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Why People Stay In Kosciusko County · ALL IN Kosciusko

• 0:11
  Speaker 6: Welcome to the ALL IN Kosciusko podcast, where we connect the people, places, and progress across our community.
• 0:18
  Speaker 6: I'm your host, Matt Deuel.
• 0:20
  Speaker 6: When we talk about attracting people to Kasiasko County, jobs are obviously part of the equation.
• 0:26
  Speaker 6: But getting someone here and getting them to build a life here can be two very different things.
• 0:32
  Speaker 6: What makes a young professional look at this community and say, yeah, I can see myself here?
• 0:38
  Speaker 6: And maybe more importantly, what makes them still want to be here 5, 10, or 20 years later?
• 0:44
  Speaker 6: Today we're talking with three people who have made that choice from three very different perspectives.
• 0:50
  Speaker 6: Amaris came to the area from Angola to attend Grace College, built a career in the orthopedic industry, and her and her husband ultimately chose to make Warsaw home.
• 1:00
  Speaker 6: Bryce, he grew up here, had opportunities to follow a familiar path into orthopedics, but discovered a career at Hollywood and is now raising his own family in the community where he grew up.
• 1:12
  Speaker 6: And Ryland, who grew up in Colorado, had multiple opportunities coming out of college, and somehow traded the mountains for northern Indiana cornfields.
• 1:21
  Speaker 6: So today I want to talk less about recruitment strategies and more about their actual experience.
• 1:26
  Speaker 6: Why are you here?
• 1:27
  Speaker 6: Why have you stayed?
• 1:29
  Speaker 6: And what does Kosciusko County need to become if we want more people like you to build their lives here?
• 1:36
  Speaker 6: Lamaris, Ryland, Bryce, thank you so much for joining us for the show today.
• 1:40
  Speaker: Thanks for having us.
• 1:41
  Speaker 6: Absolutely.
• 1:42
  Speaker 6: So I want to start off simply and kind of go around the horn here and just hear from each of you why you're here, uh, not just here in the studio, but why you're here in Kosciusko County.
• 1:52
  Speaker 6: So, Amaris, I'm gonna start with you.
• 1:54
  Speaker 6: You came here to go to Grace College.
• 1:57
  Speaker 6: Was it your intention to just always stay here, or is it something that kind of just you just sort of grew into as you went through your college experience?
• 2:07
  Speaker: Yeah, um, I came here, transferred to Grace College nine years ago this month, which is crazy that it's already been that long, but yeah, had no intention of staying here.
• 2:16
  Speaker: It was just another stop for me.
• 2:18
  Speaker: Um I really had my sights set on Chicago or Colorado, which you'll learn.
• 2:22
  Speaker: We've got a Colorado native here.
• 2:24
  Speaker: Um just wanted to get out of my home state.
• 2:26
  Speaker: I'm originally from Indiana, from small town, so um really had no intention.
• 2:31
  Speaker: And then yeah, it kind of got sucked in.
• 2:34
  Speaker: Uh grace being in Winona Lake, like, where else would you want to go to college?
• 2:38
  Speaker: Sure.
• 2:38
  Speaker: Um, really great environment and atmosphere, um, really easy to get plugged in.
• 2:43
  Speaker: And then um had the opportunity to work in orthopedic industry, and that sucked me in even further.
• 2:48
  Speaker: Uh, fell in love with industry and the purpose and the mission behind it, and then um got to start at OrthoWorx a few years ago, and just being able to be tapped more into what's going on in our community.
• 2:59
  Speaker: Um, my husband and I said, there's no place else we want to be.
• 3:03
  Speaker: Let's stop applying for jobs elsewhere and let's buy a house.
• 3:06
  Speaker 6: So awesome, awesome, perfect.
• 3:08
  Speaker 6: So, Ryland, as American mentioned, you originally come from Colorado, but as you told us, graduated from Rose Holman.
• 3:15
  Speaker 6: What was it for you that just made Warsaw competitive to decide, hey, I want to stay here in Indiana versus maybe returning back to the mountains?
• 3:27
  Speaker 3: It wasn't as much Warsaw, which I know is not really the biggest thing there.
• 3:31
  Speaker 3: It was actually the job.
• 3:32
  Speaker 3: So working for OrthoPediatrics.
• 3:34
  Speaker 3: Um, growing up, a big thing I did was I coached baseball.
• 3:37
  Speaker 3: So I played baseball four years at Rose.
• 3:39
  Speaker 3: And a big way to give back to the game and stuff was I did private instruction, private lessons, and doing things to help kids out became something that was super big for me.
• 3:49
  Speaker 3: Um, bring that into college.
• 3:51
  Speaker 3: We had something at Rose called Team Impact, where he took a kid in from around the community who had a disability and they became a teammate.
• 3:58
  Speaker 3: And then from that, that became my we call them my Indiana family.
• 4:01
  Speaker 3: They are my best friends I could have ever had.
• 4:03
  Speaker 3: So, Daniel, he has a disease called Duchenne muscular dystrophy, um, which is a pretty gnarly one.
• 4:09
  Speaker 3: Um, but so that idea of helping kids and that mission of always helping kids from OrthoPediatrics couldn't have been a better fit for me.
• 4:16
  Speaker 6: Wow, wow, that's awesome.
• 4:17
  Speaker 6: Yeah, that's so cool.
• 4:18
  Speaker 6: Very cool.
• 4:19
  Speaker 6: All right, so Bryce, for you, a little bit of the inverse.
