BusINess Spring 2014

SPRING 2014

7th ANNUAL NORTHWEST INDIANA BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY

HALL OF

FAME MEET THE CLASS OF 2014

FAST-TRACK AUTO INDUSTRY NWI sales boom and production keeps pace

NEWEST ADVISORY BOARD MEMBER Ivy Tech Regional Chancellor Thomas G. Coley

CREATIVITY BUMP How shared space promotes collaboration, efficiency and growth

• Fred Halpern • Thomas Katsahnias • James McGill • Adela Ortega and • O’Merrial Butchee Special Public Service Award

 Fred Halpern

PRESORTED STANDARD U.S. POSTAGE PAID ST. JOSEPH, MI PERMIT #65

We keep

The Region

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Saving energy is a bright idea

From retroďŹ ts to new construction, we have a number of programs and tips to help you save energy and money.

Visit us at NIPSCO.com/SaveEnergy to learn more.

Contents COVER STORY

20

Read about this year’s Hall of Fame honorees:

BIZ WORTHY

THE NORTHWEST INDIANA BUSINESS & INDUSTRY

HALL of FAME

6

COMPANY INVESTS IN GROWTH Business sees bright future in plastics, high-tech products

NEW MEMBER

• Thomas Katsahnias, Page 21 • O’Merrial Butchee,

O’MERRIAL BUTCHEE

FRED HALPERN

THOMAS KATSAHNIAS

JIM MCGILL

Page 24 • Fred Halpern, Page 26 • Jim McGill, Page 28

ADELA ORTEGA

14

• Adela Ortega,

MEET ADVISORY BOARD MEMBER Ivy Tech Regional Chancellor Thomas G. Coley

Page 30

COLUMNISTS FEATURES

12

FAST-TRACK AUTO INDUSTRY NWI sales boom and production keeps pace

35

Linda Woloshansky

36

Gary and Shar Miller

37 32

CREATIVITY BUMP How shared space promotes collaboration, efficiency and growth

38

Commitment to be the best champion

Sharing a communitywide perspective Tom Collins Sr. Creating a winning culture in the workplace Dennis Rittenmeyer Working together to improve the quality of life

CALENDAR

40 2 | IN BUSINESS

Business calendar: Check out upcoming events in your area

The Porter Regional Hospital Health At Work program provides a full suite of job-related medical services. Our goal is to help prevent and reduce workplace illnesses and injuries and to avoid lost-time accidents, and lower your healthcare-related expenditures. At Porter Regional Hospital, we know a healthy workforce contributes to a healthy bottom line. To learn why more employers are choosing Porter Regional Hospital’s Health At Work program, or to schedule a consult, call 219-263-7200.

• Workers’ compensation coordination • Occupational health services • Preventive health and wellness services • General health service coordination • Personalized health coaching with certified nurse health coaches

HEALTHIER EMPLOYEES CAN MEAN A HEALTHIER BOTTOM LINE. Health At Work Clinic

809 LaPorte Avenue, Valparaiso

New Clinic Now Open

Portage Hospital 3630 Willowcreek Road, Portage

Occupational Health and Corporate Wellness Porter Regional Hospital is directly or indirectly owned by a partnership that proudly includes physician owners, including certain members of the hospital’s medical staff.

Publisher’s Letter SPRING 2014

Caring about the future is the ultimate leadership skill

E

CHRIS WHITE Publisher, BusINess, The Times Media Co.

We want to hear from you Email pat.colander @nwi.com or write to BusINess Magazine, The Times, 601 W. 45th Ave., Munster, IN 46321

4 | IN BUSINESS

xperience, knowledge and skills are a necessary basis for high achievement, but as any Times Business and Industry Hall of Fame winner will tell you, navigation is a priority even for those who are at the top of the game.

And yet, these Northwest Indiana leaders have not only achieved in their own field, they also have shown the dedication and determination to care deeply about the future of our communities and the legacy of their leadership. This group, more than any others before, have had second acts in their lives.

Read about Thomas Katsahnias who spent the majority of his professional career at Inland Steel Co., where he was general manager and chief operating officer when the East Chicago mill was the nation’s largest, with a workforce of more than 20,000 people. After he retired in 1996, Katsahnias applied his turn-around skills to Calumet College and helped out on other nonprofit boards including Northwestern Indiana Symphony Orchestra (NISO), Purdue University Calumet (PUC) and St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church.

Adela Ortega started a business that is a reflection of her life up until that point: powerful, quiet and efficient. Ortega specializes in repair, refurbishment and maintenance of locomotive engines.

Services include inspection programs, engine overhauls, wheel cutting and steam cleaning both on-site and in the field. Before “job-creator” was a political slogan it was a way of life for Ortega, who says her goal is to find those people who share her passion, who are happy and proud of the work they do every day.

Fred Halpern knew he would ultimately succeed from the minute he walked through the door of the jewelry store he acquired in 1960 at the corner of Main and Broadway in East Chicago. Halpern, 74, of Schererville, now the co-owner of Albert’s Diamond Jewelers, says simply, “Nothing could stop me and I wasn’t afraid of failure.” Fred applied that attitude to fundraising and continues to be a tireless philanthropist helping those with multiple sclerosis, AIDS and Parkinson’s Disease.

Launched at the turn of the century by James H. McGill, the manufacturer of electrical products that originally bore his family name, moved to Valparaiso in 1905. (The company was bought out by Emerson Power Transmission almost 100 years later.) But the larger story is the tradition of local philanthropy that became and remains a tradition for the McGills. Jim McGill learned from his father to get involved and make a difference, and he taught his children to value and support the community, which they continue to this day.

