BusINess Magazine

SPRING 2013

SERVING NORTHWEST INDIANA & CHICAGOLAND

6th ANNUAL

NORTHWEST INDIANA BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY

Hallof FAME MEET THE CLASS OF 2013 INVESTMENT EXPLOSION Advanced manufacturing and information technology drive growth

IVY TECH CORPORATE COLLEGE Striving to build NWI workforce’s competitive edge

SENATOR RICHARD LUGAR 2013 HALL OF FAME SPECIAL LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD RECIPIENT

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Contents BIZ WORTHY

4

COVER STORY

Global manufacturer Huhtamaki steps up regional investment. Also advancement, expansion, employment numbers and mergers from around the Region.

CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP

36

13

THE NORTHWEST INDIANA BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY HALL OF FAME 2013 We honor five local leaders who have made an indelible mark on the Region.

The stories of the Class of 2013—Senator Richard Lugar, Tom Collins Sr., Danita Johnson Hughes, Tom Sourlis and Stephen Teibel on their achievements in life and giving back.

HEALTHCARE IN 2013

37

FEATURES

30

staying

connected

TO ThE BuSINESS COMMuNITy

Ivy Tech strives to fill industry needs through programs, Corporate College

d Story by LeSLy baiLey

between students and businesses.

“We have 23 programs on the Valparaiso campus and each has its own advisory board committee with representatives from the related industries,” Sikoski says.

“We are really connected to the community through the boards.”

The Energy Technology Program has its roots in discussions that began in 2007. The state’s major utility companies had formed a consortium and asked Ivy Tech to co-chair as an educational partner.

“We were discussing needs on the utility side and found that electrical line, natural gas and power plant technicians were the major areas the companies were going to need help in,” Sikoski says.

Ivy Tech began a Career Development Certificate with 12 courses based on these initial conversations.

“We had great success with the program and we were able to support it through grant money for three regions including Northwest Indiana, Indianapolis and Evansville,” Sikoski says. “The CDC produced graduates and when they applied for jobs at the utility companies, it was found there was a need to expand the education with math and English so we extended to a Technical Certificate.”

The program continued to develop into an associate’s degree and then into the standalone program that it is today. Beyond the original three areas of focus, the program is expanding to include Smart Grid, the management of energy.

“We have power plants that are generating power, wind turbines along I-65 and solar panels. With multiple sources of energy, there is an entire network so now the question is how to have a system in place to manage all of this energy,” Sikoski says.

Since the program began, there have been about 150 students enrolled, more than 70 have graduated and more than 35 are now working full-time for NIPSCO. “We are just in constant connection with the utility community and the energy consortium,” Sikoski says. “We

Ivy Tech students work in the flex lab as instructor Mike Jones has the students study variables in electric power flowing through a test system.

photography by [opposite page] Tony V. MarTin

ue to the nature of their work, region funeral home directors were finding it difficult to fulfill their continuing education requirements. Every two years, they have to hit 10 hours to maintain their licenses, and Indianapolis had been the closest resource for them.

“They find it difficult to leave their jobs. They have the best intentions of going but the moment they get a death call, things change. I listened to my advisory board and the funeral director community that said we need a place here in Northwest Indiana to put together seminars and offer continuing education hours,” says Rick Soria, vice chancellor at Ivy Tech Community College Michigan City Pejic campus.

Before his current position, he helped build the accredited mortuary science program and its offerings since it was launched at the East Chicago campus in 2002.

The need for the program surfaced as part of Ivy Tech’s mission to stay connected to the industries and companies that make up the Northwest Indiana business community.

“I was told here is a need. We have funeral directors burned out due to the emotional stress. There was an expected increase in deaths due to baby boomers so there was going to be an increase in need for services. Also, the rate of retirement was outpacing new individuals coming in,” Soria says.

The college continues to create programs, from surgical technician to pharmacy technician, based on input from its advisory boards. It also strives to keep the work force up-to-date with training through its Corporate College component.

Aco Sikoski, vice chancellor at Ivy Tech Community College Valparaiso campus, says the advisory boards are the starting point to help the college take on a liaison role

are also out there talking to community leaders and companies to sense their needs as quickly as possible and adjust as fast as we can.”

“We are building programs by listening to the community.

What are the needs here in LaPorte County and how can your community college assist you?” Soria asks. “We embrace that not every student wants to go through a traditional college.

Our programs can meet the students at where they are at. We can provide training and get them a certificate so we can get them into the work force and fill these needs and gaps.”

Sikoski says a trained, educated and skilled work force is a key component to attracting business to the region.

“If you talk to anybody that is considering moving to the area, one of the major factors in the decision is about the work force. They can find a piece of land, but if they don’t have a strong work force, they can’t do anything,” he says.

While programs are updated and developed on the academic side, the mission of Ivy Tech’s Corporate College is to keep workers trained and certified for their jobs as well as improve skills. It builds on Ivy Tech’s long-standing role as a training provider.

“A company’s employees are its greatest asset and a company can only succeed when those employees have the knowledge and skills to perform at their best. Education and professional development training are among the most critical investments that can be made in any business,” says Ivy Tech Community College President Thomas J. Snyder. “Ivy Tech Corporate College is committed to providing these companies

with the highest return on their investment by offering a variety of solutions.”

“We provide business solutions for business and industry from credit and non-credit classes to certifications. We are on the tech side to the industrial side and work with industries from real estate to insurance,” says Bill Thon, executive director of the Corporate College’s Northwest region. “We can be on their sites and provide training on their time frames.”

The Corporate College concentrates on customizing sessions to fit each company and offering a range of topics as well as more than 2,000 different certification exams.

“My background is in manufacturing and I was a public school teacher so I understand the value of training and what that means to the employees and employers,” Thon says.

Sikoski has seen how the college’s academic and training segments can work together.

“We have a corporate college representative out there in the community talking to businesses and corporations about how we can help and customize training. That may generate a discussion that in the next five years, that industry will need to fill a work force shortage or skills gap,” Sikoski says. “Then we talk about the academic side and how we can create or customize a program.

“In the future, we will continue to be active in the community and talking to leaders. It is my very special mission to help my community be the best it can be by continuing to meet the work force needs and make sure individuals have the education and skills needed.”

30 | In BusIness

32

sprIng 2013 | 31

ther Weaor not

For 2013, Port of IndianaBurns Harbor is looking up

business didn’t have year-end numbers for 2012, but Peacock says they should be up from 2011.

The cargoes handled by the Port are very diverse, and each moves independently of the others, Peacock said.

The Port has seen significant increases in shipments of coal, grain, fertilizer, steel and minerals through the 2012 shipping season, although there were some indications that shipments of limestone, road salt and miscellaneous cargos could be down slightly or flat, he says.

“One goes up, one goes down,” Peacock says. “There are so many factors to whether it (business) picks up or drops off.”

Up? Down? Good? Bad? As 2013 moves forward, the outlook for the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor remains cloudy, but could turn brighter if the rains fall.

Jody Peacock, director of corporate affairs for the Ports of Indiana, says he is “cautiously optimistic” in his projections for 2013.

The Northwest Indiana deep-water port is responsible for bringing $4.3 billion in economic activity to the state annually, and Peacock expects that to continue and grow.

“There are some indications we could see some increases in heavy industrial cargoes, including steel, this year,” he says. “They’ve been on a steady increase the last couple of years.”

At the time of the interview, the Port

at the

Port

Story by AndreA Holecek

Art Flores, superintendent of port operation for ADS Logistics, says activity at the Port depends on the government resolving its differences on taxes and spending.

If so, businesses will begin putting money into the economy and companies begin ordering and moving materials.

“I believe the Port will do better this year,” says Flores, whose company runs a storage facility there. “It did better last year than the year before. If the economy gets better, it gets better for us overall in the Port.”

ADS Logistics is a storage facility that depends on steel mill orders.

“We’re forecasting to be up this year, but it depends if mill orders come through or not,” he says. “We make

money, a profit, not by storing coils but by turning over our inventory.”

John Novitski, plant manager for Steel Warehouse Co. at the Port, says he assumes Port shipments “will be somewhat similar to last year and 2012 was an improvement over 2011.”

“Since 2008, when business bottomed out, there’s been a slow recovery and now there’s been an upward trend. But it hasn’t gone back to its glory days.”

Steel Warehouse processes light gauge carbon steel in support of Midwest stampers, fabricators, and other suppliers to the appliance, office furniture and automotive industries, according to the company. It’s the Port’s largest customer, Novitski says.

Port facts & figures • the Northwest Indiana deep-water port is responsible for bringing $4.3 billion in economic activity to the state annually.

• the Port has seen significant increases in shipments of coal, grain, fertilizer, steel and minerals through the 2012 shipping season,

“It’s kind of a goofy market,” he says.

“No one knows what’s happening for more than a few months out. Right now everyone’s busy. But there’s skepticism if it will last. There are no long-term commitments. No one’s forecasting positive. Many customers aren’t optimistic. Auto is doing well, but not much else.”

Located between U.S. Steel Corp.’s and ArcelorMittal’s’ huge steel plants at Burns Harbor, the Port handles 15 percent of all U.S. steel trade with Europe and has more than 10 steel processors on its 600 acres.

The steel plants’ locations on the lake are “the reason the steel industry has done so well in Northwest Indiana,” Peacock says.

“It’s at the connection of the Great Lakes, the river systems, highways, and rail systems,” he says. “That’s important to being able to move steel cargoes by water.”

As a multi-modal facility, the port handles an average of 500,000 trucks, 10,000 railcars, 400 barges and 100 ships annually, according to the Ports of Indiana, which governs the Burns Harbor

Port and ports in Mount Vernon and Jeffersonville.

Peacock calls Indiana’s port system “truly unique.”

“People don’t understand you can have a port 600 miles from ocean the way we do,” Peacock says. “It means companies can bring cargo by water, which is the cheapest, safest most environmentally friendly mode of transportation, and to bring it into heart of country.”

For example, it would take 1,000 trucks to handle the same amount of steel cargo as one towboat moving 15 barges, he says.

About one-third of Burns Harbor Port’s cargo is moved by barge through the Chicago Area Water System that includes the Chicago Ship Canal as it feeds into the

although there were some indications that shipments of limestone, road salt and miscellaneous cargos could be down slightly or flat.

• as a multi-modal facility, the port handles an average of 500,000 trucks, 10,000 railcars, 400 barges and 100 ships annually, according to the Ports of Indiana, which governs the Burns harbor Port and ports in Mount Vernon and Jeffersonville.

Illinois River and the Mississippi River.

Both the Asian carp issue in the canal and the river’s historically low water levels due to recent drought could mean problems for Port shipments, Peacock says.

There is continuing pressure from some Great Lake states and various groups to permanently close the canal in an effort stop the carp from migrating into the lake, he says.

“There are already barriers in place that are doing that, barriers that other waterways don’t,” Peacock says. “It’s not a viable solution for cargo. It’s very important that the CAWS be keep open to shipping. The channel is important to connect our port to New Orleans. Cutting it off from Northwest Indiana would be disaster.”

Mississippi barge traffic problems would definitely have a detrimental effect on the Port, Peacock says.

Although that effect is yet to be determined, a good number of companies at the Port that use the waterway, said Ken Stone, operations manager for Lakes and Rivers Transfer, a bulk cargo stevedore

32 | in BuSineSS

34

HealtH care, manufacturing and data storage play key roles in advancements

driving capital investments

sTory By louisa murzyn

if you had asked don keller three decades ago to imagine a welder in his fab shop,he would have pictured someone wearing leathers and a helmet bending over a Fourth-of-july cascade of sparks chasing the weld bead down with a torch.• That was the old-fashioned way.

T

oday, Keller not only watches his yellow robot arms doing the same work with yoga-like flexibility but also his workers guiding the amazing machines through motions beyond the ability of the most dexterous human.

“I tell people this and they think I’m a little crazy,” says Keller, owner of Tri-State Industries, a 32-year-old contract manufacturer in Hammond which now has an automation division.

“If you give me five years I will be the largest robotics integrator in the Chicago area. We expect to invest another $1 million. Robotics is where our future lies. We’re reinventing ourselves, and I’m looking for something that’s going to be here 30 years from now.”

To date, Keller has invested roughly $500,000 in seven robots. That figure does not include the acquisition of a Mishawaka robotics integration company which allows Tri-State to refurbish and sell to other manufacturers looking to automate.

Don Koliboski, director of economic

2 | IN BUSINESS

at the Port and a division of Jack Gray Transport Inc. Between 70 percent and 80 percent of the operation’s business is loading and unloading cargo generated by barge traffic.

“Right now my projection is that business will be down due to low water levels on the Mississippi,” Stone says. “ . . . But we don’t know for how long. It all depends on the weather.”

In order to maintain a 9-foot deep channel for river navigation, the Army Corps of Engineers currently is removing rock formations below the surface of the narrowing river between St. Louis, Mo., and Cairo, Ill. Since early July, there has been ongoing dredging to preserve the channel. There

• It would take 1,000 trucks to handle the same amount of steel cargo as one towboat moving 15 barges.

• about one-third of Burns harbor Port’s cargo is moved by barge through the Chicago area Water System that includes the Chicago Ship Canal as it feeds into the Illinois River and the Mississippi River.

also have been continued surveys and channel patrols to keep commerce safely moving on the Middle Mississippi.

Even though the channel remains open, barges may have to reduce their draft from nine feet, to seven to eight feet, which means the amount of cargo the barge can hold would have to be reduced, Stone says.

“It affects our bottom line,” he says.

“We charge by tonnage, if there’s less tonnage it will affect our revenue.”

Water levels on the Mississippi and on the Great Lakes are a serious concern for the Port, its companies and its customers, Peacock said.

“It emphasizes the need for dredging in many areas,” he says. “There’s an ongoing need but especially when water levels are low . . . It shows the need for continued support of the Army Corps’ budget. It’s very important to the Port and Northwest Indiana’s economy.”

There’s always a concern when Congress talks about cutting budgets,” Peacock says. “The important thing for us is for people to realize how important waterborne shipping is to our economy.”

WEATHER OR NOT The forecast for business at the Port of IndianaBurns Harbor is looking good for 2013. By Andrea Holecek

Tony V. MarTin

To date, Tri-State Industries in Hammond has invested roughly $500,000 in seven robots. That figure does not include the acquisition of a Mishawaka robotics integration company which allows Tri-State to refurbish and sell to other manufacturers looking to automate.

development for the Northwest Indiana Forum, said Indiana is experiencing an explosion of investment in this type of advanced manufacturing as well as information technology in health care and data centers.

“Technology drives investment in almost every business these days, from mom-and-pops to on-going expansions in existing companies,” Koliboski says.

Bringing joBs Back

HealTH care’s mosT wired

Advanced manufacturing means making products better, faster and cheaper, which allows U.S. companies to compete around the world.

On any given day the robots are at least two to four times as productive as a manual operation. Keller can reduce his welding costs from 50 to 80 percent.

The good news is the new wave of highly skilled precision work does not displace workers.

“You still have to have a human being,” Keller explains. He wants the workers who run his robots know how to weld, so employees are being trained to not only run these robots but troubleshoot programs if something goes wrong.

“If we are going to be competitive against foreign competition, we have to automate. “It’s the only way for us to survive in manufacturing. We have to get the labor content down and the robots will do that for us.”

Employees still have to understand welding because the material still needs to be cut, formed and fabricated before the robot takes over. As a result, the opportunity for highpaying jobs exist with the pay scale ranging from an attractive $15 to $25 per hour.

