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NO. 5 · 9‑MINUTE READ Tuesday, June 9, 2026 |
Hi everyone,
This month OWN hits the road for the first time. Building a real statewide community has been the goal since day one, and on Thursday, June 18 we are taking it north to Syracuse for an evening with Nathan Scherer on Lake Wawasee. That night is the headline, but the issue is full: more events taking shape across the state, a membership launching this month, an honest ask for sponsors, and the usual rundown of what is moving in Indiana for operators and searchers.
Small rooms. Real operators. Practical conversations.
PART ONE FROM OWN
📅 From the Shop Floor to South Shore: An Evening with Nathan Scherer
Nathan Scherer built SEI Manufacturing from the ground up and sold it to Patrick Industries (NASDAQ: PATK). He stayed on as Director of Innovation, then decided he would rather build his own thing again than sit still. Today he is developing South Shore Village, a 112-acre community on Lake Wawasee, backing operators around Northern Indiana, and running a restaurant built around a simple idea: getting people face to face in the real world.
On June 18 he is hosting us there to walk through the whole arc. What it took to scale SEI to the point Patrick wanted it, what the deal looked like from the inside, what came after, and what he would tell himself back at year one.
We got on a call with Nate last week and could have talked for hours. We got into what it actually takes to build an entrepreneurial ecosystem in a place that does not have one, and why operators around here tend to hold everything too close to the chest. The part that stuck with us was his take on the arbitrage sitting right in front of us between Indiana’s legacy businesses and new tech, and what it could unlock for operators willing to move first. We will not spoil it. You will want to be in the room.
Thursday, June 18 | 4:00 to 7:00 PM
South Shore Village | 10601 N State Road 13, Syracuse, IN
$15 per ticket, food and drinks included. Free for OWN Indiana members. Capped at 50.
Format is a 45-minute conversation and open Q&A. Walk the property during the networking hour if you want to see what he is building.
Coming up from Indy? If you want to carpool or just do not want to make the drive alone, reply and let us know. We would like to get as many people from Central Indiana up there as we can. And if you know an operator in Northern Indiana who belongs in this room, forward this their way.
Going statewide: What’s next
This is the start of OWN showing up across the state instead of asking the state to come to us. A few people have stepped up to make that happen, and here is where things stand.
July 16, Indianapolis. From Corporate Misfit to King-Maker: An Evening with Paul Lushin.
Paul became a business owner at 17, founded Lushin and Associates in 1997, built it into one of the country’s leading Sandler Training franchises, and completed an ESOP transition in 2023. He is hosting us at Lushin HQ to walk through 46 years of building and what he would warn the next 17-year-old founder about. Thursday, July 16, 4:00 to 7:00 PM. Lushin HQ, 5655 Castle Creek Parkway Drive North, Indianapolis. $15, food and drinks included, free for members, capped at 50. RSVP on Eventbrite →
August, still open.
We have not locked an August event yet, and we would love to keep the monthly streak going. If you have a good idea, a venue, or want to host one, reach out at [email protected].
September 17, Fort Wayne. Build It or Buy It: A Conversation with Matt Truty.
This is our first night in Fort Wayne. Matt has done both things most operators only do one of. He built a company from zero, leading a roughly 120-person technical team at Sweetwater before leaving to co-found BT Pro Solutions with Caleb Bertsch. Then he went out and bought one: in January 2026 BT Pro acquired Spokane Computer, a 60-year-old firm whose owner was selling for the first time, with ZoomQ following a month later. Now he is living the kind of integration he used to coach other people through. Nick Ladig moderates a practical fireside on starting versus buying, what the buy-side process actually looks like, and the lessons that only show up once you have done both. Thursday, September 17, 4:00 to 7:00 PM. Fort Wayne, venue to be announced. $15, free for members, capped around 50. If you are weighing build versus buy, mid-search, or already running what you built or bought, this is your room. RSVP on Eventbrite →
October or November, Bloomington.
We are targeting a fall date in Bloomington. More as it firms up.
We are looking for sponsors
One more thing, and it is an honest one. We are bringing on a few event and organization sponsors to help fund OWN.
This is never going to be a money maker. That is not the point. But some financial backing would let us reach more of the state’s small business community, put on more events across Indiana, and get more high-value content into the hands of our fellow Hoosier business owners. We have upcoming events that need support, including the newly launched Fort Wayne night in September.
If you would like to back what we are building, reach out to Jared at [email protected]. It takes a village.
Membership Launches Later This Month
We are rolling out a low-cost annual membership by the end of June. Members get free access to every OWN event we put on, plus the other member benefits we have been building out. Pricing and the sign-up link will hit your inbox in the coming weeks.