• 4:21
  Speaker 6: You're originally from here, born and raised.
• 4:24
  Speaker 6: Was there ever a moment for you of you're thinking like, I'm out of here?
• 4:28
  Speaker 6: Like I, you know, I don't want to stay here, and then something drew you back in.
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: You know, I I can pretty confidently say no.
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: Okay, yeah.
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: That was not the case.
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: That for whatever reason, I was definitely not, you know, that kid that thought, you know, once I have my first taste of independence, I'm out of here.
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: You know, I had a lot of friends where that was the case.
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: You know, I want to get out of a small town, I want to experience something different.
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: Um, but again, for whatever reason, I didn't have to leave to recognize how great this community is.
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: Yes, you know, and for me, a lot of it just came down to job and spouse.
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: You know, that if I ever thought, okay, if I'm gonna leave this community, might not be because I necessarily want to, but am I gonna have the opportunities here, you know, that are gonna make sense?
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: You know, am I gonna have to trade off something in order to stay?
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: And I really don't feel like I've had to.
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: Um, so it's been excellent.
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: We can get into more of that later.
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: There's there's a lot of reasons why I'm here and continue to stay here, but ultimately it comes down to family.
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: You know, the the people I love are here, my parents, you know, my siblings are close.
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: Um, so that's everything is really the the primary reason why I wanted to remain in this community.
• 5:44
  Speaker 6: Yeah, it's great.
• 5:44
  Speaker 6: No, I love the diversity of answers so far.
• 5:48
  Speaker 6: So when we think about um talent attraction, I mean a lot of it does, you know, the the conversation does revolve around that job, that job opportunity, like you said, Ryland, that was the big thing for you, right?
• 6:00
  Speaker 6: What are some of the pieces that you would say that, okay, the offer is there, the job is there, the thing I want to do, but now what are the pieces that kind of come alongside it and and now make it stick outside of the job opportunity?
• 6:14
  Speaker 6: And I'll just kind of open this up to anybody that wants to jump in.
• 6:17
  Speaker 3: I guess a big thing about the area is like being in southern Indiana previously, or that little bit where Terre Hode is down there, it's a little bit gloomier down there.
• 6:26
  Speaker 3: Um that was just kind of the overall weather and stuff.
• 6:28
  Speaker 3: I came from 315 days of sunshine, also, so yeah, that was a big difference.
• 6:33
  Speaker 3: Uh yeah.
• 6:34
  Speaker 3: All of a sudden you don't see the sun all winter, and I was like, ooh, that's that's a big one.
• 6:38
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 6:38
  Speaker 3: Um but coming up here, it's a lot clearer, it's a lot bluer, I've noticed.
• 6:44
  Speaker 3: Um, and so it creates a little bit more of a happier community and happier landscape.
• 6:48
  Speaker 3: So that's been a really nice change.
• 6:50
  Speaker 6: Yeah, it's great.
• 6:52
  Speaker: Yeah, I as I think about it, I kind of think about it in three things amenities, access, and runway for growth.
• 6:58
  Speaker: So do I have the things in my community that I want to do?
• 7:01
  Speaker: Did I have the hobbies and the recreation and the area to develop relationships outside of work?
• 7:06
  Speaker: Um, can I play can I go play pickleball?
• 7:08
  Speaker: Can I go for a five-mile run safely?
• 7:11
  Speaker: Uh, can I do I have a third space to build community and relationships and friendships?
• 7:16
  Speaker: And then do I have access to everything I need and want?
• 7:18
  Speaker: Um, do I have the grocery stores?
• 7:20
  Speaker: Do I have the place to live?
• 7:21
  Speaker: Can I get to an airport?
• 7:23
  Speaker: Um, and then runway for growth is can I imagine myself here in five years and ten years?
• 7:28
  Speaker: Does this community have everything I need as I grow and develop, whether that's to start a family or to start a business?
• 7:34
  Speaker: Um those are the things I think that have the staying power outside of the job.
• 7:39
  Speaker 6: Yeah, that's great.
• 7:41
  Speaker 6: Runway for growth.
• 7:42
  Speaker 6: I really love that term.
• 7:43
  Speaker 6: That's a that's a great idea.
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: Yeah, for sure.
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: Um, you know, Ryan, I I look at you and think of myself, if I were to have left this community and gone somewhere where I really had no connections, if I were to think that I'm going to stay there, it would be all about making relationships.
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: Um that's the big thing for me, is finding your community.
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: And I really think that's the thing that's going to hold you in place.
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: I can say that for Amaris, we're close friends.
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: Yes, yeah, you know, so I'd I'd like to think that we're even a part of that.
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: That you can come in.
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: And if you don't have maybe the family connections like I do, where are the places in the community where you can make those lasting relationships that are going to be your anchor?
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: So that's what I think about for sure.
• 8:27
  Speaker 6: Yeah.
• 8:28
  Speaker 6: Well, let me let me press in a little further on that, Bryce.
• 8:31
  Speaker 6: And and again, y'all respond as you want, but how much do you feel that that's that's such a critical component of again outside of work?
• 8:40
  Speaker 6: I mean, how many of those pieces in terms of relationships do you really feel like need to be in place to make a place sticky?
• 8:47
  Speaker 6: To make a place where it's like, yeah, I want to put roots down here.
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: Yeah, for sure.
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: Um I think that is equally important in in my experience, if not more important than even the career opportunity in terms of longevity.