Keller believes more companies “reshoring” because of transportation risks and costs. In fact, a study by Michigan State University found that 40 percent of manufacturing firms believe there is a movement of production back to the U.S. from countries such as China and India.

“You’ve got better control over your quality and deliveries and American companies are becoming more competitive. I think you are going to see resurgence in American manufacturing if you are able to capitalize on the reshoring.”

“A decade ago we had computers and servers, but if they stopped working we could continue to take care of patients,” says Nader Eskander, IT director for Franciscan St. Anthony Health. “In today’s world it would be paralyzing.

When you need it to be working, you need it right then and there.”

The health care industry’s increased use of mandated electronic medical records (EMRs) as well as wireless medical devices and personal mobile technology has turned hospital networks into important components in patient treatment.

Matt Doyle, chief financial officer for Methodist Hospitals, says with EMRs doctors enter their own documentation and orders into the system.

“The big drive is to get rid of the medical errors of the past,” says hospital IT director Tim Diamond. “There’s no change of hand between clinicians which eliminates a potential error in translation. We’re getting away from the human element to get things done quicker as well as for patient safety.”

“IT will be involved in every facet of healthcare so with every decision that’s made, IT will have a seat at that table,” Doyle says.

At Franciscan, doctors can access patient records such as diagnostic images or lab results with iPhones and iPads.

“If it wasn’t for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) the use of mobile devices would be even further ahead,” Eskander says.

“HIPAA is ‘the guy’ stepping on the brakes. The bottom line is there are lots of exciting technologies with lots of potential but the challenge is keeping the data secure. That’s our focus.”

The long-term goal is to have a single unified record across all locations so medical information follows patients regardless of treatment location to improve care coordination and patient outcomes.

Indiana has been a leader in the Indiana Network for Patient Care and the Indiana Healthcare Information Exchange, which allows access of critical patient information across multiple provider sources, Eskander says.

locaTion, locaTion, locaTion Last year, Franciscan Alliance opened a second off-site data collection center in addition to its primary site in Indianapolis.

“Northwest Indiana is kind of an unknown location so you don’t worry about data security,” says Joe Hornett, senior vice president for the Purdue Research Foundation.

“It’s smack in the heart of the Midwest so its attractive to companies in the South and on the East and West Coasts and we’re not prone to earthquakes and don’t have hurricanes.”

Koliboski said Northwest Indiana has been nationally recognized as a growth center and data collection is a cluster easy to attract because of our proximity to Chicago and the amount of broadband that runs on the bottom of Lake Michigan.

In the same category are logistics distribution centers. “Some very recognizable household names” have expressed an interest in locating a possible 1 million-square-foot facility in Merrillville, Hornett says.

“So much of what takes place is driven by information. As much as possible you want to take human hands out of the process and let information drive the optimal time to move the goods so they get to the right place on time.”

He noted when an Amazon facility was built in Whiteland it created 3,000 jobs in 18 months.

Keller is extremely impressed by the state’s economic development efforts and its low-cost, pro-business climate.

“You look around the Midwest and we are surrounded by expensive, high-priced states. Indiana is doing a phenomenal job when you take a look at what we have available.” More at nwi.com/business

sprIng 2013 | 35

ACA changes will affect Northwest Indiana.

By Dr. Alex Stemer, President of Franciscan Medical Specialists and Vice President of Strategic Planning for Franciscan Alliance Northern Indiana Region

BANKING ON NWI’S FUTURE

38

Economic recovery creates a brighter outlook this year.

By David Bochnowski, Chairman, President and CEO, Peoples Bank

CALENDAR

Spring 2013 | 33

Technology in NWI

34 | In BusIness

STAYING CONNECTED TO THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY Ivy Tech strives to fill industry needs through programs and the corporate college connection. By Lesly Bailey

Companies have multifaceted responsibility to the community. By Thomas Keilman, Director of Government and Public Affairs for BP

DRIVING CAPITAL INVESTMENTS Technology in NWI plays a key role in expansion of healthcare, manufacturing and data storage.

By Louisa Murzyn

40

Business calendar: Check out upcoming events in your area

COVER PHOTO BY J. Scott Applewhite, AP

Publisher’s Letter SPRING 2013

VOLUME 9, ISSUE 1

Publisher Bill Masterson Jr. Founding editor William Nangle Associate Publisher/Editor Pat Colander Director of Audience Development Kim Bowers Managing Editor Matt Saltanovitz Senior Editor Kathleen Dorsey Design Director Ben Cunningham Designer April Burford Contributing Writers Lesly Bailey, Robert Blaszkiewicz, David Bochnowski, Kathleen Dorsey, Andrea Holecek, Thomas Keilman, Louisa Murzyn, Diane Poulton, Alex Stemer

Leaders are driven to achieve, humbled by success and focused on helping others

T

Contributing Photographer Tony V. Martin Advertising Director Lisa M. Daugherty Advertising Managers Deb Anselm, Craig Chism, Eric Horon, Ami Reese, Charles Smith, Dee Dee White Business Advisory Board Dave Bochnowski, Peoples Bank; Wil Davis, Gary Jet Center; Nick Meyer, NIPSCO; Barb Greene, Franciscan Alliance; Tom Gryzbek, Franciscan Alliance; William J. Lowe, IUN; Anna Rominger, IUN; William F. Thon, IUN Copyright, Northwest Indiana/Chicagoland BusINess, 2013. All rights reserved. Reproduction or use of editorial or graphic content without permission is prohibited.

BY BILL MASTERSON JR. Publisher, BusINess, The Times Media Co.

We want to hear from you E-mail bill.masterson @nwi.com or write to BusINess Magazine, The Times, 601 W. 45th Ave., Munster, IN 46321

he 2013 Class of the Times of Northwest Indiana Business and Industry Hall of Fame is composed of individuals who have proved over and over again the importance of a strong belief in hope and vision of a better tomorrow, paired with the single-minded determination to make something happen today.

Read about Tom Collins, Sr., who has led Luke Co., a Northwest Indiana family business, through expansion and investment with an uncanny vision of the future. He was quick to notice that his industry was in transition to the convenience store business.

Danita Johnson Hughes’ work in Northwest Indiana was kept under cover for years, until her books, her speaking engagements and her effectiveness as CEO of Edgewater Systems had to be noticed. Her experience and skill at helping people overcome addiction, supporting their families and rebuilding communities is unrivaled.

Stephen Teibel is the third generation co-owner of Teibel’s Restaurant, which through the years has continued to succeed in a very difficult economic climate. The hospitality industry is notoriously cruel and relentlessly competitive but this family has persistently innovated, renovated and moved forward.

Although he is best known as an inventor and a creative problem-solver, Tom Sourlis thinks of himself as a simple craftsman, who is very good at making and fixing things with his hands. He so good at working out the bugs, that he created the company Mortar Net around an innovative material that preserves and protects construction. And once that business was a success, he took on the challenges of green building and philanthropy.

Senator Richard Lugar has been a futurist for his entire career. The great architect of unigov when he was Mayor of Indianapolis, Lugar put together a model city that drew businesses and trade from across the world to this state.

When he got to Congress 36 years ago, his mission was enlarged. In Congress, Senator Lugar has been devoted to dismantling nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. He realized in a profound way—and early on—that security was going to be the single most important driving force for decades to come.

On behalf of all of us in Northwest Indiana and the Times communities, I thank you all for your vision, commitment and contributions.

SPRING 2013 | 3

BizWorthy DEVELOPMENT

Huhtamaki invests in Hammond facility Manufacturer to invest $8.5M, create up to 12 new jobs

HAMMOND | Huhtamaki Inc., a global manufacturer of consumer and specialty packaging, announced plans Tuesday to invest $8.5 million in its Hammond facility.

The company, a subsidiary of Finland-based Huhtamäki Oyj, will expand its production capabilities to accommodate increased demand for its recycled paper products, creating up to 12 new jobs by 2014.

As part of the project, the company will buy additional manufacturing equipment for its facility located at 6629 Indianapolis Blvd., according to a release from the Indiana Economic Development Corp.

“Huhtamaki is not only the latest international firm to have taken notice of our state’s business-friendly climate, but its decision is further evidence that Indiana can compete and win on the international stage,” says Dan Hasler, secretary of commerce and CEO of the IEDC, in a statement.

Huhtamaki, which employs more than 115 full-time Hoosiers at its Hammond fiber molding plant, is hiring and training additional manufacturing associates.

“This investment reflects Huhtamaki’s confidence in our facility,” says Rich Blastic, Huhtamaki’s Hammond plant manager, in a statement. “The company has made

4 | IN BUSINESS

Huhtamaki Inc. announced plans to invest $8.5 million in its Hammond facility.

significant investments in our operations over the past four years and our past business success justifies this expansion.”

The Indiana Economic Development Corporation offered Huhtamaki, Inc. up to $115,000 in conditional tax credits based on the company’s job creation plans. These tax credits are performance-based, meaning until Hoosiers are hired, the company is not eligible to claim incentives. The city of Hammond offered additional property tax abatement.

Established in 1947, the company is part of Huhtamaki North America, which has 16 plants and serves local markets with Chinet

JONATHAN MIANO, THE TIMES

brand disposable tableware and ice cream containers.

Huhtamaki’s parent company, Huhtamäki Oyj, was founded 92 years ago and serves the foodservice and consumer goods markets with approximately 14,000 people in 62 manufacturing units and several sales offices across 31 countries.

“The city of Hammond is proud to support Huhtamaki in their expansion efforts. Huhtamaki has operated in the city for nearly 65 years and has been a great corporate citizen and partner over the years,” says Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. BY TIMES STAFF

HONOR

NWI Forum chief honored INDIANAPOLIS | A passion for enhancing Indiana’s economic climate and the prosperity of its citizens earned local business leader Mark Maassel recognition recently as an Indiana Chamber of Commerce 2012 Volunteer of the Year.

Maassel, president and CEO of the Northwest Indiana Forum, hosted a regional forum in summer 2012 for Indiana Vision 2025, the Indiana Chamber’s long-term economic development plan. These forums brought together area businesspeople to discuss how to apply Indiana Vision 2025 goals to specific regional challenges and opportunities. Maassel helped identify who should attend and participated in pre-forum

surveys, interviews and more.

“Gaining statewide support for Indiana Vision 2025 is critical to bringing the goals to fruition,” says Indiana Chamber President Kevin Brinegar in a statement. “Mark helped us do exactly that by engaging area leaders and offering his own expertise and input during those invaluable forum conversations.”

Also recognized as an Indiana Chamber Volunteer of the Year were Marci Crozier, regional director of marketing and sales at Omni 41 Health & Fitness Connection in Schererville, and Bruce Guiliani, of Indianapolis. BY TIMES STAFF

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SPRING 2013 | 5

BizWorthy ACCOLADES

EXPANSION

Two NWI leaders named to Indiana Chamber board

Hobart company wins $2.2 million contract

TWO NORTHWEST INDIANA business leaders have been named to the board of directors of the Indiana Chamber of Commerce.

Jim Stanley, recently hired as CEO at NIPSCO, and Mark Chamberlain, CEO of Lakeside Wealth Management of Chesterton, took their positions on the chamber’s policy setting body in November, according to a statement from the chamber.

Stanley and Chamberlain will each serve a three-year term ending in 2015.

The chamber has been a key force in shaping and pushing to passage numerous legislative bills important to business, including Indiana’s right-to-work law passed in the last session of the General Assembly. BY KEITH BENMAN, THE TIMES CAREER FOCUS

DWD launches updated career tool for Hoosiers INDIANAPOLIS | The Indiana Department of Workforce Development recently unveiled the update Hoosier Hot 50 jobs list, a tool which provides Hoosiers an insight into the most in-demand and high paying careers in today’s job market and in the future.

First introduced in 2006, the Hoosier Hot 50 is published every two years by DWD. The 2012 installment lists the top 50 jobs of out of about 300 reviewed for the program to showcase jobs through 2020.

The 2012 Hoosier Hot 50 features a new website with video profiles of Hoosiers currently working in each position. The profiles provide viewers an inside look at a typical day on the job, how they broke into that field and what each person enjoys about their job.

Each profile also includes data on the number of projected job openings by 2020, average salary and the education and/or training required for that career.

The full list of the top 50 jobs and profiles are available at HoosierHot50.com. BY TIMES STAFF

6 | IN BUSINESS

HOBART | Midwest Service Center has won a $2.2 million contract to build a turbine cylinder for a Louisiana utility company.

The turbine cylinder, scheduled to be completed by March 24, will be 23 feet tall and weigh 100 tons.

Company President Mahmoud Mazaheri said it will take about 30,000 man hours to complete the job. Employees have been working 24 hours a day, seven days a week since mid-October to meet the March 24 deadline, Mazaheri said.

Midwest Service Center, which repairs, refurbishes and manufactures parts for mechanical, electrical, electromechanical and power generation equipment, outbid an Indonesian firm, Mazaheri said.

To complete the job, Midwest has hired 15 additional high-wage scale welders, machinists and engineers giving the company a total of 85 permanent employees, Mazaheri said. During the peak season in the

fall and spring, Mazaheri said, the company workforce is more than 100 employees.

Midwest Service Center currently has two locations, the mechanical division at 408 Shelby St., and the electrical division next door at 4200 Ind. 130. Midwest will open a third parts manufacturing facility by the end of January in the former Isakson’s Motors at Ind. 51 and U.S. 6.

Hobart recently granted Midwest Service Center tax abatement on the Isakson building, which had been shuttered in 2009, Mazaheri said.

Other Midwest Service Center projects include repairing large pumps for Chicago Metropolitan, repairing turbines for the city of Chicago, projects from various nuclear power plants, and repairing and refurbishing large electrical motors from Northwest Indiana steel mills, their main electrical customers. BY DIANE POULTON, TIMES CORRESPONDENT

SALUTE

Professionals on the move Jennifer Huang, licensed acupuncturist and doctor of Oriental medicine, is joining the staff of Healing Arts Center in Valparaiso, specializing in treating chronic disorders, HUANG weight loss, and smoking cessation.

Jason Rebar, of Crown Point, has joined First Financial Bank in Schererville as an assistant vice president and

REBAR

BRANT

commercial relationship manager.

Commercial In-Sites in Merrillville awarded Jeff Brant the 2012 Co-Broker of the year.

The night will feature elegant hors d’oeuvres, a cash bar, a silent auction and a live auction.

Enjoy our “Denim and Diamonds” theme casual dress is welcome!

SPRING 2013 | 7

BizWorthy RELOCATION

SALUTE

Land O’Frost moving headquarters to Munster

Professionals on the move

MUNSTER | Land O’Frost will relocate its Lansing headquarters to a yet-unnamed site here, creating up to 50 new jobs by 2014, then-Gov. Mitch Daniels announced in December.

The company, founded in 1958 and owned by the third-generation of founder Antoon VanEekeren’s family, is the nation’s third-largest producer of pre-sliced, pre-packaged lunchmeats and is a producer of specialty sausage products.

Land O’Frost will invest $6.4 million to move its corporate headquarters to a three-acre campus in Munster.

Construction on a 25,000-square foot facility is slated to begin in the summer and is expected to be completed in 2014.

“Businesses continue to discover the many advantages Indiana has over our neighbors, especially when they know that our state and property taxes are going to stay low,” Daniels says in a news release from Indianapolis, released through the Indiana Economic Development Corp.

