Born and raised in Ohio, Ty Warner moved with his family to Sarasota, Florida at the age of ten, where he remained until he followed his Midwestern roots to the Chicago area to attend college, and has remained in the area ever since.
After college, Warner worked for Will County as the planning director where he started to become more involved in regional issues. Soon after, he moved on to the NIPC, which later became CMAP. However, the opportunity to start a new regional council in Manhattan, Kansas presented itself, and Warner couldn’t pass up the opportunity, so he and his family moved to Kansas, where they remained until a few years ago when the previous Executive Director of the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission decided that it was time to retire and put Warner’s name in for the job. So Warner and his family moved back to the area.
“The time here has gone by so fast. It really incredible,” Warner said. “One of the biggest things I enjoy here is being able to be involved in casting a regional vision – being involved in looking out 20+ years and trying to position the region to be in a good place to meet that future.”
For the past two years, Warner has served as the Executive Director for the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission. The NIRPC is a regional council of local governments serving the citizens of Lake, Porter, and LaPorte counties in Northwest Indiana. The NIRPC provides a forum that allows the citizens of Northwest Indiana to address regional issues relating to transportation, the environment of the community, and economic development. There, Warner guides the whole operation of the agency. In addition to handling the executive direction of the staff, Warner also works closely with the commissioners to help them advance their goals throughout the region.
“Every day, I have the opportunity to work with such a wide variety of folks who are trying to do good things in Northwest Indiana,” Warner said. “It’s incredible to see how well the region is coming together when it comes to certain goals for the future. I have been really, pleasantly pleased at how well everyone is working together. You feel like you’re making a difference here, and I am very conscious of that and take that calling very seriously.”
In his spare time, Warner enjoys playing instruments, creating music, and playing for his family’s church in Wheaton, IL. He also enjoys spending as much time with his family as he can.