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: You know, so for me, I'm a man of faith.
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: You know, church is huge.
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: So many great churches in this community to get plugged in that way.
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: Um, you know, different recreational opportunities, like America's talking about, uh join a club, play pickleball, play volleyball, you know, get involved and serve in the community.
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: You know, something you and I have gotten involved in is, you know, we do ministry in the jail, opportunities to serve that way.
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: Um, that's where you're meeting people, that's where you're making those connections.
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: Um, and I feel like we're already doing a really good job of that in this community.
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: And I think it's really just a matter of building on that foundation that's already there.
• 9:41
  unknown: Yeah.
• 9:42
  Speaker: Yeah, I'd say the same thing.
• 9:43
  Speaker: That's what's sticky and it's what makes it when when my husband and I have had conversations of are we gonna stay?
• 9:48
  Speaker: Are we gonna go?
• 9:49
  Speaker: It's like, well, we're gonna come back at least because we have this community of people who are never leaving our lives, right?
• 9:53
  Speaker: They're they're with us for the long haul.
• 9:55
  Speaker: And so it makes it hard to think about leaving, to leave this community that we've built.
• 9:59
  Speaker: And it starts to, I think, integrate into our career.
• 10:03
  Speaker: You know, as I've had career shifts, even our community has been able to step alongside and go, hey, have you heard of this opportunity?
• 10:08
  Speaker: Have you um looked into this organization?
• 10:11
  Speaker: Um, it kind of interweaves when you've developed those deeper lasting relationships with people and it it becomes all-encompassing.
• 10:19
  Speaker 6: Yeah, sure, sure.
• 10:20
  Speaker 6: All right, so Ryan, I'll put you on the spot a little bit.
• 10:22
  Speaker 6: You know, being a little bit of the newbie, being here for about a year.
• 10:25
  Speaker 6: How does how do you hear some of these things of just connecting with people?
• 10:29
  Speaker 6: Have you found that to be easy?
• 10:31
  Speaker 3: I got very thankful for some co-workers who got me interconnect, and I got a solid group from there.
• 10:36
  Speaker 3: But I mean, honestly, for me, if it wasn't for those co-workers and being so welcoming and open about stuff, I would have struggled a lot.
• 10:43
  Speaker 3: It's not that simple coming here and having honestly nobody because you're such at a weird age gap right there.
• 10:48
  Speaker 3: We're like, I just graduated college, so like the college hangout scene, is that really where you should be hanging out?
• 10:54
  Speaker 3: Not really, because I'm trying to grow and develop more.
• 10:56
  Speaker 3: Then all of a sudden, all your coworkers are much older than you, so they all are married, have kids.
• 11:03
  Speaker 3: You're like, what do you want to do tonight?
• 11:04
  Speaker 3: Well, I gotta make dinner for the family, and you're like, Oh, that's something I haven't thought of.
• 11:08
  Speaker 3: Um that's not a bad thing.
• 11:15
  Speaker 3: I've prepped everything on Sunday, so we're good to go, guys.
• 11:18
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 11:20
  Speaker 3: Um there's a lot of different aspects there, but the work co-workers and the friends I've made from there have been very much a blessing and have made it a very great place to be because of that.
• 11:31
  Speaker 6: That's great.
• 11:31
  Speaker 6: That's great.
• 11:32
  Speaker 6: That's great.
• 11:33
  Speaker 6: Um so you know, you mentioned a little bit of just uh some more of the the blue skies and some of the sunshine you've experienced here.
• 11:41
  Speaker 6: Um anything else about Kosciusko County that surprised you that has stood out that you thought I I wasn't expecting that.
• 11:48
  Speaker 6: Like this is a really cool aspect of this area.
• 11:51
  Speaker 3: The Winona area is very well done.
• 11:52
  Speaker 3: Um, just for like a little lake area to hang out with, um, kind of the opposite side of like a little mountain town, like what I would have growing up with and stuff.
• 12:00
  Speaker 3: Um obviously not as large, but I mean it's a good little spot to be, and they did a really good job down there.
• 12:05
  Speaker 3: Um I wish it was a little bit larger.
• 12:08
  Speaker 3: I wish there were some longer and more developed trails.
• 12:11
  Speaker 3: I mean, that would be very helpful for stuff of like I'm training for an Iron Man currently, so when you go to do your long run for that day, how many loops are you gonna have to do through that?
• 12:22
  Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 12:23
  Speaker 3: It turns into like you're looking at like it's a mile to two mile loops that you get in there.
• 12:27
  Speaker 6: So Amaris, for you, and I know some specifically in your job role, you get to connect with you know people who are you know looking at job postings, looking at things.
• 12:38
  Speaker 6: What are the things that our community have to offer that maybe don't show up on those job posting kind of moments?
• 12:44
  Speaker: Yeah.
• 12:45
  Speaker: We have amenities like Winona Lake that I like to feature in the trail systems that we do have.
• 12:50
  Speaker: Um I sit on the Kosciusko County Velo um board, so we're talking about conversationally all the time.
• 12:55
  Speaker: We need more trails, and so um that's always something we do highlight, what we do have.
• 12:59
  Speaker: Um, but I think it it may be cliche, but to be honest, I often talk about the people.
• 13:04
  Speaker: Um I come from another small town in Indiana, and the people um are not copy and pasted everywhere.
• 13:11
  Speaker: So uh I have been very fortunate to be on the receiving side of a lot of the community and the people here.