PART TWO: WHAT’S MOVING IN INDIANA
Whether or not you make it to an event, this is the part you can use. Here is what moved this past month that an Indiana operator or searcher should actually act on.
Featured: what the Keep IN research actually found, in three parts
Last month we covered the launch of Governor Braun’s Keep IN initiative. Behind it sits a three-phase study from the Indiana Business Research Center, and the full arc is worth walking, because each phase answers a different question.
Phase 1 asked who, and how many.
Using Census and Data Axle data, the IBRC estimated that 51.7% of Indiana business owners are 55 or older, roughly 44,000 businesses. In 45 of the state’s 92 counties, a majority of owners are already 55-plus. The risk skews rural and mid-sized, where these businesses are the economic foundation rather than one piece of a diversified base.
Phase 2 put dollars on it, and a map.
Translating those age profiles into revenue, the IBRC found roughly $206 billion in annual business revenue tied to owners 55 and older, about 59% of all private-sector business revenue captured in the state, more than ten times Indiana’s general fund budget. In 88 of 92 counties, at least half of business revenue sits with 55-plus owners. The biggest absolute totals are in Marion, Tippecanoe, and Allen, but the deepest structural exposure is in smaller counties like Owen, Tippecanoe, and Wells, and in the Greater Lafayette and South Central regions. The number that matters most for this audience: about $57 billion of that revenue is in the $1M to $15M tier, big enough to support a new owner-operator but usually below private-equity thresholds. The report’s own conclusion is blunt: the constraint is not the supply of acquisition targets, it is the supply of prepared, financed buyers willing to operate in smaller markets.
Phase 3 modeled what happens if these transitions fail.
Using an input-output model, the IBRC found that every $1 of output lost when a business closes costs another $0.68 across the Indiana economy through broken supply chains and reduced household spending. Applying the national rate that 92% of exits end in closure rather than a sale, the base case is 833,659 jobs and $99.9 billion in GDP at risk. Central Indiana carries the highest absolute exposure at nearly 292,000 jobs. The Indiana Uplands and Greater Lafayette are the most structurally exposed, where 55-plus owners generate more than 63% of regional revenue.
One finding worth holding onto: succession is not only a downside story. Research cited in the study found that when ownership transfers succeed, the businesses often grow. Among one group of new owners studied, 41% increased employment and 68% grew both their customer base and sales. A clean handoff is not just preservation, it is often expansion.
What to do with this:
If you are an owner five or more years from any transition, this is your timeline in writing. Get a baseline valuation and a written exit structure now, while the cost is low. Keep IN’s free valuation pilot covers exactly this. Waiting is how owners become part of the 92%.
If you are a searcher or acquirer, this is a map of imminent off-market deal flow. The supply is concentrated in the $1M to $15M tier and, regionally, in Greater Lafayette, South Central, and the Uplands. The bottleneck is prepared buyers, so being financed and ready to operate in a smaller market is your real edge.
AROUND THE STATEHOUSE
SB 243 is a mixed bag, and you need both sides.
The good: Indiana fully decoupled from the federal Section 163(j) interest-expense cap, so leveraged Indiana businesses and post-acquisition holdcos can now deduct business interest at the state level even when it is capped federally. That is real free cash flow for debt-funded deals. The catch: the bill expands “responsible person” liability for unpaid sales and payroll taxes to controllers, payroll clerks, and external fractional CFOs, so review your indemnification agreements and D&O coverage. It also closed the “Montana LLC” loophole retroactively to 2023, so audit any out-of-state titling on vehicles, RVs, or aircraft. KSM 2026 legislative update →
Tax Amnesty 2026 closes September 9.
Eight weeks, with penalties, interest, and collection fees waived, for liabilities from periods ending before January 1, 2024. If you acquired a business with inherited exposure, or had compliance gaps from a platform migration or remote-worker misclassification, this is the cleanup window. Skip it and get audited later, and the penalties stack. Program overview →
Indiana is the first state to offer an ICHRA tax credit.
Up to $400 per employee in year one and $200 in year two for small employers under 50 who move to an Individual Coverage HRA. If group premiums are eating your margin, model an ICHRA transition with your broker before Q4 open enrollment. Details →
FROM WASHINGTON
The DOL overtime expansion was rescinded.
The salary threshold reverts to $35,568, which avoids a sudden payroll shock for businesses that lean on salaried mid-level managers. Just know the market already moved past that number, so do not use it as your actual pay floor or you will lose people. Details →
The FTC non-compete ban was set aside in court.
