Tim Gropp
McCORDSVILLE — Tim Gropp may be new to McCordsville, but he’s no stranger to working amid the kind of growth the town is experiencing.
He’s bringing his background in economic development and working for municipalities when he starts as McCordsville’s new town manager next month.
Gropp has been economic development director for the town of Speedway for nearly five years. Before that, he worked in economic development for the city of Fishers.
He said the McCordsville town manager opening offered an opportunity that played to his strengths in a location much closer to where he and his family live in Fishers.
“In economic development, you work with all the (municipal) department heads,” Gropp said. “You’re not necessarily over all the departments, but I really enjoy the interaction with the staff. I really enjoy working on the whole picture, versus just a portion of the picture.”
Another attraction to the job is McCordsville’s growth, which he described as similar to the kind Fishers was experiencing when he arrived there in 2011.
“It was really growth management more than anything, and McCordsville has so much opportunity and so much room to grow,” he said.
McCordsville had 437 new single-family home permits in 2021, up from 240 the year before. Also in 2021, the town approved zoning for six new subdivisions totaling more than 1,500 units. The town’s population has grown from 1,132 in 2000 to an estimated 10,113 in 2021. Officials also recently established zoning for a future town center, which is slated to start with the development of two four-story, mixed-use apartment buildings.
“I think it’s definitely a necessary component of establishing an identity for McCordsville,” Gropp said of the town center project, envisioned of commercial and residential uses along with outdoor amenities on over 100 acres east of Mt. Comfort Road, north of County Road 750N and south of Broadway and State Road 234. “I think it’s also going to diversify the tax base, which is something McCordsville really needs. I think the plan they laid out is really good, and I think they’ll have no problem executing on it. I think it’ll add new restaurants, new shops and a density that’s needed out there. It’s a big area that’s growing, and to create a dense core out there is an important factor in every community and a new reason to attract people to come over to McCordsville as well.”
Gropp has worked on two projects in Speedway with Fishers-based Rebar Development, the firm kicking off McCordsville’s town center development. One is Founders Square, a 25-acre commercial gateway district, while the other is 1300 Block, a multi-use development. He also briefly worked with McCordsville assistant town manager of planning and building Ryan Crum when both were employed by the city of Fishers.
Gropp has been in communication with town staff and has started reading the town’s comprehensive plan and economic development strategy.
“I want to hit the ground running and get right into it,” he said. “I’m excited to be part of the community. I hope the citizens realize I’m a person that jumps in feet first, and I’m going to work really hard for the community, and I’m a very dedicated employee. I’m excited to serve the people of McCordsville and get to know Hancock County better.”
McCordsville Town Council’s decision to offer the town manager job to Gropp was unanimous.
Greg Brewer, a McCordsville Town Council member, said the opening drew close to 80 applicants, fewer than half of whom were considered quality candidates. A selection committee whittled the pool down to 11 then five who interviewed before the full council.
Brewer said Gropp’s strengths as a candidate came from his background in the revitalization of downtown Speedway and the economic development experience he has.
“We thought that kind of leadership would be conducive to what we’re trying to do with town center,” Brewer said.
Larry Longman, a town council member, said he supported the hiring of Gropp because of his long track record of working for municipalities, primarily in economic development roles.
“Which is one of our challenges right now — trying to figure out how to finance and create cost structures that work for towns that are challenged fiscally, yet posed with large developments and developers that want to come here,” Longman said.
The town council is slated to vote later this month on an amendment to the town’s salary ordinance establishing an annual base salary for Gropp of $95,000.
Gropp starts in his new role on Monday, April 4, succeeding Tonya Galbraith, who’s retiring on Friday, April 1 after 17 years as McCordsville town manager.
“I think he’s going to be great for what the town needs right now,” Brewer said. “Obviously, it’s going to be extremely difficult to replace the longevity and leadership that Tonya has provided us for all these years. But our situation is changing. So does our leadership.”
Longman agreed.
“It was an amazing relationship I think on both sides,” Longman said. “Not only gainful employment for her, work she enjoyed, and in the same notion — town council — we enjoyed the things that she brought and the skill sets, and she did an incredible job with a town that was very early in its growth pattern and guided us through some of the early struggles that we had just to manage the population growth.”