• 13:17
  Speaker: Um, it seems like the place that people want to jump in and help one another.
• 13:21
  Speaker: Um, when I've had certain struggles, I've always been met with resources and support.
• 13:26
  Speaker: Um, I don't know if it's the industry that has grown here with orthopedics, just having maybe a natural innovative spirit and entrepreneurial spirit that people take outside of those four walls.
• 13:39
  Speaker: But there is something special here, and there is something in the water here when it comes to the people.
• 13:44
  Speaker: And it goes far beyond orthopedic industry and it and it touches every element of our county as a result.
• 13:51
  Speaker: And um I I don't know if it can be replicated.
• 13:55
  Speaker: It certainly is, I don't think it's just a small town thing.
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 13:58
  Speaker: Um, and so we really try to h highlight that when we're at career college career fairs.
• 14:03
  Speaker: Um, we talk about that, and and we at OrthoWorx try to provide ourselves as that resource, as that first first handshake to the community in that way too.
• 14:12
  Speaker 6: Yeah, absolutely.
• 14:12
  Speaker 6: No, and I would personally echo that.
• 14:15
  Speaker 6: I mean, my family and I have been here 12 years, and I think we found exactly what you said of just this place that was there's just something uniquely special about it, and the the connections that we found with people were really powerful and just a very generous community.
• 14:29
  Speaker 6: Um, we've been a part of starting a couple of different things, and it's like the amount of people that jumped in and helped.
• 14:36
  Speaker 6: I mean, your family was even a big part of the thing my wife started years ago, and and so um, so yeah, I I would agree with that wholeheartedly.
• 14:44
  Speaker 6: So, Bryce, for for you again, as as being a native here, anything about the community that maybe you took for granted growing up that now as you are you know walking through with your kids that you're just so grateful for, or you now see in a different set of eyes.
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: Oh, for sure.
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: You know, I mean when you grow up as a kid somewhere, you just you take everything for granted, it's all you've known.
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: I've literally lived within a 10 mile radius my entire life.
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: I went to Grace College here locally, I've literally never left.
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: Um, personally, I love that.
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: But yes, as you get older, you you do recognize how unique this place is.
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: And as I travel more, you know, I feel like we have something that it very few places I could say that I've ever been where I've had a similar feel of kind of that small town community mixed with really kind of bigger city amenities that is really unique, you know, that for me I'm definitely more of kind of a country boy at heart.
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: Like I don't love the thought of living in an urban area, but I love some of those urban amenities.
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: You know, and this is a unique place where we've been able to stay small and have that.
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: I mean, you're not fighting traffic and and some of the things you run into in the city, but you have some of those, you know, restaurant options, you know, community organizations, um, the recreation, the lakes, you know, that's also something that I mean, again, as a kid, it's like, oh, you don't all just have lakes in the middle of your town.
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: No, most small towns, that is not the case.
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: You know, so I think about, I mean, what is it, over a hundred lakes in Kosciusko County?
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: That's amazing.
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: And that's something that my family and I take very much advantage of now.
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: Um, and I love.
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: And honestly, I I it it's really hard to think of life not that way, you know, going forward.
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: Um, so it's just been an amazing place to raise kids.
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: You know, I have three kids now, if I I didn't mention that before, I have three little girls, and um, we're specifically in One on a Lake, you know, and my wife coming from Grace, um, there was something I'm I love Kosciusko County as a whole.
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: I love Warsaw, but specifically for us, Winona Lake is home.
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: And my wife just fell in love with a that she came from an urban area of the suburbs in Chicago.
• 17:13
  Speaker 4: Sure.
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: So just outside of Chicago, but I mean, just her suburb alone would be a big city in Indiana.
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: Um, so she didn't want to sacrifice some of those amenities that she had, and yeah, came to Grace and just fell in love with what Winona Lake is and and what this community has to offer.
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: So it's been excellent.
• 17:33
  Speaker 6: Great, perfect.
• 17:34
  Speaker 6: Um, so I think when it comes to you know talent retention, I think some of the things that can be overlooked, um, maybe at company levels, is for these 23 to 28-year-old people that we are inviting into the community, how do they find their people, right?
• 17:51
  Speaker 6: And so I know through all in and some of the community organizations, there's people looking to answer that question and try to help solve some of that.
• 17:59
  Speaker 6: But you all have already spoken a little bit to that, but what would you say?
• 18:02
  Speaker 6: Like if you were to really become, you know, put on the problem solver hat and just help press the pedal down on that question, what would you say to that?
• 18:10
  Speaker: As a marketing professional for a community development organization, this question is one that keeps me up at night.
• 18:16
  Speaker: Because how do we?
• 18:17
  Speaker: How do we get them connected if they don't have the fortune of being on a team that has invested in that, don't have the right manager that's invested in that, um, maybe didn't get the best onboarding when it comes to what what is uh to offer here in Kosciusko County.
• 18:31
  Speaker: Um, how do we spread the word, right?
• 18:34
  Speaker: Because um, they're not listening to the radio, they're not reading the newspaper, they're certainly not on Facebook.
• 18:39
  Speaker: You might find them on Instagram, um, but how do we get the message so that they have the opportunity to be connected?
• 18:46
  Speaker: It's something I think about a lot.
• 18:48
  Speaker: I don't know if we've cracked the code yet, necessarily, here in Kosciusko County.
• 18:52
  Speaker: Um, but I do think it requires proactivity both on the person who's moving here and on the community.
