TRANSCRIPT 🔗
The Insight Table Podcast: Hey, my name's Tim. Thank you for clicking on this today and listening to us. We've just been happy to have conversations around real estate development and construction has been my passion for years. So here at Veridus we're also passionate about that. And so what you're going to hear is just some general conversations that we've had about certain topics within this framework over the last several months. We hope you enjoy these. We hope you came to learn today. If you need some more information, we'll get you some information at the end of this as we close this thing out. But Hey, thanks for listening today. for clicking on this and diving in a little bit deeper. ⁓ hope you learned something today. And if you did or you want more information, please out to us. We'll be happy to connect you with the right people to get the answers that you need. ⁓ But really you leave with one thing in mind is that our goal here at Veridus is to renew communities through great projects and great people. think all of conversations have shown that in some or another. So thanks for listening today and catch up with us next time. Enjoy this conversation.
Audio: really excited about this guest today. ⁓ We try get different people ⁓ around what call the insight table. So this is really, you know, ⁓ thinking ⁓ believing, that you have some deep insight for us today. We're excited about that. ⁓ But my today is Nathan Elliott ⁓ with the company here in Lawrence. ⁓ As you know, our listeners know, we've invested our company is invested in Lawrence. And so ⁓ I'm interested talking to other people who are investing in Lawrence and why Lawrence and those types of things. And ⁓ so I we'd start by having you yourself, kind of who you are, what drives you as Nathan and tell us a more about how you guys got to Lawrence and what you do here. Sure. Yeah, so my name is Nathan Elliott. Thanks for having me here. ⁓ I'm the guy who typically will listen to business podcasts and look for advice and so to be actually on this side is humbling. So I'm glad you're here. I hope that some level of insight could be helpful. But yeah, I grew up in this area. So I went to Lawrence North High School, Fall Creek Valley Middle School, Oakland Elementary School. All right down the street. right down the street. And so ⁓ my family also just moved it back into the area. So I lived in Fishers for a while and now we're both residences and I work here. So our company's headquartered right down the street as well. ⁓ But yeah, I'm a father of four children, been married for 15 years. So very thankful for that and certainly busy in that. My kids are 12, 10, seven and three. And so yeah, it's been fun. I'm gonna assume those are right, I don't know. Well they keep having birthdays. understand how that works. As do I, so it's hard to keep track of it all. So tell us a little bit more about your company. So I know you moved back into the area recently, obviously from here, but Foamcraft has been here for a long time. So tell us the history, a little bit of that, how you got to where you are today and a bit Yeah. So my grandfather founded Foamcraft in 1952. And so he was originally a sales rep for Firestone Tire and Rubber. And kind of in that 50s time is when polyurethane foam, which is cushioning foam, right? So what you sit on in your couch. that became a thing. And so he started distributing that through Firestone, ⁓ but then quickly realized that ⁓ he wanted to have his own company and he wanted to fabricate that foam for end use. And so rather than just distributing sheets and big pieces, he wanted to actually do the cutting himself. And so then we became fabricators. ⁓ So we've been doing that since the fifties. And so we have five locations in the state of Indiana, all fabricating foam ⁓ for anything that needs something comfortable. So we've always done mattresses. We've always done residential furniture ⁓ office furniture RVs boats There's a lot of foam in medical industries for positioning aids and things like that. There's packaging So it was an interesting business. I don't know If he did this intentionally, but we enjoy as a foam fabricator We kind of carry one basic sort of product that goes into multiple different market segments. So we're diversified not through ⁓ Products but through markets and through industries. So typically if the RV RV industry is down, maybe residential furniture is up commercial furniture is up ⁓ So it kind of balances itself out that way which has really helped us I think sustain for ⁓ You know over 70 years now ⁓ My role in the company so I went to college at IU I was originally going to be kind of design in production I wanted to do TV and film graphic design and did some internships that I just didn't really love and my my dad ⁓ who had taken over the company by that point, ⁓ basically offered me a new position to handle marketing for the company. We have always done business to business stuff, ⁓ but he wanted to get into a little bit more business to consumer stuff. We need to do marketing for business to business as well, so we developed