Eleanor Rozella’s: My Happy Place

Tammy Daubenspeck (left), Cindy Grove, and Tina Dell model a few of the scarves available at Eleanor Rozella's

Cindy Grove, owner of Eleanor Rozella’s gift shop in Noblesville, refers to herself as the “third sister” to her two employees, sisters Tammy Daubenspeck and Tina Dell. Their camaraderie sets the tone for the fun-loving experience that is Eleanor Rozella’s and carries over to the customers. “You’re not a stranger when you walk in here,” said Cindy. “Tammy and Tina are so much fun; they’re so loving to our customers. It’s like girlfriends. Our customers end up being our friends.”

Just strolling through this gift shop puts a smile on your face because of the cacophony of colors, scents and laughter that greets you. If you’re looking for a unique gift for a favorite person, you’ll find it within Eleanor Rozella’s three floors.

Cindy didn’t have to look far to find the inspiration for the store’s name. On her piano rests a vintage photo of her grandma taken when she was in her 20s. “She was very artsy,” said Cindy. “She loved to knit and make jewelry. I loved her to pieces, and her name just had a ring to it.” So her grandma’s name—Eleanor Rozella—became the name of the shop that resides at 982 Logan Street. The current location of the shop was, as Cindy is fond of saying, “born of divine intervention.”

Eleanor Rozella’s original location was at the Deer Creek Shops, the present location of the IU Health Saxony Hospital. One day Tammy came in to explore the shop and the two struck up a friendship. As a former part owner of Corner Cottage in Noblesville, Tammy mentioned how much she missed the retail business. Cindy promptly hired her to run the store, a relief for Cindy who often travels for her other job as a flight attendant

CIndy Grove holds up a pair of Toms Shoes with a matching headband.

Not long after that, the two were informed they would have to find a new business location as their strip mall was being torn down. Through a timely tip, Cindy learned that Alley Cats in downtown Noblesville was up for sale. Attached to Eddie’s Corner Cafe, the building was 3-1/2 floors of prime location. Cindy was certain the rent would be too high.

It turns out, the worry was for nought. “It was divine intervention. I just turned it over to the Big Guy and said ‘Okay, You’ve got to show me where to go …. The way everything worked out, it’s just like we were meant to be here,” Cindy said. Eleanor Rozella’s opened August 25, 2006 in downtown Noblesville. “We looked at each other and said ‘Here we go!” laughed Tammy. Not too long after that in April 2007, Tina joined the dynamic duo. Cindy also receives support from her parents and sister Norm, Judy and Julie Wilson.

Cindy bought the inventory of Alley Cats, but slowly over time, they put their own stamp on the product line. “We wanted more of an upscale, girly-girl boutique,” said Tammy. “Noblesville had so many shops that had the country, primitive-type home decor. We were taking things in a different direction. People were really excited about it, and we heard all positive about it.”

Today the shop is known for its eclectic, fun mix of items. They carry lines they themselves love and use, and they try to keep up with the trends too. Nestled among the other displays, you’ll find Cindy’s own exclusive line of animated butterflies called Innovative Animation. Cindy also has a penchant for carrying (whenever possible) product lines that encourage “aid through trade,” product lines from Indiana business owners (she loves supporting new Indiana businesses), and made-in-the-USA products. Here’s a few of their product lines.

Photo Letters, Language Arts, Toms Shoes (they were the first shop in Indiana to carry his line), Demdaco, Nora Fleming, Magnabilities, Switch Flops, Lenny & Eva, Moving Butterflies, Alexis Angels, Holly Yashi, Mogo Designs, Sseko Sandals

They also carry horseshoe and collegiate bling for women, as well as lots of baby gift items and unique home decor items.

Overall, Eleanor Rozella’s is the place to be when you need to hear a friendly word or to find that perfect gift. Repeat customers are known to wander in just to feel better on a bad day. Cindy tells a story from one of her customers who fondly refers to Eleanor Rozella’s as her “happy place.” The customer told Cindy, “One day there was a lady in your store who was not being very nice, and I had to tell her, ‘Listen, this is my happy place. If you’re having an issue, I think you need to go somewhere else, because you’re not going to ruin my happy place!’”