• 18:58
  Speaker: Um, I think there's a piece of embracing that you are moving to a small town.
• 19:02
  Speaker: And unlike Chicago or New York, when you step outside of wherever you're living, life isn't happening from the minute you hit the pavement and you can just happen upon things, right?
• 19:12
  Speaker: So there is a um an element of needing to be willing to have some discovery.
• 19:18
  Speaker: Um, and if you want to participate in something, if you have a hobby, you might have to use Google.
• 19:24
  Speaker: You might have to find the places or ask around and see.
• 19:27
  Speaker: But we live in a great community with great people who would love to tell you where's the best place to eat, blah, blah, blah, where's the best place to play this sport?
• 19:36
  Speaker: Um, but then there's a proactivity on the community side that I think goes beyond trying to connect digitally.
• 19:42
  Speaker: Um, but how do we connect face to face more?
• 19:45
  Speaker: Um, I don't know what the answer is to that.
• 19:48
  Speaker: I'm not bringing the solution today, but um, it's something that we noodle on a lot at OrthoWorx of how can we do a better job of exposing um our young people, our new hires, to everything that our community has to offer and not assume that they know because they probably don't.
• 20:05
  Speaker 6: Sure.
• 20:06
  Speaker 6: Um said.
• 20:08
  Speaker 6: Anything you'd add to that, either of you?
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: I almost think about how can we almost create like the welcoming committee for the sake of Kosciusko County, you know, in these unique cities here.
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: Um and I almost wonder about maybe getting more integrated with like maybe the HR departments with some of these companies like OrthoPediatrics and kind of creating a network of maybe HR directors where there's kind of a list, you know, or a calendar of these events, these community organizations, you know, these churches and organizations that here's what's available to you, you know, Ryland, new employee, you know, that's coming into this community.
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: We don't want you to just come here, go to work, go home, play video games, watch Netflix, go to bed, and repeat.
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: You know, we know that's not going to be sustainable.
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: So how can we as an organization help you uh plant some roots here so that we can hopefully have some longevity?
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: So again, that's maybe a little half-baked.
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: But yeah, how can organizations like OrthoWorx, you know, or kind of a movement like all in, you know, maybe partner a little bit more at the ground level with these organizations where the talent is that we want to retain.
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: Um that's yeah, kind of where my mind goes.
• 21:31
  Speaker: I'd be curious to know what's worked.
• 21:34
  Speaker 3: Well, I mean, I was just thankful for the friends that I got at work.
• 21:37
  Speaker 3: I mean I'm twenty three.
• 21:41
  Speaker 3: The next youngest in the group was twenty six.
• 21:46
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 21:47
  Speaker 3: And then he was born and raised here.
• 21:50
  Speaker 3: Um, so that's why he was still here.
• 21:52
  Speaker 3: And then um after that it was twenty nine.
• 21:57
  Speaker 3: They're gonna kill me for butchering their names.
• 21:59
  Speaker 3: And ages.
• 22:02
  Speaker 3: Whoops.
• 22:02
  Speaker 3: I'm hoping I got that right.
• 22:04
  Speaker 3: How close?
• 22:05
  Speaker 3: Close.
• 22:06
  Speaker 3: Close enough, hopefully.
• 22:07
  Speaker 3: Um, and so like for me, it's like that's a seven-year gap already.
• 22:12
  Speaker 3: So the funny joke that I make with them is that, well, you guys are all old because you have mortgages.
• 22:18
  Speaker 3: I mean, for most of us coming out of school right now, it's 40 to 60 grand in debt with the college prices.
• 22:26
  Speaker 3: You're looking between five to eight percent interest rates on student loans and stuff.
• 22:32
  Speaker 3: So that age gap right there is a big difference in like what our lifestyles look like in that sense of what the weight is on someone coming out of college right now.
• 22:42
  Speaker 3: Um, it's also why the asking prices for jobs are so high for those kids right now, and trying to balance that.
• 22:48
  Speaker 3: Um and so when you come to a community like that where I don't know if there's another 23-year-old at my company now thinking about it, and that's also gonna get me in trouble for not knowing that.
• 23:00
  Speaker 3: No, there's a couple in the I I know of a couple, but like I mean, there's like four of us there.
• 23:04
  Speaker 3: Sure, yeah.
• 23:05
  Speaker 3: So now you're sitting there and it's like, okay, you got a total of four versus some of these larger corporations in the larger cities, like they have 50 of them.
• 23:12
  Speaker 3: So it comes in to be a little bit easier to go there.
• 23:14
  Speaker 3: Um, so I mean, it it's just difficult.
• 23:18
  Speaker 3: You have to just honestly, you have to get lucky.
• 23:20
  Speaker 3: That's that would be the way that I would put it.
• 23:22
  Speaker 3: You have to get lucky because you can put in as much work as you want, but if something doesn't click, if something doesn't hit right, no matter how much work you put in, yeah.
• 23:29
  Speaker 3: Yeah, what's the point then would be what I would argue right there.
• 23:33
  Speaker 3: I and I will say I'm very lucky with the friends I got.
• 23:36
  Speaker 6: So sure, sure.
• 23:37
  Speaker 6: No, that's great.
• 23:38
  Speaker 6: Well, and I know there are you know a couple of things, like the Chamber of Commerce has the young adult professional group, um, which have either of you all kind of part of that.
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: Yeah, now it's planning to speak to that for sure.
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: Yeah, so tell us a little bit about that.
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: No, I mean I haven't been super involved by any means.