our own mattress line, we developed our own kids product line, and it's a totally different kind of, it's further diversifying, right? So similar products, but now we're also not reliant upon our. just our business customers to provide income. So we're able to control the brands and things like that. ⁓ my role has kind of then continued to morph into, ⁓ I'm in marketing, but I'm a shareholder of the company now. And so wear a lot of different hats. And really I kind of am explaining it now where... ⁓ have been able to just kind of experiment with diversification plans, right? So the foam industry is stable and we're doing fine, but also we're thinking, I'm third generation owner. My brother and I are thinking about the fourth generation. Like what can we do to make sure that this company continues so that any of our children get to ⁓ get
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to benefit the same way that we have. And so that has kind of become in the retail segment and ⁓ now commercial development. Yeah. So you mentioned this third generation owner is dad still involved in the business? Okay, so that's still there. What are some of those challenges of being third generation and maybe not having full control? Yeah, yeah, well, I mean I think the the the numbers for third-generation family businesses are not pleasant I think it's it's over 80 % that I think go out of business and so that's certainly a challenge and the reason I think is that you know, the first generation creates it and Typically then the second generation builds it and then the third generation comes along and it's probably been a little bit Sinks it, Sinks it. But there's also more of us, right? And so every generation, it multiplies, which then you get more opinions, get ⁓ more people that want to be involved, which is a good thing. ⁓ So I'm really thankful because I've got a great relationship with my brother and two cousins that are also, so there's four of us in that third generation. My next question. And so we're, my dad really modeled very well, not, ⁓ bringing business home. I mean, I always knew what he did, but it was never something that... ⁓ the conflicts were brought to the dinner table. Right. Right. And so he's done a good job even when my brother and I have come into the business where we don't agree on everything. But that doesn't change our relationships at home. Yeah. He modeled that really, really well. And so as family ownerships go, I don't think that we have one that is full of conflict. But I think that as we are getting older, as we are getting more involved and more responsibility, we are seeing more opportunities for discussion. Yeah. But it's so far so good, but I think we are kind of learning our differences, learning our different skills, and trying to figure out, well, when that second generation is officially gone, we're gonna have to operate this company totally differently. And so we're kind of working through that currently. It's an interesting concept. I'd maybe have you back here in a couple years and see how that's going. So let's hover there for second, because I think some of the things you started talking to really start to lend towards culture. And I know at our company here at Veritas, we are very particular about who we hire. So we try to get the cultural fit first. We think we can train our people a lot of things to do a lot of things and we can train them in a lot of other areas. But that culture fit for us is really, really important. And it doesn't mean the same thing for everybody. So help us understand the culture at Foamcraft a little bit. You guys have from people working in your factories to salespeople to family leadership to whatever. Right. So it kind of creates It's your own dynamic. It's gonna be a little bit different. So do you guys have a mission and vision and core values that help guide you? Or how do you do you design and define your culture? Yeah, that's a great question. And I think it's something that You know, I said a joke earlier, like, we've got it all figured out, and of course we certainly do not. And I think that one of the challenges for us, we're a manufacturing company at heart, right? So we've got 300 employees. ⁓ So we have management employees, we have executives, we have middle management employees, we have plant workers, we have leadership on the plant floor, we have entry-level plant positions. so culture fit then becomes complicated, but really... ⁓ I'll use the word exciting just because there's so much diversity. Yeah of imagine people's backgrounds of people's opinions and ⁓ We have to it's harder for us ⁓ Than I think probably many companies to figure out when we're hiring somebody is this a culture fit? ⁓ I think we tend to Especially with the plant workers where it's like hey, we're busy. We need people we need people we need people and we need good people and so ⁓ Then we have to make sure we provide a culture that people are excited to want to fit into, right? And so there's a lot of ⁓ organic, I think, movement around it, but we do have vision and core values. And I think our vision as a company