We welcome Jordan Helman as our guest on the podcast, to celebrate the official opening of High Bank Distillery Co.’s new Gahanna/New Albany (OH) location on 5/18/22!

Intentional is the word that comes to mind when referring to High Bank Distillery and its growth process in Columbus, and it also explains the core beliefs of two men whose friendship evolved and resulted in this successful distillery and restaurant. Jordan Helman and Adam Hines believe in purpose, and as the original founders of High Bank, they admit that every step of their journey has been well thought out and built on an uncompromised approach.

The High Bank story starts with Jordan and Adam’s friendship and joint business dealings between Adam’s business, States of Design, and Jordan’s business, Zest Juice Co. As they began talking about a combined, new business venture featuring whiskey, two new partners were added to the “founding fathers” – Calvin Jones and Jeff Ireland. The four founders were all Columbus residents and very familiar with the current offerings of the local beer and whiskey scene.

The founders were confident that there would be room for their new spirits in the market, so they dedicated their skills to designing a distillery and restaurant that would focus on each ingredient for each specialty that was served, whether alcohol or food. They believed this would set them apart and this intentional approach would end up leading to the inspiration for their name – High Bank!

According to their website, “When Ohio forged plans for the state capital, the area is known as Franklinton, was a primary consideration due to its close proximity to the water and pre-existing infrastructure. After much consideration, they concluded the risk of flooding was too great. On February 14th, 1812, the state legislature accepted plans to lay out the capital, now known as Columbus, on the High Bank, opposite Franklinton, at the fork of the Scioto and Olentangy rivers. We take the same uncompromised approach when selecting each ingredient to create every plate of food, crafted cocktail, and bottle of High Bank spirits.”

Much like the cautious planning of Columbus’ founding fathers, these gentlemen have been committed to slow, intentional and organic growth. Their ultimate goal is to do this while being devoted to community partnerships from purchasing local coffee to sourcing Amish produce. They are also proud to serve beer options from Columbus neighborhood breweries that additionally offer a circle of support that has continual returns – breweries are some of their best accounts to buy from and sell to.

With a business model that relies on the safety of the “High Bank” through thoughtful and purposeful actions, there is potential for growth and expansion, but again, with an intentional pace. The discovery process began in 2014, they opened the distillery/restaurant in 2018, and they are just this year expanding to a second location in Gahanna after a very successful original location in Grandview fulfilled their expectations. The Gahanna location is slated to open in May.

According to Jordan, “We have so much growth left in the state of Oho, and our goal is to become the most well-known distillery in the state and to put Ohio on the map from a distillery standpoint.” In 2021, they were voted home of the best-blended whiskey in America by the San Francisco World Spirits Corporation. The restaurant was also awarded the Best Creative Cocktails in Columbus by 614 Columbest for three years running. With product in 180 of Ohio’s 480 liquor stores, they feel that some of their recent awards will spur continued growth including brand recognition.

We welcome former Ohio State University Buckeye basketball great, radio sports broadcaster, and entrepreneur Ron Stokes.

Ron talks a bit about what it was like to be a part of OSU basketball during his time on the team.

So when you go there to play basketball, you’re definitely going to be looked at and watched. Every day you’re on TV, you’re on the radio. And so you have to make sure that you’re taking care of your business, right? Make sure that you’re doing what you need to do as a student-athlete. And you don’t want to do anything to embarrass mom and dad back home. So you had to really make sure that you’re doing the right thing.

Heartland Bank, with the help of Ron, jumped on the NCAA’s commitment to allow name, image, and likeness opportunities for student-athletes. As Ron states…

I’m excited that there’s a number of athletes who are taking advantage of that all over the country and specifically Ohio State (University). Everybody wins in that if it’s done the right way.

As a student-athlete, Ron was lucky to find a very effective mentor. He talks about how that helped him to become an entrepreneur and why he is doing the things he’s doing today.

Doug Simson, from First City Bank, gave me some guidance in terms of what I needed to do and my development not only as an athlete but as a person. This set the foundation for what I’m doing today. Because as a business owner, a great banking relationship is one of the most important things you need as you grow as a business.

