Mayor Keegan Schmicker said the City of Tipton spent 2025 building a stronger leadership team and laying new foundations for planning and economic growth. "For the city of Tipton, just making sure we had the right people in the right places," Schmicker said, describing hires and an intentional approach to staffing.

The mayor said the administration intends to add a director of special projects — a flexible role he described as a "Swiss army knife" who will help shepherd redevelopment, economic development, housing and quality-of-life initiatives from start to finish. Schmicker said the role is sized to the city's small-staff reality: "This person really needs to be a Swiss army knife to be able to plug in to a variety of projects."

Schmicker described the new city planning department as a response to an assessment that found Tipton's building standards and zoning practices were "dated" and sometimes "vague, ambiguous, confusing." He said the goal is clearer, modernized standards while continuing to coordinate with the county planning office for matters that overlap.

Arts and placemaking featured in the mayor's account of 2025 work. Schmicker said the Tipton Arts Commission applied for a grant to bring a visiting artist, worked with the public library and planned gateway signage and creative screening for vacant downtown buildings. "There's gonna be a lot of creative investments in art that help celebrate what Tipton is currently," he said.

On economic development, Schmicker said staff reoriented outreach to prioritize retaining and expanding existing employers and to target agricultural-industry prospects for the industrial park. He also described efforts to encourage conversion of downtown second-story vacancies to residential uses to increase foot traffic and support local businesses.

The mayor framed these moves as preparatory: the administration wants a stable internal team and clearer rules so Tipton can manage expected growth without losing the community's character. He said some development prospects are confidential but that a few may receive approvals early in 2026. "We're just trying to be very careful to honor the confidentiality of the prospects at the same time not oversetting expectations," Schmicker said.

The city posted the Arts Commission's strategic plan online, the mayor added, and the podcast hosts said they will do a future episode focused specifically on the new planning department and what residents should expect.