Hi everyone,

OWN is hitting the road. We are building a statewide community of operators and searchers, starting with an evening at Lake Wawasee on June 18 with Nathan Scherer. This issue: events across Indiana, a membership launch, sponsorship, and what is moving for operators right now.

Nathan built SEI Manufacturing and sold it to Patrick Industries (NASDAQ: PATK), then decided to build again. He now develops South Shore Village on Lake Wawasee and backs Northern Indiana operators. He hosts us to walk through scaling to an acquisition, the deal from the inside, and what he would tell a year-one founder. Thursday, June 18, 4 to 7 PM, South Shore Village, Syracuse. $15, free for members, capped at 50.

Owner at 17, founder of Lushin and Associates in 1997, a leading Sandler Training franchise, ESOP transition in 2023. Forty-six years of building, and what he would warn the next young founder about. Thursday, July 16, 4 to 7 PM, Lushin HQ, Indianapolis. $15, free for members, capped at 50.

Our first night in Fort Wayne. Matt led roughly 120 technical staff at Sweetwater, co-founded BT Pro Solutions, then bought a 60-year-old firm (Spokane Computer) in January 2026. Nick Ladig moderates a practical fireside on building versus buying and what the buy-side process actually looks like. Thursday, September 17, 4 to 7 PM. $15, free for members.

August is still open, and we are targeting a fall date in Bloomington. If you have a venue or want to host, reach out at [email protected].

Behind Governor Braun's Keep IN initiative is a three-phase IBRC study, and each phase answers a different question.

Who, and how many. 51.7% of Indiana business owners are 55 or older, roughly 44,000 businesses. In 45 of 92 counties a majority of owners are already 55-plus, and the risk skews rural and mid-sized.

How much is at stake. About $206 billion in annual revenue sits with 55-plus owners, and roughly $57 billion of it is in the $1M to $15M tier, big enough for a new owner-operator but below most private-equity thresholds. The report's blunt conclusion: the constraint is not the supply of targets, it is the supply of prepared, financed buyers willing to operate in smaller markets.

What happens if transitions fail. Applying the national rate that 92% of exits end in closure rather than sale, the model puts 833,659 jobs and $99.9 billion in GDP at risk. But succession is not only downside: among one group of new owners, 41% grew employment and 68% grew customers and sales.

SB 243 is a mixed bag. The win: Indiana decoupled from the federal Section 163(j) interest cap, so leveraged businesses and post-acquisition holdcos can deduct business interest at the state level, real free cash flow for debt-funded deals. The catch: it expands responsible-person liability for unpaid taxes to controllers, payroll clerks, and outside fractional CFOs, and it closed the Montana LLC titling loophole retroactively to 2023. Review indemnifications, D&O, and any out-of-state titling.

Tax amnesty closes September 9. Penalties, interest, and collection fees waived on liabilities before January 1, 2024. If you inherited exposure in an acquisition, this is the cleanup window.

Indiana launches an ICHRA tax credit, the first state to do so: up to $400 per employee in year one and $200 in year two for employers under 50 who move to an Individual Coverage HRA. If group premiums are eating margin, model it before Q4 open enrollment.

DOL overtime expansion rescinded. The salary threshold reverts to $35,568, which avoids a payroll shock, but the market has moved past that number, so do not use it as your real pay floor.

FTC noncompete ban set aside. Noncompetes return to state control, but the climate is hostile, so lean on non-solicitation and trade-secret protections, which courts enforce more reliably.

Rates higher for longer. The Fed is expected to hold at 3.5 to 3.75%, Prime is anchored at 6.75%, and variable SBA 7(a) is pricing 9.75 to 13.25%. Underwrite acquisitions assuming no near-term relief through mid-2027.

The big one: the SBA doubled the combined 7(a) and 504 limit to $10 million. The old $5M cap was an artificial ceiling on what an unfunded searcher could buy. The new limit puts $1.5M to $3M EBITDA businesses, the ones with real middle-management depth, within reach on government-backed debt. Expect upward pressure on premium Indiana multiples, so move while it is early.

Citizenship rules thinned the pool. Since March, 7(a) and 504 borrowers must be U.S. citizens. Less competition for domestic searchers; sellers should pre-qualify buyers before granting exclusivity.

Two risk tools moved downmarket. Personal Guarantee Insurance now hedges up to half of a borrower's personal-guarantee risk, and Rep and Warranty Insurance is available on sub-$10M deals, which means cleaner exits with less trapped in escrow.

Exit planning. The Employee Ownership Trust capital-gains exemption is now permanent, a cleaner alternative to an ESOP with no annual valuations or repurchase obligations. And the IRS signaled it will curb QSBS Section 1202 stacking, possibly retroactively, so revisit equity structuring with your advisor.

Indiana deals worth noting. Noblesville's Taylored Systems was acquired by ISG Technology with all 34 employees retained. Carmel's Heartland Food acquired the Americas business behind Splenda and Equal. And Bloomington's Elmore Companies was spotlighted for a nine-business, roughly $200M-revenue forever-hold holdco, with the reminder that real compounding rarely shows up before year seven to ten.

The numbers. Indianapolis industrial vacancy dropped to 6.8% from nearly 18% eighteen months ago, so act defensively on any lease renewal before landlords regain pricing power in 2027. Labor stays tight at 3.2% against 4.3% nationally, so plan to grow revenue without growing headcount one for one. Cybersecurity is now an insurance gate, with 88% of SMB breaches involving ransomware and attackers logging in with stolen credentials, so enforce MFA and single sign-on before you apply for coverage. AI saves about a day a week, per BCG, and most firms waste it, so redirect freed hours toward sales and higher-margin work. And fractional-CFO demand is up 310%, often the highest-leverage hire for a $3M to $15M business.

Reply here or reach out anytime at [email protected]. Hope to see you at Lake Wawasee later this month.

Jared Luegers