Eleanor Rozella’s
982 Logan Street
Noblesville, IN 46060-2225
317-774-1213
Store Hours
M-T-W-SAT 10-6
TH-F 10-8
SUN 12-5

The Rep Settles Into Its Best Role Yet

Larry and Susan Creviston of the Carmel Repertory Theatre

After 20 years of wandering, the Carmel Repertory Theatre finally has a permanent home. “We’ve always been a gypsy organization,” said Larry Creviston, chairman of the board of trustees. Although their offices have been permanently located in the heart of Carmel, The Rep, for short, has always had to scramble to find a location to hold its shows. “That was becoming more and more difficult and more and more expensive to do,” said Creviston. “We are thrilled to be in the new building.”

By new building, Creviston is referring to, of course, The Performing Arts Center in Carmel. The Rep will be using both the Tarkington and the Studio Theater for its six shows that it puts on every year.

Creviston is excited for the opportunities that The Rep provides to the local community. The focus of The Rep has always been and will always continue to be on the community. “We want to be the group that gives everyday people the chance to try out and explore the theater,” he said.

With that in mind, every year The Rep tries to put on at least one show with an emphasis on kids’ parts. “We want to give not only adults, but also kids the opportunity to see what it’s [theatre] like,” Creviston said. And that is exactly what has happened at The Rep. Creviston has seen the kids reap the benefits from their involvement. “Kids who are in our program lose that fear of speaking in front of an audience. I don’t care what profession they go into, this will help them.”

Susan (business director) and Larry Creviston (chairman of the Board of Trustees) of the Carmel Repertory Theatre

Creviston believes that the positive influence of theater extends to the family and beyond into the community. “Community theater is one of the few activities outside of church that an entire family can get involved with,” he said. Families often participate together in a show, whether their roles be onstage or backstage. “The stories hopefully can then inspire the human condition.”

Indeed, The Rep has taken such a hold on the heart of Carmel that it is run entirely by volunteers. The core group that started The Rep 20 years ago remains intact, and more people have gravitated to the group.

A case in point is Joyce Click, music teacher at North Central. Every summer, Click runs First Stage Youth Academy, a series of summer camps at The Rep for teens and children. Local high school students are recruited to help teach the younger kids. At the end of the camp, they take one week to put into practice all they’ve learned through a performance. It’s a highly popular program and a successful one. University High School volunteers the use of their facility for the camps.

Funding for The Rep comes from donations from business and private individuals (35-40%); ticket sales (35-40%); and the rest from a city grant.

As for their future plans, Creviston is thrilled because Carmel was just chosen to host AACT Fest 13 in June 2013. Every other year the American Association of Community Theaters (AACT) holds a festival. On a lark, Creviston decided to apply as a host and was selected for a site visit. The site visit went so well, thanks in part to the support of Mayor Brainard, that a Carmel contingency was invited to Las Vegas for the next step in the selection process. To their surprise, they made the final cut and were selected. “It could be a once in a lifetime opportunity,” Creviston said. The festival will bring about 1000 participants per day, and it’s the first time ever that it will be held in the state of Indiana.

Creviston is also enthused about an outdoor production The Rep will be putting on this summer. You’ll want to purchase tickets for a showing of Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor at the Gazebo.

Between adjusting to their new home, fundraising for the AACT Fest and preparing for all their productions, The Rep has a lot on its plate. “It’s an exciting time,” Creviston said. “The people spoke, and they wanted this [Performing Arts Center]. We all need to get behind it and support it. It’s the best thing for the community.”

For a complete list of all the shows, for information on trying out or volunteering with The Rep, or for information on First Stage Youth Academy, visit The Rep’s website at www.carmelrepertorytheatre.com.

Leading Lady: Carmel’s Director of Community Relations Nancy Heck

Carmel's Director of Community Relations Nancy Heck

Being around Nancy Heck is a bit like being in the center of a whirlwind. Her phone rings. Her cell phone buzzes. Mayor Brainard pops into her office. She fields requests from the media and attends a meeting for the opening of the Palladium. She zips off a press release. Yet through it all she is smiling, happy and even seems to thrive on the action. As director of community relations for Carmel, Nancy has her finger on the pulse of the city, and much of what happens there has her fingerprints on it.

