RETAIL & HOSPITALITY

Gov. Braun marks completion of Kokomo Conference Center and adjoining Hilton Garden Inn, backed by $5M READI

On 2026-09-21, Gov. Mike Braun congratulated Kokomo on the completion of the $32.8 million Kokomo Conference Center and an adjoining five‑story Hilton Garden Inn; the project received $5 million from Indiana’s READI program, the Indiana Economic Development Corporation reported.

News BriefBy BusinessIndy News DeskCommentsPublished October 8, 2026 at 7:48 PM EDTLinked source published September 21, 2026 at 5:00 PM EDT.Living story · 2 sources

AI-generated illustration of the topic: Gov. Braun marks completion of Kokomo Conference Center and adjoining Hilton Garden Inn, backed by $5M READI — AI illustration · Not a photograph of the reported event.

The Kokomo Conference Center totals 55,000 square feet of meeting and event space across three floors and can host up to 1,000 guests. The project includes an adjoining five‑story Hilton Garden Inn with more than 100 guestrooms and amenities such as an indoor pool, fitness center, ergonomic workspaces, and a restaurant and lounge.

Developed through a partnership of the Greater Kokomo Alliance and Visitors Bureau, the city of Kokomo, Howard County and Indiana‑based SSG Hotels, the downtown Kokomo venue broke ground in 2024 and will be the new home of the Kokomo Automotive Heritage Museum. The project was supported with $5 million in READI 1.0 funding.

WHY IT MATTERS

The verified facts describe a new, larger capacity meeting venue paired with in‑town lodging: a 55,000‑square‑foot conference center able to host up to 1,000 guests plus a 100+ room hotel. That combination creates the physical capacity for Kokomo to host larger conferences, banquets and multi‑day events by providing both meeting space and nearby overnight rooms within downtown Kokomo.

Indiana’s READI (Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative) provided $5 million of support for the project; the program is a state economic development initiative used to back local infrastructure and amenity projects. The conference center also will house the Kokomo Automotive Heritage Museum, which positions a cultural attraction inside the new venue and may affect how the site is marketed to meeting planners and visitors.

What to watch next: local officials’ published event calendar and any timetable the museum provides for opening exhibits and visitor services, which will clarify when the center begins hosting large external groups and public programming.

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Linked source published September 21, 2026 at 5:00 PM EDT. A sourced news brief; no independent staff reporting is implied. Prepared with AI assistance from the linked research; material claims remain attributed in the article.

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