is really the one that I think about a lot. especially as I talk about diversifying the company, how can we make sure if we diversify differently in terms of what we're selling, that it still hits the vision. So our vision is really two-fold. And to simplify it, it's to provide products that help the community. We're a product company, and so we want to provide products that actually are good and help the community, and we want to provide meaningful work for people. ⁓ And so, you know, foam is not mentioned in that vision, right? And so I think that lends us the opportunity to, ⁓ yes, we're selling a product, but what is the company trying to do? If our people, no matter if they are a director of HR or if they are a sole operator on the floor, how can we all believe that the products that we are making are good and provide value for the local communities that we're in? ⁓ And how can we make sure that every position feels valued and the work is meaningful? And I think that's a challenge for us. ⁓ You know, we're not making widgets on the floor, but we are making products that aren't yet finished, right? that we make, it's a cushion that's got some other pieces of foam glued around it, it's gonna go into a boat. Our employees don't see that boat, right? And so making sure that we are communicating this product has value, here's why, so that they can really believe that what they are doing has meaning to it. I think those are the things that when I'm collaborating on the marketing side with our HR department, our people operations department, ⁓ it's how can we make sure that we're doing some level of internal marketing and this is something we really need to keep improving on to make sure that our vision is
communicated. I think it's a great answer, Nathan, and I appreciate it. Would you maybe share with us? What are some small things that you're doing for you? said, hey, we need to find a way to make sure they understand the value. What are you doing to do that? Are there some small things you're doing, connecting them to the end product? What are those things? Sustaining some of these things is one of the challenges. think one of the things we're trying to do this year is we've toyed with different versions of newsletters. And I mean, those newsletters, we never know if people are reading them or sometimes it gets to be too detailed where it's like, hey, it's so and so's birthday in our virtual facility. Which we want our you know, we've got a facility in Elkhart, Indiana We've got a facility in Mitchell, Indiana and a lot of times they forget that the company is more than those trance and so making sure that we're Communicating what's going on at the different plants and that there's people at different plants ⁓ So we always are doing I mean not always but we do I think quarterly events at each location where our Leadership team is coming other plant leaderships are coming to make sure that we're engaging and having dialogue. We've done ⁓ More at those events. We've done kind of a pulley appreciation events, but we'll bring in products to the plant. And so some of our customers will provide like the end chair or the actual sofa or we have, we've done some work with even like artists and things like that, where we'll provide this really unique piece of foam that's got all these layers and it's super hard to make. ⁓ but then the customer were actually coated with these different vinyls and things like that. But we bring that in and we're like, look, it took you forever. You probably didn't love the process of making this, but look what you create. ⁓ And so doing that to show them what the product is I think can be helpful ⁓ We were trying to get a little bit more work done with content creation to actually interview other people and highlight individuals and we've done some employee spotlights then we can share internally All of those sorts of things like I feel like we've toyed with a little bit ⁓ And we need to continue to create kind of this is our structure and this is our story that we can continue to communicate Well, I think it's I think it's really helpful and I do have a couple questions on what you just said, but before I get to those questions, one of the things that we've found, and one of reasons we're actually doing this podcast is not just for external people to listen to it, but it's also for internal people. Because I think what we have found is that as we've grown, and we're not nearly as big as you are, but people still want to hear the voice of leadership. And so even if our guys can pop on a podcast in a car and hear something specific about a topic that we've been talking about all week, but it doesn't take everybody's time in