“Land O’Frost has tremendous future growth potential and today is just the beginning of what we hope will be a productive relationship,” the governor says.

The Munster Redevelopment Commission began reviewing a proposal

by Land O’Frost owners to move the company’s headquarters to a new facility earlier this fall and voted Oct. 8 to offer an economic development incentive to the company to relocate.

“We put together an inducement for $2 million in tax increment financing dollars for Land O’Frost to acquire property in Munster,” says David Nellans, chairman of the Redevelopment Commission and president of the Munster Town Council.

“Land O’Frost is . . . a wellestablished growing company that

8 | IN BUSINESS

will bring professional employees in to the community. Their corporate headquarters will be an important part of our business community,” says Nellans. “They will bring additional jobs and tax dollars into the community as well as purchasing from other local businesses here.”

The Indiana Economic Development Corp. offered Land O’Frost Inc. up to $750,000 in conditional tax credits based on the company’s job creation plans, according to the press release.

These tax credits are performancebased, meaning until Hoosiers are hired, the company isn’t eligible to claim incentives.

The Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority also will support the project through its Deal Closing Fund.

Land O’Frost employs 40 professionals at its headquarters and more than 1,100 manufacturing employees at its four production plants in Illinois, Kentucky, Arkansas and Nebraska. The company will begin to transition its headquarters staff to the new Munster facility after construction is completed.

“Our new state-of-the-art headquarters in Munster will provide us not only with the room to support our continued growth, but also allows us to create an environment that fosters stronger employee collaboration,” says David VanEekeren, president/CEO of Land O’Frost, in a news release.

The new Munster headquarters will support the company’s research and development initiatives and “help us continue to attract and retain top talent,” he says.

Land O’Frost is actively engaged in supporting its employees’ communities, according to VanEekeren. BY LU ANN FRANKLIN

Family Nurse Practitioner Kimberley Mendez has joined Indiana University Health La Porte Physicians and will share office space with Dr. Curtis Bejes in MENDEZ North Judson.

Teresa Sickmiller is the new Clinical Dietician at Indiana University Health Starke Hospital.

Matt Wiseman has joined the Schrader Real Estate and Auction Co. and will SICKMILLER be concentrating on servicing landowners in northwest Indiana and northeast Illinois.

Joan Vith has joined Meals on Wheels of Northwest Indiana as volunteer manager. Robert Long WISEMAN has joined Meals on Wheels of Northwest Indiana as director of development and community relations.

Indiana University Health La Porte Hospital recently welcomed the Rev. Dale Wratchford, VITH of LaPorte, as the new assistant director of the Center for Spiritual Care.

Indiana University Health LaPorte Hospital recently promoted Jackson Township resident Heather Manley, NAVARRO BSN, RN, to director of SameDay, Endoscopy and Infusion Center. Patricia Navarro, of Plainfield, Ill., has joined IU Health La Porte Hospital as executive director of Critical Care Services.

BizWorthy RENOVATION

JOB WATCH

Hampton Inn Merrillville completes renovation

Employment in the Calumet Region

MERRILLVILLE | White Lodging and RLJ Lodging Trust announced they have completed a renovation of the Hampton Inn Merrillville, 8353 Georgia St. As part of the renovation to the three-story, 64-room hotel, improvements were made to the guestrooms, lobby, pool, fitness center and front desk including new colors and trends.

For further information or to make reservations for the Hampton Inn Merrillville, visit HamptonInnMerrillville.com or call (219) 736-7600 or (800) HAMPTON.

Lake County DEC. ‘12

DEC. ‘11

CHANGE

Labor force

216,563

225,105

8,542

Employed

194,372

203,568

9,196

Unemployed

22,191

21,537

654

DEC. ‘12

DEC. ‘11

CHANGE

Labor force

80,336

83,154

2,818

Employed

73,539

77,018

3,479

Unemployed

6,797

6,136

661

DEC. ‘12

DEC. ‘11

CHANGE

Labor force

49,601

50,817

1,216

Employed

44,369

45,731

1,362

Unemployed

5,232

5,086

146

DEC. ‘12

DEC. ‘11

CHANGE

Labor force

2,616,703

2,570,069

46,634

Employed

2,383,350

2,321,470

61,880

233,353

248,599

15,246

DEC. ‘12

DEC. ‘11

CHANGE

Labor force

370,905

364,147

6,758

Employed

338,697

329,903

8,794

Unemployed

32,208

34,244

2,036

Percent of workforce unemployed 10.2 percent

Porter County Percent of workforce unemployed 8.5 percent

BY TIMES STAFF

ACCOLADE

Orthotic Prosthetics in Munster receives award MUNSTER | Orthotic Prosthetic Specialists in Munster was honored with the 2012 OPGA/Point Freedom Award for its service and dedication to veterans and active-duty soldiers.

The award is presented near Veterans Day and recognizes OPGA/Point members who have provided orthotic and prosthetic fitting and/or rehabilitation for soldiers wounded in action.

The Orthotics and Prosthetics Group of America and Point Health Centers of America is a provider-owned network of independently owned orthotic and prosthetic facilities. BY TIMES STAFF

10 | IN BUSINESS

LaPorte County Percent of workforce unemployed 10.5 percent

Cook County

Unemployed

Percent of workforce unemployed 8.9 percent

Will County Percent of workforce unemployed 8.7 percent

Sources: Indiana Department of Workforce Development, Illinois Department of Employment Security

SALUTE

Professionals on the move Abdalla H. Hazaimeh has been appointed dean for the School of Technology and the School of Applied Sciences and Pre-Engineering at Ivy Tech Community College Northwest. He replaces Aco Sikoski who became vice chancellor of the Valparaiso campus.

Scott Casbon has joined Citizens HAZAIMEH CASBON KAWECKI JACOBUCCI FRAZIER Financial Bank as vice president, regional manager, business banking.

Dr. Robin Kawecki, chiropractor, Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage’s Springs Health Campus in Valparaiso as a has joined the staff of Healing Arts Center Porter County office announced John community service specialist. in Valparaiso.

Reagan as the Top Listing Sales Associate Glen Wilson, executive director and Lovetta Lee, community service specialist and Dorothea Snyder as the Top Selling Kristina J. Jacobucci became a have joined Spring Mill Health Campus in partner of the law firm Newby, Lewis, and the Top Volume Sales Associate for Merrillville.

Kaminski & Jones LLP in LaPorte.

November.

Derek Frazier has been named Gabrielle Phillips has joined Group To submit an item for Salute, send information development director for Frontline 7even in Valparaiso as an account executive. and a photo, if available, to 601 W. 45th Ave., Foundations Inc., a faith-based substance Clinical dietician Teresa Sickmiller Munster, IN 46321, e-mail to business@nwitimes. abuse treatment provider in Porter County. has joined Indiana University Health com and matthew.saltanovitz@nwi.com, or fax to (219) 933-3249. Faxed photos will not be published.

Starke Hospital.

Laura Schmitt has joined Avalon

fifty years of Changing Lives

and counting

ivygar_14122_50th_ad.indd 1

1/18/13 1:32 PM

SPRING 2013 | 11

l e

E SS

Welcome TO THE NORTHWEST INDIANA BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY

Fame SS OF 2013 CLA

HALL OF BUSIN ESS

The Northwest Indiana Business and Industry Hall of Fame honors five distinguished local leaders who have made an indelible mark on the Region. Thanks to all of our nominators and the panel of judges, including former honorees, which helped make these awards possible.

RICHARD LUGAR • TOM COLLINS SR. • DANITA JOHNSON HUGHES TOM SOURLIS • STEPHEN TEIBEL

RICHARD LUGAR’S

next

CHAPTER STORY BY ROBERT BLASZKIEWICZ

ichard Lugar takes a seat at a well-worn circular conference table. In an office filled with shiny, new fixtures, it’s a notable relic from his 36-year career in the Senate.

At this table, two decades earlier, Russian officials sat down with Lugar and Georgia Senator Sam Nunn, to make an unusual request. After the breakup of the Soviet Union, Russia was bankrupt and needed money and technicians to secure its arsenal of nuclear weapons.

“It was one of these situations in history that really could not have been foretold, that a great power would be coming to another great power and saying, ‘help disarm us and protect us.’ But that’s what happened,” Lugar recounts.

The Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction program secured and dismantled thousands of nuclear warheads, intercontinental ballistic missiles and tons of chemical weapons. The program has continued through several administrations and the retirement of Senator Nunn. In 2005, U.S. Senator Barack Obama joined the effort and made his first trip to Russia with Lugar.

“We had the very unfortunate experience right off the bat in Perm, (Russia) we were incarcerated,” Lugar says. “There were allegations that I was actually a spy and the Russians were trying to get on our Air Force plane.”

After several hours being held in the basement of the Perm airport, the senators were freed.

As for the table, which had passed from Nunn’s office to Lugar’s office, it made another journey from the U.S. Capitol to the office building in D.C.’s Dupont Circle neighborhood. Here, a month after leaving the Senate, the 80-year-old Lugar discussed his future plans and his continued focus on securing the world from potential dangers.

Questions and answers have been edited for clarity and space.

14 | IN BUSINESS

Q:A:

It’s been a month since you left the senate after a 36-year career. What’s the transition been like?

It’s been a very busy transition. Before we left, I knew that I would have opportunities for affiliation with Indiana University, University of Indianapolis, Georgetown University and German Marshall Fund. In each of these categories, we’ve had very nice celebrations. Out at Indiana University with President (Michael) McRobbie and the great new international school they’re building there is going to utilize hundreds of faculty members. They already have a great language program there. This really will make IU the pre-eminent leader in international studies. And that’s very exciting. I’ll be on the advisory committee, co-chair with Lee Hamilton, and we’ll have some days on campus visiting with students.

At the University of Indianapolis last December, at our annual meeting with the high school students all over the state, we announced there would be a Lugar Academy there, and they’re

photography by [opposite page] KARIN COOPER, AP

R

A Q&A WITH INDIANA’S LONGEST-SERVING U.S. SENATOR

Fame SS OF 2013 CLA

HALL OF

Fame SS OF 2013 CLA

HALL OF BUSIN ESS

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD RECIPIENT 2013

SPRING 2013 | 15

going through, likewise, teaching assignments on campus. Here in this office we’re going to be working with interns recruited by the University of Indianapolis to come here for a Washington experience. We will help organize their assignments in various offices as well as I will spend time with them to hopefully enrich their experience.

Q: A:

not so good. The livestock industry has been heading down. But if that’s occurring in Indiana, a prosperous place with Purdue’s research, heaven help those areas where there are not all these things going for them.

One big argument we’re going to have is over genetically-modified seed for example. The geneticallymodified argument is creating tension in over 60 countries that are convinced that somehow genetically-modified anything would be injurious to either the health or the environment. That’s particularly true of European countries, that have great influence over Africa. The effect has been to completely stall the progress in Africa. The Gates Foundation, USAID, others have tried to overcome this in a small way. This really calls for a monumental change of outlook in the science itself. People are coming to the conclusion that not only is genetically modified safe, but it’s absolutely essential if you’re going to get the yields required to feed

L L A H e OF

am

S OF 2013 S A L C

16 | IN BUSINESS

PHOTOS CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Indiana officials gather in the Army and Navy Club in Washington, Jan. 29, 1972, for a reception. From left are: Rep. William G. Bray (R-Ind.); Bill Ruckelshaus, assistant attorney general for civil division; Rep. Richard L. Roudebush (R-Ind.), and Indianapolis Mayor Richard Lugar.; Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., meets with Roger Holloway, left, music director of radio station WTLC in Indianapolis, Ind., and Jay Johnson, the station program director, on Capitol Hill in Washington, 1981. Lugar is looking at a letter sent to the station in support of legislation that he again co-sponsored to make the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. a national holiday.; Candy Lightner, left, founder and president of (MADD) Mothers Against Drunk Drivers, faces reporters on June 14, 1983, at Capitol Hill, Washington. Lightner is joined by Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., and Transportation Secretary Elizabeth Dole. They crusaded to change the national drinking age to 21.

countries or feed the world. But it’s a big argument and one in which I’ve been engaged and hopefully will be more successful.

Q:

Is there also a role for the farm technology we have, exporting that for our economic benefit and to help these issues in other countries?

Obviously we have farm equipment and machinery that are the world’s best. For example, fields now in Indiana can be planted maybe 100 acres in a day. Frequently, there will have been soil tests so that using computers on board the equipment doing the planting, you can plant a little more here or there, or change the fertilizer mix, or do things that are going to be beneficial for production. And likewise, the harvest can occur with that degree of speed.

So as a result, for example in Indiana, we have increasingly young farmers graduating from Purdue, sometimes they do not have a great

A:

photography by [this page] CHARLES HARRITY, AP; [opposite page, top] CHARLES W. HARRITY, AP; J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE, AP

Food security is high on your list of priorities. Can you talk about that issue?

Fundamentally, every country in the world is potentially vulnerable. Most countries that have considerable wealth and a backlog of agricultural experience have been able to feed their populations for some time. The facts of life however, are that many countries in Asia, the Middle East and Africa have had chronic food shortages. This happens because of lack of production skills or research in proper seed and fertilizer.

Climate change and droughts in various countries have created huge shortages. This doesn’t work for a stable world.

This was inflicted in Indiana, so close at hand, this past year. On my own farm for example, we were back down to 40 bushels per acre of corn (because of the drought). No amount of scientific farming can overcome that. So to get to your point about what kind of research and ideas are needed, first of all, trade policy. There is no area where things are more gummed up than in the foreign trade of food. And in part, it’s because of self-preservation. Some countries, if they are in difficulty, husband everything they have within their country and do not export any of it.

Likewise, there are some countries that have protectionist sentiments and are trying to keep certain things out. But it’s not a free flow. And the food of the world is becoming more expensive. This is to the benefit of Indiana farmers—the cost of corn and soybeans is terrific. But even in Indiana, feeding chickens and cattle,

international Port, which you visited during your campaign. We have mayors that have made trips to China. So in this increasingly global environment, how do Hoosiers leverage globalism to enhance the local economy?

If I can digress for a moment to the biographical sketch, I came back from the Navy and my brother from service in the Army to a factory my dad tried to manage, my grandfather founded, making food machinery—long band ovens, cutting machines and what have you. The difficulty was that by the time we got there, and we knew this was the case, a wave was about to hit the rocks.

Sales were down. The whole situation, given the absence after the death of my father, had created this vacuum. So fortunately, my brother had a Purdue engineering degree. I was purely a liberal arts denizen and the Rhodes Scholarship at Oxford and so forth, and the Navy.

But my contribution was to come over here to Washington; Homer Capehart, the senator from Indiana, got an appointment for me at the export/import bank. This was not a well-known institution in Indiana at that time. As a matter of fact, the loan guarantee that I got from the export/import bank for a sale of our equipment in Mexico was perhaps the first one for a small business in Indiana and certainly, maybe aside from Eli Lilly Co., the only people acquainted with export/import in that part of the world. But this led to exports to Mexico, and then to South American countries, ultimately to the Philippines, and the resurrection of Thomas L. Green Co. so that we were able to employ more people, expand to over 100 persons on the factory floor and had worldwide business in which people came to Indianapolis from these countries to see our equipment and visit with us personally.

To get to the larger point, when I was elected mayor, I had the good fortune of being asked by President Nixon to go with Pat Moynihan—later became Senator Moynihan, but was then in the administration—to

A:

deal of money. They rent land from people who are older who are no longer doing the farming, or from families living out of state. Put together maybe 2,500 acres over which they can best amortize the cost of the equipment they have purchased. Bit by bit, they make money, they buy land, often from the people they’re renting from, and this is an evolution that makes a younger agricultural group a very good thing for our state, as well as our country.