In her 14 years working for Carmel, Nancy has seen the city morph from a small town to a busy, metropolitan, cultural hub. She’s played an active role in the creation of several events, including Veteran’s Day, the Holocaust Remembrance Ceremony, the Memorial Day service, the Hamilton County Law Enforcement Memorial Service, Carmel Community Day and the Monon Center. It’s all in a day’s work for Nancy. But wait. I’m getting ahead of myself. Just as interesting as her current job is the career path that led her to it.

Nancy majored in communications and comparative literature at Indiana University Bloomington. Right out of college she was hired by then Lt. Governor John Mutz as an assistant press secretary. She loved the job. “Talk about baptism by fire,” she says. “I learned about office politics and politics in general at the same time.” In her career, Nancy has worked for two politicians: John Mutz and Jim Brainard. “They’re politicians for the right reason,” she says. “They’re in it to make the world a better place. They’re not in it to glorify themselves. They really want to see improvement, and they have great ideas on how to manage government,” she says.

Nancy’s next stop on the career path was with The Columbia Club in Indianapolis. She was an associate editor for The Columbian for about a year. After that, Nancy freelanced for seven years, traveling and working with a variety of clients including Indiana Business Magazine, Indianapolis Monthly and USA Today. She also was a substitute teacher.

In the late 80s, Nancy was hired to be the photo director at the Indiana State Fair. She hired all the photographers and dark room employees, managing a staff of about 14. “Inevitably there would be one photographer who fell in love with the swine barn, thank God, because how am I going to convince someone that that’s a good idea,” she laughs.

Nancy Heck has been working in Carmel Mayor Jim Brainard's office for over 10 years.

While freelancing for the state fair, Nancy met Ron McQueeney, director of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Photo Operations Department. Ron hired Nancy to run the photo office at the Speedway when he had to be out of town in the off season. Nancy worked as a track photographer for him as well during the 500 and loved the excitement of being on the track. Her photos garnered her a few awards, including the Kodak Photo of the Year Award, and the Rookie Photo Sales award for all the track photographers. “You know if you get a great photo and a team wants to buy it, you’re good. That was fun!” she says.

About that time, John Mutz hired Nancy to be his press secretary for his gubernatorial race against Evan Bayh in 1988. When he was defeated in the election, Nancy went to work for Citizens Gas and Coke Utility in corporate communications.

Nancy discovered that Citizens Gas offered educational assistance to their employees, even footing the entire tuition bill. “How could I not take advantage of that?” she says. “I did not want to be sitting in accounting classes, so I went to law school instead.” During the time when she was preparing to take the LSAT, Nancy and her husband Richard discovered she was pregnant. Just a few short months after their first child was born, Nancy received her acceptance to law school.

Richard was the one who insisted Nancy stick with school, fearing she’d always regret it if she quit. “We were new parents; we didn’t know what that really meant,” Nancy says. She laughs while recalling what Richard, who had a home business, said about their baby daughter – “All she does is lay there; sure, I’ll watch her!” Well, after a few years of Nancy working full time during the day, going to law school at night and welcoming baby number two into the family, their mantra was, “It won’t always be like this.” “I don’t know how I got so lucky. I couldn’t do half the stuff I do without my husband,” Nancy says. Nancy graduated, took the Bar Exam and passed it on the first try.

About the time Nancy’s daughter turned five, they moved to Carmel, with Nancy commuting to Citizens Gas. After several years, the combination of growing kids and a long commute wore thin. “I wanted to feel more a part of where I lived, of my kids’ lives,” she said. Her neighbor, Ron Carter, a Carmel city councilman, gave her a few names to talk to, one of whom was Mayor Brainard. An hour into the conversation with him, he offered Nancy the job of public information civilian with the police department, though her office was in City Hall. Over the years, the job evolved into her current position.

Originally, Nancy had planned on just taking the job temporarily as an entree into the community, but loved it so much that she has stayed. “With this mayor, you actually see things happening; you actually get things accomplished. So it’s fun to live in the community where you’re benefiting and can enjoy some of the things that have been created,” she says.

Nancy meets with the Public Relations Manager for the Center for the Performing Arts John Hughey.

Fast forward to today, and Nancy has a lot on her plate. Besides her duties in community relations, Nancy occasionally serves as deputy prosecutor and subs for the position of judge pro tem in Carmel City Court as well. In addition, Nancy is a member of the Carmel Rotary and a member of the Center for the Performing Arts Foundation.

