By Chris Pfaff, CEO, Knox County Indiana Economic Development
Knox County entered 2025 with an ambitious vision: become a region where talent wants to live, businesses want to invest, and opportunity thrives. By year’s end, we can look back, not at isolated achievements, but at a coordinated endeavor that touched every sector of our county.
From groundbreakings to global partnerships, from homegrown innovators to international connections, 2025 demonstrated what happens when a community decides to work together toward shared prosperity. Here’s what unfolded.
Building a home for talent
The year brought fresh, tangible momentum in an important sector: a $35 million market-rate apartment complex rising in Vincennes. This wasn’t just another construction project. When Simplified Developments LLC broke ground on 240 new apartments last summer, they were answering a question every growing region faces – why should talent come and stay here?
Jamie Neal, President of the Knox County Chamber of Commerce, captured its significance, “The spectrum of apartment types that will be available from Simplified Developments represents a major plus for the greater Knox County area.” The point? Knox County Indiana offers important choices. We’re thinking about who’s coming and what they need.
That commitment to growth also caught the attention of state leadership. Congressman Mark Messmer, Secretary of Commerce David Adams (representing the Indiana Economic Development Corporation), and Brian Schutt (director of Indiana’s new Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation) all made their way to our region in 2025, seeing firsthand both what’s on deck and what’s already transpiring here.
While we build for the future locally, our leadership also looks internationally.
When Schott North America announced a $1.8 million production expansion at its Vincennes facility, it represented something deeper: proof that German investors see Knox County as a stable, strategic partner. Our county intentionally works to strengthen those types of critical connections. Michael Ahrens, the German Consul General from Chicago, has previously visited Knox County in person to learn more about us. As a result, KCIED was part of an Indiana Department of Agriculture trade visit to Berlin in 2025, strengthening agricultural and food industry partnerships that matter for our economy.
An additional strategic initiative came in September, when Vincennes Mayor Joe Yochum and KCIED leadership traveled to Japan. As part of that trade mission, we were able to sit across from executives at Futaba and Excell USA — companies with strategic operations here in Knox County — and had direct conversations about their priorities, especially as trade policies shift. Those face-to-face meetings have lasting impact.
Further, when Indiana Gov. Mike Braun spoke about Japanese investment at the Japan-America Society of Indiana’s annual gala (supported by KCIED), he was speaking about communities like ours, where Japanese industry and Foreign Direct Investment represent critical elements of our economic fabric.
Entrepreneurs as economic engines
None of this happens without people willing to take risks and build something new. That’s why supporting local entrepreneurship is essential. National research shows entrepreneurs create more jobs than any other initiative. They bring fresh capital and diversity to local economies.
Knox County is extraordinarily fortunate. We have the Pantheon business and innovation accelerator and Vincennes University right here, with VU forging national relationships that include major Fortune 50 companies like Amazon and Walmart. That infrastructure pays dividends. TerraForce, an AI-based robotic enterprise launched from the Pantheon, has already attracted strong industry attention and investment by addressing labor-intensive agricultural processes.
This is what growth looks like — not handed down, but intentionally created by fostering opportunity.
Deepening community connections
In what might not be immediately apparent, some of the most valuable economic developments happen when we’re quietly strengthening our communities. That’s why KCIED supported the Knox HR Roundtable in November, bringing together regional human resource professionals for professional development and networking. When existing businesses have the resources and connections to thrive, they expand. They hire. They stay. Led by Mary Jo Wallin-Orlowski, KCIED Business Retention and Expansion outreach ensures that the companies already calling Knox County home feel supported and connected.
Beyond the county line, Knox County engaged in cultural connections that open commercial doors. The 90th anniversary of Vincennes’ Sister City relationship with Vincennes, France — celebrated with a visit from Mayor Charlotte Libert — reminded us that cultural ties often spark trade. More significantly, Mayor Joe Yochum forged a new Sister City relationship with Ovruch, Ukraine in October, opening doors for cultural, educational, and civic exchange.
An unexpected economic boost: youth sports
Sometimes economic impact arrives in the most unexpected forms. In August, Knox County welcomed the Cal Ripken World Series — one of America’s largest youth sporting events — bringing more than 300 youth players and families from 14 states and five countries and territories.
The numbers tell part of the story: an estimated 3,500 hotel room nights across southern Indiana. But the fuller picture is what Kirk Bouchie, General Manager of Vincennes Water Utilities and World Series host president, and Jamie Neal both recognized: this event puts Knox County on the map for families across the country, and the world. It says something about who we are and how we do things. It demonstrates quality of life that matters.
An important and unique dimension
The achievements of 2025 don’t exist in isolation. They’re connected by something that economic development programs all need: genuine collaboration. Our city and county elected officials work together. Industry executives show up. Board members (all 50 of them) provided resources and support that mattered.
Not every county has that. We do.
The true strength of Knox County lies in this collaborative nature. When elected officials align. When business leaders engage. When community organizations support each other. That’s when housing gets built, when companies expand, when entrepreneurs thrive, and when the world notices.
2026 is already shaping up to bring new opportunities and growth. But before we look ahead, it’s worth pausing to recognize what we built together in 2025. That foundation — built on partnership and vision — is what makes future growth possible.