the office to do it. All of sudden they can learn more about me or some of other leadership team if they're leading a podcast. So you mentioned you have one in Elkhart, one in Central Indiana, which is probably out in Hancock County, is that where the factory is here? Yeah, and actually our headquarters right down the street in the floor also has, that's our smallest manufacturing center. And then one in Mitchell, which is more towards the southern part of the state. Do you find, because we also have an office in Grand Rapids and in Evansville in Indianapolis, so do you find that your culture is a little bit different in each of those locations? Yes. Okay. right. So this is what we're finding too. And we're trying to figure out how we continue to give them guardrails but allow them to be who they are. So can you maybe nuance that a little bit Yeah, no, when you figure it out, let me know. Yeah, I think that there's... ⁓ So we have Elkhart County, we have two facilities up there. Elkhart County is very different than our Mitchell, Indiana facility, very different than our Greenfield, Indiana. Just in terms of like what those actual demographics in those areas are, they're very different. ⁓ And then a lot of times, especially in ⁓ the manufacturing world, we'll end up with friends of friends or family members where it's like, hey, this is what Foamcraft is, then word of mouth spreads and we end up hiring, and that's great. to kind of make things very unique to that area because it's very like-minded people that are very different than these people. And so I think that it is, there's even the ways they go about their jobs can be different, the ways that they problem solve can be different. ⁓ In the manufacturing world, we are really trying to have standard operating procedures, best practices with what we do on the floor to make sure that there's some level. But it's really, it's hard to even do that because we've got shipping deadlines and it's like, do it this way. This plant does it this way. That can also lead then bleed into culture. ⁓ we do really love that diversity as well. It's really, when we go to our Greenfield facility, the personality of that plant. Is so unique and they're they're more happy go lucky and they're doing like these funny parties and jokes on each other and jokes on the play manager are ⁓ indianapolis facility is much quieter. They're they they're smaller. They kind of keep to themselves, but they're doing a great job. And so how can we invest in those personalities while still making sure that the culture is what it is, but a culture, it's not just personality. It's not just what you do. It's how, how they feel valued. And so I think that what we can still maintain is sticking to the vision, sticking to our core values, loyalty and unity are two of our core values that I think are big in terms of how we communicate to our people. That no matter what they are like, no matter what their hobbies are, it can still be consistent. We deal with a primarily professional staff. I think I would say all, 100 % professional staff. ⁓ almost all have college degrees, almost all are professionals in some form or fashion in construction or development industry. What I was told early on was don't try to replicate your culture in the other places that you go. Find good leaders who believe in your core values and let them create a culture of their own as long as you give them the guardrails of those core values. So no, we have not figured it out. We are still trying to navigate through that. We're a little bit different in that we have a very small office in Evansville. We have two people down there. so kind of creating a culture around two people is also difficult. We've got five to seven, depending on the day, up in Michigan. So really kind of understanding that they're kind of building their own little pieces and parts of the world ⁓ is important for us. And are those smaller offices ⁓ in office, or are they some portion of remote at home? So combination of both. Our Evansville office people are in office, right? And so we're trying to build that office up. I'd love to get two more people down there in next year or two ⁓ based upon work. Michigan, for the most part, is there, but... Because of the way the state of Michigan has worked for us in the growth side, we've been able to hire people that don't necessarily live super close to the office. And so when I say five to seven, we might have five there on a given day, but we might have seven there on another day and four on another day. Because we do have one person who works out of Traverse City, which is still another two and a half hours north of Grand Rapids. But they come to the office, you know, once or twice a month, but they're working mainly remotely. We've got some people in Kalamazoo, which is an hour south of Grand Rapids, that but they want to be in the office more so they may get there three to four days a week. So we try to be a little more flexible. I would say most of the people here in Indianapolis, almost all of us are in the office every day. We found that through COVID. After COVID, I should say, there was a demand to come back to the office. think people were, OK, home for a while was cool. But now we need flexibility. We still have flexibility with our people. But I think people did crave the adult human interaction that wasn't necessarily their family 24-7. So how do we get back to experiencing other people in our lives and building culture and community around a common vision or a common mission, as you guys have, which I think is really great? I will come back to phone craft at the end But you said something earlier that I want to shift into a little bit It was like kind of thinking through this fourth generation And what does that mean for your kids and your nieces and nephews and all those different people? gonna be involved because you going from for now who knows how many people want to be