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: I think Amaris has probably been more involved.
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: Um again, thankfully, this is home.
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: You know, I I do, I'm I'm very blessed with so many great relationships.
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: But if I was not in that place, if I was Ryland, that is definitely something I would be taking very much advantage of.
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: I've seen a lot of great relationships born out of Yap is what we call it.
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: The young adult professionals group.
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: Um, to okay, so maybe you don't click with the three or four people at orthopedia pediatrics, but how many of us are there at other organizations like Zimmer Biomet or Tecomet or you know, Polywood that you maybe would.
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: How do I get you in the room with those people?
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: Um and that's one avenue that I think um has been excellent.
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: So just more of that.
• 24:41
  Speaker: Yeah.
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 24:42
  Speaker: Yeah.
• 24:42
  Speaker: I sit on the steering committee for our young adult professionals through the chamber right now, and I would say we're still asking the same question.
• 24:48
  Speaker: You know, we've got this next generation of talent, we're all getting older, we've all got mortgages.
• 24:52
  Speaker: So um, how do we connect?
• 24:54
  Speaker: And so is it what's like bringing Ryland on to tell us what we can do better?
• 24:58
  Speaker: Um how can we connect?
• 25:00
  Speaker: Um, because yeah, me at 31 is not the same as you at 23.
• 25:04
  Speaker: So Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 25:06
  Speaker 6: Yeah, absolutely.
• 25:07
  Speaker 6: Okay, so we talked a little bit about uh Ryland, you brought up the trails.
• 25:10
  Speaker 6: What else is Casciasco County missing?
• 25:13
  Speaker 6: Like if we were to kind of create the wish list of things of saying, hey, you know, uh money's not the problem, you know, time's not the right, like we can figure these things out.
• 25:23
  Speaker 6: What would it be?
• 25:24
  Speaker: Yeah.
• 25:25
  Speaker: I would say a continued investment in indoor and outdoor amenities.
• 25:28
  Speaker: I I can think of some specifics that just in my own personal hobbies that we lack, uh, good indoor pickleball courts, which I know there's maybe some development there, but I play pickleball, love it.
• 25:39
  Speaker: Um, I also play tennis, so a continued investment in our indoor tennis options.
• 25:44
  Speaker: Um, I have really fallen in love with bouldering, and um there's a really great community to be tapped there that I would love to see in our community.
• 25:53
  Speaker: Um, talk about just like a third space where people can develop relationships uh would be really cool.
• 25:58
  Speaker: These are really specific things that that are specific to me and may not be for everyone.
• 26:03
  Speaker 6: Okay, I'm gonna be the only guy for a second.
• 26:04
  Speaker 6: Bouldering is that rock climbing?
• 26:06
  Speaker: Is it rock climbing?
• 26:07
  Speaker: Okay, but you don't have a harness and you're not going as high up and you're solving problems and trying to get through uh think of going more horizontal than vertical.
• 26:17
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 26:18
  Speaker: So it's like you have a set course you're trying to um achieve.
• 26:21
  Speaker: So it's difficult.
• 26:23
  Speaker: I'm not great at it, but it's the cruise of rock climbing and ignition impossible.
• 26:27
  Speaker: Yeah, cool.
• 26:28
  Speaker: But it um I've heard and I've experienced that that community is great, and it's a community I'd love to see but grow and thrive here.
• 26:35
  Speaker: I think it would be a really great asset when it comes to attaining and retaining talent.
• 26:39
  Speaker: Again, super specific.
• 26:40
  Speaker: Again, continued investment in trails.
• 26:42
  Speaker: We've got a great trail system, but I know where I live personally, I can't ride my bike to work, and I live less than six miles away from work.
• 26:50
  Speaker: So I'd love to see a continued investment in in that regard, particularly because I'd love to use some alternative transportation outside of my car.
• 26:57
  Speaker: Um, but yeah, things to do in the winter and continuing to highlight the things that are great here in the summer.
• 27:03
  Speaker 3: Good, good.
• 27:04
  Speaker 3: What else?
• 27:05
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, speaking to the bike, when I go do my long rides, I drive over to Rochester and take the nickel plate trail all the way down to Kokomo or to Indy and then back up if I need to for a long day because staying on the roads is just not a good option, honestly, around here.
• 27:19
  Speaker 3: Because you're on those tiny country roads where they pinch you nice and tight to the edge.
• 27:23
  Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah.
• 27:23
  Speaker 3: That's not fun for anyone.
• 27:25
  Speaker 3: So um gyms, I would say, is a big one also.
• 27:29
  Speaker 3: I mean, you guys got one fully developed gym, which would be the Y that has the pool, the gym, and all the other stuff.
• 27:36
  Speaker 3: Um, I think the Y is the only, forget me, I'm new, so could be wrong.
• 27:40
  Speaker 3: I think the Y is the only pool for the public in this area to swim laps at.
• 27:45
  Speaker: There's one other one?
• 27:47
  Speaker 6: There's I mean Warsaw Community High School does have a pool that they do open to the public.
• 27:51
  Speaker 6: There is some public swims there, but yeah.
• 27:54
  Speaker 6: But in terms of fully open available in the water, yeah.
• 27:57
  Speaker 3: So I mean like back home for me, I think there's six easily right there.
• 28:02
  Speaker 3: So like that's a big difference already.
• 28:03
  Speaker 3: And like for that, that created swim teams and those things for the younger people all growing up and all of that.