For the first time the Hall of Fame is introducing a new award for achievement in public service. Our 2014 honoree is O’Merrial Butchee, who spent half a lifetime as an entrepreneur, author and business owner before launching her next career at Ivy Tech.

Applying the skills and experience gained in corporate settings to workforce education in Northwest Indiana, O’Merrial Butchee has had a great impact on our region. Her career at Ivy Tech has grown to encompass innovation and entrepreneurship education at the four NWI campuses of college. Her belief in the possibilities of teamwork and professional training knows no bounds.

On behalf of everyone in Northwest Indiana and The Times’ communities, I thank the 2014 group of leaders for your vision, commitment, time and contributions.

VOLUME 10, ISSUE 1

Publisher Christopher T. White Founding editor William Nangle Associate Publisher/Editor Pat Colander Director of Audience Development Kim Bowers Managing Editor Matt Saltanovitz Design Director Ben Cunningham Designer Deborah Hile Contributing writers Lesly Bailey, Rob Earnshaw, Andrea Holecek, Louisa Murzyn, Diane Poulton, Gary Miller, Shar Miller, Linda Woloshansky, Dennis Rittenmeyer, Joseph S. Pete, Tom Collins Sr. Contributing photographer Tony V. Martin VP of Advertising John Tucker Director of Marketing Deb Anselm Advertising managers Craig Chism, Eric Horon, Dee Dee White BusINess Advisory Board David Bochnowski, Peoples Bank; Wil Davis, Gary Jet Center; Nick Meyer, NIPSCO; Barb Greene, Franciscan Alliance; Tom Gryzbek, Franciscan Alliance; William J. Lowe, Indiana University Northwest; Anna Rominger, IUN; Thomas J. Coley, Ivy Tech State College; Susan Zlajic, ArcelorMittal Copyright, Northwest Indiana/Chicagoland BusINess, 2014. All rights reserved. Reproduction or use of editorial or graphic content without permission is prohibited.

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BizWorthy Plastics company invests in growth Business sees bright future in antibacterial plastic treatments JOSEPH S. PETE joseph.pete@nwi.com, (219) 933-3316‌ A Calumet City-based company has added two production lines to its North Carolina plant, in order to ramp up the manufacture of more sophisticated products, such as antibacterial plastic treatments and microscopic anti-counterfeiting markers.

Plastics Color Corp. makes color concentrates, colorants and compounds that go into a wide variety of plastic products, including packaging for the food and beverage industries.

The company has invested in state-ofthe-art equipment so it can more efficiently produce specialized materials, including for medical devices that are typically made in smaller batches, said company spokesman Greg Rosenberg. The new production lines are expected to result in a few additional jobs in North Carolina.

Plastics Color Corp. declined to disclose the amount invested in the two pieces of manufacturing equipment, which extrude strings of colorant that ends up in everything from toys to razors. The company’s North Carolina facility already has eight production lines, three sample lines, 44 workers, a color laboratory and a research and development facility.

“The new lines give us more flexibility, faster changeover times, tighter tolerance and reduced lead times,” said Robert Wagner, manager of the North Carolina plant.

Plastics Color Corp. has factories in North Carolina, California, China and Calumet City, where its corporate headquarters has been located for the last 31 years. The company is a global provider of colorants, polymer technologies and other products to plastic processors who serve a wide range of industries, including the pharmaceutical, consumer goods, medical and health and beauty sectors.

Basically, the company can infuse any type Corp. also wants to be able to meet a growing of plastic part with color, Rosenberg said. But demand for specialized products, such as technology is advancing, and Plastics Color antibacterial treatments, anti-counterfeiting

6 | IN BUSINESS

ABOVE: A Plastics Color Corp. employee mixes pigment and other additives to raw plastic to create a red colorant for plastic decking lumber.

Plastics Color Corp. creates colorant to be used in the plastic industry around the world. The Calumet City-based business has added two new production lines to its North Carolina plant.

LEFT: Colorant is extruded into strings that are cooled in a water bath then cut into pellets.

Plastic Color Corp. creates colorant to be used in the plastic industry around the world. The Calumet City-based business has added two new production lines at its North Carolina plant.

TONY V. MARTIN, FILE, THE TIMES

taggants and flame retardants.

“We are constantly investing in our resources, including facilities and personnel, to service our customers more efficiently,” said Wagner. “As we produce more specialized products for plastics processors, we need to become more agile in producing various size batches. Our new lines give us this needed flexibility and allow us to remain cost-effective.”

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BizWorthy SALUTE

JOB WATCH

Mia Wolf, RN, of Chicago Heights, is the new director of surgical services at St. Mary Medical Center in Hobart.

Attorney Corrina A. Smith

from Schererville Wolf recently joined the new law firm of Rebecca W. Geyer & Associates in Carmel as an associate.

Heather Shelton has

joined Spring Mill Health Campus in Merrillville as the new community services representative

Smith

George C. Patrick, of Crown

Point, was named as a Worker’s Compensation Super Lawyer in Indiana

Terri Ferree and Tracey Franovich, both of

Shelton

Crown Point, have become independent consultants with Tastefully Simple Inc. Western Southern Life has recently added the following financial representatives: Patricia Finley and Miguel Frausto to the Portage office, Jeremy Pogorzelski and Michael Foley to the Valparaiso office and Angela Ksiazek to the Merrillville office.

Diane Kavadias Schneider, judge of the Lake Superior Court, recently received the Indiana State Bar Association Women in the Law Recognition Award.

Pam Whitfield, bus driver and activities assistant at Valparaiso Care and Rehabilitation Center, was honored by American Senior Communities with its Quest for Excellence Award.

