The State of Hancock County is Sweet

Annual addresses recall 2025 wins, expectations for more in 2026 

Randy Sorrell started a little wide before zeroing in as he began his remarks to the crowd that packed the Thrive Center yesterday.

The Hancock Economic Development Council Executive Director noted Indiana had the highest gross domestic product in its region and was higher than the nation’s last year.

“We are the sweet spot of the Midwest,” he said, “and Hancock County is the sweet spot of the state.”

That sweetness and all the reasons for it made up the theme of the comments shared by Sorrell and fellow leaders at the Hancock County Chamber of Commerce 2026 State of the Community Luncheon on Tuesday, January 6th. Along with economic development, attendees received compelling local updates on business, healthcare, and government reflecting a place of impressive growth, extensive collaboration, and strategic vision.

Economic development relies heavily on data, and Sorrell had no shortage of it during his portion of the event. Hancock County’s population was just under 80,000 in 2020, he recalled, before jumping to an estimation of 91,444 in 2025 and is anticipated to rise further to about 99,000 by 2030. Hancock County was the fastest growing county in Indiana in 2023, second fastest in 2024, and is expected to remain at the top of the list for 2025 once all of the data is analyzed in the coming months.

That bodes well in the face of challenges officials are bracing for in the wake of last year’s Indiana Senate Enrolled Act 1, which will impact local government tax revenues as it shifts a historical focus on property taxes to that of income taxes.

“And you get income tax by people working, and you get people working by having an attractive place for them to live, and that’s where we are,” said Sorrell, now in his eighth year as HEDC Executive Director after first joining the organization’s board in 1999.

Learn more about just how attractive of a place Hancock County is to live here, and even more at Hancock County Tourism.

That appeal is no secret, according to 2025 single-family residential building permit totals able to be gathered before Tuesday’s luncheon:

• Unincorporated Hancock County: 155
• Greenfield: 268
• Fortville: 168 (100% increase from 2024)
• Cumberland: 108

Sorrell added he’s pretty confident the amounts remaining to be gathered from New Palestine and McCordsville will push the county-wide total over the 1,069 single-family residential permits filed in 2024, especially when the latter drew a record of 518 that year.

Residential migration into Hancock County comes mainly from nearby Marion, Hamilton, Madison, Johnson, Henry, and Shelby counties.

“People aren’t migrating from a long ways away,” Sorrell said. “They’re moving closer to the suburban area of Indianapolis where the quality of life is good, where jobs are, and where the schools are great.”

He added the bulk of Hancock County’s outbound migration is to those same counties as well.

“But I will tell you,” he continued, “the math–it’s almost 2:1 people moving here as opposed to the people leaving here, and that’s why our population continues to grow.”

Sorrell went on to recall a refrain from Hancock County residents who are critical of the county’s growth regarding a desire to not see the area develop the way nearby successful communities have.

“But there are thousands of people who do like those kinds of amenities,” he said, “and they’re just going to keep coming.”

The HEDC leader also reported on multiple trends in Hancock County heading in the right direction:

• Median individual income: $65,550 (136% of statewide figure)
• Median household income: $94,581 (4th in state)
• Poverty rate: 4.49% (47% lower than state average and ranking 89th highest out of state’s 92 counties)
• Job growth between 2019 and 2025: Net increase of over 3,500 (increase of 12%)
  • Projection for 2025-2029: 3,200 more jobs
• Median age: 40.1 (dropping from 42.1 and getting closer to statewide figure of 38.3)
• Average graduation rate of county’s four high schools: 93.5% (exceeding statewide figure of 90.2%) 
• Residents with a bachelor’s degree or higher: 34.2% (8th highest of Indiana’s 92 counties; state average is 28.8%)

“So we’re getting a younger population, a higher-educated population, and that gives us a skilled labor force, which drives higher-paid jobs and higher-skilled jobs,” Sorrell said.

Keeping in mind that two-thirds is often considered a standard labor participation rate for a location, Sorrell pointed to Hancock County’s coming in at 68%--exceeding state and national averages of 63.7% and 62.4%, respectively.

“People move here because they want to work,” he said.

One field central Indiana residents are finding more and more opportunities to work in is life sciences due to new associated capital projects, reports the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University, which also called the Indianapolis metropolitan area a positive outlier for the Midwest in 2025.

Such a project is on its way to Greenfield. Mayor and HEDC Member Guy Titus, in his remarks Tuesday, said he applauds Sorrell and Greenfield City Councilman and HEDC Executive Officer Dan Riley for their hard work in helping to bring a pharmaceutical manufacturing operation to the building at 989 Opportunity Parkway in the city’s Progress Park, which will start with 90 jobs at buildout and grow to over 300.

That is very encouraging for multiple reasons, particularly because of a yearlong study in 2025 of a related planned corridor along State Road 9 between Greenfield’s north side and the county’s northern border ultimately stemming from County government’s creation of a tax increment financing district in the area.

“Now it’s time to activate that–what would be good to go there–given the fact that we have life sciences in this community already,” Sorrell said. “Over two-thirds of the real estate in Hancock County is production agriculture, so life sciences, ag-biosciences–it’s in our wheelhouse.”

A task force will be formed in the first quarter of this year to determine marketing strategies for that endeavor. The corridor is envisioned to be anchored by the former Elanco Animal Health campus, which a partnership between Hancock Health, NineStar Connect, and Pride Investment Partners called HealthStar Partners purchased in 2024.

Hancock Health President and CEO Steve Long, also a speaker at the State of the Community, highlighted that project as well.

“The idea of a bioscience corridor going north on State Road 9–there is just no end of enthusiasm for that,” he said. “That’s going to be amazing.”

Learn more about Life Sciences opportunities in Hancock County here.