The problem is how do you translate that to other countries?

Obviously, our experience is useful for others to observe. Our equipment is very useful for them to have. Even the computer arrangements and the algorithms involved in agriculture are incredibly important exports of American knowledge.

Q:

Indiana, in addition to being a farming state is a very big manufacturing state. You mention international trade. We have our

LUGAR THROUGH THE YEARS 1932

Richard Lugar is born in Indianapolis

1956-1960

Serves in the U.S. Navy

1964

Elected to Indianapolis Public School Board

1967

Elected mayor of Indianapolis at age 35

1970

Mayor Lugar passes the UniGov initiative

1974

Lugar runs in first U.S. Senate race

1976

Elected to U.S. Senate for his first term

1980

Sen. Lugar is rumored a favorite for Reagan’s VP choice

1982

Re-elected to U.S. Senate

SPRING 2013 | 17

Q: A: 18 | IN BUSINESS

Do you know offhand how many countries you visited in your time in the Senate?

I should probably make a list sometime, but I’m certain over 50 and probably upwards of that.

PHOTOS FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., left, listens to ranking Democratic member Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., 2005, after the committee voted 10-8 to send the nomination of John Bolton as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations to the Senate floor. But it took the rare step of refusing to endorse the blunt-speaking conservative.; Future president Barack Obama speaks during a news conference on renewable energy on Capitol Hill in Washington in 2007.

From left: Sen. Tom, Harkin, D-Iowa, Obama, Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind. and Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D.; Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, left, and Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., are sworn in before the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission in Washington in 2005. The panel is considering the Defense Finance and Accounting Center in Lawrence, Ind.; Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., is surrounded by family members as he waves to supporters at the Indiana Republican Party headquarters in Indianapolis, 2006. Lugar had no Democratic opponent in the 2006 race.

Q:

When you entered the Senate, the major threat was the Soviet Union. As you leave the Senate, we’re in the midst of the Global War on Terror. What do you see as the major security threats 20 or 30 years from now?

I think one of them will revolve around the food problem we were just talking about. Although, I’m very hopeful that countries will be enlightened, that they will adopt better agricultural practices starting with seed and fertilizer. I’m not overconfident of this, given the last 50 years or so. If not food, fuel. That will be the other major problem, that supplies of oil, natural gas, biofuels, whatever we have available, may not be enough to take care of all the people that have a rising standard of living.

The Chinese situation is sort of instructive in this with hundreds of millions of people moving from the farms and rural settings where frequently there were no lights, no constant source of power for fuel.

They hope to farm enough to feed themselves. They move to cities, where they turn on the lights or heat a small apartment. It’s a huge revolution occurring, and so these are going to be situations in which countries covet what they need.

A:

But at the same time, getting back to our earlier business about feeding people, people will fight before they die. Their national sovereignty will really depend on their ability to produce this degree of security and living for people. So in the midst of this, we will continue to have, I suppose, the fractionalization that comes with huge numbers of tribes that have different religions, different economic and political philosophies.

We are becoming acquainted with this much more than we really wanted to. As we got into war with Iraq for example, and tried to figure out how to deal with at least three major groups there. In Afghanistan, we have found an even more complex problem of many more tribes that have never been part of a central state, or thought of that. As a matter of fact, (they) don’t even recognize the boundaries of Afghanistan, they say these were imposed by Europeans a long while back.

Skipping, because of current events, to Mali, where there is chaos.

The French have come in, tried to take over Timbuktu and various ancient situations, but people say “who are the terrorists there? Are they al Qaida?” Well scholars say, “not exactly.” But nevertheless, Osama bin

photography by [this page, from left to right] DENNIS COOK, AP; SUSAN WALSH, AP; DENNIS COOK, AP; [opposite page] TOM STRICKLAND, AP

Brussels to NATO to represent the cities of America, and so I invited all the mayors of the world to come to Indianapolis the following year, not being bashful about this, and about 50 came. This reinvigorated all of the various nation groups in Indianapolis, whether it was the Germans or the Serbs or whoever, and they all had parties for their nationals who had come. But it also brought the attention to Indianapolis that I was hopeful for so that all these people having made their plane trips sort of understood what was going on. Then I could deal with as mayor and attempted really to invigorate the exports of all of our citizens.

When I came to Washington, I sought membership on the foreign relations committee as one of my first assignments. I didn’t get on the committee for a couple years, but I had 34 years of service altogether. This led to very concentrated travel throughout the world, in part for weapons of mass destruction, but a lot of it dealt with trade and dealt with ties to Indiana.

For example, we always had a story to tell about some group or some city or some factory in Indiana that were going to be friendly to whoever was there. So we developed a Rolodex that was very substantial. And this I treasured, because it led to all sorts of interesting contacts in Indiana, as well as in Washington as we dealt with this.

1985

Sen. Lugar is named Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations

1988

Re-elected to U.S. Senate

1988

Sen. Lugar spearheads a nuclear reduction treaty with the U.S.S.R.

1994 Laden before he died often pointed out that al Qaida really could reach out to all sorts of disparate groups who were unhappy, if not actual terrorists. And so you have a sort of amalgamation of these sorts of things. Who tried to knock out the oil plant in Algeria? Well a group of Algerians, but it dates back to how the Algerian government was formed, the authoritarian nature of that and so forth.

So now the United States is coming to sort of an overall policy, although it’s not really engraved this way. We would like to have stations in various places where we can get better intelligence to begin with and then if necessary, use drones to strike at people who we believe are potential danger to the United States without having to send a battalion of troops with all the logistic support, which is going to be prohibitively expensive given the number of countries.

All I’m saying is the general lack of cohesion of governance in many Middle Eastern countries, certainly African countries, is apparent and probably is not going to go away in our time. The question will be then, in terms of our own security, are we able to have comprehensive intelligence to know where the malefactors are?

And drones and other devices of this

variety when in extreme cases in terms of our national security we need to knock somebody out, we can do that.

That’s part of our security problem.

Q:

On the topic of energy, which you mentioned, with energy shortages being a concern, there’s a tension between that and the notion of climate change.

Yes, and the environment, likewise for instance in the United States where we have a huge amount of new oil.

Re-elected to U.S. Senate

1996

Sen. Lugar runs for president in the Republican primaries

2000

Re-elected to U.S. Senate

A:

2000

Q:

2006

Exactly, and I wanted to get into your support for the Keystone XL pipeline, which is controversial from an environmental standpoint.

How do you balance the environmental concerns with the need for that energy?

Well, I believe first of all, that we are going to continually fight until we solve the problem of energy independence in the United States. One president after another in their State of the Union addresses has lamented the fact that we are tremendously vulnerable, as we have been throughout the last century, to the lack of energy supplies in the United States. Franklin Roosevelt attempted to bring a partial solution to

Fa A:

CLASS OF 20 13

H A LL OF

Sen. Lugar is nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize

Re-elected to U.S. Senate

2006

Congress passes the Lugar-Obama proliferation initiative

2009

Sen. Lugar votes to oppose the Affordable Care Act

2012

Sen. Lugar loses in the primary to Richard Mourdock. Mourdock in turn lost the seat to Dem. Joe Donnelly.

SPRING 2013 | 19

this by his treaties or agreements with the Saudi monarchs. This, however, has led to, some would say, huge defense expenditures for the last 50 years in the Middle East to preserve our ability to actually have that oil delivered to the United States.

Likewise, other countries that have oil, that have frequently been unfriendly. But until recently, we were still importing, despite all these entreaties for energy independence, two-thirds of our oil supply. Now one could say, “why don’t you do something else?” For the time being at least, our engine—motor system—in the United States has been largely upon oil. Oil by in large is less productive of CO2 than coal.

But this has not led to the French or the Chinese from using much more coal than any other country has used on Earth. The British, supplanting the United States in terms of CO2 used in that direction. All I’m saying is that in order for our economy to work, for normal Americans to enjoy having their houses heated, their cars running, other things we take for granted, we need these supplies.

So as a result, the XL pipeline is a good example of a situation of which the Canadians have a supply that’s a fairly large one. The production of all that pipeline will create jobs for Americans at a time when the jobs issue is still right upfront. Now furthermore, it provides for us, if we do not need the particular kind of oil—and some would say that the Canadian oil is heavy crude, not the light crude that is better—what if we could export it? This might help our balance of payments. The consequence of not doing this is that the Canadians have said quite frankly that they are going to sell every bit of it to China. So it’s going to reappear somewhere in the Earth’s atmosphere, but in this case the Chinese would be the beneficiary and we would have lost a good bit of friendship with the close people up in Canada.

Now in the United States, we have a situation with fracking, not only in South Dakota and North Dakota,

20 | IN BUSINESS

LUGAR BY THE NUMBERS 36 years in the U.S. Senate.

8 years as mayor of Indianapolis.

13,067 votes cast in his career.

98.27 percent career attendance record.

92 counties won in 2006, only Hoosier to win every county in a statewide election.

10th on the all-time Senate voting list after passing Vice President Joe Biden last year.

7,610 strategic nuclear warheads deactivated under the Nunn-Lugar Act. 902 intercontinental ballistic missiles destroyed under Nunn-Lugar.

3,192.3 metric tons of Russian and Albanian chemical weapons agent destroyed under Nunn-Lugar.

which has been remarkable, but in Pennsylvania and Ohio. We’re now importing only one-third of the oil we use. It’s a turnaround that is hard to comprehend in terms of our national argument. It has led on occasion to gasoline prices going down rather than up, even in a time that we’ve tried to say the only way we can suppress all this is with a carbon tax, some way of at least stopping our use.

I’m all in favor of conservation and the legislation that I’ve produced year after year provided practical ways in which Americans in buildings, either governmental or private, or in their cars or in whatever use they may in their homes on their farms, would use less because it was being used in more satisfactory ways. But the incentive for you as a business, for example, the Empire State Building is a capital case.

They spent $15 million revamping their electrical and heating system and they paid that loan back in about two

years and they’re making money on it.

The point is, it’s good business as well as conservation. But you have to have at least the confidence that you can produce the BTUs that you need.

Q:

I want to get back to education, and it was great seeing the Gary West Side sweatpants you have there. Can you talk about the partnership you have had with the Gary schools during your career?

Almost annually I had visits to high schools in Gary. Quentin Smith, a remarkable educator with whom I had very close ties, was very helpful in my understanding of the Gary school situation really from the beginning. So I leaned on him a great deal for information as well as to try to be helpful. But this was really true of my visits around the state. We’re always involved with the high school students, and this is why at the University of Indianapolis, we had this annual event in which we invited two juniors from each high school in Indiana to come to Indianapolis for a day in which I would address the group with a comprehensive statement, lots of question and answers for hours. We had other experts come in and so forth. Typically, these students would put this in their dossiers as one of the highlights. And we will continue that.

A:

Q: A:

How much time are you going to spend here and then back in Indiana working with students in Indianapolis and Bloomington?

It remains to be seen, because we’re just in the first four weeks of this new life. First of all, it’s taken some effort just to move out. I think 1,300 or 1,400 boxes. Now about 1,000 of those have been deposited at IU in the archives. They have a very good archivist, and that’s why we made that selection. Lee Hamilton’s archives are there, and so it’s nice always to work with him. So that left another 300 boxes to come over here, or somewhere en route. We’ve set up temporarily a situation where there

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photography by [this page, clockwise from left] DARRON CUMMINGS, AP; ROBERT BLASZKIEWICZ, BUSINESS; TOM STRICKLAND, AP

PHOTOS CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., waves for a photo with other members of the Rotary Club of Indianapolis after speaking to the group in Indianapolis, 2010.; Former U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar displays a pair of sweatpants he received from Gary West Side High School. Lugar has long maintained a relationship with the Gary Community Schools.; Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., discusses his family’s walnut tree farm among a row of trees grown plantation style in southwestern Indianapolis, 2006.

are five offices that are adjoining here.

Now whether we’ll be able to employ, as I talked about earlier, the talented staff member that I want and need for these projects will depend on our ability to raise the money to do this.

So that remains to be seen.

Q: A:

So how are you looking to raise the money and finance the operation?

Well, there are many foundations that are interested in what we are doing, so these are conversations that are ongoing and hopefully we’ll be successful in the months to come.

Meanwhile, I’ve been doing various appointments, projects, back and forth to Indiana for various things.

I’m going back shortly to the Rotary Club in Indianapolis. They’re going to celebrate their centennial. They’re going to have the international president there, and I’m going to be honored as Rotarian of the Century. I

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was very moved by that, because it’s meant so much to me.

Q:

It is a big change for you obviously. We’ve seen some of your fellow senators leave office expressing criticism of the workings of the Senate. Sen. Evan Bayh comes to mind, who was outspoken in his criticism as he left. Do you share those frustrations, or do you have a little bit of a different perspective?

Well I thoroughly enjoyed my service in the Senate. I feel grateful that the people of Indiana gave me that opportunity, and I would not have run for re-election if I did not want to continue to serve.

The projects I had under way, the things I was doing all over Indiana all over America, all over the world, were very important to me and still are.

And I’m hoping to continue many of them. But I enjoyed my colleagues.

A:

I appreciate the comments that are made about the partisanship and the degree of difficulty of getting work done. It reflects this particular time in America where people are very disillusioned because of lack of jobs, lack of opportunities, worry about their families, not certain how this fits in with the rest of the world, not getting the answers they need. So that frustration, I can understand.

But at the same time, I’m not going to attribute all of this to the Senate or the Constitution of the United States was drawn up ineptly. It think it’s much more a question of trying to be persuasive and trying to make the best arguments. Likewise, being able to listen to other people and to try to work with them to find solutions.

One of the great things about my opportunity to serve in the Senate was that I had very good times in all parts of the state of Indiana. In other words, I thoroughly enjoyed my eight years as mayor of Indianapolis. But the concentration was on Indianapolis. Election to the Senate brought a wonderful new constituency statewide, so I had good reason to travel throughout the state to find new friends and forge great relationships, which I did. I will miss that part of the work.

Discover Senator Lugar’s career interactive timeline and entire interview at nwi.com/business

SPRING 2013 | 21

FOLLOWING

AND

LEADING LUKE OIL CEO CREDITS OTHERS FOR COMPANY’S SUCCESS

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STORY BY ANDREA HOLECEK • PHOTO BY TONY V. MARTIN

e’s the chief executive office of a company that has grown to $1 billion in annual sales, but Tom Collins Sr. gives others the credit for that accomplishment.

Collins, 57, has been head of Luke Oil since the death of his father-in-law Ralph Luke, who founded the company in 1967.

Collins began working for the company in 1974, but left two years later after completing his electrical union apprenticeship.

“I worked for IBEW Local 697 in Hammond for 10 years, then came back full-time with Luke Oil in 1986,” Collins says. “My father-in-law’s business was growing and he asked me to come back and have an opportunity to do different things.”

At the time, Luke Oil concentrated on dealer fuel sales, home heating oil and lubricants.

“Business was different then,” Collins explains. “We had just three or four people in the office. It hadn’t gotten into convenience stores, but the business was changing.”

He became Luke Oil’s general manager during the 1990s, and president in 1998 as the company migrated toward owning and operating convenience stores as well gasoline stations.

NAME: “We continued natural, organic Tom Collins Sr. growth and continued to develop AGE: 57 sites around Northwest Indiana,” TOWN: Valparaiso Collins says.

