Local experts forecast what's to come in 2026.
The Lima Rotary Club marked Groundhog Day with a “forecast” panel discussion featuring Andy Farley, Senior Vice President at State Bank and Trust; Dave Stratton, President of Greater Lima Region; Adam Musyt, Chief Meteorologist at Your Hometown Stations; and Allen County OSU Extension Educator Garth McDorman, hosted by Fair Manager Troy Elwer. Stratton told us that Allen County's economic development prospects are looking good. "We have a tremendous amount of growth. All you have to do is recognize that there's projects like the $1.5 billion investment going on the north side in American Township with the data center. You have Amazon now on the south side. You have Target. We have name brand companies that are considering Lima/Allen County and that's exciting for us." McDorman said that the agriculture industry is facing uncertainties with "narrowing profit margins on our farm, uncontrollables such as trade exports and tariffs, and also with farmland preservation, and of course, weather as well." Farley stated that in the banking industry, everyone is talking about rates. "Rates are really pretty decent right now. We're at 5.875% for a 30 year mortgage. That's pretty good in just about anybody's book. The 3 years that we had the 3% mortgages was an anomaly. Don't expect it to happen again in your lifetimes." Musyt told us that we can expect changes in the weather in the coming year. "With a La Niña pattern that we're in, we typically get colder than average temperatures and limited precipitation. In the next few months, we're looking at a switch from La Niña to the El Niño pattern. We're looking for temperatures that are going to be closer to seasonal average. We're looking for precipitation that is going to be above seasonal average which is good news because we could use, 4, 5, 6 inches of rain."
Also at Monday's meeting, we inducted two new members: Zach Simon, Branch Manager at First National Bank of Pandora and Stephanie Williams, Head of School at Lima Central Catholic. Please make them welcome!
Troy Elwer reported that the Lima Rotary Foundation met that morning and awarded four grants: $500 to the Allen County Educational Service Center speech therapy program, $2,500 to the Allen Lima Youth Leadership program, $2,500 to sponsor the 2026 Lima New Spelling Bee, and $2,000 to Lima Festivals & Amphitheater Alliance to fund Park After Dark movie nights at the amphitheater.
