ABOUT THE TEAM

The founder and principal of The Wheatley Group is Paul Wheatley, a recognized leader in the economic development profession.  With more than 15 years’ experience in municipal government, public finance, and project management roles, Paul provides the leadership and knowledge required to execute strategic initiatives that promote economic growth.

Paul has extensive economic development and public finance background from serving in marketing and development positions at River Ridge Commerce Center, One Southern Indiana, and the Cities of Jeffersonville and New Albany.  Along with his business development and attraction duties, his responsibilities also included managing the tax increment finance (TIF) district as well as the enterprise zones at River Ridge Commerce Center and City of Jeffersonville.  In addition to his role at TWG, Paul serves as a board member at New Hope Services, Inc., as well as The New Washington State Bank.

He holds a Public Affairs degree from Indiana University and has an Economic Development Finance Professional (EDFP) certificate from the National Development Council.  He graduated from Bellarmine University with an MBA in May of 2015.

Joining the team in 2016, Nick Lawrence has an active leadership and management role with all client engagements and economic development initiatives. Nick assists clients in strategic planning and project development activities and provides professional and technical expertise on project financing and structuring.

He began his career as an economic development professional in 2007 as a member of the economic development team at One Southern Indiana Chamber of Commerce. In his time at 1si, Nick acted in both BRE and New Business Attraction capacities, participating as both a panel speaker and guest author on best practices. In 2013 he was named Redevelopment Director for the Town of Clarksville, directing strategic redevelopment activities and managing capital infrastructure improvements.

Since joining The Wheatley Group, Nick has played a critical “hands-on” role advising LEDOs, developing strategy and action plans, performing project impact analyses, negotiating incentives and tax credits and structuring project financing for both public and private sector clients. In addition to his numerous professional accomplishments, Nick holds a BSBA and MBA from the University of Louisville.

Jill Saegesser joined The Wheatley Group in 2019. She is the former Executive Director of River Hills Economic Development District and Regional Planning Commission (River Hills), which serves the local units of government within the Clark, Floyd, Harrison, Scott and Washington Counties in southern Indiana. She began at River Hills in 1994 where she worked on community development projects, particularly those funded with federal and state grant funds. She has directly managed over 170 grant projects, with oversight of an additional 106. These 273 grant projects constituted over $132 million in federal and state grants and loans. Jill has extensive knowledge of federal and state compliance, has been a Certified Grant Administrator recognized by the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs since 1994, and has been asked to serve various organizations to assist with economic recovery related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

She is currently a member of the Board of Directors at First Harrison Bank and the Homeless Coalition of Southern Indiana.  Additionally, she is a former Board member of the National Association of Development Organizations representing Indiana. Jill received her BS degree in Public Financial Management from the Indiana University’s Paul H. O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs in 1993.

Dylan Fisher joined The Wheatley Group in 2020 following four years with the Town of Clarksville serving as their redevelopment director. In 2015, he obtained a Bachelor of Science in Urban Planning and Regional Development, with a concentration in Real Estate Development, from Ball State University.

While with the Town of Clarksville, Mr. Fisher implemented the community’s redevelopment initiatives while managing and directing their annual $8.5 million TIF and $2 million EDIT budgets. His regular duties included planning and managing capital improvement projects, negotiating public-private-partnerships, assembling and entitling land for large scale redevelopment projects, and improving community relations. He credits his design and community development-based education for his ability to identify and extract creative redevelopment and economic development solutions.

Dylan has managed over $45 million in capital improvement projects, ranging in complexity from adding missing sidewalk sections to building new municipal facilities. He has negotiated local public incentive packages to leverage over $100 million of new construction in the hospitality, retail, and multifamily residential sectors. He successfully negotiated purchase contracts and administered the acquisition due diligence process for over 120 acres of developable land in multiple brownfield/infill redevelopment project areas. His real estate experience includes negotiating with CSX Railroad and Marathon Petroleum Company.

Evan Shive joined the team in 2020 following completion of his MBA, with a concentration in Data Analytics at Bellarmine University. This was preceded in 2019 by Evan attaining his degree in Economics at Bellarmine as well.
Evan has previously with at Greater Louisville Inc. on their Economic Development Team during his final years at school. Evan brings skills in analytics, economics, modeling, and research to the team. Evan supports backend development on many projects for both public and private clients.

Jacob Arbital joined The Wheatley Group in 2022 following almost seven years with the Town of Clarksville’s Planning and Zoning Department including four years as the Director of the department. In 2017, he graduated from the University of Louisville with his Master’s of Urban Planning specializing in spatial analysis. Jacob comes to the Wheatley Group with almost 10 years in local municipal government in both Kentucky and Indiana where he focused on local tax assessment, community growth and development, real estate development, long-range planning, land entitlements, as well as GIS (Geographic Information System) management.

While serving as Planning Director for the Town of Clarksville Jacob oversaw the entitlement process for numerous residential, commercial, industrial, and mixed-use developments and redevelopments totaling more than $250 million in investment. In addition to working with private landowners and development professionals, Jacob also led Town officials in establishing long-term policies and regulations that will shape the trajectory of the community for the next 20-40 years. Through these experiences, Jacob has built a robust understanding of the various aspects of the land entitlement process, which he relies on when advising both public and private clients.

In addition to real estate development, Jacob also brings significant experience in spatial analysis and mapping, which he uses to support and enhance the various services provided by The Wheatley Group including data-driven decision-making and site selection.

Amy Wheatley joined The Wheatley Group full time since early 2019, but has been with the company in various capacities since its inception. As Director of Operations, Amy oversees billing, accounts payable, accounts receivable and manages daily office operations. Amy was a full-time hairstylist for 22 years before retiring from the profession – owning a multiservice salon for 11 of those years. Amy attended Indiana University Southeast and earned her Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration from Spalding University in 2008.