It’s easy to see the mutual respect and camaraderie that exists between Nancy and Mayor Brainard. “Nancy brings professionalism as well as tremendous experience to her position. She has served now for over 10 years in this position, and the people of Carmel are fortunate to have such a dedicated public servant,” Mayor Brainard says.

Anyone who lives in the Carmel community is probably aware of the major events unfolding in Carmel, all of which are making life interesting for Nancy. She will need all her creativity to address many of these issues, because the Carmel City Council recently slashed her yearly budget which cost her two staff members (they have since been assigned elsewhere). Here are some current priorities for her office.

• Retool the communications efforts for 2011 in light of the budget cuts.
• Focus on getting the City of Carmel’s website redesign up and running.
• Promote the opening of the Palladium, the Studio Theater and the Tarkington (collectively known as The Performing Arts Center). The Palladium will be open at the end of January, while the Studio Theater is slated for March and the Tarkington for August.
• Prepare for the 2011 National Roundabout Conference to be hosted by Carmel.
• Try to find alternative funding for Government Access Cable Channel 16.
• Prepare for Superbowl 2012.
• Oversee the Student Mentoring and Internships program with Carmel High School.
• Oversee the Carmel Can Volunteer program.

Overall, Nancy loves helping people feel a part of their community. Flexibility is key in her position, because as she says, she can make her daily to-do list, but one call from the media and everything changes. “I keep reassessing,” she says. “I keep asking myself ‘What’s the most important thing I have to do today?’ You have to be able to readjust on the fly.”

Nancy is married to Richard Heck. Daughter Melanie is a sophomore at Hanover College and son George is a senior at Carmel High School. In her spare time she loves to golf, bicycle with her family and discuss books with her book club buddies.

Silent Auction and Dinner to Benefit Pancreatic Cancer

Two families, two diagnoses, two deaths. The disease? Pancreatic cancer.

Although separated by 15 years, the cancer journeys of two Carmel families have been eerily similar. As a newlywed in 1991, Jennifer Jordan Pickett watched her mother, Joyce Fox Jordan, fight a 23-month battle with cancer. Fifteen years later, Robin Rieger Walsh watched as her father, Robert Rieger, a 30-year testicular cancer survivor, succumbed to pancreatic cancer after 10 months of treatment.

Jennifer and Robin’s paths first crossed in 2007 through their daughters, who were friends at Carmel High School. The girls discovered that their grandparents had the common link of pancreatic cancer. Jennifer called Robin and offered her support, because Robin’s father had been recently diagnosed. As the women compared notes, they were stunned to realize that the treatment for pancreatic cancer had not changed in the 15 years since Joyce had been a participant in the clinical trial for the drug Gemzar. Gemzar was the same drug that Robert was now being treated with.

That disturbing fact spurred both women on to do something to fight back. As they researched, a stark fact became obvious to them. “Pancreatic cancer has no boundaries. It’s not about economics. It’s not about who can get the best treatment. And it’s not that your everyday person can’t get good treatment and the people who have lots of money can,” said Jennifer. “There’s just not much out there.”

The problem amounts to little research currently being conducted, which boiled down means no funding available for the research. Enter Jennifer and Robin. “Pancreatic cancer is today where breast cancer was in the 1930s,” Robin said. The women joined forces in 2008, with Jennifer using her ties to Purdue University and Robin bringing fundraising experience to form The Jordan-Rieger Fund (JR Fund) for Pancreatic Research at the Purdue Cancer Center.

In 2008, Jennifer and Robin held the first Annual Live and Silent Auction Dinner to raise money for the fund. That year, they raised $25,000 and research began. To date, they have raised $70,000 (enough that the fund is now an endowment), and are gearing up for the 2010 auction and dinner to be held on Saturday, November 13 at Marian Incorporated in Indianapolis. Julia Moffitt of WTHR is the emcee.

Both women have a goal of seeing the fund go national, with the first steps already taken in that direction. Perhaps facilitated by the founding of the JR Fund, Purdue University Center for Cancer Research and Indiana University Simon Cancer Center, pancreatic cancer groups have collaborated together on research through the creation of the Pancreatic Cancer Discovery Group. “Our fund has already gone beyond the walls of Purdue University,” said Robin.