Jim Sandrick, Whitfield of Whiting, completed the IRA Inc. Best of the Best: Advisor Training/ Dr. Anna Adekugbe, a pediatrician, has joined HealthLinc’s Michigan City location.

8 | IN BUSINESS

Employment in the Calumet Region Lake County DEC. ’13

DEC. ’12

CHANGE

Labor force

219,790

219,281

509

Employed

201,284

197,201

4,083

Unemployed

18,506

22,080

-3,574

DEC. ’13

DEC. ’12

CHANGE

Labor force

82,471

82,014

457

Employed

76,777

75,220

1,557

Unemployed

5,694

6,794

-1,100

DEC. ’13

DEC. ’12

CHANGE

Labor force

49,391

49,492

-101

Employed

45,301

44,296

1,005

Unemployed

4,090

5,196

-1,106

DEC. ’13

DEC. ’12

CHANGE

Labor force

2,602,998

2,614,350

-11,352

Employed

2,377,861

2,381,411

-3,550

225,137

232,939

-7,802

DEC. ’13

DEC. ’12

CHANGE

Labor force

369,559

371,253

-1,694

Employed

338,445

338,950

-505

Unemployed

31,114

32,303

-1,189

Percent of workforce unemployed 8.4 percent

Porter County Percent of workforce unemployed 6.9 percent

LaPorte County Percent of workforce unemployed 8.3 percent

Cook County

Unemployed

Percent of workforce unemployed 8.6 percent

Will County Percent of workforce unemployed 8.4 percent

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

BizWorthy

Peoples Bank buys smaller Hammond savings and loan JOSEPH S. PETE joseph.pete@nwi.com, (219) 933-3316‌ MUNSTER | Peoples Bank has reached an agree-

ment to buy First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Hammond, gaining two new branches in the first acquisition in its 103-year history.

Pending regulatory approval, the Munsterbased community bank will acquire all the assets and liabilities of First Federal, which has a home office on Rimbach Street in downtown Hammond and a branch on Cline Avenue in Highland. First Federal has total assets of $40.7 million, loans of $31.8 million and deposits of $37.6 million.

No cash or other considerations were paid in the transaction, and no shares were issued.

Banks have been under financial pressure to consolidate in recent years, and First Federal had been actively looking for a buyer to take it over.

Enter Peoples Bank, a family-managed bank that spans four generations and has locations across Northwest Indiana.

“Peoples Bank is taking a significant step in expanding our community banking franchise and furthering our strategic goals through consolidation,” said David A. Bochnowski, chairman and CEO of Peoples Bank and its parent company, NorthWest Indiana Bancorp. “The merging of our two organizations offers opportunities to create operating, investment and managerial synergies while offering First Federal customers a broader menu of traditional and electronic banking products to meet their needs now and in the future.”

First Federal has been looking for a buyer for the past year. Peoples Bank was ideal because the two community banks share a similar history of local decision-making, an emphasis on good customer service and commitments to the communities they serve, said John Freyek, president and CEO of First Federal.

“Our goal this past year has been to explore possible relationships that would be meaningful to our customers, employees and the community,” Freyek said.

IUN class analyzes social media ROB EARNSHAW Times Correspondent‌ GARY | A Munster business received help with

its social media marketing thanks to students of Indiana University Northwest.

IU Northwest students who were enrolled in a new online social media marketing course in the fall have reviewed and analyzed the social media marketing strategy of Benavente Eye Care in Munster.

The students spent several weeks closely reviewing Benavente Eye Care’s social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus and Pinterest, in which they analyzed social media engagement, persona and overall strategy.

The results were provided to Dr. Jorge Benavente, who plans to make some changes to his overall social media marketing strategy based on the students’ recommendations. He learned from students what he is doing on Facebook and Pinterest is good, but he has much room for growth and social media exploration on his other platforms, in particular with Twitter and Google+.

“I think this is great for business,” Benavente said. “It’s just an example of how a university helps the community and how it helps small businesses thrive and grow. I’m catching up with

KYLE TELECHAN, THE TIMES

Munster optometrist Dr. Jorge Benavente, left, stands with students Matt Lambert and Lea Glines and IUN Professor Subir Bandyopadhyay inside Benavente’s Munster office.

social media and with this kind of help it makes it a lot easier. It helps me to develop a strategy so I can help our business and help us grow. I got some good suggestions and some criticisms, which I’m open too.”

Matt Lambert, one of the students involved in the project, said he graded each media channel including dormant accounts such as Yelp, and that Benavente should either eliminate them or shift focus to them because they can be beneficial.

“Social media is not going away,” Lambert said. “We know it’s continuously growing.”

SALUTE Mark L. Phillips, Martin W. Kus and Mark A. Lienhoop, all

attorneys of the law firm of Newby, Lewis, Kaminski, & Jones LLP in LaPorte, have been honored as Phillips Lawyer of the Year in the South Bend metropolitan area.

Deb Kersey, of Lowell, joined JBI Insurance Group in Valparaiso as account manager.

Nancy Melville,

of JBI Insurance Group, recently completed the James K. Ruble Seminar developed by the National Alliance for Insurance Education and Research.

Kus

Clifford E. Bryan, senior

vice presidentLienhoop investments and branch manager at Wells Fargo Advisors LLC in Chesterton, recently attended the annual Barron’s Top Advisors Summit.

Dawn Lara has j o i n e d L a P o r te Lara Savings Bank as credit administration officer.

Kristi Canul, Registered Dietitian with America’s Dietitians, recently passed the certification examination given by the National Certification Board for Diabetes Educators to become a Certified Diabetes Educator.