• 28:09
  Speaker 3: Um, it was a big it was a big thing for a lot of friends of mine.
• 28:12
  Speaker 3: Um the gym's just a great place to meet people in general.
• 28:17
  Speaker 3: The health aspect that's brought with the gym and promoting that type of lifestyle is super big, I think.
• 28:22
  Speaker 3: And coming from Colorado where everybody's outside every single day, that was a huge part.
• 28:27
  Speaker 3: Like everyone pretty much got up and ran, everyone went for bike rides, everyone went to the gym.
• 28:31
  Speaker 3: And that's just not something you see as much here, which is completely okay.
• 28:36
  Speaker 3: I'm not saying that's something that everybody should do, but like promoting that a little bit more, I think, would be a helpful thing in general for just attracting those younger kids because that's a lot of the younger talent when people go through and do job descriptions and everything, they like to target the student athletes immediately as the first thing on their list.
• 28:53
  Speaker 3: Um, and so lots of those student athletes want to keep continuing doing something, and so having that there for them is a good thing.
• 29:01
  Speaker 3: Now, not per se student athlete does not mean you exactly played for the baseball team or anything like that at school.
• 29:06
  Speaker 3: Like there's a lot of intramurals and stuff that people were doing to be student athletes at school.
• 29:10
  Speaker 3: So there's both sides of it there.
• 29:12
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 29:12
  Speaker 3: Um, those would be the two big ones off the top of my head.
• 29:15
  Speaker 3: I'll have to think of another one as well.
• 29:17
  Speaker 6: No, it's good.
• 29:18
  Speaker 6: Bryce?
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: Yeah, well, my wife sent me in here and said, Bryce, you have to ask for a Chick-fil-A and a Target.
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: Chick-fil-A and Target.
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: Anyone out there, if you're listening, if you can make that happen, my my family and I will be very grateful.
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: Uh no, because I think about, yeah, what what do I drive to Fort Wayne for?
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: You know, what what do I drive to the South Bend Mishawaka, you know, market for?
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: And I mean, those are kind of some, you know, maybe shallow answers.
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: At Trader Joe's while you're at that.
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: You know, my wife would, yeah, love to see, you know, like a Whole Foods or Trader Joe's some again, just could we take some of those, you know, amenities just up another little bit of a notch and see some economic development that way and incentivize some of that.
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: Um but the big thing for me when I thought about this and you guys were already hitting on it, is really kind of indoor recreational options because of our winters here.
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: You know, I really do think we do summers so well.
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: And it's it's a matter of building on that foundation.
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: Again, I mean, there's very few towns that have even the limited trail system that we have here, towns of our size that have that in the state of Indiana, very few.
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: So it's great.
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: We have it.
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: Let's just keep building on that foundation.
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: Um, but yeah, what what does you know a night out for Ryland look like when you're, you know, minus 10 degrees in February?
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: Uh, what do those options look like?
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: So I'd love to see that continue to expand.
• 30:53
  Speaker 6: Yeah, yeah.
• 30:54
  Speaker 6: Oh, that's great.
• 30:55
  Speaker 6: Do you have something else?
• 30:56
  Speaker: I was just gonna say increased investment in third spaces.
• 30:59
  Speaker: So, you know, we can get out of the specifics and out of the weeds, but a place where community can happen more naturally or organically.
• 31:06
  Speaker: Um, yeah, across the board.
• 31:09
  Speaker 6: Talk a little bit more for maybe those listening that are just like she said third spaces a couple times.
• 31:13
  Speaker 6: What does she mean by that?
• 31:14
  Speaker: You might have to help me with the definition because I don't know if I can give you the specific, but it's a place that's not work and not home, right?
• 31:20
  Speaker: Yeah, it's that third space.
• 31:21
  Speaker: It could be a coffee shop, it could be uh the play cafes where moms are meeting and making friends, it could be the trails.
• 31:28
  Speaker: Um, so indoor and outdoor, but spaces where community can happen organically and relationships can be melt uh built.
• 31:34
  Speaker: Um where can somebody have a meet cue and meet their future spouse, right?
• 31:38
  Speaker: Um for some people it's not gonna happen in the bar, for some it will, right?
• 31:42
  Speaker: So yeah, um transparently, I met my husband playing recreational volleyball at the YMCA.
• 31:47
  Speaker: So it's it can still happen in the wild and it's not the only thing in life, but um, where are people meeting each other?
• 31:53
  Speaker: How are people um building community if it's not at work and not at home?
• 31:58
  Speaker 6: Yeah, yeah, very good.
• 31:59
  Speaker 6: Agreed.
• 32:00
  Speaker 6: Yeah.
• 32:01
  Speaker 6: Um, so Bryce, for you, you know, raising a family here.
• 32:05
  Speaker 6: You know, we've talked a lot about the from the the younger recruit, like the the Ryland side of the equation.
• 32:11
  Speaker 6: What does the community have to get right though for you know, as you stair step through, you know, and kind of get to those other places where you are carrying a mortgage and you are starting to raise a family?
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: Oh, definitely.
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: Now it's it's all about my kids.
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: Now, you know, it's it's it's wild how that shifts, you know, for you guys to see that as that comes, um, if it comes, you know, that for me, yeah, you you shift from thinking about okay, just you know, recreational fun or you know, things to do to schools, you know, and child care and housing, you know, that I think those are some of the biggest things that again, I'm very blessed I'm in a position where I don't necessarily have to worry about that personally, but I do and know a lot of my friends and co-workers that are that's that's difficult.
