Nate Scherer talks with Dr. Larry Allen and Fran Allen during Scherer’s campaign launch Tuesday, March 26, at The Owl’s Nest.

By Deb Patterson
InkFreeNews

NORTH WEBSTER — “Nate is a Christian He’s conservative and he’s a businessman. Those are the three boxes I like to see checked.”

Those were the words Kosciusko County Commissioner Brad Jackson said in introducing Nate Scherer, candidate for county commissioner – northern district on Tuesday evening, March 19. Jackson who has spent 28 years as a county commissioner, will be stepping down.

A launch event for Scherer’s campaign kicked off Tuesday, March 26, at The Owl’s Nest, North Webster.

Jackson’s introduction of Scherer was heard by a room full of people from all over the county.

Scherer stated the reason he is doing this is simple. It is for his four kids — Preston, Carson, Parker and Elin. “I just can’t sit on the sidelines and watch some of the things that are happening in our world that will potentially affect my kids in the long term and say ‘I wish I could have done more.’ So at this point in my life I’ve really taken the opportunity to try to serve others and impact as much as I can.”

He talked about what is important to him — family, community and opportunity.

Nate Scherer launched his campaign for county commissioner – northern district Tuesday, March 26, at The Owl’s Nest.

“Family is something no matter where you come from, you have a family … It’s important to have good support systems around you and life happens as we all know. … that’s where community comes. We’ve got to build communities around us. … so many different forms of community. Each community in this county has it’s own little culture.

“When I talk about opportunity, which I will … I don’t want any town to lose their identity or their culture. But what is important to me, we get back to our downtowns and our small towns being as strong as they were 20, 30 and 40 years ago. The world has changed quite a bit … and some of those things may never come back, but there’s plenty new horizons and new opportunities that are not even known today that we’ve got to be prepared for.”

As director of innovation at Patrick Industries, he noted being exposed to different innovation environments that he feels are great challenges to society and the county, but also great opportunities. “We need to be very aware of what that impact would look like and be prepared for it.”

Housing needs were also noted by Scherer and the need to look into how to make affordable housing. Proper land use was also noted. “We need to make sure we’re taking care of the ground that we do have so that we’re not taking away from agriculture.

“We have three main industry in this area — advanced manufacturing, agriculture and biomedical. … all need the same thing: good housing, a good workforce and all need security for their data and analytics. … Working together we can accomplish great things.”

On a personal level, Scherer noted he graduated from Purdue University. He started his own business at the age of 24 in 2004 building boat parts for Rinker Boat Company, later selling to Patrick Industries.

He has served on the Syracuse Town Council for little over a year. “It’s been a privilege and an honor and this is a whole other level. I’m totally humbled for the experience and thankful for Brad for encouraging me to do this.”

During Jackson’s introduction of Scherer, he noted with Scherer “we know we’re going to get honest representation. We’re getting somebody that represents our values and also as a conservative he will uphold the constitution and fight for our freedom and our personal liberties … He’s also a businessman. He understands what it take to get things done, and really being a commissioner is really like being a CEO of a company. It takes somebody with vision, leadership and drive. Nate possesses all those characteristics … unique that he’s young and has the experience and has the time, you don’t find that in a person very often.”

The event was hosted by Brad and Lynnette Jackson.

Nate Scherer greets Dan Smith during his campaign launch Tuesday, March 26.