RailCats owner and CEO Patrick Salvi, has been selected by his peers for inclusion in the 2014 edition of The Best Lawyers in America in the specialties of medical malpractice law and personal injury litigation. His firm, Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard P.C., has received a Tier 1 Ranking in the U.S. News & World Report and Best Lawyers 2014 “Best Law Firms” rankings.

C o l d we l l B a n k e r R e s i d e n t i a l Brokerage’s Porter County office announces Lyn Gant and Tom Smoker as the Top Listing Sales Associates, and Shawn Spaw as the Top Selling and Top Volume Sales Associate for October.

SPRING 2014 | 9

PROVIDED

Carrie Hightman, right, of Chicago, is executive vice president and chief legal officer at NiSource, the highest ranking woman at NIPSCO’s parent company.

Hightman co-founded Building the NextGen, a women’s leadership program designed to sustain the pipeline of women leaders, in 2011.

Investing in the future Local female executives agree that women need to reach out to other women for success LOUISA MURZYN

Detroit now has some serious girl power since Michigan native Mary Barra officially took the reins at General Motors in January, but Barb Greene doesn’t exactly see it as a milestone or a blast through the glass ceiling.

“I think women make their own milestones,” says Greene, of Frankfort, Ill., who is president of Franciscan Healthcare in Munster and earned an MBA from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management.

“GM as an organization looked at the right candidate and didn’t look at gender, and that’s amazing. But a female being put in charge of GM is not a win for women. It’s a win for GM. It’s going to be a better company. But it’s not 10 | IN BUSINESS

about us.”

Barra is among the most powerful female executives in America, joining a group of just 23 women – or 4.4 percent – currently heading Fortune 500 companies. She is the first woman to break into the men’s car club and head a major automaker.

In a 2013 study conducted by the nonprofit organization Catalyst, women held 16.9 percent of corporate board seats, suggesting no significant uptick for the eighth straight year. Women held only 14.6 percent of executive officer positions, which was the fourth consecutive year of no growth.

In all, 10 percent of companies had no women in the board room. Carrie Hightman, of Chicago, is executive vice president and chief legal officer

at NiSource, and is the highest ranking woman at NIPSCO’s parent company. “It disappoints me, but I’m not sure it surprises me,” says Hightman.

Although NiSource has three women out of 11 members serving on its board, little has changed in America’s workplace in 30 years. Investor and business magnate Warren Buffett believes there is a strong business case to be made for including more women in decision-making positions.

He believes women are the key to America’s future success, and helping women do well in the workplace also is in man’s self-interest. “The closer America comes to fully employing the talents of all its citizens, the greater its output of goods and services,” he wrote in an essay published last year. Hightman couldn’t agree more. “I can talk about the data out there, and not just from my gut,” she says.

“Data shows more women in more senior positions on corporate boards and the C-suite, the better those corporations do financially, so the shareholders are better off. It improves the bottom line.” Furthermore, corporations without diversity are missing opportunities in the marketplace. “One of the reasons companies do better is they understand their customers and stakeholders who are like them.

“If you have women and diversity in senior roles, they are going to bring to the table that viewpoint, compassion and understanding of how those stakeholders or customers think when it comes to designing products and strategies and how we message and operate,” Hightman says.

Connie Kann, of Dyer, is an area director for the Better Business Bureau and oversees Lake, Porter and LaPorte counties. There are 113 offices

Barb Greene, of Frankfort, Ill., is president of Franciscan Healthcare in Munster and earned an MBA from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management. Detroit now some serious girl power since Michigan native Mary Barra officially took the reins at General Motors in January, but Greene doesn’t exactly see it as a milestone or a blast through the glass ceiling. “I think women make their own milestones,” she says.

PROVIDED

in the U.S. and Canada, and the Council of BBB just hired its first female president and CEO. Kann had the same experience Buffett had in his own family: his floor became his sisters’ ceiling, and at every turn they were told in words and in signals that success for her would be marriage.

Kann remembers sixth grade when she and her brother brought home poor report cards.

Her father lectured her brother and not her. “My mom said ‘What about Connie’s report card?’ and my dad said it wasn’t important because I was just going to get married and have babies. So I just thought that was my path.”

Kann did get married, had two sons and decided not to pursue her MBA because she was a single mother. Today, companies embrace empowerment and polices have become more family-friendly, but equality on the home front is still out of reach, Kann says.

Greene believes some corporate cultures are just stuck in their conservative ways. Many still expect men to focus all their energy on career at the expense of their home lives. Women are still responsible for family and take time off for parenthood.

Kann says she made a sacrifice in her career

for family reasons. “Men typically don’t have to make those choices,” she says. “My heart told me I needed to be there.”

Conversely, Greene made sacrifices at home to earn her degree.

“I was at a critical juncture, and I decided it was an investment in my future,” Greene says.

She had three children and returned to work after each pregnancy because her parents were her children’s caregivers.

Greene, Hightman and Kann rose through the ranks and had career goals and strategies. All agree women need to reach out to other women.

Hightman co-founded Building the NextGen, a women’s leadership program designed to sustain the pipeline of women leaders, in 2011.

It includes national and regional summits, mentoring and an affinity group, which includes information sharing and events designed to develop and advance women in the company.

“My first advice to women is to build relationships within and outside your company and industry,” Hightman says.

“It’s never going to be whether you are qualified for the job. It’s about showing why you are the right person for the position. Don’t sell yourself short. Go for it because going for it is part the process. Be confident and sell yourself, but be authentic. In the end, if people don’t think you are authentic they are not going to buy into you and believe – and you want them to believe.”