involved as they get older So thinking through that you made some comments about real estate development and just real estate plays in general So can talk a little bit about what you guys are think what you're willing to share with us anyway kind of what? what your guys are thinking. I know there's a project that I can see out my window across the street from you, from us here at 56th and Lee Road and at the Fort, which I really super, I know my people are all excited about what's going on over there. ⁓ I've connected some people with you that I think are leasing space from you. tell us where that came from, where that brainchild was, and what's going on there. Yeah, yeah, and so this is really what has been my last, like, I don't know, it's probably. in three years now, where I've shifted into something that I know nothing about, which is real estate development. And I really enjoyed learning. ⁓ The original plan, so with our mattress brand in particular, so we have a retail store, we were at Circle Center, then we were at Hamilton Town, now we're at the Fashion Mall and we're still there. But working with a large mall empire. as a small local business was difficult. And so we wanted to have a little bit more stability, a little bit more control. ⁓ And so we were just looking at as we grow in retail, we would love to own the land and the building that we're actually operating out of. as we ran the numbers, doing that with only a mattress door was gonna be really, really tough. And so then the program became, okay, we need to have something that's a little bit bigger. Maybe we have one or two tenants that can help support the overall investment building is, as you know, it's very expensive. And so... ⁓ That plan then continued to grow and we kind of fell into this lot right across the street. ⁓ You know, I've seen the signs. Obviously I'm in the area, drive by it every day, moving right into the area. And so ⁓ it was just a lot more land. And so the goal here was mainly just for our retail. But then as we've gotten more into it and as our shareholders have gotten more excited about it, it's also this new diversification for Foamcraft. Like this has nothing to do with Foam outside of our one store and we have six tenants most likely. ⁓ You know, it's 14,000 square feet. don't need to, our store is going to be like 1200 square feet of that. ⁓ But the diversification for the company is just really unique, where now we can still be providing meaningful work to people. We can still be providing really unique products. ⁓ It's just not. your mission and We're still meeting our vision, right? It just is in a very different avenue, which in terms of your question about. ⁓ you know what it means for the fourth generation. I think that as I look at, I don't know how many of the kids will want to be a part of it. Right. We want to provide something that can provide for them that they get excited about. But that might mean having a lot of different avenues that they can find themselves in. Right. So maybe some of them are very excited about the foam craft core business. Maybe some of them are really excited about the retail for our kids product line. But if we could have this retail development end as well, there's all these different options. Right. And then we get to grow the company with these different arms, which I I think can help sustain family members coming in ⁓ into it. But then the other aspect of this retail development that I've gotten excited about is the involvement with the community. And so I don't think that I really thought about that as we got into it. But then as we started working, we've worked with two different ⁓ mayor administrations, two different ⁓ FHRA, the reuse authority. ⁓ And we've really enjoyed both ⁓ of the whole program. And now being a business owner and a resident, I kind of have a personal reason. want this to succeed for the business, but I also want to provide what the community wants because I'm the community. ⁓ so it provides this really unique involvement and engagement with the community that we've loved ⁓ that we're excited to kind of continue to be a part of the community in unique ways. want this to succeed for the business, but I also want to provide what the community wants because I'm the community. ⁓ so it provides this really unique involvement and engagement with the community that we've loved ⁓ that we're excited to kind of continue to be a part of the community in unique ways. We we decided not to get involved with a broker because part of what as I got more involved with the community It's like I really also want to bring in tenants that are as local as possible Yeah, and so all of the tenants that we're talking to