In 1994, Luke built the first of its TITLE: Chief high-volume sites in North Hammond, Executive Officer and by 2000 the company had more COMPANY: than 20 sites around Northwest Indiana Luke Oil, Hobart and supplied more than 70 independent ACHIEVEMENTS: gasoline retailers.

President of the board of the Indiana As a distributor for Shell, Marathon, Petroleum Marketers Citgo, Mobil, and Phillips 66, the and Convenience company currently supplied more than Store Association

F.Y.I.

22 | IN BUSINESS

150 customers throughout Northwest Indiana, Illinois and Michigan and operates a retail chain of 25 sites with total annual volumes of more than 300 million gallons.

The company’s volume has grown 20 percent each year for the past five years, and Collins predicts it will increase by the same percentage during each of the next five. Luke Oil’s sales reached the $1 billion mark last year.

Yet Collins is a low-key leader who contends that Luke’s success is the work, example and fortitude of others rather than just his own.

“I’m in this business because of my late father-in-law, who started the company,” Collins says. “I’ve tried to continue the things he taught me with as much ambition and enthusiasm as he always had. And the personal side, I am the person I am because of my wife and family, and I’ve been very fortunate to have them make me the person I am.”

He calls Debra, his sweetheart since their days at Merrillville High School and wife of 37-years, the “love of my life.”

“Anything good I’ve ever done in my life, she’s been responsible for,” Collins says.

He also takes great pride in his son, Thomas Collins Jr., who is Luke Oil’s senior vice president; his daughter, Kristin Richardson; his son-in-law, Ryan Richardson and his grandchildren.

Tom Collins Jr. says his father “is a very humble man” who has been an excellent role model as a husband and father.

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“He’s been best example of someone disciplined and hardworking enough to take the reins from his father-in-law, but at the same time humble enough to transfer those reins to third generation,” Collins Jr. says. “It’s tough to go from one generation to the next. But he’s been a strong teacher to have us take over from him.”

In 2005, the company bought Hobart’s County Line Orchards. Collins Sr. said the acquisition was his son’s idea.

“I was nervous about the new venture to say the least, but I had confidence in my son’s vision and also that of my son-in-law,” Collins Sr. says. “They somehow convinced me it would be a worthwhile endeavor. I can say without reservation that they were right. The County Line Orchard has been very successful for our family business.”

During September and October, its main season, the orchard had more than 200,000 guests. At County Line educational tours attract more than

Fame SO CLAS F 2013

50,000 students from throughout the Northwest Indiana and the Chicago region throughout the year.

As a popular venue, the 30,000-square-foot barn is the choice for weddings, events and celebrations throughout the year.

“Since beginning our operation of the Orchard we have been very fortunate to have seen a fourfold increase in the original sales,” Collins Sr. says. The Orchard also responsible for the new Grow NWI initiative that is headed

by Richardson.

Through the program, Richardson and his staff are educating local organizations as to the benefits of growing and maintaining community gardens. In 2012, GROW NWI helped to plant and support more than 40 new gardens in the Region, Collins Sr. says. “It’s all worked out great. It’s great to work with family.”

Tom Collins Jr. said beside being humble, his father has an unique sense of humor.“He likes to play practical jokes and do impersonations of people,” Collins Jr. explains. “People are usually nervous around him at first and then they realize he’s a really funny guy.”

Collins Jr. is proud that his dad is so “well-respected.”

“No one ever said anything bad about my dad. And no one ever said anything bad about my grandpa, and I hope no one ever says anything bad about me.”

The Collins family traces its roots in the Region back to the early 1900s when Tom Collins Sr.’s great-grandfather, Theordore Freebury, came to Gary from Colorado help build U.S. Steel’s new mill. Freebury was a city founder and served on the first Gary City Council, Collins said.

A long-time Valparaiso resident, Collins believes in giving back to the community, and has done so in his hometown as well as in Hobart, the home of Luke Oil.

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“We try to help out local organizations,” he says. “We help the Northwest Indiana Food Bank every year and we do a ‘Beatles at the Barn’ concert fundraiser at County Line Orchard annually to raise funds for local charities and traditionally for the food bank.” The Beatles in the Barn concert, where local bands playing Beatles music, typically draws a 1,000 attendees.

Last year, the Orchard also held a benefit to raise funds for Veteran organizations that drew 400. Collins expects it to grow. At the Orchard’s “open mike” nights, Collins often plays back-up guitar for performers. “Music is a hobby, a passion of mine. I’ve been involved in music my whole life. I enjoy it and at County Line Orchard we have musical entertainment during the season and it’s given me an opportunity to meet a lot of interesting people.”

He considers himself a lifelong student of music. “It keeps your mind working.”

Collins Sr. also has a personal philosophy that helps guides his life: “Each day is a gift, try to live every day to the fullest. Treat people with kindness, respect and dignity no matter who they are.”

Besides music, Collins said he has another hobby that keeps him busy: his 10 grandchildren and attending events in which they participate. And Collins currently is in the second year of a two-year term as president of the board of the Indiana Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association. He has been involved in the organization in various capacities for 20 years.

Collins attended Indiana University Northwest and, although he left before receiving a degree, he contends his “educational journey is not over yet,” “I expect to keep going. I’m a big believer in continuing education. It’s a long road,” says Collins, who adds that he has been working since he was 14 years old. He claims to be “more industrious” than studious.

“I’ve always been very fortunate and I’ve tried to take advantage of opportunities as they became available.

I don’t know if I deserve this (Hall of Fame) recognition, but I’m humbled and appreciate it.”

SPRING 2013 | 23

CONFRONTING

CHALLENGES

EDGEWATER SYSTEMS LEADER HELPS ORGANIZATION, YOUTH REACH PLACE OF GROWTH, CHANGE STORY BY LESLY BAILEY • PHOTO BY TONY V. MARTIN

A

t first, Danita Johnson Hughes was a bit hesitant to take the lead at Edgewater Systems for Balanced Living in Gary.

She was unsure if she was right for the president/CEO role of the behavioral health care services organization that was facing challenges.

“I didn’t think I could make a difference as I hadn’t been in this particular type of leadership role before,” says Johnson Hughes, who was born and raised in Gary. “I felt the organization needed more than I could give to it, but a member of the board kept calling me and said, ‘We really need you.’

“Finally, my husband (Chuck Hughes) said, ‘Try it.

You can only help it get better.’” Since Johnson Hughes took on the leadership role in 1995, she has helped guide Edgewater Systems along a steady path to the place of growth and development where it is today.

“We really rolled up our sleeves and got in there. It’s not to say that we haven’t had challenges and financial struggles with this economy, but with the right people in place and the right attitudes, you can overcome all that,” she says.

Edgewater System’s mission is to help community members conquer their own unique issues. “I see people who are experiencing challenges in their everyday lives from a problem in school to serious emotional or mental issues to drug addiction. It runs the gamut,” she says.

The organization touches more than 100,000 lives a year through its services and it has operations in eight different locations including the recent addition of Kidwell Center at 4747 W 24th Avenue in Gary.

“We spent over a $1 million renovating a facility on the West Side. There are a number of different programs all under the umbrella of youth and family. It

24 | IN BUSINESS

is a viable, positive resource for kids and their families. There is definitely a need there,” she says.

Johnson Hughes is also looking forward to the construction of South Shore Commons, a 60-unit apartment complex that will be at 1201 W 20th Avenue in Gary. It will include the availability of on-site services.

“Many of the people who come in for services are homeless—not single

F.Y.I.

Fame

Edgewater will be.” individuals but families.

Johnson Hughes’ The economy has really career has its roots in the contributed to that. If health care and human they don’t have a place to NAME: Danita services environment, stay and can’t afford one, Johnson Hughes which “helped me they don’t always get the TOWN: Valparaiso develop my passion for services they need. You helping people.” She need a physical living TITLE: President/CEO has two degrees from address to get services, COMPANY: Edgewater Indiana University so it can be challenging,” Systems of Balanced Living in Gary Northwest, a Bachelor’s she says. and a Master’s in Public Johnson Hughes ACHIEVEMENTS: Has helped grow and develop Administration as well sees Edgewater Systems Edgewater Systems as a second Master’s making a mark on the since taking lead role degree in Social Service community beyond the in 1995; author of two books; active speaker Administration from the individuals and families on youth and leadership; University of Chicago, who seek help. serves on: NWI Economic where she also obtained “We are a driver Development District, Calumet College Board a graduate certificate in of economic vitality of Trustees, strategic Health Administration with our construction planning committee for & Policy. She earned projects,” she says. “Also, the Northwest Indiana Forum, One Region One her doctorate in it is really important for Vision, including co-chair Human Services from me being a professional of awards luncheon for Walden University in to provide employment 10 years, Governance Committee for the United Minneapolis. opportunities for so Way of Porter County Outside of her role many people—close to board and Education at Edgewater Systems, 300 at various times Committee for the Gary Chamber of Commerce; she is a speaker and throughout history. In as well as works with the active on a number of many ways, local chapter of Links, a boards, including One we help shape their lives women’s volunteer and service organization.

Region One Vision. She and careers, as for many has written two books: of them, this is their Power from Within: first job.

Discovering What You “One of my greatest Already Have to Live Successfully and accomplishments is taking this Influencing Today’s Youth: Shaping the organization from where it was and Behaviors, Expectations, and Aspirations helping it get to a place of respectability of Tomorrow’s Leaders. and viability to become a community “I speak at colleges, churches, resource. We have been able to expand women’s groups, high schools … it is what once was a fledgling organization an opportunity to at least get people to one that is well-respected in the talking about the issues and how we can community.” address them. It’s not that I am an expert, Edgewater Systems Board Chair but I see the challenges by working Shirley P. Thomas says Johnson Hughes’ at Edgewater and being a mom and low-key leadership style continues to watching my friends and other people steer the organization toward success. try to raise their children in this very “She has helped make Edgewater a complex society,” Johnson Hughes says. central place of importance in this area.

“It’s so different with social media She is a visionary and I think very highly and technology that wasn’t available in of her leadership abilities,” Thomas says. the past, there is so much competing “I admire her and the respect that she for our children’s attention. We have to gives employees to be able to achieve the understand how to best meet them in current goal. There seems to be a unity the place where they are and help them of thought and mind as to where they are progress in life and prepare them for going. She makes sure they follow the what they will confront as adults and strategic plan—it is truly a map of what

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to be leaders.”

Mark Maassel, president and CEO of the Northwest Indiana Forum, has seen Johnson Hughes develop as a leader from his days at NIPSCO to his current leadership roles today with the NWI Forum and One Region One Vision program.

“I am glad to see her increasing comfort with sharing her experiences, knowledge and background as a guide and mentor. She has really been able to help people think of what is important to help our young folks become adults,” Maassel says. “She has always had some of that, but she is really stepping up her game and doing more with her background and familiarity with these issues.”

Johnson Hughes believes part of her impact as a community leader lies in starting discussions on these issues, particularly with the One Region One Vision initiative.

“I think of us as a regional community.

I strongly believe the issues that we face in Gary every day and our clients face are not unique to Gary. Our problems don’t just stop at the border or the county line, they trickle over,” she says. “The sooner we can have an open dialogue and come up with ways to tackle the issues, the better we will be as a community. We all have a stake in the Region and we can accomplish so much more if we work together to try and facilitate change.

There are a myriad of issues to confront and it’s not simple, but at least we can start a conversation.”

She continues to find inspiration to be involved from a sense of responsibility as well as from her husband, who is executive director of the Gary Chamber of Commerce.

“I feel an obligation to give back to a community that has given so much to me,” she says. “Since the day I met my husband, he has always been involved.

We are very different—I am more of an introvert and only an extrovert out of necessity due to my profession. He encourages and inspires me . . . when I don’t feel like I can do it, he pushes me.

“I hope I am an inspiration through example . . . I hope I am inspiring others by providing an example that they can look to and possibly want to emulate.”

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SPRING 2013 | 25

REVOLUTIONIZING AN IMAGINATION LEADERSHIP STORY BY LOUISA MURZYN PHOTO BY TONY V. MARTIN

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INDUSTRY

rom the time he was a little boy digging seven-foot-high foxholes in the dunes around the Wabash tracks in Gary, Tom Sourlis had a fondness for working with his hands, his head and his heart.

“I was always interested in making things,” says Sourlis, 65, founder and chairman of Mortar Net USA in Burns Harbor. “It didn’t matter what it was. I built birdhouses, model airplanes and forts with my friends. I liked shaping materials and I still do—my alter ego is a glass artist.

“I am an inventor and artist type. Really an idea guy much more than a business man. I can do business and have done it through the years, but it’s always been a venue for ideas.”

After attending the Illinois Institute of Technology for architecture, the Gary native volunteered with AmeriCorps Volunteer in Service to America (VISTA) and joined the battle against poverty on the frontlines.

After his time with VISTA, Sourlis, of Highland, took over his father’s tuckpointing business in 1972. In 1992, he invented Mortar NAME: Tom Sourlis Net, a product that prevents mortar AGE: 65 droppings from clogging weep Hometown: Highland holes designed to permit water TITLE: Chairman to exit a building wall. Today the product is found in more than COMPANY: Mortar 4,000 specifications on cavity wall Net USA Ltd construction in North America.

ACHIEVEMENTS: The success of Mortar Net Founder of Mortar Net USA Ltd; Fellow in The enabled Sourlis to channel resources Society of Innovators into nonprofits such as TradeWinds, of Northwest Indiana; the Crisis Center, Parents as Founder of Grants Inc.; former owner Teachers, the Legacy Foundation of Sourlis Masonry and the Porter County Community Restoration; Founder of Foundation. the Gary Rugby Club.

F.Y.I.

DAD, MOM AND MONOPOLY Sourlis’ father, John, started the tuckpointing business in 1947 but closed it temporarily after having a heart attack.

Sourlis bought his dad’s truck and revived the company under his dad’s tutoring.

“He taught me the business,” Sourlis says. “The fundamental stuff—be honest, work hard, do your job and show up. My dad did every job right and most of them came in on time and were profitable.”

David Bochnowski, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Peoples Bank, said Sourlis has stayed true to the lessons passed from father to son. “As business man, Tom is incredibly ethical and very forthright,” he said. “He delivers on whatever he says he’s going to do.”

Sourlis Masonry Restoration entered the Chicago market, working on projects such as the Chicago Water Tower, the Rookery and several buildings designed

by Frank Lloyd Wright. In 2006, he sold the company because of the popularity of Mortar Net. Life lessons were also handed down from his mother, Helen, and aunt, Olga Brinkman. “They were huge influences in my life values and how to live,” Sourlis says. “I have a sensible work ethic. I don’t overwork and I’m productive.

“I’ve always been involved in business, arts and sports. I can trace back to when I was 7 years old. We played in the alley and I was always making something. I played strategy games like chess. We’d play Monopoly for days on end and I always liked building an empire.”

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L L HF A

are exhibited in the Lubezink Center for the Arts in Michigan City; Lake Street Gallery in Gary; Arts and Artisans in Chicago; Local Color Gallery in Union Pier, Michigan; South Shore Art Center in Munster; and MergeArts in Hammond.

SECOND CHANCES

CONNECTED TO NATURE Among Sourlis’ passions is the environment. “I’m disappointed in how humans treat nature in general and how disrespectful and how disconnected we seem to be from it,” Sourlis says. “Our environment is going to be here forever but we are here temporarily.”