Unfortunately, pancreatic cancer has a five-year survival rate of only 3-5%, and it is so difficult to diagnose at early onset. Currently there are no tests or screenings to diagnose pancreatic cancer. “We want early detection markers [developed with research],” said Jennifer. “By the time pancreatic cancer is found, it is so far gone.” The women are also hoping research will show if there is a genetic link to the disease. Since her father’s death, Robin’s paternal uncle has also died of pancreatic cancer, and her father’s twin now has pre-cancerous cysts on his pancreas. While a familial link seems likely with this disease, it has yet to be proven. Environmental links may also be a culprit.

As they gear up for the 2010 auction, both women are determined to see progress made in the fight against pancreatic cancer. “Eventually I would like to see the survival rate of pancreatic cancer at 3-5% switch to be a 3-5% mortality rate,” said Robin. “And I would like to see that within one generation.”

For tickets to attend the Live and Silent Auction Dinner for the Jordan-Reiger Fund, call Beth Steurer at the Purdue Center for Cancer Research at 765-494-1109. If you have an item to donate for the auction, contact Robin at 317-306-0024. If you would like more information on the JR Fund or the auction, contact JRfund@gmail.com. Information at Purdue: www.cancerresearch.purdue.edu/donate/jordan_riegerfund.html.

Vermicomposting: A Wiggly Solution to Waste

Keith O'Dell of Castaway Compost

Unless you’re a fisherman, the subject of worms probably doesn’t cross your radar too frequently—except for the times you’re trying to avoid smooshing the little critters on your driveway after a rainstorm. Fishers resident Keith O’Dell sees worms, specifically red worms or red wigglers, in a different light. An engineer by trade and a composter by choice, O’Dell has formed a vermicomposting company called Castaway Compost. Vermicomposting uses red worms and microorganisms to convert organic waste into compost.

Organic Landscaping as seen on “Ask This Old House” from UOS on Vimeo.

O’Dell has been composting for years, but stumbled onto vermicomposting in 2009. At that time O’Dell was researching ways to increase the productivity of farming land in Kenya and Honduras for two missionary friends; vermicomposting seemed perfect. Although implementing the vermicomposting for the missions is still a work in progress, O’Dell is spreading his message to a local audience. “It really is no muss, no fuss” he said. “You just put what you bought back into the soil.”

O’Dell has partnered with Tim Saunders of As the Worm Turns to man a booth at the Fishers Farmers Market. Together they sell worm bins, worms, compost and compost tea. O’Dell sees this as being a process that is doable for everyone, a way to reduce the amount of waste being sent to landfills, while at the same time producing the rich vermicompost. “You’re adding microbes and substance to your soil versus the synthetic fertilizers, which are giving chemicals to your plants,” said O’Dell.

“The good thing about worm castings (worm waste) and worm tea is that it won’t burn the plants,” said O’Dell. “You can basically add it whenever you want, how much you want.” Experts recommend between a 20%-50% mix of castings to soil. You can also use the compost as a top dressing.

Vermiculture How-To

• Keep your worms in a bin. They need a temperature of 50℉ or above to be productive, so a shady location outside is ideal. Many people move their bins indoors for the cold months. A pantry closet, laundry room, basement or heated garage works well.
• If you purchase a bin from Castaway Compost, they come stocked with bedding and worms. Otherwise, you need to line the bottom of your bin with a few paper towel tubes. Add a pound of red worms. (Red worms and earthworms are not the same.) On top of that add moistened bedding. Shred newspapers, junk mail, paper towel and toilet paper tubes, phone books, or pizza boxes, and fill the bin. You can also add old leaves and a handful of sand.
• Tuck a handful of food underneath the bedding (to prevent the bin from smelling) in one corner. Fruit and vegetable scraps, plant matter, coffee grounds and filters and tea bags (remove the staple) make good food. Avoid meat and dairy products and dog, cat and pig manure.
• In a few days, check the food. If it is mostly gone, add another handful of scraps in a different corner. “The rule of thumb is a pound of worms will eat about a half a pound of food and a half a pound of bedding a day,” said O’Dell. As the bin settles, the worms will begin to eat more. Add new bedding about one time a week. Worms will double in about 60 days. You should begin to use the compost in just a few weeks.

For more information and supplies on vermicomposting including a recipe to make compost tea to use in your garden, visit www.castawaycompost.com.

An Eventful Carmel Business

Jeff Graves and Chad Antcliff have been behind the scenes of several national and local running events.