Four of them have Lawrence ties two of them are already headquartered in Lawrence. ⁓ All of them are local, Indiana ⁓ Central Indiana business owners and so I think it's it's become a very locally focused which I hope the community likes I think that's part of what we want to do as landlords is provide smaller Companies and outlet to be able to succeed at that retail or with restaurants or whatever So those are the things that we're trying to do and that we're excited about I think that's awesome man And I had mayor Whitfield in here just last week talking about the city of Lawrence Yeah, and all the things that are happening here And she's super excited about your project and our project and all the things that are going on I don't know if you know this but we just are announcing a hundred eight hundred department units behind our building here with with a little bit of mixed with like 2000 square feet sure tell just on the front street here hoping to again build on the moment and that you've created. Obviously there's another project on the other side of the library ⁓ just down on 56th Street that's gonna bring in another 20,000 square foot of retail. again, creating more opportunities for the local residents to eat here, stay
here, play here, all those different things. And I think that's really exciting. I know when our company looked at where to go, like we had options. We were in Lawrence Township. We weren't in the city of Lawrence at the time. We were just over off of Shadeland Avenue, just north of Fall Creek Road. And when we started kind of surveying our employees of where they wanted to go. So we want to go someplace walkable, someplace that's walkable to housing, someplace that's walkable to food, ⁓ to... Wellness centers, whatever, right? So we looked at Carmel, we looked at Fishers, we looked at a lot of these different opportunities, but over and over and over again, cost was such a huge factor. And I was like, okay, how much are we able to invest in to create a new space for our people? And this came, and we found this particular building that we're in today, yeah, we had to remodel it, but man, was in a location with new housing, new opportunities. ⁓ I had actually inquired originally on the parts that you guys already had under contract, that's kinda how I even met you. I was like, well, tell me about this guy because I want to know him, right? And kind of see what he's investing in locally. So for us, like this is the perfect opportunity for us and our people. And we can grow to about 50 to 55 people on this site, which I think we'll get there here in the next few years. And I think we're 32 here today. So we've got some growth yet to come. And with some new improvements still happening over the course of the next two or three years, more apartments behind us, more retail, more different things to happen. But excited that we can walk, right? Our previous location was not walkable. We didn't have sidewalks. It was actually quite dangerous on Shable Avenue. So now we can walk. ⁓ It gets nicer over the next few months. We're looking forward to that. So tell us in generalities if you want, or specifics if you can, what's going in across the street so I can tell my people this is what you can be excited about. Yeah. And I guess real quick, would just say I love that you guys chose this area. And I came from Fishers and loved Fishers. Silla Fishers were still there often. I love the organizations and the people that are excited to take a little bit of a risk for an area that's up and coming. ⁓ And so think that's when we've been recruiting, been talking to people, the locality is helpful, but it's exciting to be at the front end of I think a developing area. ⁓ And so we support what you guys are up to. ⁓ So we are talking to... ⁓ Let's see. I'll just go. So we've got a drive through location. And so that location by meeting with him on Thursday, just in a couple of days, hope to have a lease signed. ⁓ He comes from the ice cream world, but wants to capitalize on the drive through. ⁓ So he's going to be expanding a lot of coffee and cafe items. Good. And so it's going to be more of kind of a local coffee shop feel. He's changing his name from what he normally is. ⁓ But he's also a Lawrence North graduate. He graduated a year ahead of me. And so it's again, like kind of the Lawrence top. It should be a local coffee shop local ice cream kind of feel for you know All these new apartments are coming in and you know, the Starbucks just opened and that's great. They're on the other side of the street That's right. So I think that there's you know, there's 30,000 cars 30,000 cars every day going past here. And so I think there's plenty of space for two Two coffee shops. And so I think I'm excited about that one. I plan on spending a good amount of time He's got 2,000 square feet. And so he'll have a good amount of seating for for people to come by He's got a little outdoor patio as well ⁓ and then kind of working my way through the complex. We've got a two-story location, which I think you know a little bit about, ⁓ but this will be a fitness community. So, Yogan