He has made a strong commitment to a “green” culture. Recycled materials with low volatile organic compounds are identified and promoted for use within the company’s product lines.

Sustainability is an outcome of Mortar Net solutions since the useful life of masonry buildings is extended by reducing the susceptibility to moisture damage and insect infestation.

The products have a significant

environmental impact, explains Mortar Net President Gary Johnson.

“The ability for a building to last a long time without replacement is environmentally friendly,” he says.

“You’re not tearing it down and hauling it to a landfill and using energy and new materials to replace it.”

Sourlis has a large vegetable and flower garden as well as beehives to produce his own honey. In 1974, he began making stained glass windows and lampshades which are all driven by his enduring, reverential connection to nature.

He has an almost 40-year fascination with glass lamps beginning with Tiffany style and moving into more organic, contemporary and sculptural forms.

Works created at Sourlis Glass Studio

Barbara Young, President of the Porter County Community Foundation, has a reminder of Sourlis in her office: a glass lamp crafted by Sourlis that she bought at a nonprofit silent auction.

“He’s an incredible entrepreneur and approaches philanthropy with the same kind of innovation,” Young says. “He wants to give people a helping hand but not a hand out. He supports them in a way the helps them grow on their own.

He enjoys seeing them become more self-reliant.”

Bochnowski agrees Sourlis’ success hasn’t prevented him from giving of his time and resources. “He rolls up his sleeves and goes to work in his business life and does the same in his community endeavors,” he says.

Sourlis’ favorite organization is Nazareth Home in East Chicago, a 24-hour foster home for medicallycompromised babies and children from birth to age 6. He says Nazareth has found homes for 150 children over the last six years. “Their lives would have been miserable had they not been saved.”

“It tugs at my heart and my practicality. What better thing could you do than put your resources into something that makes the world a better place? They take a potential disaster—a child that has no chance of a decent start.

“To take those kids and give them a more level playing field and an even start, I can’t think of a bigger way to change the world. It is so complete in its success of what it does.”

Bochnowski agrees Northwest Indiana is blessed to have Sourlis, also a worldclass rugby player, on its team.

“He is an unsung hero,” he says. “He’s unpretentious and humble but impactful.

Those are traits we should honor and cherish. He’s made a difference in so many lives and organizations because he stepped up with his time, talent and treasure.”

SPRING 2013 | 27

SERVING

UP

SUCCESS

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TEIBEL’S CO-OWNER IS DEVOTED TO HIS RESTAURANT, BUT TAKES TIME TO HELP CHARITABLE CAUSES STORY BY DIANE POULTON • PHOTO BY TONY V. MARTIN

tephen Teibel is the third generation of his family to own and manage the successful Schererville restaurant that first opened at the corner of U.S. 30 and U.S. 41 in 1929.

It had seating for 12 back then.

“Teibel’s has endured through many years and generations of the Teibel family,” says Cal Bellamy, partner with Krieg DeVault.

“But isn’t it noteworthy that Steve and the rest of the family have maintained quality, affordability and uniquely signature dishes while also evolving in various and sometimes unnoticed modest steps? They have continued to succeed in a particularly difficult business as the world around them has changed. Success has largely been dependent on Steve’s personal, hands-on leadership.”

Bellamy adds that Stephen Teibel is also highly committed to the community, whether with Meals on Wheels, the Hammond YMCA or helping various local volunteers provide high quality, affordable meals to those in need.

“As one who has partnered with him in various nonprofit activities, I know of this first hand,” Bellamy says. “Steve is my unsung hero. He works quietly there giving quality food over all these years and at the same time helping out in many different ways. He believes in his product and he believes in sharing. I think those are two very admirable characteristics.”

Stephen Teibel explains, with the grueling hours involved in running a restaurant, “You better love it every day you come in.”

“It’s in your blood,” he says. “There are things that make your blood boil here and then there are times that it is very gratifying.”

He enjoys working 30 days in the kitchen followed by 30 days in the dining room.

“When you work in the dining room, you talk to the customers to find out what they want,” Teibel says. “You can make people happy by doing little things. And when you are in the kitchen you turn around and say ‘I know what my customers want and take care of them.’” In the restaurant business, each day is different, different customers with different needs.

28 | IN BUSINESS

“When you have a business that is 80 some years old, as is your building, you have to keep improving everything,” Teibel says. “Working a lot of hours is the downfall part of the business.”

Surgery last year and recovery in the hospital have caused him to re-think his priorities. “You shouldn’t have to work that many hours,” Teibel says. “It took its toll on me. I don’t want that to happen to my son.”

Among his mentors, Teibel includes his father, Harold, his uncle Bob, golf pro Herb Meinert and insurance salesman William Smith. He said all four taught him by example and helped and inspired him, including on the golf course.

According to Stephen Teibel, “Golf can teach you a lot about patience.”

He says he wouldn’t be here today if wasn’t for the support of his wife of 37 years, Debra, who took care of their four children while he worked long hours and was a great caregiver when he was sick.

His community activities include supporting the Shrine of Christ’s Passion, serving on the board of Meals on Wheels when the organization built a new facility and working with the American Heart Association on its first Taste of Northwest Indiana fundraiser.

Stephen Teibel’s son and restaurant co-owner Paul explains the key to his father’s success has been similar to that of his grandfather. “They are just very hard workers,” Paul Teibel says. “Even

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up until he slowed down his schedule last year, he is always very hands-on and always there to help whether it is here at the restaurant or some charity event.”

Paul Teibel says both his grandfather and father have worked crazy hours, anywhere from 60, in a light week, to 80.

“To fit time in there not only to take care of the business but to be able to help people like he did and like he still does is a big thing,” Paul Teibel says. “To be able to just help the town of Schererville when they have the corn roast or they have the kids’ night out in the park, all the types of events, to be able to work things in like he did is pretty amazing.”

Paul Teibel explains his father has an ability to think about something, process it fast and make a decision on the spot.

“A lot of times I think that can get people in trouble, but his track record with those decisions is proven,” Paul Teibel says. “His ability to make good decisions on the fly and just keep going really maximizes the amount of time he has to not only work on other things at the restaurant but other things outside the restaurant as well.”

His father has taught him valuable life lessons, Paul Teibel says.

“There is one life lesson that definitely jumps out right away,” Paul Teibel says. “He always says you are only as good as your last meal served. He is always focused on the one at hand. If you mess that one up that person is not coming back.”

With so many restaurant choices in Northwest Indiana, Paul Teibel thinks keeping that in mind is extremely important.

“His focus is always on the customer for whom we are putting the lunch out or the bridal shower or the catering job,” Paul Teibel says. “He has worked hard to keep the name that my grandfather and great-grandfather made.”

Paul Teibel’s father and grandfather have taught him everything he needs to know about running the restaurant.

“The way it is run now is as close as you can get to the way they ran it. You don’t mess with success.” Paul Teibel says his father has stressed the importance of high quality, fresh food and good service.

“If we do those two things right you

2013

e

LL

F.Y.I.

NAME: Stephen Teibel AGE: 61 TOWN: Schererville TITLE: Co-owner COMPANY: Teibel’s Restaurant in Schererville ACHIEVEMENTS: Third generation co-owner of Teibel’s Restaurant, which has continued to succeed in a very difficult business climate.

Teibel has been active in Meals on Wheels, the Hammond YMCA, the American Heart Association, the Shrine of Christ’s Passion and providing high quality meals to those in need.

are taking care of the customer. We keep everything as fresh as you can possibly have it while also focusing on the service whether it is my dad talking to people about a banquet on the phone or just everybody in the entire building.

Really focusing on those two things is the main key to our success. That is what he taught me.”

Paul Teibel says he and his father have fun on the job.

“It’s hard work but we have fun every day,” Paul says. “He jokes with the customers and staff.”

“Talking the tables, that is definitely part of the success of my dad too. When he was running the podium customers loved talking to my dad. He could stand at a table and talk to a customer for a half hour about their family and or a place the customer had been. He still

walks into the dining room and will talk to the customers he knows, checking on first-timers.”

Paul Teibel says communication skills are definitely one of his father’s strong points.

“He not only asks customers if they are happy about their meals, he makes it personal,” he says. “That is an important lesson. If you lose touch with your customers and the guests that you are supposed to be taking care of, if you don’t know what they want, how are they supposed to be happy?”

SPRING 2013 | 29

staying

connected

TO THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY

Ivy Tech strives to fill industry needs through programs, Corporate College

d STORY BY LESLY BAILEY

ue to the nature of their work, region funeral home directors were finding it difficult to fulfill their continuing education requirements. Every two years, they have to hit 10 hours to maintain their licenses, and Indianapolis had been the closest resource for them.

“They find it difficult to leave their jobs. They have the best intentions of going but the moment they get a death call, things change. I listened to my advisory board and the funeral director community that said we need a place here in Northwest Indiana to put together seminars and offer continuing education hours,” says Rick Soria, vice chancellor at Ivy Tech Community College Michigan City Pejic campus.

Before his current position, he helped build the accredited mortuary science program and its offerings since it was launched at the East Chicago campus in 2002.

The need for the program surfaced as part of Ivy Tech’s mission to stay connected to the industries and companies that make up the Northwest Indiana business community.

“I was told here is a need. We have funeral directors burned out due to the emotional stress. There was an expected increase in deaths due to baby boomers so there was going to be an increase in need for services. Also, the rate of retirement was outpacing new individuals coming in,” Soria says.

The college continues to create programs, from surgical technician to pharmacy technician, based on input from its advisory boards. It also strives to keep the work force up-to-date with training through its Corporate College component.

Aco Sikoski, vice chancellor at Ivy Tech Community College Valparaiso campus, says the advisory boards are the starting point to help the college take on a liaison role

30 | IN BUSINESS

between students and businesses.

“We have 23 programs on the Valparaiso campus and each has its own advisory board committee with representatives from the related industries,” Sikoski says.

“We are really connected to the community through the boards.”

The Energy Technology Program has its roots in discussions that began in 2007. The state’s major utility companies had formed a consortium and asked Ivy Tech to co-chair as an educational partner.

“We were discussing needs on the utility side and found that electrical line, natural gas and power plant technicians were the major areas the companies were going to need help in,” Sikoski says.

Ivy Tech began a Career Development Certificate with 12 courses based on these initial conversations.

“We had great success with the program and we were able to support it through grant money for three regions including Northwest Indiana, Indianapolis and Evansville,” Sikoski says. “The CDC produced graduates and when they applied for jobs at the utility companies, it was found there was a need to expand the education with math and English so we extended to a Technical Certificate.”

The program continued to develop into an associate’s degree and then into the standalone program that it is today. Beyond the original three areas of focus, the program is expanding to include Smart Grid, the management of energy.

“We have power plants that are generating power, wind turbines along I-65 and solar panels. With multiple sources of energy, there is an entire network so now the question is how to have a system in place to manage all of this energy,” Sikoski says.

Since the program began, there have been about 150 students enrolled, more than 70 have graduated and more than 35 are now working full-time for NIPSCO. “We are just in constant connection with the utility community and the energy consortium,” Sikoski says. “We

photography by [opposite page] TONY V. MARTIN

Ivy Tech students work in the flex lab as instructor Mike Jones has the students study variables in electric power flowing through a test system.

are also out there talking to community leaders and companies to sense their needs as quickly as possible and adjust as fast as we can.”

“We are building programs by listening to the community.

What are the needs here in LaPorte County and how can your community college assist you?” Soria asks. “We embrace that not every student wants to go through a traditional college.

Our programs can meet the students at where they are at. We can provide training and get them a certificate so we can get them into the work force and fill these needs and gaps.”

Sikoski says a trained, educated and skilled work force is a key component to attracting business to the region.

“If you talk to anybody that is considering moving to the area, one of the major factors in the decision is about the work force. They can find a piece of land, but if they don’t have a strong work force, they can’t do anything,” he says.

While programs are updated and developed on the academic side, the mission of Ivy Tech’s Corporate College is to keep workers trained and certified for their jobs as well as improve skills. It builds on Ivy Tech’s long-standing role as a training provider.

“A company’s employees are its greatest asset and a company can only succeed when those employees have the knowledge and skills to perform at their best. Education and professional development training are among the most critical investments that can be made in any business,” says Ivy Tech Community College President Thomas J. Snyder. “Ivy Tech Corporate College is committed to providing these companies

with the highest return on their investment by offering a variety of solutions.”

“We provide business solutions for business and industry from credit and non-credit classes to certifications. We are on the tech side to the industrial side and work with industries from real estate to insurance,” says Bill Thon, executive director of the Corporate College’s Northwest region. “We can be on their sites and provide training on their time frames.”

The Corporate College concentrates on customizing sessions to fit each company and offering a range of topics as well as more than 2,000 different certification exams.

“My background is in manufacturing and I was a public school teacher so I understand the value of training and what that means to the employees and employers,” Thon says.

Sikoski has seen how the college’s academic and training segments can work together.

“We have a corporate college representative out there in the community talking to businesses and corporations about how we can help and customize training. That may generate a discussion that in the next five years, that industry will need to fill a work force shortage or skills gap,” Sikoski says. “Then we talk about the academic side and how we can create or customize a program.

“In the future, we will continue to be active in the community and talking to leaders. It is my very special mission to help my community be the best it can be by continuing to meet the work force needs and make sure individuals have the education and skills needed.”

SPRING 2013 | 31

r e h t a e W or not

For 2013, Port of IndianaBurns Harbor is looking up

BUSINESS Up? Down? Good? Bad? As 2013 moves forward, the outlook for the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor remains cloudy, but could turn brighter if the rains fall.

Jody Peacock, director of corporate affairs for the Ports of Indiana, says he is “cautiously optimistic” in his projections for 2013.

The Northwest Indiana deep-water port is responsible for bringing $4.3 billion in economic activity to the state annually, and Peacock expects that to continue and grow.

“There are some indications we could see some increases in heavy industrial cargoes, including steel, this year,” he says. “They’ve been on a steady increase the last couple of years.”

At the time of the interview, the Port

32 | IN BUSINESS

didn’t have year-end numbers for 2012, but Peacock says they should be up from 2011.

The cargoes handled by the Port are very diverse, and each moves independently of the others, Peacock said.

The Port has seen significant increases in shipments of coal, grain, fertilizer, steel and minerals through the 2012 shipping season, although there were some indications that shipments of limestone, road salt and miscellaneous cargos could be down slightly or flat, he says.

“One goes up, one goes down,” Peacock says. “There are so many factors to whether it (business) picks up or drops off.”

AT THE

PORT

STORY BY ANDREA HOLECEK

Art Flores, superintendent of port operation for ADS Logistics, says activity at the Port depends on the government resolving its differences on taxes and spending.

If so, businesses will begin putting money into the economy and companies begin ordering and moving materials.

“I believe the Port will do better this year,” says Flores, whose company runs a storage facility there. “It did better last year than the year before. If the economy gets better, it gets better for us overall in the Port.”

ADS Logistics is a storage facility that depends on steel mill orders.

“We’re forecasting to be up this year, but it depends if mill orders come through or not,” he says. “We make

at the Port and a division of Jack Gray Transport Inc. Between 70 percent and 80 percent of the operation’s business is loading and unloading cargo generated by barge traffic.

“Right now my projection is that business will be down due to low water levels on the Mississippi,” Stone says. “ . . . But we don’t know for how long. It all depends on the weather.”