Anyone who has ever planned a big event knows it doesn’t just happen. Just ask Jeff Graves, President of Vision Event Management in Carmel, Indiana. After 16 years in the promotions, advertising and marketing business, Graves will tell you that attention to detail and follow through are critical to pulling off the next big event.

Graves learned this working in the trenches at Rockford Lightning, Crackers Comedy Club, Adam’s Mark Hotel, Entertainment Marketing and 99.5 WZPL. He followed up those jobs with positions for the 500 Festival and the Mini-Marathon.

He then parlayed those years of experience into Vision Event Management, opening his business in 2006 and hiring Chad Antcliff as Vice President of Events in 2008. Whether planning for a new event or gearing up for an already established event, Vision Event Management prides itself on bringing fresh vision and ideas to the table to bring about fresh results. “We can talk with people from any standpoint of where they are [in the planning process],” said Graves.

For example, Vision Event Management excels at taking an event that perhaps hasn’t met the expectations of the planners in years past and revamping it to produce better results.

Graves and Antcliff handle festivals, parades, nonprofit events, concerts, golf outings and scavenger hunts. They have extensive experience planning 5K races and mini-marathons. As a matter of fact, they were the brains and experience that put together the St.Vincent Geist Half Marathon & 5K in May (May 22, 2010).

Geist is a favorite race for them. “Geist is outstanding, being that that event has only been around two years, and it has over 6,000 participants and over 700 volunteers. … it has raised great money, gives back to the schools, it’s got great course support…. it’s unbelievable what they’ve done in two years,” said Graves.

Many of us enjoy attending big events, but have little understanding of all the planning it takes to pull one off. Graves and Antcliff offer a full docket of services to help with event planning:

• Budget Management
• Consulting
• Crisis Management Planning
• Event Operations and Logistics
• Permits and City Liaison
• Signage Planning
• Transportation
• Vendor Negotiations and Relationships
• Volunteer Management

The Madison Mini Marathon in Wisconsin was the brainchild of Graves and Antcliff.

Over the years they have come to expect the unexpected when planning an event. Road construction, date changes and redoing signs are all things that often happen and necessitate regrouping and Plan B. It’s just a part of the business. And, interesting things often happen on the day of the events as well. Especially memorable was the time during the Madison Mini-Marathon in Madison, Wisconsin when a flock of wild turkeys decided to run the race course with the runners.

While Vision Event Management plans events across the country, they are hoping to focus more on events close to home. “We love Indianapolis and the Carmel area and want to do more things and come up with more fun things for the community to do,” said Graves.

As the business grows, Graves is looking for a college student to intern with their company. A semester long internship would be fine, but a year-long internship would be better just because of the length of time it often takes to plan an event. Any interested students can contact Graves through his website at www.VisionEventManagement.com.

Overall, both Graves and Antcliff work hard to make each event they manage the best it can be—and better than the last one. “Our goal is to produce great events, and the little things matter to us,” says Graves. “It’s important to us that the participants walk away with a great experience …. we really try to make a difference when we work on an event,” said Graves.

Flying High at Indy Exec Airport

Inside the Indianapolis Executive Airport with (left to right) Ted Moran, Andi Montgomery, Dan Montgomery.

While Hamilton County certainly has its share of jewelry stores, one of its brightest gems won’t be found in a velvet-lined case, but nestled in a setting of farm fields just over the line in Boone County: Indianapolis Executive Airport. Commonly called Indy Exec, long-standing citizens of Hamilton County may recognize it by its previous moniker of Terry Airport.

Indy Exec bears little resemblance to the Terry Airport of recent memory. In 2003, Terry Airport was offered for sale by private owner Ray Van Sickle to Boone County. The County turned down the offer, so Van Sickle approached Hamilton County. “The county council in their wisdom decided to purchase it,” said Ted Moran, board member of the Hamilton County Airport Authority. Hamilton County brought aboard fixed base operator Montgomery Aviation to manage the airport, and work began in earnest to repair and improve the airport to make it the hub of activity that it is today.

Indy Exec currently services over 100 based aircraft, of which about 30 percent are corporate owned and 70 percent privately owned. The airport caters to aircraft that can land on a 5,500-ft. runway, not exceeding 60,000 pounds. Technically speaking, this means Indy Exec can accommodate private jets on a dry surface with no crosswind. For those customers without access to a private or corporate jet, Indy Exec also offers the option of chartered flights.