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SPRING 2014 | 11

Mike Rudolph, owner of Team Auto Group in Merrillville, which sells Toyota, Honda, Volkswagen, Audi and Chevrolet vehicles, says 2014 is going “to be a good year.”

ON FAST TRACK Dealers cite demand, improving economy, fuel efficiency, technology ANDREA HOLECEK

A

utomobile manufacturers and dealers saw a rebound in auto sales in 2013, and predict 2014 will be another banner year for the industry.

“We’re anticipating a better year than last year, which was the best year since the great (2009) depression,” says Mike Webb, owner of Webb Ford in Highland and three other automobile dealerships.

After spiking to almost 17 million in 2007, vehicle sales dropped to 10.4 million in 2009.

By 2013, there were 16.4 million new cars and light trucks bought or leased nationwide, an 8 percent increase from the previous year, according the Zacks Investment Research.

“Consumers will be far better off in 2014 than last year,” says Steven Szakaly, chief economist for the National Automotive Dealers Association. “Employment is improving. Debt has been reduced, and home prices across all regions of the country will remain stable or will rise, yielding a positive wealth effect.”

Webb and other area auto dealers also attribute the projected increase to a variety of factors including “great” pent-up demand, the improved national economy, good deals, low interest rates, and vehicle fuel efficiency and

12 | IN BUSINESS

technology buyers are seeking.

“For the 2014 year, it’s a mixture selling fuel efficient cars at the right price point,” Webb says.

Erich Merkle, U.S. sales analyst for Ford Motor Co., says pent-up demand has never been greater with the average age of vehicles on the road at 12 years.

“Pent-up demand isn’t a one-month phenomena,” Merkle said. ”It will be with us a little while. (During) the recession that started in the fall of ’08 through 2010, sales were operating well under the scrap rate.”

The high scrap rate, meaning the number of vehicles sent to the junk yard, means consumers with aging vehicles will have to decide whether to buy or lease a new vehicle, buy a used car or spend money into fixing an old one.

“In last few years, there’s been some stability in the labor market and there is some job growth happening,” he says. “With that, people who held off on purchasing a vehicle are making a decision on the fate of their vehicle.”

Plus, slow sales in the past five years have made it difficult for consumers to find the type of two-or three-year-old used car buyers normally are seeking, Merkel said.

“So lots of people are looking at new cars,” he says.

Mike Rudolph, owner of Team Auto Group,

which sells Toyota, Honda, Volkswagen, Audi and Chevrolet vehicles, says he agrees that 2014 is going “to be a good year.”

“I think overall it’s for different reasons than in the past when there were good years,” Rudolph says. “It’s a new golden age for cars and trucks due to new technologies. It’s not only about the 11-year-old cars still out there, but the fact that people can get things in cars they couldn’t in the past.”

Better fuel economy and technology that keeps drivers connected to all their devises will drive sales growth, he says.

“The car is the most connected appliance people will have,” Rudolph says. “It’s the option people want and people are excited about that.

It will be an excellent year for imports because they’re on the cutting edge of all that.”

Calling 2013 an “amazing year,” Art Georgion, president/owner of BoBB Auto Group in Cedar Lake, says he anticipates this year “will be the same or better” for his dealership.

“We’re expecting sales of 16 million vehicles, down from an all-time peak of 17 to 17.5 million.

It would be nice to get to that level again.”

Georgion bought the 80-year-old dealership, which sells Chrysler Dodge, Jeep, and Ram vehicles, in late 2012 and is replacing the antiquated building with a new facility that should be open by November.

Sales of General Motors products are increasing, says Tom VanProoyen, vice president of Schepel Buick-GMC-Cadillac in Merrillville.

“Sales are expected to grow 15 to 20 percent when a dealer builds new facility,” he said. “We grew – percentage wise – more than any other dealer in Northwest Indiana. And we’re starting to see it being very good year again.”

The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, an association of 12 U.S.-based auto companies, estimates that 8 million workers and their families depend on the auto industry with the industry generating about $500 billion in paychecks annually, while generating $70 billion in tax revenues nationwide.

Beside the effect higher vehicle sales have on dealers and their employees, the increased activity means job security for the employees of Ford’s local plants: the Ford Assembly Plant in

Chicago and the Ford Stamping Plant in Chicago Heights, and for the thousands of workers at auto supplier plants throughout the Calumet Region.

The workers are just a small portion of the 515,822 auto industry related jobs in Indiana, and 459,876 in Illinois, according to Alliance of Automobile Manufactures.

Ford brand 2013 retail sales increased 14 percent in 2013, with cars sales 12 percent higher, utility vehicles up 13 percent and truck sales increasing 17 percent, according to the company. In 2013, Ford was best-selling brand for fourth consecutive year.

“Ford had a great year last year as America’s best-selling brand,” Merkle says. “With 23 redesigned products, this will be really busy year.”

The Chicago Assembly plant produces the Explorer and Taurus, Lincoln MKS and the utility and sedan models of the Police Interceptor vehicles.

The assembly plant is working at full capacity, Merkle says.

“Sales are limited to number (of vehicle) we can make,” he says. “The plant is working diligently to produce them. We’ll take all we can get.”

In 2008, the Chicago Assembly Plant had a work force of 2,300. In 2012, it went to a threecrew staffing as it hired additional workers that brought its total employment up to 4,100.

Bill Jackson, president of UAW Local 588, which represents workers at the Chicago Heights Stamping Plant, says there has been a “drastic increase” in the number of union-represented

employment there since 2008. There are about 1,200 union workers there in January, up from 700 six years ago.

Auto worker jobs help spur the economy, Jackson says.