Non-competes are back under state control, but the environment is still hostile, so pivot your asset protection toward non-solicitation agreements and trade-secret protections, which courts enforce more reliably. Details →
Rates are holding 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) rates are pricing 9.75 to 13.25%. Underwrite acquisitions assuming no near-term relief through at least mid-2027. Coverage →
CAPITAL + DEALS
The big one: the SBA doubled the combined 7(a) and 504 limit to $10 million.
For decades the $5M cap was an artificial ceiling on what an unfunded searcher could buy without expensive mezzanine debt or giving up control to a sponsor. The new limit lets buyers target $1.5M to $3M EBITDA businesses, the ones with real middle-management depth, on government-backed debt. Expect this to push up multiples on premium Indiana assets, so move while it is early. What you need to know →
New SBA citizenship rules thinned the buyer pool.
As of March 2026, 7(a) and 504 borrowers must be U.S. citizens, which removes green-card holders and foreign nationals. For domestic searchers that means less competition. For sellers it means pre-qualify your buyers before you grant exclusivity. Details →
Two risk tools moved downmarket.
Personal Guarantee Insurance now lets SBA borrowers hedge up to half their personal-guarantee risk, and Rep and Warranty Insurance is now available on sub-$10M deals, which means cleaner exits with less money trapped in escrow. Both are worth building into your next LOI. PGI overview →
Bank consolidation keeps moving.
First Financial closed its BankFinancial acquisition and First Merchants is acquiring First Savings, strengthening SBA lending in southern Indiana. As community banks merge, underwriting standardizes, so make sure your financials are institutional-grade and reconfirm your lender relationships before your next LOI. Details →
EXIT PLANNING
The EOT capital gains exemption is now permanent.
Employee Ownership Trusts are emerging as a cleaner alternative to ESOPs, with no annual valuations, no repurchase obligations, and a permanent capital-gains shelter at sale. Worth a look for founders who want to preserve local culture and maximize after-tax proceeds. Details →
The IRS is closing QSBS 1202 “stacking.”
Treasury signaled guidance to curb multiplying the Section 1202 exclusion through trusts and family transfers, and it may apply retroactively. If you are structuring equity for an eventual exit, talk to your advisor about your timeline now. Details →
QUICK HITS
Indiana deals worth noting. Noblesville’s Taylored Systems was acquired by Kansas-based ISG Technology with all 34 employees retained, a clean read on MSP roll-up activity. 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 the real compounding rarely shows up before year seven to ten. Taylored → | Elmore →
Indianapolis industrial vacancy dropped to 6.8%, down from nearly 18% eighteen months ago, with spec construction halted. If you have a lease renewal or expansion in the next 12 to 24 months, act defensively before landlords regain pricing power in 2027. Report →
Labor stays tight at 3.2%, well under the 4.3% national rate, with 94,000-plus open postings. Plan to grow revenue without growing headcount one for one. Data →
Cybersecurity is now an insurance gate. 88% of SMB breaches involve ransomware, and attackers log in with stolen credentials rather than breaking in. Enforce MFA and single sign-on now, or expect a denial when you apply for cyber liability coverage. Details →
AI saves about a day a week, and most companies waste it,per BCG. The fix is operational, not technical: redirect the hours AI frees up in estimating, AR, and customer service toward sales and higher-margin work. Study →
Fractional CFO demand is up 310%. For a $3M to $15M business, moving from a bookkeeper to a fractional CFO, roughly $5k to $15k a month versus $200k-plus full-time, is the highest-leverage hire for cash-flow planning and exit readiness. Details →
📅 OTHER EVENTS WORTH YOUR TIME
Indiana Chamber Inaugural Policy Summit, June 15, Indianapolis. Half a day on the legislative shifts above. Register →
IBBA Recasting and Pricing Virtual Summit, June 24 to 26, online. Tactical valuation mechanics for sellers and searchers. Register →
AM&AA Summer Conference, June 9 to 10, Chicago. Middle-market dealmakers, bankers, and CPAs. Details →
Indiana Women’s Collaborative and Empower Award, August 27, Indianapolis. Networking and best practices for female operators. Details →
OUR ASK OF YOU
Host an OWN night in your city, October through year-end. A facility tour, a founder story, or teaching something you have used to run better all work.
Sponsor an event or the organization if you are in a position to back the mission.
Send feedback, a topic, or an intro to an Indiana operator we should know.
Reply to this email or reach out anytime at [email protected].
Hope to see you out at Lake Wawasee later this month. That does not sound too bad, right?
Got feedback, ideas, or an intro for us?
Reply to this email with what’s on your mind: feedback on this issue, topics you want to see covered, or an Indiana operator we should know.