Could a 100 year old Opera House in rural Indiana become a mecca for tech & culture? Welcome to “CamdenCastle.”

My small town of Camden, Indiana doesn’t even have a stoplight. Some residents still drive horse-powered buggies. But that’s not an impediment to our plans to make this north central Indiana community the technology & cultural capital of rural America — one where our kids and families have equitable access to 21st Century opportunity while simultaneously developing the infrastructure that recruits global innovators to provide our youth with internships — all while helping to develop game-changing intellectual property that spans aerospace, ag-tech and robotics (aka hard-tech).

Seems far-fetched right? Over the past five years my team of horse and buggy raised carpenters and I have worked through freezing cold winters and blazing hot summers to salvage the 115-year-old Camden Opera House.

A photograph of “CamdenCastle” with scaffolding during restoration of the brick — the Opera House in Camden, Indiana that I am converting into rural America’s largest (and hopefully most impactful) technology and cultural hub.

We have decided to call this nearly 20,000 square foot building “CamdenCastle”- since it is the largest and most architecturally pleasing building in my small village. It even features a grand ballroom which we plan on fully restoring with period appropriate materials.

I was inspired to name this our town’s “castle” after visiting my friends Illeana and William Lobkowicz in the Czech Republic. Their family comes from a long line of Czech nobility which made it possible for their father to reclaim the family’s castles via restitution after the Cold War. The Lobkowicz Family has transformed their family’s historical castles into art museums and event venues.

Although much smaller in size than an actual castle, it’s still been a lot of work (and money), but the building’s rehabilitation has provided more than 20 part-time jobs whilst simultaneously injecting several hundred thousand dollars into the local economy. This hard work is being done with the intent to bring the world (literally) to the doorsteps of Camden’s residents. “CamdenCastle” will serve as that venue — think of it as a basketball gym for technology and innovation.

To accomplish this, I’ve traversed the globe from Prague to Paris and Stockholm to San Francisco, building relationships with innovators, government leaders and social media influencers who have rallied behind my vision as we work to deliver meaningful change for the 593 residents of Camden. My friends have visited us, too (so far from around 15 countries) to snap a photograph and to meet some of our community members.

Living in a small rural town, one of my most passionate goals with “CamdenCastle” is to create opportunities to bring entrepreneurs to share their journey with my community. In this photo, we welcomed visitors from many African nations who were participating in the Mandela Washington Fellowship Program!

In addition to my sweat equity and personal donations, I’ve committed funds to help subsidize the fiber optic cable and data services needed to increase Internet connectivity for organizations like the Camden American Legion post, senior citizen apartments, the fire station and community center. Building infrastructure such as fiber and wireless network technology is hard, but it should providing lasting utility for many decades into the future.

Most families in Camden can’t afford a state-of-the-art computer, but their kids would love to create content for YouTube, code new apps, and learn about hardware design. With the fusion of technology and mentors, the Opera House would provide a vibrant space for learning and opportunity.

Friends from all over the world have already stepped up to help me with this project.

Aerospace startup Viima (based in Finland) is planning to launch its 3-D printed drone in Camden and to work with local students. Viima will be donating an advanced 3-D printer so that Carroll County students can use the restored Opera House computer lab to gain first hand experience with aerospace engineering.

Finland based Viima Aerospace will become one of the first global companies that comes to “CamdenCastle.” They develop 3D printed drones.

“What Neil is doing in Camden is just the sort of community we are looking for, creating new technology and sharing knowledge. We are really glad to be a small part of this initiative,” said Viima Co-founder and CEO Ilpo Hämäläinen.

Robotics company Helgen ( based in Ireland and Mexico) which automates shipping ports and develops autonomous machines will be teaching workshops on robotics and digital twin technology at the restored Opera House.

Zayo, one of the worlds largest fiber optic network with over 16 million miles of cable, has provided us with a 10 gigabit internet connection so bandwidth won’t be a constraint.

The first thing we did was to install a robust 10 gigabit fiber optic connection so that “CamdenCastle” could connect the local library and community center to blazing fast internet.

That robust fiber connection is huge for the Camden-Jackson Township Public Library — the smallest library in our area with the 10th smallest budget of the 257 libraries in Indiana.

“There’s very little wiggle room when it comes to programming and community outreach projects,” said Librarian Caitlyn Baird. “To think that such a small, rural community would have such innovative tech is simply unheard of, but with the tech coming to town, we hope it’ll draw more people to visit and utilize our library as more of an asset and to put Camden on the map, as they say.”

Among additional services she plans are educational workshops with speakers from Sweden and Africa.

The Camden-Jackson Township Library is a small rural library that receives a direct internet connection to “CamdenCastle.” This fast and reliable internet connection has already resulted in tremendous impact for students and families.

“This will give local kids and adults, as well, the ability to access the Internet in a way they never had before, and hopefully will create more opportunity for our community as a whole,” She said.

Caitlyn and her family moved to Camden about seven years ago and were charmed by our small town life. Their only complaint? The spotty internet availability.

Finally, Don Wettrick and his team of the StartEdUp Foundation will be able to host entrepreneurship workshops at the Camden Community Center. The StarEdUp Foundation launched in 2018 in Nobelesville with one teacher inspiring students to view the world differently. It’s now statewide and has worked with more than 600 students engaged in community involvement, civic engagement and ecosystem expansion projects.

“CamdenCastle” has already resulted in more than 20 part time jobs for members of the local community.

As you can probably tell, this project is insanely personal to me. I had to drive an hour to upload my first YouTube video which ended up getting 2 million views. My own story reminds me of the many young people from rural Indiana towns like Camden who might never realize their full potential without the right mix of infrastructure and resources. However, it now goes much deeper for me than even that.

Over the past several years as I’ve worked on restoring the Opera House, countless families from Camden have stopped by to say hello and introduce themselves. Many of them have brought me a delicious homemade meal late at night or poured me a glass of ice cold lemonade on a scorching hot day. What I’ve realized is that this project truly has the potential to transform lives while simultaneously showing all of America on how we can unite people from rural and urban communities around technology, innovation and culture.