Montgomery Aviation President and VP-Operations Dan and Andi Montgomery see the airport as a support and service for the community. “We’re a partner in the community,” said Andi. “We’re much more than people just flying around privately.” Montgomery Aviation and Indy Exec are collaboratively involved with Down Syndrome Indiana and The Jackson Center for Conductive Education.

(Left to right) Shirley Davis of Indianapolis; David Shroyer of Boca Raton, FL; Judy Ryder of Fishers; cocker spaniel Sarah Dora await their flight at Indy Exec.

Indeed, since Montgomery Aviation has taken over the fixed based operations of Indy Exec, the airport has seen an increase in operations from 23,000 incoming and outgoing flights a year to 45,000. “The economic impact to this economy realized $88,000,000 in 2009 from this operation,” said Moran. That is up from $44,000,000 in 2005—an impressive jump by any standards.

In fact, Moran says that Indy Exec has become a popular jetport for continental flights. Location has a lot to do with it. Many people who fly or who own an airplane live north of I-465, and Indy Exec is ideally situated between I-465, I-69 and I-65. “Corporations looking to relocate to Indianapolis, generally look in that area … they tend to locate along the 31 corridor,” said Moran. He points out that when executives fly into and out of Indy Exec, they avoid the traffic hassles of traveling to Indianapolis International, as well as the actual congestion of that airport.

Indy Exec is able to offer luxury services and benefits that make it a convenient stop for pilots. The airport boasts the only all-weather aircraft canopy in the Midwest, accommodating aircraft up to Gulfstream V. Passengers can embark and disembark protected from the weather.

Montgomery Aviation staff are available to assist with car rentals, courtesy cars and hotel reservations. The airport has conference rooms with wireless internet access and offers pilot lounges for relaxation between flights. Gourmet catering is also available.

Additionally, Indy Exec has an aircraft maintenance facility for any maintenance issues and refueling. Should a plane need a part not normally carried, it can usually be obtained within 24 hours.

Indy Exec accommodates pilots who fly by visual flight rules and those who fly by instrument flight rules. Consequently, they have full-instrument landing system capability (ILS). At the moment their minimums are a 200-foot ceiling and one-half mile visibility. Their remote receiver at the airport connects into the Indy Approach Control at Indianapolis International. Pilots using Indy Exec ILS can talk directly to the controller at Indianapolis International, who then releases the pilot for takeoff and landing when the air traffic is clear.

A crowning achievement for Indy Exec was being named the recipient of the prestigious Airport of the Year award for 2009 by the Aviation Association of Indiana.
Moran feels that several of the airport’s recent improvements helped them capture the award. “We were the first airport in the country to complete a stimulus project,” said Dan Montgomery. The $4.3 million grant was used to redo Runway 13. The project took 43 days and came in under budget at 3.7 million; the excess was returned.

Indy Exec has also rebuilt the instrument landing system and torn down several old hangars. They currently have 75 individual hangars and two large hangars that can house 10-12 aircraft each.

Moran points out that future plans for continued improvement are in the works. As the airport is not yet operating at full capacity, one of the planned improvements is to extend the current runway from its 5,500 feet to 7,000 feet so that it can can handle existing aircraft safely under adverse runway conditions relative to FAA safety guidelines. They also need a crosswind runway for the safety of aircraft landing and departing into the wind.

It’s obvious that Hamilton County’s plan to purchase the airport has paid off. Besides doubling the value in just four years, they have been able to accomplish that without any local tax money, even though they have the legal authority to do so. “So far we have not done that and hope not to,” said Moran. The airport is busy readying for the 2012 Super Bowl by adding a new parking ramp to handle the extra traffic. They also saw increased traffic from the Senior Open, which Carmel hosted this past summer. And, they remain busy with the Eagle Flyers Club, a program for those wanting to earn a private pilot’s certificate.

Moran is excited about the future of Indy Exec. “As of June we made our last payment. We are debt free and operating in the black. I term this a diamond asset to Hamilton County,” he said.

www.MontgomeryAviation.net

Indianapolis Executive Airport
11329 East State Road 32
Zionsville, IN 46077
www.MontgomeryAviation.net