Fast-Growing Fishers Is Fertile Ground for New Business
business, economic development, fishers chamber of commerce,
When Steve Sharp moved his family to Fishers, the town had about 1,700 people, a handful of businesses and no stoplight.
Fast-forward 30 years, and Fishers is booming. Once the smallest community in Hamilton County, Fishers is now the largest, growing 60 percent between 2000 and 2008.
Sharp Printing Services has grown with it. The 20-year-old company specializes in offset and digital printing and serves clients that include businesses, local government and nonprofit organizations. His business started in a garage, then graduated to a rental space, owner Steve Sharp says. He later purchased a facility and “expanded many times.”
Businesses of all kinds find Fishers a hospitable home. Its quality public schools draw families in droves, which in turn means plenty of clients for recreation providers, pediatricians and dentists such as Drs. Stephanie Wright and Angela Greenway of Fall Creek Dentistry, located in Fishers for 10 years. Boutiques, spas and specialty stores tap a demographic that leans toward affluence, and multiple resources exist for entrepreneurs just starting out.
The Fishers Chamber of Commerce actively supports small businesses: 85 percent of its 900 members have 25 or fewer employees. Kevin Jones is the Central Indiana Small Business Development Center advisor for Fishers and Hamilton County, and he’s got his hands full. People starting tutoring, recreation, fitness, cooking, massage and pet boarding services are part of his caseload. His first client was an attorney.
“The market here is different. As a bedroom community, it is more affluent, and businesses are catering to that market,” Jones says. “There also are a lot of home-based businesses and services, which is part of a national trend.”
Brian Paffen represents that trend. He runs Herbal Art out of his basement, melting 120 pounds of soap at a time for his signature line, Honey and Shea Everyday.
The artisan soaps, lotions and other skin-care products that Paffen has trademarked are handcrafted using recipes with herbs, essential oils, citrus and flowers.
Herbal Art’s products are in a few retail outlets in Fishers, and Paffen hopes to expand his online sales too. His Web site is www.herbalartonline.com.
“The Midwest is very open for organics and green things,” he says. “This is an awesome place. It does have a lot of growth. When I get out of the basement, I am going to land my business in Fishers.”
Leslie Sublett, owner of Flirt Salon & Spa, already has landed. She started her own salon in 2001.
Flirt has space for 20 stylists. Two nail technicians and three aestheticians – two of them massage therapists – also are on staff.
When Sublett’s original five-year lease was up, she bought some land and built a 5,200-square-foot salon on Crosspoint Commons near East 96th Street. “There’s a lot of people flocking to this area,” she says. “I really needed my own parking and building and boutique.”
Like many business owners, Sublett finds Fishers’ growing, friendly, family-oriented environment a good fit.
Story by Pamela Coyle
Photo by J. Kyle Keener