2022 will be Ron’s 25th anniversary as an Ohio State University Basketball on-air radio analyst. He learned early on as a student-athlete that you’re going to have to talk to the media. So it comes naturally for him to “talk and articulate my thoughts.” After he graduated from Ohio State, the station (WBNS Radio) called him and asked him to do some interviews from time to time. That led to pre and post-game positions. And then ultimately they offer him the position to be the analyst. He took it and “I haven’t looked back.”

Ron is the President & CEO of Three Leafs Production, Inc., and Vice President of Operations at LARS, LLC. He’s proud to have his family intertwined in the business.

We had what we call family board meetings, where we would sit down at a table and have real discussions about life and supporting each other and whatever. And so once we were looking at creating LARS, we sat down with the kids and asked would you like to be a part of this? And they all said yes, and that’s how it all started. So we have regular board meetings with that company. And they are actively involved with the decision-making. And it’s really exciting.

What are some of the headwinds that you’re facing in your business within Three Leaf Productions and LARS?

You have to evolve your business to make sure that you’re still relative. And then you can bring value propositions to your client. So I think the biggest challenge in any business, and especially ours, is that we got to continue to evolve, continue to find ways to help our clients, understand our customers, and make sure that we’re bringing value to them.

What would you say to people out there who are early in their career that maybe don’t have a mentor?

Try to get around people that have the same goals in terms of wanting to be successful....

We were fortunate to speak with LPL Financial’s Ryan Detrick just prior to his annual Economic Forecast & 2022 Outlook Luncheon, presented by Heartland Bank. This year he spoke at a luncheon in The Exchange in Bridge Park.

Ryan talks about his career journey, moving from accounting to finance, and from Western & Southern Financial Group right out of college, then to various companies to now LPL Financial. What did he learn about himself?

Just have faith in yourself. You know, at the end of the day, who’s going to believe in you yourself, right? And I’ve always just kind of had this attitude that if I do what I should do, if I treat people the right way, if I, if I go through life and enjoy what I’m doing, it’s all going to work out.

As a whole, the United States’ net wealth is healthy…

The truth is net wealth in our country is at an all time high of nearly one hundred and fifty trillion dollars. A lot of that is because our houses are all worth twenty, twenty five percent more than they were just 18 months ago.

Even though we are seeing some great news in the financial world, keep doing the right things with your investment portfolio…

The time to prepare for the storm is not during the eye of the storm. It’s before the storm comes right and markets are volatile. Economy can be volatile, so get those plans in place because again, it’s the way we’re wired. We make bad decisions at the worst possible time. It’s just the way our brains are wired. So to have a plan in place.

If you watch financial channels like CNBC or Fox Business Network, you’ve probably seen Ryan on camera quite a bit. He talks about his experiences with prepping for interviews, and how professional the hosts are.

Ryan reflects on how technology, specifically Twitter, is a product of how he built his career. And how it can be positive and negative at the same time.

Now you have to leverage technology and it’s a wonderful. I joke my last three jobs I got because of Twitter, and it’s kind of true. I mean, it’s all on there. I mean, there’s my resume, you know, LinkedIn and Twitter as my resume.

Thanks to Ryan we get a good picture of what to expect this year. He is always a good advocate for investors, Heartland Planning Associates, and Heartland Bank.

And check out LPL Financial’s Market Signals Podcast featuring Ryan –

The Driving the Cbus podcast co-hosts, Scott McComb, CEO of Heartland Bank, and Kailyn Bucklew (McComb), a third-generation community banker, offer two different perspectives as they sit down and get real with local business owners. From well-established companies to startups, small businesses are the heart and soul of Columbus. Tune in to find out how it all began, what keeps them up at night – the current struggles they face, and what successes they are most proud of with some entertaining stories along the way.

Disclaimer:

The opinions voiced in this show (program) are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual. To determine which investment(s) may be appropriate for you, consult with your attorney, accountant, and financial...