The Long and Short of It

Creating a conduit for innovation on the county’s north side isn’t the only thing Long is enthusiastic about when it comes to economic development.

“We are investing in Hancock County–it’s part of our investment portfolio,” he said. “There is no better investment you can make than ground and buildings in Hancock County.”

Learn more about the ground and buildings currently available for investment in Hancock County here.

The healthcare system’s property development arm includes Hancock Gateway Park near the I-70/Mt. Comfort Road interchange, where Riley Village Apartments have been developed and townhomes at Whitman Villas are quickly following. A dual-brand hotel and conference center is anticipated to finish construction by the end of the year. Construction will start soon on a medical office building for women’s health and plans continue for an emergency department, along with another project regarding a retail center with restaurants.

Plans also continue for a Kroger grocery store at Hancock Health’s Healthway Park in New Palestine, where an apartment community, restaurant, and retail center are also expected.

Hancock Health has plenty of plans for McCordsville too, including expanding its wellness center. And speaking of Hancock Health’s three wellness centers–they have 16,250 members across them who visited 782,000 times last year.

Additionally, the healthcare system–which turns 75 this year–is working with a long-term care partner for an aging-in-place community in town. Plans for an ambulatory surgery center in McCordsville are being considered as well.

Long joined other speakers at the event in expressing excitement for the Amplify Hancock Innovation Center, which is anticipated to open this summer and where Hancock Health will move its training programs for radiation technicians and medical assistants.

Other Hancock Health highlights Long shared:

• ‘A’ grade for 11 simultaneous cycles (Leapfrog Group)
• Listed in America's Best-in-State Hospitals (Newsweek)
• Listed in Top Hospitals for Patient Experience (Becker’s Hospital Review)
• Hancock County 3rd healthiest county in Indiana for second year in a row (U.S. News & World Report)
• More physicians on Top Doctors list in central Indiana than any other independent hospital in state, and more than all but two of state’s major health systems (Indianapolis Monthly)

These accolades come with little surprise, especially after Hancock Health’s recent additions of cutting-edge medical technologies and treatments, and plans for more, including:

• Surgical robot
• Alzheimer's disease prevention
• Raised $2.3 million so far in capital campaign for new positron emission tomography (PET) imaging scanner (learn more about that equipment and campaign in the “Hancock Health's Future in Focus” episode of Hancock on the Horizon)
• Radiation therapy treatment for osteoarthritis

Long went on to underscore Hancock Health’s new robotic bronchoscopy services now able to be called upon to identify lung cancer earlier when another scanning service catches something potentially threatening in a patient’s lungs.

“It’s amazing the kind of technology that exists right here in Hancock County,” he said.

‘All in this together’

Also amazing were the Hancock County Chamber of Commerce’s focal points for 2025. Andy Isch of Greenfield-based Bradford Builders and President of the Hancock County Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors recalled the year’s monthly membership meetings and their speakers on meaningful topics, as well as special events like hosting a lunch and conversation with Indiana Gov. Mike Braun.

The Chamber helped cut 22 ribbons in 2025.

“That’s twenty-two moments where we celebrated entrepreneurship, expansion, and investment right here in Hancock County,” Isch said. “Businesses believe in Hancock County, and they believe in the value of connection, advocacy, and growth… All of this points to one clear message: Hancock County is active, engaged, and moving forward.”

That certainly leaves the county seat no stranger to those three characteristics. Titus, in the start of his third year as Greenfield’s mayor, looks forward to the mixed-use project coming downtown near Depot Street Park with 170 high-end apartments and a 350-space parking garage.

“We’re an aging community out here,” Titus said. “We need to bring some young people our way. My hope is these people are going to rent an apartment for a year or two, marry, and hopefully buy a home here in our community and stay and continue for this community to thrive in positive ways.”

He pointed to the land the City purchased on the west side of town near Labcorp–an attractive property elected leaders want to protect to help create a beneficial destiny for and may include a new police station.

A recent brownfield grant Greenfield received will help assist with securing brighter futures for potentially environmentally compromised properties, Titus also said.

As the executive officer of the City’s government, the state’s new tax-overhaul legislation weighs on him as well, especially with the challenges it poses for infrastructure improvements needed to accommodate all of the continuing growth. Titus and other local fellow local Republicans recently met with Gov. Braun, where the Mayor shared his concerns about the law and expressed hopefulness to the Thrive Center’s attendees that Indiana General Assembly members will determine ways to mitigate its impacts in the current legislative session.

Ongoing collaboration among City, County, economic development, business, and healthcare leaders will be imperative to weathering that storm.

“I continue to build relationships with these people that are here at this table with me in our county,” Titus said. “We’re all in this together.”

Part of that team is Hancock County Commissioner Jeannine Gray, also on the State of the Community stage.

“We delivered critical infrastructure, safety, and community investments while maintaining strong fund balances and leveraging state and federal grants,” she said of 2025.

For instance, grants covered 70% of Hancock County’s road improvements last year.

“That’s a saving to all of us as taxpayers,” Gray added.

Learn more about Hancock County infrastructure here.

The Commissioner emphasized other initiatives like bridge replacements and repairs, maintaining government buildings, and the ongoing programming at the Hancock County Jail helping inmates prepare to transition back into the community upon their release. And that’s not the County’s only effort in reducing recidivism and combatting the addiction often associated with it, as officials are approving funds for the Talitha Koum Women’s Recovery House and a future program providing further services for male inmates after they’re released from the county jail.

If 2025 was any indication, the State of the Community all across Hancock County will remain characterized by growth, collaboration, and strategy this year. The Hancock Economic Development Council is excited and honored to be a part of it.

Want to be a part of it too? Contact us at the HEDC.