In order to maintain a 9-foot deep channel for river navigation, the Army Corps of Engineers currently is removing rock formations below the surface of the narrowing river between St. Louis, Mo., and Cairo, Ill. Since early July, there has been ongoing dredging to preserve the channel. There

money, a profit, not by storing coils but by turning over our inventory.”

John Novitski, plant manager for Steel Warehouse Co. at the Port, says he assumes Port shipments “will be somewhat similar to last year and 2012 was an improvement over 2011.”

“Since 2008, when business bottomed out, there’s been a slow recovery and now there’s been an upward trend. But it hasn’t gone back to its glory days.”

Steel Warehouse processes light gauge carbon steel in support of Midwest stampers, fabricators, and other suppliers to the appliance, office furniture and automotive industries, according to the company. It’s the Port’s largest customer, Novitski says.

Port and ports in Mount Vernon and Jeffersonville.

Peacock calls Indiana’s port system “truly unique.”

“People don’t understand you can have a port 600 miles from ocean the way we do,” Peacock says. “It means companies can bring cargo by water, which is the cheapest, safest most environmentally friendly mode of transportation, and to bring it into heart of country.”

For example, it would take 1,000 trucks to handle the same amount of steel cargo as one towboat moving 15 barges, he says.

About one-third of Burns Harbor Port’s cargo is moved by barge through the Chicago Area Water System that includes the Chicago Ship Canal as it feeds into the

PORT FACTS & FIGURES

although there were some indications that shipments of limestone, road salt and miscellaneous cargos could be down slightly or flat.

• It would take 1,000 trucks to handle the same amount of steel cargo as one towboat moving 15 barges.

• The Port has seen significant increases in shipments of coal, grain, fertilizer, steel and minerals through the 2012 shipping season,

• As a multi-modal facility, the port handles an average of 500,000 trucks, 10,000 railcars, 400 barges and 100 ships annually, according to the Ports of Indiana, which governs the Burns Harbor Port and ports in Mount Vernon and Jeffersonville.

• About one-third of Burns Harbor Port’s cargo is moved by barge through the Chicago Area Water System that includes the Chicago Ship Canal as it feeds into the Illinois River and the Mississippi River.

“It’s kind of a goofy market,” he says.

“No one knows what’s happening for more than a few months out. Right now everyone’s busy. But there’s skepticism if it will last. There are no long-term commitments. No one’s forecasting positive. Many customers aren’t optimistic. Auto is doing well, but not much else.”

Located between U.S. Steel Corp.’s and ArcelorMittal’s’ huge steel plants at Burns Harbor, the Port handles 15 percent of all U.S. steel trade with Europe and has more than 10 steel processors on its 600 acres.

The steel plants’ locations on the lake are “the reason the steel industry has done so well in Northwest Indiana,” Peacock says.

“It’s at the connection of the Great Lakes, the river systems, highways, and rail systems,” he says. “That’s important to being able to move steel cargoes by water.”

As a multi-modal facility, the port handles an average of 500,000 trucks, 10,000 railcars, 400 barges and 100 ships annually, according to the Ports of Indiana, which governs the Burns Harbor

Illinois River and the Mississippi River.

Both the Asian carp issue in the canal and the river’s historically low water levels due to recent drought could mean problems for Port shipments, Peacock says.

There is continuing pressure from some Great Lake states and various groups to permanently close the canal in an effort stop the carp from migrating into the lake, he says.

“There are already barriers in place that are doing that, barriers that other waterways don’t,” Peacock says. “It’s not a viable solution for cargo. It’s very important that the CAWS be keep open to shipping. The channel is important to connect our port to New Orleans. Cutting it off from Northwest Indiana would be disaster.”

Mississippi barge traffic problems would definitely have a detrimental effect on the Port, Peacock says.

Although that effect is yet to be determined, a good number of companies at the Port that use the waterway, says Ken Stone, operations manager for Lakes and Rivers Transfer, a bulk cargo stevedore

• The Northwest Indiana deep-water port is responsible for bringing $4.3 billion in economic activity to the state annually.

also have been continued surveys and channel patrols to keep commerce safely moving on the Middle Mississippi.

Even though the channel remains open, barges may have to reduce their draft from nine feet, to seven to eight feet, which means the amount of cargo the barge can hold would have to be reduced, Stone says.

“It affects our bottom line,” he says.

“We charge by tonnage, if there’s less tonnage it will affect our revenue.”

Water levels on the Mississippi and on the Great Lakes are a serious concern for the Port, its companies and its customers, Peacock says.

“It emphasizes the need for dredging in many areas,” he says. “There’s an ongoing need but especially when water levels are low . . . It shows the need for continued support of the Army Corps’ budget. It’s very important to the Port and Northwest Indiana’s economy.”

There’s always a concern when Congress talks about cutting budgets,” Peacock says. “The important thing for us is for people to realize how important waterborne shipping is to our economy.”

SPRING 2013 | 33

HEALTH CARE, MANUFACTURING AND DATA STORAGE PLAY KEY ROLES IN ADVANCEMENTS

Technology in NWI DRIVING CAPITAL INVESTMENTS

STORY BY LOUISA MURZYN

If you had asked Don Keller three decades ago to imagine a welder in his fab shop,he would have pictured someone wearing leathers and a helmet bending over a Fourth-of-July cascade of sparks chasing the weld bead down with a torch.• That was the old-fashioned way.

T

oday, Keller not only watches his yellow robot arms doing the same work with yoga-like flexibility but also his workers guiding the amazing machines through motions beyond the ability of the most dexterous human.

“I tell people this and they think I’m a little crazy,” says Keller, owner of Tri-State Industries, a 32-year-old contract manufacturer in Hammond which now has an automation division.

“If you give me five years I will be the largest robotics integrator in the Chicago area. We expect to invest another $1 million. Robotics is where our future lies. We’re reinventing ourselves, and I’m looking for something that’s going to be here 30 years from now.”

To date, Keller has invested roughly $500,000 in seven robots. That figure does not include the acquisition of a Mishawaka robotics integration company which allows Tri-State to refurbish and sell to other manufacturers looking to automate.

Don Koliboski, director of economic

34 | IN BUSINESS

TONY V. MARTIN

To date, Tri-State Industries in Hammond has invested roughly $500,000 in seven robots. That figure does not include the acquisition of a Mishawaka robotics integration company which allows Tri-State to refurbish and sell to other manufacturers looking to automate.

development for the Northwest Indiana Forum, said Indiana is experiencing an explosion of investment in this type of advanced manufacturing as well as information technology in health care and data centers.

“Technology drives investment in almost every business these days, from mom-and-pops to on-going expansions in existing companies,” Koliboski says.

BRINGING JOBS BACK

HEALTH CARE’S MOST WIRED

Advanced manufacturing means making products better, faster and cheaper, which allows U.S. companies to compete around the world.

On any given day the robots are at least two to four times as productive as a manual operation. Keller can reduce his welding costs from 50 to 80 percent.

The good news is the new wave of highly skilled precision work does not displace workers.

“You still have to have a human being,” Keller explains. He wants the workers who run his robots know how to weld, so employees are being trained to not only run these robots but troubleshoot programs if something goes wrong.

“If we are going to be competitive against foreign competition, we have to automate. “It’s the only way for us to survive in manufacturing. We have to get the labor content down and the robots will do that for us.”

Employees still have to understand welding because the material still needs to be cut, formed and fabricated before the robot takes over. As a result, the opportunity for highpaying jobs exist with the pay scale ranging from an attractive $15 to $25 per hour.

Keller believes more companies “reshoring” because of transportation risks and costs. In fact, a study by Michigan State University found that 40 percent of manufacturing firms believe there is a movement of production back to the U.S. from countries such as China and India.

“You’ve got better control over your quality and deliveries and American companies are becoming more competitive. I think you are going to see resurgence in American manufacturing if you are able to capitalize on the reshoring.”

“A decade ago we had computers and servers, but if they stopped working we could continue to take care of patients,” says Nader Eskander, IT director for Franciscan St. Anthony Health. “In today’s world it would be paralyzing.

When you need it to be working, you need it right then and there.”

The health care industry’s increased use of mandated electronic medical records (EMRs) as well as wireless medical devices and personal mobile technology has turned hospital networks into important components in patient treatment.

Matt Doyle, chief financial officer for Methodist Hospitals, says with EMRs doctors enter their own documentation and orders into the system.

“The big drive is to get rid of the medical errors of the past,” says hospital IT director Tim Diamond. “There’s no change of hand between clinicians which eliminates a potential error in translation. We’re getting away from the human element to get things done quicker as well as for patient safety.”

“IT will be involved in every facet of healthcare so with every decision that’s made, IT will have a seat at that table,” Doyle says.

At Franciscan, doctors can access patient records such as diagnostic images or lab results with iPhones and iPads.

“If it wasn’t for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) the use of mobile devices would be even further ahead,” Eskander says.

“HIPAA is ‘the guy’ stepping on the brakes. The bottom line is there are lots of exciting technologies with lots of potential but the challenge is keeping the data secure. That’s our focus.”

The long-term goal is to have a single unified record across all locations so medical information follows patients regardless of treatment location to improve care coordination and patient outcomes.

Indiana has been a leader in the Indiana Network for Patient Care and the Indiana Healthcare Information Exchange, which allows access of critical patient information across multiple provider sources, Eskander says.

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION Last year, Franciscan Alliance opened a second off-site data collection center in addition to its primary site in Indianapolis.

“Northwest Indiana is kind of an unknown location so you don’t worry about data security,” says Joe Hornett, senior vice president for the Purdue Research Foundation.

“It’s smack in the heart of the Midwest so its attractive to companies in the South and on the East and West Coasts and we’re not prone to earthquakes and don’t have hurricanes.”

Koliboski said Northwest Indiana has been nationally recognized as a growth center and data collection is a cluster easy to attract because of our proximity to Chicago and the amount of broadband that runs on the bottom of Lake Michigan.

In the same category are logistics distribution centers. “Some very recognizable household names” have expressed an interest in locating a possible 1 million-square-foot facility in Merrillville, Hornett says.

“So much of what takes place is driven by information. As much as possible you want to take human hands out of the process and let information drive the optimal time to move the goods so they get to the right place on time.”

He noted when an Amazon facility was built in Whiteland it created 3,000 jobs in 18 months.

Keller is extremely impressed by the state’s economic development efforts and its low-cost, pro-business climate.

“You look around the Midwest and we are surrounded by expensive, high-priced states. Indiana is doing a phenomenal job when you take a look at what we have available.” More at nwi.com/business

SPRING 2013 | 35

Corporate Citizenship

Companies have multifaceted responsibility to the community

I

BY THOMAS KEILMAN

Director of Government & Public Affairs for BP

36 | IN BUSINESS

n my position as Director of Government & Public Affairs for BP, I am often asked to describe what BP is doing to maintain its position as a good corporate citizen here in Northwest Indiana. BP and our Whiting refinery have a deep sense of pride when it comes to our standing in our community.

In my view, being a good corporate citizen comes down to safe and responsible operations, support of advancing socio-economic development, developing education and workforce capacity, and encouraging volunteerism from our employees.

First and foremost, it is imperative to maintain safe operations without impacting the communities in which we operate.

From an economic standpoint, the Whiting refinery continues to be one of the largest contributors to the State of Indiana’s and Lake County’s tax base as we continue to pay our fair share of corporate and local property taxes.

In addition, as is the case with all businesses large and small, the quality and strength of our refinery is defined by the quality of our about 1,650 employees and the thousands of contractors that work to make us strong every day. Without our employees and contractors, we would not be the great business that we are. Over the past six years, we have made safe and steady progress on our multi-billion dollar refinery modernization project. This project could not have advanced to this point without the long-term commitment of our employees and the hard working contractors and building trades that have worked on the project.

BP also provides a number of corporate matching programs that encourage employees to contribute to their favorite charitable institutions. Included in these programs are BP’s “Fabric of America Fund,” which provides each BP employee with an annual $300 contribution to the nonprofit of their choice.

The United Ways of Lake and Porter County continue to play a key role in maintaining basic human services for those in need.

Building education capacity and strengthening

local workforce capabilities also is a major focus of BP’s local community investment. BP continues to support pre-school programs such as Early Learning Partnership, a creative program that assists parents in pre-school education in their own homes. At the K-12 level, BP supports the Hammond and East Chicago Education Foundations and the scholarships that they provide to teachers to develop creative programs for the classroom.

Two other educational institutions continue to make progress in broadening local student skills and horizons. We are fortunate to have the Challenger Learning Center and the Dunes Environmental Learning Center here in Northwest Indiana. BP has supported these programs since their inception. These two centers have been open for more than 15 years, and provide local students a non-traditional opportunity to engage in science activities that are second to none in our country.

Northwest Indiana is also fortunate to have great institutions of higher learning in Purdue Calumet, Indiana University Northwest, Ivy Tech and others. BP was instrumental in supporting the development of the Purdue Calumet Water Institute.

This Institute played a role in evaluating emerging waste water technologies for industrial and municipal facilities.

I mentioned earlier our volunteer efforts for United Way including the annual Day of Caring. In addition to that, our fire department also braves the cold every December to collect funds for the Salvation Army Helping Hands Program. The BP Fire Department also provides fire safety education to local schools during Fire Safety Week.

BP’s Whiting refinery considers the responsibility of corporate citizenship to be truly multi-faceted.

A corporation’s contribution and commitment to a community cannot be measured solely by its direct monetary contributions. It is also essential to operate safely and responsibly and, above all, be positively engaged in the social fabric of our community.

More at nwi.com/business

Healthcare in 2013

Changes will affect Northwest Indiana

I

f seismic devices monitoring planet earth could measure the universe of health care, health geologists would report significant tremors. As heat and pressure shift the tectonic plates beneath our feet, economic pressures and the Affordable Care Act (ACA) change the infrastructure and landscape of health care delivery. Some changes will be beneficial, and some will be painful.

BY DR. ALEX STEMER

President of Franciscan Medical Specialists and vice president of strategic planning for Franciscan Alliance Northern Indiana Region

Introduction of the ACO The single most important change regionally is the Franciscan Alliance introduction of the first Accountable Care Organization in Northwest Indiana.

ACOs are Medicare’s attempt to improve care while lowering cost. Specifically, selected hospital systems will devise tools to identify patients who need earlier care, better care, preventative care and integrated care. The Franciscan Alliance has been awarded one of 32 Pioneer contracts to develop an ACO, and is introducing these advances in Northwest Indiana, as this article is published.

The heart of the ACO is the Patient-Centered Medical Home. Patient Care Coordinators (specially trained nurses) identify patients with the greatest medical needs, and reach out to understand each individual’s specific health requirements, provide education and resources, and assist in facilitating delivery of vital services, before patients require hospitalization. About 7,000 Medicare patients in our region are now eligible to participate, by virtue of their selection of primary care doctors affiliated with the Franciscan Alliance.

This marks the first time in Northwest Indiana a hospital system is attempting to decrease hospital admissions, by providing individualized, better care in the outpatient environment.

Unintended Consequences We can expect unintended consequences of other measures intended lower cost and expand access.

One example is the deferred correction of the “flawed Medicare formula,” which was due to trigger a 28 percent fee cut to doctors treating Medicare patients.

Legislators did not repair the formula dictating these cuts, but did fear doctors would stop seeing Medicare patients. Their solution, the temporary delay of cuts by shifting funds otherwise going to hospital payments, will sustain access, but must trigger hospital spending

cuts. Such cuts typically translate to decreased staffing, as other major costs, like medications and devices, are protected by legislation. A likely result is slowed employment growth in the health care sector.