“In general, as a rule of thumb, for every job in a plant there are seven related jobs,” Jackson says. “That means more people are working and definitely a boost for the local economy.”

Sales of General Motors products also are increasing, says Tom VanProoyen, vice president of Schepel Buick-GMC-Cadillac in Merrillville.

“We’re seeing a modest gain in sales this year,” VanProoyen says. “Overall, they’re projecting a 4 to 5 percent increase in sales for GM. All brands went way down in 2009. Now we’ve seen growth coming back from that and we see more of that over the coming year.”

He and other GM dealers have survived the financial crisis by finding ways be becoming “more profitable at lower sales levels,” he says.

“We found ways to cut costs,” VanProoyen says. “We became more efficient in our marketing. In our dealership we converted all outdoor lighting to LED for an 85 percent cost savings.

We need what we needed to do.”

General Motors has repaid the U.S. government the $49.5 billion bailout funds it made to the company in 2009.

“The joke was GM stood for ‘government motors,’” Van Prooyen says. “Now the government’s turned it back to common stock, the way it was before the bailout. That will be a real positive knowing that GM was able to pull through.”

SPRING 2014 | 13

Building lives, livelihoods Meet the newest Times BusINess Advisory Board member: Thomas G. Coley

I

vy Tech Chancellor Thomas G. Coley’s vision could not be any more certain or his mission more clear. Ivy Tech gives students the skills and training necessary to get a not only a job, but a career path. Every program at Ivy Tech, Dr. Coley explains, is directed towards achieving an affordable post-secondary educational credential, whether that leads to a degree from a four-year college or provides a second chance

Ivy Tech Community College Northwest Region Chancellor Thomas J. Coley speaks in Michigan City. Ivy Tech Northwest announced exceeding its capitol campaign fundraising goal at an event at the Blue Chip Casino last year.

14 | IN BUSINESS

for students who have been out of school for a long time.

Ivy Tech’s involvement often starts at the high school level by offering students the opportunity to work for credit that provides a gateway to a future career in nursing and health sciences, one of Ivy Tech’s strong areas. For students who are challenged in math and have found that to be a barrier when looking for a job, Ivy Tech can provide the type of targeted

education needed.

Enrollment at the school is fluid, as the Chancellor says, with growth coming through multiple entry and exits by students who are building lives and livelihoods in Northwest Indiana. A student may come into an eightweek session in electronics or mechanical welding, and then that student may opt into another session and eventually complete a technical certificate in 40 weeks.

“Whether you are looking to advance in the company you are working in or maintain employment, we are giving them the skill set the employers want them to have and the critical thinking skills. We teach our students how to be effective in today’s workplace,” he says, “You know what kind of training you will get and that it’s the kind of training that makes them most valuable to employers.”

Dr. Coley, who has been Chancellor of Ivy Tech’s North Region, encompassing campuses in the northwest and central parts of the state, since December 2012, cites Ivy Tech’s increasingly proactive approach in structuring programs for students that make sense for the whole community. Enrollment at Ivy Tech remains at record high levels across the state and Chancellor Coley is working at building partnerships with other schools as well as employers in Northwest Indiana.

“Internally we are working very hard to make sure that students complete the program.

We also look at how we structure our programs instructionally, what courses need to be taken, always making sure that our programs have the quality of technology in the classroom that is immediately transferable to the workplace. All the pieces connect.”

Ivy Tech is “big on data and metrics,” the Chancellor explains. “We are going to be held accountable on being cost-effective for students by meeting their educational objectives. We have to demonstrate with metrics that Ivy Tech is valuable not only to students, but as a resource in your community in terms of financial well-being and career advancement.”

Over the past 18 months, Chancellor Coley has been focused internally on merging the structure of two regions, while communicating externally about a broadened mission.

Visibility and accountability is increasing, Dr. Coley says, because there has never been greater emphasis on the colleges’ participation.

“We are seeking support, building relationships and partnerships. We are focused more on the students we are not reaching, the students at risk. It is just a much bigger picture and a bigger playing field. More outreach and connections with the community are the future. If your education ended with high school you don’t have a future.”

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Spring 2014 | 15

Industry shines

as consumer confidence rises Local jewelers see best year ever for sales DIANE POULTON

L

ocal jewelers say 2013 was their best year ever for sales, and attribute the increased volume to a number of factors including rising consumer confidence and diversification of products offered.

Bob Flude, the third generation working in the family business at Valparaiso’s Martin Binder Jewelers, describes 2013 as the best year ever since the company was founded almost 75 years ago by his grandparents Mary and Martin Binder. Flude says Binder opened its first store in Hobart, relocating to downtown Valparaiso in the early 1950s. The store is moving soon to a new location on U.S. 30, also in Valparaiso.

“We are very fortunate to have been here in Northern Indiana as long as we have been and we appreciate the opportunity we have been given every day,” Flude says.

Flude says strong consumer confidence in the economy has contributed to the sales upswing.

“And we have tried to diversify our selection of items to satisfy a wide range of customer needs,” Flude says.

Jewelry at Martin Binder ranges from $25 fashion items up to Rolex watches priced at $75,000.

“What we try to do for our customers is to have something for everybody,” Flude says.

“We have a large selection of designer pieces.

We do a lot of our own manufacturing also.

So with that we are able to cut out the middle man and provide some good values.”

Martin Binder Jewelers offers custom work, CAD design and does some online business but their primary focus is through customer interaction in the store, Flude says.

Albert’s Diamond Jewelers, with locations in Schererville and Southlake Mall in Hobart, has been in business since 1903 with the Halpern family becoming involved in 1960.

