South Bend, IN: Resident Builds Businesses Around Chocolate and Dinosaurs
In the world of confections, the South Bend Chocolate Co. has made quite a name for itself. The brand boasts 400-plus products that are sold nationwide. In South Bend, you can visit its 58,000-square-foot factory and museum. But while the South Bend, IN, business’ presence is large, founder Mark Tarner comes from humble beginnings.
“I was born in Warsaw, IN, and moved to Leesburg, IN, where my father opened a small grocery store,” Tarner says. “We lived upstairs above the store. My first real memories are in Leesburg and being part of my family’s business. In my mind, I’m still an entrepreneurial boy who grew up in small-town America.”
Tarner’s family moved to South Bend, IN, in the ’70s, and it’s there that Tarner eventually built a business and family.
Starting South Bend Chocolate Co. in South Bend, IN
Tarner grew up in South Bend, attended Clay High School and went to college on a scholarship at Eastern Illinois University. After college, he returned to South Bend, IN, to help his dad run his candy business called Sugar & Spice.
It was around that time that Tarner started producing three candies under a licensing agreement with the University of Notre Dame – the Domer, the Rockne and Nuts for ND.
Mark Tarner
“I developed a brand (South Bend Chocolate Co.) around those products, and we still make them today,” Tarner says.
Around that time, he still worked with his dad in South Bend, IN, while developing his business, then eventually broke off to focus solely on South Bend Chocolate Co.
“We stored all of our packaging in our garage at home,” Tarner says. “We packed some of it in our house. I eventually had to build a factory. The early days were hard. Everyone has this vision, and they have to test it out. I think I’m 90% fool, 9% entrepreneur and 1% businessman.”
But it all paid off in the end. Today, the South Bend Chocolate Co. manufactures 400 different products, has about 400 employees and does business coast to coast.
“I have been part of South Bend’s revitalization by making a key investment early on in our city’s center,” Tarner says. “I’ve moved my factory onto a 100-acre site and am, in many ways, leading South Bend into a new century of growth and prosperity.”
Launching Additional Businesses in the South Bend, IN, Region
Tarner is also a restaurateur. He owns The Public House restaurant group, which has two locations in South Bend and one in Mishawaka. The restaurants are known for their famous upside-down burgers.
Tarner’s most surprising and unique business venture to date, though, is the Indiana Dinosaur Museum in South Bend, IN, which he opened in 2024 with his wife, Julie, to showcase their private collection.
“Sometime around the year 2000, a University of Notre Dame professor invited my two oldest kids and me out to visit a site where he was digging up a T. rex,” Tarner says. “On the way back, my daughter said she wanted to dig up a dinosaur. She was probably around 8 at the time. I said, ‘Well, let’s do it.’ I got interested in fossils with her, then she, of course, got interested in boys and forgot that she liked rocks.”
But the interest stuck with Tarner, who studied history in college. He eventually dug up Juliet, a duck-billed dinosaur that still has skin and is on display at the museum. The museum also features 43 dinosaur sculptures, 30 dinosaur skeletons and a research laboratory. There’s even an area where you can dig up fossils and take them home.
“Julie and I hope this museum lives on in our home’s future, creating a lasting and sweet legacy for us,” Tarner says.
Building a Life and Career in the Region
South Bend, IN, has been instrumental to Tarner’s business success.
“It’s centrally located in the country,” he says. “A lot of our agricultural products come from this area – cherries, blueberries, popcorn – so we have some advantages. South Bend is quite a brand, too. If I had moved to Indianapolis and called it the Indianapolis Chocolate Co., that would have made it provincial.”
Tarner says some of his biggest customers are from California.
“When they think of South Bend, they think Notre Dame and Studebaker. They have no conception, so it’s kind of trendy,” he says.
From the name of the city to its people with a traditional work ethic, South Bend, IN, has been a great place to grow his businesses and family.
“I truly love South Bend, he says. “I love the people, the weather and Notre Dame. As trite as it sounds, it’s a great place to live and raise a family. I did that, too. I married Julie Kistner in 1989, and we had four children, Emily, Sam, Anna and Elizabeth. I am very blessed to have achieved success in business and had a great, supportive family.”
This article was sponsored by the South Bend Regional Chamber.