Chief Justice of the Supreme Court John Roberts created a potential time bomb in defining the penalty for not buying insurance as a “tax,” but one that is cheap, compared to purchasing insurance. Because prior condition exclusion will no longer exist, many will pay the penalty, and wait until they become ill to buy insurance. That will cause rising premiums universally, which will further incent not buying insurance, and potentially create a catastrophic cycle. Raising the “tax” to equal the cost of insurance may not be possible.

The ACA will create additional pressures. As more than 30 million Americans gain health insurance in January 2014, demand for services will rise. But, the number of doctors has not increased, and cannot increase in time for this expansion. Without more doctors, we must add nurse practitioners and physician assistants to meet demand. This segment will grow.

Health Insurance Exchanges and Medicaid expansion: The widely touted “Internet exchanges” for health insurance acquisition create additional uncertainty, as they are untested theory. It is uncertain doctors and hospitals will accept offered payment schedules. We don’t know if cost-savings can really be achieved. And, we cannot be certain that these systems will really be in place on time.

Tying it all together The enactment of programs like ACOs, and continued pressure on physician reimbursement are drivers for consolidation in our industry. Large systems need doctors and nurses to be united, to accomplish integration and achieve better, more efficient care.

In summary, efforts to lower total health care cost will accelerate industry consolidation. While growth in some health care sectors will decline, nurse practitioners and physician assistants will deliver more care. Until new facilities are completed, waiting times and inconvenience will increase. Hopefully, Indiana will find a way to participate in Medicaid expansion, as a rejection of Federal assistance will potentially harm thousands of our citizens. More at nwi.com/business SPRING 2013 | 37

Banking on Northwest Indiana’s Future

Economic recovery creates a brighter outlook

T

he year 2013 is shaping up to be a noteworthy year for banking as our economy recovers from the effects of the Great Recession. The outlook for the economy has brightened as job losses have stabilized with some jobs returning in the manufacturing sector. Housing has bottomed, exports have strengthened, and consumer households have recovered from record high debt levels, with household debt at its lowest level since 1993.

Across the nation and locally, community banks are emerging from the Great Recession with balance sheets that demonstrate historically high levels of capital as well as core deposits. Banks are poised in 2013 to provide the fuel for household and small business growth, but policy uncertainty by our national government has hampered the emergence of a consistent upward trend of confidence in the economy by both consumers and business.

Banking this year also faces the retooling of its traditional business model as the most comprehensive banking reforms in 70 years have brought forth new regulations and compliance requirements. Stakeholders are demanding improved enterprise risk management practices designed to identify and limit risks that could threaten the stability of an individual bank as well as the banking system.

BY DAVID A. BOCHNOWSKI

Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Peoples Bank

38 | IN BUSINESS

Banking 2.0 Begins in 2013 To be successful in the future, banks will need to shift business models to address image repair and new strategies and structures driven by permanent changes in customer preferences. A starting point is the poor public perception of banking driven by the excesses of Wall Street. Community bankers work on Main Street and generally did not participate in the highly unpopular TARP program designed to shore up bank capital as the financial meltdown unfolded in 2008. Our best defense against the negative public view of banking will be to continue our community engagement through lending to household and business, and through our support for community and faith- based organizations.

In the 21st Century, community bankers will also need to shift our organization structure so that we remain relevant and drive sustainable performance that differentiates community bankers from larger, impersonal banking companies. Community banks will maintain our commitment to serving the credit

demands of our consumer and business customers.

At the same time we will take advantage of technology to improve customer service by meeting the everincreasing demand of mobile savvy customers for 24/7 access to banking through such services as mobile payments, mobile wallets, remote bill pay applications, and remote deposit capture.

Public Policy Certainty Consumer and business confidence has ebbed and flowed over the past several years as our national leaders, rather than working together to find common sense answers to the challenges of America’s fiscal health, have spurned legitimate compromise of competing public policy positions. As a result, neither consumer nor business customers have been energized to expand their horizons by accessing bank available credit facilities.

Regulatory Challenges In the aftermath of the financial meltdown, an avalanche of new banking regulations will add new costs for community banks. The intention of many of these regulations is to limit the systemic risks to the economy by the practices of our country’s large banking institutions—particularly the seven banks that now hold more than 50 percent of domestic deposits.

The FDIC reports that nearly 40 percent of all small business lending is provided by banks with less than $1 billion in assets and about 70 percent of all small business agricultural lending is likewise made by banks under $1 billion in assets. Any substantial consolidation of smaller banking companies due to regulatory burden would clearly have an adverse impact on the communities they currently serve.

Banking on Northwest Indiana Not a single bank in Northwest Indiana failed during the Great Recession. Like many of our customers we were buffeted by ill winds, but we are wiser for the experience and stronger, too. As the economy recovers, your community banks are well positioned to meet the challenges of today just as we were able to overcome the challenges of the recent past. Your community bankers are cautiously optimistic about the future and bullish on the prospect of doing business in Northwest Indiana.

More at nwi.com/business

nwi.com

Your Automotive Source for Northwest Indiana

Locate Auto Dealers with Ease, in NW Indiana & Chicagoland AcurA joe riza acura • 3 8150 West 159th Street Orland Park, IL 60462 708-403-7770 acura.rizzacars.com

smiTh chevroleT - hammond • 37 6405 Indianapolis Blvd., Hammond, IN 219-845-4000 • www.smithautogroupusa.com

webb ford • 71 9809 Indianapolis Blvd., Highland, IN 888-869-8822 • www.webbford.com

smiTh chevroleT - lowell • 7 700 W. Commerical, Lowell, IN 219-696-8931 • www.smithautogroupusa.com

GMc

MiTSuBiSHi

circle gmc • 65 2440 45th Street, Highland, IN IN 219-865-4400 • IL 773-221-8124 www.circleautomotive.com

nielsen miTsubishi • 22 5020 U.S. Highway 6, Portage, IN 888-503-4110 • www.nielsenmitsubishi.com

muller acura of merrillville • 8 3301 W. Lincoln Hwy, Merrillville, IN 219-472-7000 mulleracuraofmerrillville.com

Team chevroleT • 48 1856 W. U.S. 30, Valparaiso, IN 219-462-1175 • www.teamchevyinc.com

Audi

cHrYSLEr

Team audi • 50 3990 E. RT 30, Merrillville, IN (One mile east of the mall) 888-805-3689 • www.teamvwaudi.com

bobb auTo group - chrysler • 15 11009 West 133rd Ave., Cedar Lake, IN 219-374-7171 • www.bobbcars.com

BuicK

griegers chrysler • 5 1756 U.S. 30 West, Valparaiso, IN 219-462-4117 • www.griegersmotors.com

circle buick • 65 2440 45th Street, Highland, IN IN 219-865-4400 • IL 773-221-8124 www.circleautomotive.com

souThlake nissan • 34 Rt. 30, 1 Mile E. of I-65, Merrillville, IN 888-471-1241 • www.southlakeautomall.com

HONdA

rAM

Team honda • 51 4613 East Rt. 30, Merrillville, IN 219-947-3900 • www.teamhondaon30.com

bobb auTo group - ram • 19 11009 West 133rd Ave., Cedar Lake, IN 219-374-7171 • www.bobbcars.com

dOdGE

HYuNdAi

SuBAru

webb hyundai • 45 9236 Indianapolis Blvd., Highland, IN 219-923-2277 • www.webbhyundai.com

nielsen subaru • 22 5020 U.S. Highway 6, Portage, IN 888-503-4110 • www.nielsen.subaru.com

JEEP

TOYOTA

bobb auTo group - jeep • 17 11009 West 133rd Ave., Cedar Lake, IN 219-374-7171 • www.bobbcars.com

lake shore ToyoTa • 21 244 Melton Rd. (US 20 @ I-94), exit 22A Burns Harbor, IN • 219-787-8600 www.lakeshoretoyota.com

bobb auTo group - dodge • 16 11009 West 133rd Ave., Cedar Lake, IN 219-374-7171 • www.bobbcars.com

cAdiLLAc schepel cadillac • 13 2929 W. Lincolnway Hwy. (Rt. 30), Merrillville, IN 219-738-1900 • www.schepelcadillac.com

griegers dodge • 5 1756 U.S. 30 West, Valparaiso, IN 219-462-4117 • www.griegersmotors.com

cHEVrOLET

griegers jeep • 5 1756 U.S. 30 West, Valparaiso, IN 219-462-4117 • www.griegersmotors.com

Thomas dodge • 11 9604 Indianapolis Blvd, Highland, IN 219-924-6100 • www.thomasautogroup.com

arnell chevroleT • 14 U.S 20 & I-94, Burns Harbor, IN 855-471-3767 • www.arnellmotors.com

VOLKSwAGEN

arnell kia • 14 I-94 AutoMall, Hey. 20 & I-94, Burns Harbor, IN 855-471-3767 • www.arnellmotors.com

smiTh ford • 36 1777 E. Commercial, Lowell, IN 219-769-1090 • www.smithautogroupusa.com

ridgeway chevroleT • 1 17730 Torrence Ave, Lansing, IL 60438 708-474-4990 • www.ridgewaychevy.com

ToyoTa on 30 • 46 4450 E. RT 30, Merrillville, IN 219-947-3325 • www.toyotaon30.com

KiA

lake shore ford • 20 244 Melton Rd. (US 20 @ I-94), exit 22A Burns Harbor, IN • 219-787-8600 www.lakeshoreford.com

mike anderson chevroleT • 4 The Chevy Giant on I-65 I-65 and 61st Avenue, Merrillville, IN 2219-947-4151 • www.mikeandersonchevy.com

Team ToyoTa • 44 9601 Indianapolis Blvd., Highland, IN 219-924-8100 • www.teamtoyota2000.com

Thomas jeep • 11 9604 Indianapolis Blvd, Highland, IN 219-924-6100 • www.thomasautogroup.com

FOrd

chrisTenson chevroleT • 2 9700 Indianapolis Blvd., Highland, IN 888-999-9141 • www.christensonchevy.com

NiSSAN

schepel gmc • 18 3209 W. Lincolnway Hwy. (Rt. 30), Merrillville, IN 219-769-6381 www.schepel.com

Thomas chrysler • 11 9604 Indianapolis Blvd, Highland, IN 219-924-6100 • www.thomasautogroup.com

schepel buick • 10 3209 W. Lincolnway Hwy. (Rt. 30), Merrillville, IN 219-769-6381 www.schepel.com

Thomas kia • 16 9825 Indianapolis Blvd, Highland, IN 219-934-2266 • www.thomasautogroup.com

souThlake kia • 34 Rt. 30, 1 mi. East of I-65, Merrillville, IN 888-478-7178 • www.southlakeautomall.com

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Team volkswagen • 50 3990 E. RT 30, Merrillville, IN (One mile east of the mall) 888-805-3689 • www.teamvwaudi.com

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CROWN POINT • (219) 662-5300 MUNSTER • (219) 933-3200 5 poRTagE • (219) 762-1397 VaLpaRaISo • (219) 462-5151

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Calendar MONDAYS

BUSINESS 4 BUSINESS | Merrillville

7:30 am - 8:30 am A J Specialties,1308 E 85th Ave, B4B is a non-compete referral group with 29 active members who are passionate in what they do. Guest are welcome to come and watch the meeting structure.

FYI: Tony Schifino at (219) 736-0367, ajspecialties1990@yahoo.com.

TUESDAYS

BUSINESS4BUSINESSREFERRALS. BNI, BUSINESS NETWORKING INTERNATIONAL | Highland

8:30 am - 10 am Harry’s Grill, 9400 Indianapolis Blvd, BNI, Business Networking International meets Tuesdays.

FYI: Contact Michael Pelz at (815) 370-2940 for more information.

ROTARY CLUB OF HAMMOND |

Hammond 12 pm - 1 pm Student Union Library Building at Purdue Calumet, 2200 169th St FYI: Rotary Club of Hammond, (219) 513-0549, hammondrotary.org.

BNI, BUSINESS NETWORK INTERNATIONAL | Crown Point

8 am - 9:30 am White Hawk Country Club, 1001 White Hawk Drive, BNI, Business Network International, meets in the NOON KIWANIS CLUB | Merrillville Members Lounge. FYI: Michael Pelz, 12 pm - 1 pm (219) 427-5933 or (815) 370-2940.

Petro’s Restaurant, 6190 Broadway Ave, Merrillville Noon Kiwanis THE NORTHWEST INDIANA Club meets Thursdays. FYI: PROFESSIONAL NETWORK | Gary Bruce Woods, (219) 794-1259, 10 am - 12 pm merrillvillenoonkiwanis.org.

Gary WorkOne, 3522 Village Circle-Village Shopping Center, FRIDAYS The Northwest Indiana Professional NORTHWEST INDIANA Network meets Wednesdays in NETWORKING PROFESSIONALS | Gary. NIPN is a networking group Merrillville for professionals interested in 7:15 am - 8:30 am sharing information and resources AJ Specialties, 1308 East 85th Ave., that would allow them to meet 1308 East 85th Ave, NWINP, their career objectives and work Northwest Indiana Networking opportunities. FYI: Sharla Williams, Professionals, meets Fridays.

(219) 981-4100 ext. 305, swilliams@ NIPN is a networking group gotoworkonenw.com. for professionals interested in

THURSDAYS

BNI BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT GROUP | Schererville

7 am - 8:30 am Holiday Inn Express, 1773 Fountain Park Drive, BNI (Business Networking International) business development group meets WEDNESDAYS Thursdays. FYI: Michael Pelz, ROI BUSINESS NETWORKING GROUP (815) 370-2940. | Crown Point 7:30 am NWI PROFESSIONAL NETWORK | Red Key Realty Leaders, 503 Hammond E Summit St, The Referral 10 am - 12 pm Organization of Indiana (ROI) Hammond WorkOne, 5265 Hohman Business Networking.

Ave, Northwest Indiana Professional FYI: roinetworkinc.com.

Network meets Thursdays in Hammond. NIPN is a networking group for professionals interested in sharing information and resources that would allow them to

40 | IN BUSINESS

meet their career objectives and work opportunities.

FYI: Sharla Williams, (219) 981-4100 ext. 305, swilliams@ gotoworkonenw.com.

sharing information and resources that would allow them to meet their career objectives and work opportunities. FYI: Carl Watroba, (219) 776-7423, nwinetworking.org.

SATURDAYS

CONSTRUCTION TRAINING PROGRAM | Gary

3 pm - 6 pm Junedale Park, 50th and Madison Street, Gary Precinct Construction Training Program will be training young people 17 to 30 in the art of construction weekly. Bring them to the park where there will be instructors to show how they can learn a trade that can provide for life and generations to come.

FYI: E. Turner/Eloise Smith, (219) 712-1392, monstermtu@att.net.

We want to hear from you To read more calendar, visit nwi.com/business.

To include an item in the local business calendar, send event information, time, date, cost and location to business@nwitimes.com.

travel simple Bad travel days, if you’ve experienced them, you know what they can do to your work schedule.

With a growing fleet of 10 aircraft, ranging from economic Very Light Jets to Large cabin aircraft, we are able to accommodate all of your travel needs. Chartering with the Gary Jet Center is the best way to stay productive and travel simple.

Contact our charter department at 219-944-1210 for a quote or to set up an introductory meeting.

Gary Jet Center, Inc. 5401 Industrial Hwy. Gary, IN 46406 garyjetcenter.com