“It was our best year ever by far,” President

16 | IN BUSINESS

Joshua Halpern says. “The year was very strong.

Consumer confidence in general is up. I think people’s portfolios are up. When they look on paper their net worth is up, their stocks are worth more and real estate values have pretty much come back. There is a correlation with that. They feel good about spending money.”

Halpern also attributes i n c rea se d sa l e s to t h e consumer trend of investing in tangible assets that are going to have value down the road.

“Buying fine jewelry is one of those assets,” Halpern says. “This year the auction houses have set records with some of the most expensive diamonds in history. When you buy fine jewelry and fine diamonds, they are appreciating in value at an average of 6 percent a year. That is better than the rate of inflation. It’s an asset that you get to wear and enjoy every single day for the rest of your life. When you are done with it you can liquidate it and get your money out of it or you can pass it o n f ro m generation to

generation. It has intrinsic value and you get to enjoy it. What is better than that?”

Sara Brown, marketing and public relations manager at Albert’s, says keeping current with industry trends and adjusting store offerings have been important factors in increased sales.

“For us it has really been diversification and adding different brands and lines at varying price points, so that no matter where you are at budget wise you can still be on point with these trends,” Brown says. “When we talk about some of the items that are coming up for spring, the nice thing with Albert’s is that we have a great range of prices. You can get something very high end or you can get something that is in fashion and more every day wearable.”

Cullen Wulf, store manager at AaLand Diamond Jewelers in Merrillville, says the store also experienced a strong increase in sales in 2013. The company opened in 1971, moving to its current location last year.

Wulf says consumers have more confidence in the economy and are spending more money on luxury items.

“People are willing to loosen their purse strings a bit and start spending again, which is good news,” Wulf says.

Wulf says the bulk of AaLand’s business is wedding and engagement rings and loose stones.

“Our diamond selections have never been bigger than we have now and we keep expanding,” Wulf says.

“The more we offer, it seems the more people are interested in buying.”

To help keep prices at wholesale levels for their customers, Wulf says AaLand travels to Antwerp, Belgium, to buy diamonds directly. Wulf says sales also have increased since AaLand partnered with

Josh Halpern talks about the trend in jewelry sales at Alberts Jewelry in Highland.

Wells Fargo Bank to offer special financing.

Trends this year include color, customization, expanded selections in men’s jewelry and the popular Pandora charm jewelry.

Brown says the Rhythm of Love collection was popular over the holidays. Diamonds are set in the piece so that when the woman’s heart beats the stone shimmers and sparkles.

“It is this incredibly romantic gift for your loved one,” Brown says. “It is powered essentially by the beat of her heart.”

Brown says the infinity symbol is popular along with the sideways cross.

“We are seeing a lot more men’s fashion jewelry,” Brown said. “It used to be a man wore a wedding band and a nice wrist watch. Now we feature lines that are specifically for men including bracelets, pendants and even belt buckles.”

Brown said pendants are coming back especially animal and bold designs. She says skinny bangles remain in demand. For the spring, animals, birds, bees and butterflies are in, Brown says.

“There is a trend for spring bringing back color and femininity,” Brown says.

Flude said prices have gone up in raw materials, resulting in many customers using alternative metals rather than gold or platinum for their wedding bands.

“Bridal is such a huge part of our business,” Flude says. “There are many different metals available.”

Customers are also remounting stones from previous pieces.

“That helps bring the cost of the piece down too and that sentimentally is important to many people, which is nice,” Flude says. “The past couple of years it seems to be more conservative, your basic diamond business. Last Christmas we sold a few more color stone pieces which is fun because colored stone lets customers

express themselves a little bit more.”

Flude says he is seeing a resurgence of yellow gold and pearls.

“Pearls are keepsake pieces which many people get handed down,” Flude says. “We are fortunate we buy pearls directly from pearl

growers in Japan. So again we cut out the middle man and bring in the piece direct.”

Wulf says AaLand Jewelers is adding more than 100 more bridal styles. Wulf says the store has been selling more two-toned champagne diamond items.

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SPRING 2014 | 17

Shown at the Purdue Tech Center in Merrillville are, from left, Mary Hills with HeimannHills Marketing Group, David Nevill with Beulah Works LLC, and Site Victor Guo with Beulah Works LLC.

TECH STARTUP ECOSYSTEM BREWING Leaders look to create, nurture local connections for entrepreneurs LOUISA MURZYN

Move over, Silicon Valley – the Midwest is catching up.

Indianapolis and Chicago’s tech startup scenes have exploded in the last several years, and Valparaiso business owner David Nevill believes Northwest Indiana is in a position to become a breeding ground for high-tech entrepreneurship.

“I am passionate about my home,” says Nevill, 46, vice president of Beulah Inc., which manufactures industrial automotive components. “This is who I am. I would love to bring well-paying jobs to this area. All I can do is keep trying one day at a time.”

Nevill is in the process of developing a software solution that has emerged from his industrial roots and manufacturing business. “I 18 | IN BUSINESS

was attracted to the Purdue Technology Center in Merrillville because the university is globally recognized,” he says.

“It has an international presence. Technology is both national and global and that mindset is in place here. That’s the largest component that makes this area prime for tech start-ups. Why not pick Northwest Indiana?”

An ecosystem is a network of business support and a process that accelerates the successful development of startup and fledgling companies by providing an array of targeted resources and services. Tailored management guidance, technical assistance and consulting is crucial.

According to Kelly Schwedland, entrepreneur-in-residence for the statewide initiative Elevate Ventures, in the new economy, jobs and revenues will not just come from the expansion

of industrial giants but more so from new startups born of ingenuity, imagination and entrepreneurial spirit.