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: Childcare is is a big one for two working spouses.
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: Um I've seen you know some improvements, but I think there's still some room to go in that area.
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: And yeah, kind of that middle ground of housing can be difficult at times as well.
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: Just more flexibility.
• 33:24
  Speaker 3: $1,500 to $2,000 a month for rent.
• 33:53
  Speaker 3: That is a normal number now, which is hard for everyone's like, what do you mean it's not $600 anymore?
• 33:59
  Speaker 3: I wish.
• 34:01
  Speaker 3: Like my my freshman year of college, it was $800, and then through the those four years it went up to $1,200.
• 34:08
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, it's it's just what's happening now.
• 34:10
  Speaker 3: Sure.
• 34:11
  Speaker 3: So something to bring that back, and then obviously everybody knows that the housing market's skyrocketing also with six, seven, eight percent interest loans, depending on how you're doing already as well.
• 34:21
  Speaker 3: So that makes it more difficult.
• 34:23
  Speaker 3: So you're gonna have to almost do both affordable housing for the people who have been here who are in their 30s to early 40s looking for that house, and then something for the younger population as well, where they're trying to start out and get their foot in the door, like you gotta give someone a chance to get their foot in the door a little bit, not just to be like, well, the expectation is you're coming out of college with five years of job experience already.
• 34:47
  Speaker 6: Yeah, yeah.
• 34:48
  Speaker 6: That's good.
• 34:49
  Speaker 6: That's good.
• 34:50
  Speaker 6: All right, so as we wrap up our time, oh I want you all to kind of uh complete the the sentence for me here.
• 34:57
  Speaker 6: I choose to live in Kosciusko County because what would you say to that?
• 35:04
  Speaker: I can take it.
• 35:05
  Speaker: Yeah, good.
• 35:06
  Speaker: Um as a marketing professional, I'm gonna give you three Ps.
• 35:08
  Speaker: The people, the places, and the progress.
• 35:13
  Speaker 6: Nice.
• 35:13
  Speaker 6: I love that.
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: Great.
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I'd say I'm here because the people I love are here and it's it's where I want to see my kids grow up.
• 35:25
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I love this community.
• 35:27
  Speaker 1: It's been so good to me, you know, and so many people have given so much to me in this community.
• 35:34
  Speaker 1: Now I just really want to be able to give back.
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: Um, so yeah, just more opportunities to continue to make this place better for my kids and my kids' kids.
• 35:44
  Speaker 1: I would I would love to see that.
• 35:46
  Speaker 1: So perfect.
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: Great.
• 35:48
  Speaker 1: Man, I feel young after those answers.
• 35:52
  Speaker 3: No, mine's OrthoPediatrics.
• 35:54
  Speaker 3: Yeah, OrthoPediatrics in the room for growth that I have there.
• 35:57
  Speaker 3: I mean, I love the fact that every day I do something that helps a kid.
• 36:01
  Speaker 3: I mean, there's nothing more meaningful than that.
• 36:03
  Speaker 3: I went to school for mechanical and optical engineering with the hope to get into aerospace and ended up in the medical space where instead of doing something that could cause damage, I'm doing something that helps someone, and that's a very meaningful thing to be able to say.
• 36:16
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 36:16
  Speaker 3: So everything that you make helps a kid, and that's something that makes you go to sleep really well at night and makes it really easy to get up in the morning as well.
• 36:25
  Speaker 2: That's awesome.
• 36:26
  Speaker 6: Yeah, so good, so good.
• 36:27
  Speaker 6: Well, thank you all so much for your time.
• 36:30
  Speaker 6: Thank you for coming on and just contributing the conversation.
• 36:34
  Speaker 6: Um, Ryland, I want to especially thank you as the newer guy jumping in.
• 36:38
  Speaker 6: Um, and what I'm excited about is I want to have you back in a year and hear about the more ways that hopefully you've connected in uh to the community because we're grateful to have you in.
• 36:49
  Speaker: I've got like five Iron Man people I like in my mind right now.
• 36:52
  Speaker: I've got people I want to connect Ryland with.
• 36:54
  Speaker 6: Absolutely, absolutely, a hundred percent.
• 36:57
  Speaker 6: Well, thank you all.
• 36:57
  Speaker 6: I really appreciate you being on the show.
• 36:59
  Speaker 6: Yeah, thank you.
• 37:00
  Speaker 6: Appreciate it.
• 37:00
  Speaker 6: Awesome.
• 37:01
  Speaker 6: I've loved this conversation because attracting and retaining talent can sound like an economic development strategy, but ultimately it's incredibly personal.
• 37:10
  Speaker 6: It's a job opportunity, it's finding your people, it's being able to afford a home, it's having somewhere you enjoy spending a Saturday.
• 37:19
  Speaker 6: It's the things like finding a church, raising a family, getting involved, or simply just feeling like you belong.
• 37:25
  Speaker 6: And the real measure of a thriving community isn't just whether we can convince talented people to come here, it's whether we can create the kind of place where they want to stay, invest, lead, raise families, and eventually invite someone else to come too.
• 37:41
  Speaker 6: That's part of what it means to go all in, continuing to build a Kosciusko County where people can see not only an opportunity, but a future.
• 37:51
  Speaker 6: Thanks to Amaris, Bryce, and Ryland for joining me, and thanks to you for tuning in.
• 37:56
  Speaker 6: We'll see you next time on ALL IN Kosciusko.