Pilates most likely will be their primary focus, but another local ⁓ fitness group that kind of wants to expand into a little bit new of a market. ⁓ locally owned, live locally. And so that's great people. they've been wonderful to work with. ⁓ And then working our way over will be our stop. And so our store is called Comfort Option. It's a primarily we sell mattresses, but our store is not what you think of with a mattress store. We don't have just a whole bunch of mattresses there. We actually customize everything. So when people come in, it's like, Hey, side sleeper got lower back pain. We obviously go way back in foam and we carry a lot of different foam types. So we listen to what people need and then we customize it for them at the store. And so it's a very unique experience where we're actually. I had to come see you. Yeah, we're becoming kind of a home comfort brand. So we have some other products as well. We got bed frames and kind of big, large, giant bean bags, anything that you need to be comfortable in your home. We want to provide an option for that. And so it's definitely a unique experience compared to what people think when they go mattress shopping, which typically people don't like. Right. Only on President's Day. Right. ⁓ Then the big one that people will be excited about is a restaurant. so ⁓ in constant communication with this group, ⁓ they've been in the area for over 30 years. think ⁓ this guy's opened many restaurants that I think everybody probably knows pretty well. ⁓ And so they're going to have, they're going to really create a unique experience. It's kind of centered around the history of the fort. Okay. So it'll be kind of high end. ⁓ but approachable price points and food types. ⁓ Kind of what you would experience if you go to, you know, the Hamilton town centers of the world. And ⁓ it's going to be a restaurant, like a dinner destination restaurant that I do think that he's planning on having. We're going to attract people from fishers. We'll attract people from Fortville and obviously have the local area
here. So it's not going to be some high end, you know, big time steak house that you got to, you know, you're got to pay $60 for a steak. That'll be an option. but it'll be more approachable ⁓ in a very kind of historical, forebent kind of feel, which I think I'm really excited about. ⁓ And then the last location which is kind of a newer development, but it's another local organization that wants to provide a local grocery store Okay, kind of a micro grocery store. So it's a small it'll be that standalone building on the corner building And they want to do some kind of kitchen education programs out of it as well. That's all but ⁓ Kind of deli produce all locally grown. They'll have some kind of takeout ⁓ grab-and-go kind of things as well not a full service Trader Joe's kind of restaurant or a store, but it's gonna be a unique local grocery, which I do think that people here will like. think that the walking distance traffic will be great for meat and produce and things like that. But I think that they've got a really cool mission that they're gonna be trying to grow via this local grocery. So I'm hoping that one's gonna require... probably some city and donor ⁓ investment to actually make it work, but I know they're working really hard on that and they're excited about the possibility. So if all of those hit, we'll be done. We'll be done, good. Which we're really excited about. Well know you're not being coy about not naming people. I know how this game is played a little bit until you have those leases signed and they're ready to announce. That's why, just for our audience, that you're not necessarily releasing names. For sure. So I respect that completely. We deal with this world every day and so there's a lot of confidentiality. in there, especially till we get that sign on the dotted line. We don't want to get it out there too much. as you said before, you've learned a lot through this process. What is one of the big takeaways from real estate development and you're dipping your toe in the water here? so do I have to only pick one? No, please, whatever you want to share. I'll think about it two ways because, we're doing the, you know, I'm kind of overseeing the building and the design and all of that. But then I'm also overseeing the tenant recruitment and and those are two very different things. think from, you kind of just spoke to it, I think I've already learned the. Balance between I'm naturally very transparent person and I want to provide Honesty, and I'm excited to talk about it ⁓ and I don't want to be The company that doesn't tell anybody anything and then winds up with a whole bunch of people that compete or you don't want sure in the area So it's like these are the two ditches that I found myself in and I'm I think I'm learning what it looks like to stay in that middle ground of yes I want to be transparent. I want people to be excited about it. I don't want to ⁓ Withhold information that I think would be beneficial for people but to do that in a tactful way I think it's been there's been a couple situations