldest Art Deco school in the state. Roy Bryant was hired as the contractor. It took over a year to finish, but it was surprising that it was even accomplished. This was happening at the same time as the na-tional financial failure in October of 1929 and the beginning of the Great Depression. However, it was eagerly awaited. The 1929 yearbook gives a detailed description of the facilities that the school would have. News reports in Decem-ber of 1930 said that the structure was nearly done.

The ceremony to officially set the corner-stone was held in October of 1931. Albert

Stump, an Indianapolis civic leader and 1928 Democrat Senate candidate, was the keynote speaker. One of the first major events in the new gymnasium was an Armistice Day celebration on Novem-ber 11. It was about this time that the nickname for the school sports teams was chosen. A contest was held and the name “Blackhawks” was the winner. The formal dedication of the gym happened during a basketball game on January 2, 1932—four years to the day after the fire. The gym then showed its crowd capacity when it hosted its first county tourney on

January 28 & 29 that year. After that, it was regularly used for tourneys since it was one of the largest gyms in the state.

The building was used as the high school for over thirty years until it was replaced by a new building in the 1960’s. The structure then became the elementary school for the next forty years. Now it will find a new purpose and continue to reflect well on the community. HAND plans to turn the classrooms into apart-ments and renovate the gymnasium into a fitness facility that would serve both residents of Blackhawk Commons and the public.

Thanks to Sheridan Historical Society, Parvin Gillim, and Glory-June Greiff for research and information. HCBM

October • November 2015 • Hamilton County Business Magazine 35

NEXT EDITION: MAILS WEEK OF

JANUARY 26

ADVERTISING DEADLINE DECEMBER 24

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We are serious about improving our clients businesses by updating office technology, managing office printing and streamlining critical business processes. Sharp Business Systems of Indiana, a division of Sharp Electronics Corporation, can increase your company’s bottom line.

BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY

Rotary International

Rotary brings together business and professional leaders to provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help build goodwill and peace in the world. Each club meets weekly. For more information on the Noblesville Midday Rotary Club, contact President Paul Roberts 317-509-6729

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