A La Porte County Life in the Spotlight: Kyle Nelson

Kyle Nelson is highly involved on many fronts in the La Porte community. He works at a local brewing company, serves as bingo host for community bingo, and is running for county commissioner.

“I was born in Chicago and moved to Northwest Indiana when I was about a month old,” Nelson said. “I’ve been here since. I’ve been in Northwest Indiana for 38 years.”

Nelson has a longtime passion for craft beer and always highly respected Burn ‘Em Brewing for both its atmosphere and its beer. He had a goal to work for Burn ‘Em Brewing and, after plenty of hard work, secured a role with the brewery. He has now been a manager for over three years. His role focuses on relationship building, but he is also responsible for some marketing aspects as well. Nelson’s college background in marketing helps to support this aspect of the job.

“Before starting at Burn ‘Em Brewing, I would help different micro breweries at beer festivals,” he said. “I realized after working with the micro breweries that I really loved the craft beer industry. Plus, I’m not really a desk guy, so working on my feet with a brewery seemed fitting.”

After coming to this realization, Nelson started working part-time at another local brewery. Eventually that brewery hired him full-time.

“That’s when I saw that Burn ‘Em Brewing was hiring,” he said. “Since working for Burn ‘Em Brewing had always been a dream of mine, I applied and soon found out that I got the role.”

Nelson’s wife also really enjoys craft beers. She is originally from the area as well.

“She loves craft beers,” said Nelson. “I tend to lean more towards the hoppy styles, and she tends to go for more of the fruity and sours, so we make a good pair.”

Nelson has found himself in politics, running for Porter County Commissioner. With a marketing background, Nelson finds this to support his credibility in politics, particularly as he navigates messaging and general campaign management. He is overseeing pretty much all aspects of his campaign, including fundraising.

“In addition to craft beer, I found I really had an interest in politics,” Nelson said. “I finally decided to get off the sidelines and hop into it on the local level.”

In his free time, Nelson is a Chicago White Sox fan and very into sports in general. He and his wife play Dungeons & Dragons with friends and attend trivia night as well.

“We’re a bit of a nerdy bunch that way.” Nelson said.

Nelson certainly has a lot of interests. His interests are positively impacting the community each uniquely and in their own way. Swing by Burn ‘Em Brewing to say hi to Nelson the next time you’re in Michigan City!