that I think I've maybe been too transparent and kind of come back to bite a little bit and I'm like ⁓ I know why some of these real estate developers are so tight-lipped with everything they're doing ⁓ I still, I'm still in the process of learning what that looks like to really recruit, really promote, ⁓ but also be careful in kind of what we tell other people. ⁓ And so think that's why, yeah, even in a week, I could probably tell you the names. I want to be careful with that and protect their privacy. Make sure that we get it pulled through. And then I think from the actual construction side and ⁓ you know, construction, there's a lot that goes into it. think that just the sheer amount of detail. ⁓ I'm not a detail person. I'm much more of like a vision sort of person. I'm with you on that. So I need to surround myself with people that can hear a vision and be like, this is what we're gonna have to do and actually untangle that complexity. ⁓ And so I think that learning to... We're still DIYing a lot of this. And part of that, though, is so that I can learn it, so that then I can make sure I pass it off to the people who are gonna be better at getting the details done. And so I think that... ⁓ I kind of approached it with that mentality where we are for sure gonna be relying on architects and we're gonna be relying on our legal team and all of that in a very heavy way. ⁓ But the sheer amount of detail I think has been staggering to me. And so that's been just, it's eye opening. ⁓ It's been a lot of fun to learn. But I think if I would have tried to do it all or even just have the internal film craft do it all and not outsource things to people that know what they're doing, ⁓ Thank It might have been cheaper, but I don't think it would have been done as quickly or as well. We really have relied a lot on people that know what they're doing. And so that's been helpful for me to learn from, but also to make sure it gets done. And you have a full-time job. Correct. On top of all of that, you're doing other things. I do applaud you for what you guys have done across the street. We're looking forward to it opening. It is interesting to hear, ⁓ as an owner's representative, this is what we do every day. We work with people, and we didn't know each other when you started this project, but it might have been different. get alongside people who have big ideas and visions and we help them walk through the steps to get to that conclusion. I would say most of our clients are not necessarily... ⁓ doing retail, right? Most of our clients are maybe even bigger. We do a lot of municipal work, a lot of health care work, a lot of other things. But we do have those few retail clients, those few kind of one-offs. Hey, I've got a piece of property. I want to know what my highest and best use is. How do I maximize my investment on this parcel? We have teams that go and do all of those things on a daily basis, like I said, in Grand Rapids and here in Indianapolis and Evansville and the whole southern part of the state. So happy to partner with you on anything moving forward in the future. We'd love to look at that and see how we can help you there. But for sure, appreciate you coming in today. ⁓ If somebody wanted to get a hold of you or is interested in your company like where did they go? If they want to work for foam craft because they loved what they heard a day like we're sure yeah, so foam craft inc.com is the current foam craft website So certainly to get in contact directly with me actually those sales inquiry email still come directly to me Okay, and then I distribute them out to when their sales leads So that would be one one way but be on the lookout for the corner at fort bend calm We'll also be launching here probably the next three weeks, which will be more information about what's actually happening at the development. Well good. Nathan, I appreciate your time today. Loved having you on as a guest. having me. Hopefully I'll be coming in again later once we get some success going here in this corner. Appreciate what you said about Lawrence. I think there's a lot to talk about in Lawrence. There's a lot of good things happening in Lawrence. Totally agree. There's some government that's pushing forward on some projects and some ideas. And it's still one of the best kept secrets in terms of the beauty of this area. I agree. I when we just hop over to the fort, it's just right there. beautiful. And so I think that people who live in central Indiana got to come check it out. Yeah. And I'm looking forward to Lincoln Arms with people like yourself, other business owners in the area who are making investments in this community to better the community as a whole. Not just to reap benefits of their own. Totally. But we've got people considering in our office about moving into the local apartments and the housing options that are here. So just super excited about the Fort and about the Lawrence and about what you guys are doing across the street. So thanks for joining. We're excited about your project too. So excited to learn more about it. Thank you, sir. appreciate it. right,