South Bend Times

Congressman Rudy Yakym concluded his “One Big Beautiful Hoosier Tour” with a visit to the Boys and Girls Club in Nappanee, Indiana. The tour took place throughout August and included stops in all 11 counties of Indiana’s Second District. During these visits, Yakym met with constituents and local businesses to discuss the effects of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

“This tour has shown me once again that the strength of Indiana lies in its people, our farmers, our workers, and our small business owners,” Rep. Yakym said. “The One Big Beautiful Bill was written for them, and because of them. Together, we are proving that when Hoosiers keep more of what they earn, there’s no limit to what we can achieve.”

Yakym began his first week by touring companies such as The New York Blower Company in La Porte and Camping World in Elkhart. He highlighted provisions from the bill supporting manufacturing growth and tax parity for travel trailers and campers. In South Bend, he attended a ribbon cutting at Notre Dame’s new Wideband Test Facility and participated in roundtables focused on economic opportunities created by the legislation.

Further stops included discussions about bonus depreciation at Nello Corporation, domestic investment at B&B Manufacturing, overtime tax policy at Bailey’s Discount Center in North Judson, regulatory relief at Crossroads Seamless (Plymouth Tube) in Winamac, and innovation support at BraunAbility.

In the second week, Yakym had breakfast with Rochester Mayor Trent O’Dell to talk about tax cuts provided by the bill—such as a 14.9% reduction for Americans earning under $50,000—and met with various manufacturers like Machined Castings Specialties in Rochester and Zimmer Biomet in Warsaw to discuss research credits. Other events covered community development efforts through tax credits for housing projects in Culver and agricultural policy discussions with members of the Indiana Farm Bureau.

He also visited Allie’s Café to talk about tip taxation changes affecting restaurant workers; Growing Kids Learning Center regarding expanded child care credits; Ferret LLC for small business impacts; discussed drug enforcement funding for border security; dedicated a road to former Congresswoman Jackie Walorski; spoke on education savings plans outside Bethel University; among other stops.

The third week included visits to Polywood outdoor furniture manufacturer in Kosciusko County; a Manufactured Housing Summit in Elkhart; advanced manufacturing facilities such as MPI (Small Parts Inc.) in Logansport; medical innovation company Spectron RX; Fratco drainage solutions firm; Hensler’s Nursery regarding estate taxes on family businesses; Lochmandy Motors about automobile loan interest tax elimination; Garwood Orchards concerning pro-growth agriculture policies; EFP advanced manufacturing operations; Genesis Wood Products on reducing regulations.

Week four featured agricultural shop talks at Hizer Farms emphasizing equipment deduction expansions and estate tax relief for family farms. He honored Creighton Brothers’ century-long egg production legacy and recognized LeMaster Steel Erectors’ 50th anniversary during visits across North Manchester, Peru City Hall (for small business roundtables), Global Building Products, Slate Auto's new plant preview event promising job creation for the region, before concluding at Nappanee Boys and Girls Club where he reaffirmed support for youth programs.

Rudy Yakym has represented Indiana's 2nd District since 2022 (https://yakym.house.gov/about). He is 39 years old and resides in Granger. He graduated from Indiana University South Bend with associate's (2009) and bachelor's degrees (2011).