Clifton
Greenwood’s new economic development chief hopes to build trust with businesses and residents, and bring growth from within.
Brandon Clifton, a long-time public servant and former senior director at a Carmel-based technology company, has been hired as Greenwood’s new economic development director. The position, which reports directly to the mayor, had been open for about three years. Clifton started on Aug. 7.
In the role, Clifton is expected to represent the city to current and future businesses, collaborate with economic development representatives on various levels, market the city and its programs, and lead public education and outreach campaigns. The taxpayer-funded position’s 2024 pay is budgeted for $101,903.
Clifton, an attorney, most recently worked as the senior director of customer success at the Mastek Group. Before that, he worked as a senior vice president of government affairs at Election Systems & Software, the Indiana Secretary of State’s Office as chief of staff and deputy secretary of state, the Indiana Department of Administration as a deputy general counsel and the Indiana Department of Education as a deputy general counsel.
During his time at the secretary of state’s office, he helped with the launch of INBiz, the agency’s self-described “one stop source” for businesses. The tool consolidated state resources, helping new businesses get properly registered and ensuring existing businesses stay up-to-date on their requirements.
“It’s an opportunity for us to share information or eliminate redundant and repetitive processes that that constituents, Hoosiers, business or individuals would later experience when they needed to file for a tax title or a gas tax or Workforce Development unemployment claims,” Clifton said.
Clifton also helped with election matters while at the secretary of state’s office. Eventually, he took a break from government work, joining Mastek in a business development capacity as a senior director, he said.
But he realized he didn’t want to be at the company long-term, so he reached out to people he knew, including Mayor Mark Myers, about any openings. The men had known each other for nearly 10 years, as Clifton had worked with Myers during work on the INBiz project, he said.
Myers suggested Clifton apply for Greenwood’s economic development position. So Clifton interviewed and later got the job.
“I’ve always been a fan of the mayor and the way he does business and the way that he engages in relationships with an element of authenticity,” Clifton said. “… I think we all have this skill. It’s a skill of compatibility, but I’ve always called it ‘the spark’. People either have it or they don’t. And I think my analysis as to whether that spark is present is certainly subjective, but Mayor Myers and everyone he has surrounded himself with shares that spark that I’m looking for and that I enjoy being around.”
The economic development director position had been deliberately left open because Myers was searching for the right person, he said. Clifton is that person, Myers said.
“He’s very knowledgeable, has a lot of connections throughout the entire state, and he’s just got that positive ‘go-getter’ attitude, and really is forward-thinking,” he said.
As the city has less and less land to develop, officials want to “do it right” and “do it smart,” Myers said. Clifton has some really good ideas about this approach, he said.
Since starting the job, Clifton has met with Aspire Johnson County officials and has reached out to city council members to be build trust — work that must continue into the future, he said.
“This is a business of trust and doing what you said you were going to do, and a business of, I like to minimize surprises, manage [down] to no surprises, and the way we do that is by communicating and being transparent,” Clifton said. “That’s not to say surprises won’t come. Surprises are going to come, but surprises don’t hurt as bad if there’s been an effort to be transparent and to communicate.”
These trust-building relationship efforts go beyond just government officials. It includes local businesses and residents too, Clifton said.
Last week, Clifton walked through Old Town to meet some of the business owners and residents, as well as to pass out his business cards. He plans to go to other parts of the city in the coming weeks to knock on doors and meet people. He wants to be a source of information, whether it’s related to economic development or not, he said.
“Just being an authentic liaison on behalf of the mayor and representing his vision with regard to development and relationships with our business and our residential community certainly is what I would call the foundation of the work to come,” Clifton said.
As for Clifton’s specific responsibilities, he says Myers and his staff had done a good job with “being aggressive” in identifying the right opportunities, developments and jobs for the community long-term. Clifton thinks the city is now in a position to be more “strategic and purposeful” about what projects developers bring to the city on their own and what the city is trying to attract.
The city is looking for the “right growth” for its future, Clifton said — though there is a caveat.
“Now, I want to put a caveat on the ‘right growth,’ because growth sometimes can cause a lot of pain for folks, and growth requires sensitivity as to where constituents and our stakeholders on the council and those in the county want to see the community go, where those constituents want to see the community grow, without, and this is a key point, without alienating our existing infrastructure: our existing business owners, small and large, and our existing multi-generational businesses,” Clifton said. “We have to find a way to complement those without compromising their opportunity.”
Existing businesses will be a key part of Greenwood’s future, as 80% of the future growth will come from businesses already established in the city, Clifton said. While ribbon cuttings and groundbreakings for new businesses are important and show an image the city wants to display, they are only a small part of the city’s future development, he said.
“Eighty percent of our future growth is going to come from those that are already here, not necessarily from those new openings and those ribbon-cutting type events. It’s remarkable,” Clifton said.