It’s an environment driven by risk-taking, supported by mentoring, advice and collaboration, and funded by visionary optimists. “Even though it’s easy to start a company in Indiana, it’s harder to be successful because you need a team to be successful,” Schwedland says.

WORKING TOGETHER “We need to go back to our roots,” says Dushan Nikolovski, of the Center for Entrepreneurship Success at Purdue University Calumet. “America is great because of our entrepreneurial and innovative spirit, and we need to continually foster this spirit. We have a lot of smart people in this region. It’s a matter of finding, mentoring and helping them.”

Schwedland says the state is expanding its Entrepreneur-in-Residence program. “Let’s put entrepreneurs in partnership with somebody who has been there and done that, has the scars and can help them dodge the pitfalls along the way to being successful,” he says.

Local universities are promoting entrepreneurship with existing and emerging programs designed to spur students and business owners to develop ideas and solutions into potential profit.

Organized social gatherings and networking TONY V. MARTIN events foster collaboration and partnerships, share ideas and help each other through David Nevill, of Beulah Works LLC, is in the process of developing a software solution struggles and challenges. that has emerged from his industrial roots and Among them, the Northwest Indiana manufacturing business. “I was attracted to the Tech Foundry, a new accelerator, facilitated Purdue Technology Center in Merrillville because an event in December at which BookaCoach. the university is globally recognized,” he says. com co-founders Myles Grote and Kevin MacCauley shared their lessons and how they incubators and accelerators which can provide secured $125,000 in seed funding from Elevate an array of free or low cost services including space while startups focus on developing Ventures. their business. The Purdue Research Park in Merrillville offers services and space aimed at CROSSING THE VALLEY Schwedland says startups need significant developing fledgling company.

The Foundry in Valparaiso offers guest help in the early stages when every resource is tight. Some call it the “valley of death” because speakers and events year round but will also of the difficulty of covering the negative cash function similar to the Techstars Chicago accelflow before the new product or service is erator at The Merchandise Mart. It will mentor generating customer revenue. According to a 10 innovation driven startups at a time and will Harvard Business School study, 90 percent of give them $15,000 in seed money.

Schwedland admits startups are hampered new ventures that don’t attract investors fail by a shortage of venture capital and other within the first three years.

Northwest Indiana is home to several early-stage sources of funding, but there are

initiatives. Elevate Ventures is willing to put money into Indiana companies and a newly formed angel investment group, Lakeshore ArchAngels, allows local investors to be married up with local businesses, he says.

FUTURE GROWTH Nikolovoski says Indiana offers much cheaper cost of living and office space than the Chicago area. “Growth doesn’t happen overnight,” he says. “We seem to have the John Wayne attitude of solving a problem immediately. It does take years to see the fruits our labor paying off.”

Schwedland agrees, saying the area has the highest density of Fortune 500 companies in the world within a two-hour drive. “From a proximity standpoint it’s phenomenal,” he says.

“From a cost standpoint, a $15,000 investment here takes you a lot farther down the pipeline than in the Chicagoland area, and that’s a key piece.”

Nevill is homegrown and is here to stay. He believes if you are doing something new or innovative that with the risk comes possible failure – and he fully embraces that. “I approached my startup thinking I was looking for money, but in reality the pace it’s taken to get where we are today was necessary,” he says.

“The dream has to be supported, and I have to be able to support the dream at the early stages until its at a point of maturity when it can be analyzed by those that have the ability to bring in the appropriate funding.”

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SPRING 2014 | 19

THE NORTHWEST INDIANA BUSINESS & INDUSTRY

HALL of FAME O’MERRIAL BUTCHEE

FRED HALPERN

THOMAS KATSAHNIAS

JIM McGILL ADELA ORTEGA

Meet T the class of 2014

he Times and BusINess magazine salute five local leaders who are being inducted into the 2014 class of the Northwest Indiana Business and Industry Hall of Fame.

We salute the achievements of the honorees, who were chosen from dozens of nominations.

These five leaders show exceptional business success and a lifetime commitment to the region and its communities. They also have played key roles in leading, developing and positioning the region for the future.

Thanks to all of our nominators and the panel of judges, including former honorees, who helped make these awards possible.

An awards luncheon for the inductees will take place April 4 at The Radisson Hotel at Star Plaza in Merrillville.

Gov. Mike Pence is scheduled to speak. For tickets, contact Debbie Reilly at debbie.reilly@nwi.com or (219) 933-3329.

life

THOMAS KATSAHNIAS

A

well lead H

From leading steel mills to running a hospital system, Thomas Katsahnias finds success wherever he goes

ANDREA HOLECEK

is long-term goal was to lead an interesting life, and his career and achievements show Thomas Katsahnias has achieved that ambition.

Katsahnias spent the majority of his professional career at Inland Steel Co., where he was general manager and chief operating officer when the East Chicago mill was the nation’s largest, employing more than 20,000 people. He also has served as CEO at a number of other companies and headed the boards of directors at several businesses and institutions.

Katsahnias, who at age 85 exercises daily including a mile-long run,, looks back on his life, his work and his family with no compunctions.

“I’ve had a very interesting life,” he said. “I ended up with a wonderful family, good career, good friends and have no regrets about anything.”

Most people don’t give much thought to how to have an interesting life, Katsahnias, said because “they’re too busy being busy.”

His father, a Greek immigrant who came alone to the United States as a young child, had only a grammar school education. Yet he taught Katsahnias that education can direct a person’s future.

“He taught me education can make you realize your future and that your future is not determined by other people’s decisions,” Katsahnias said. “What he told me, and what I believe, is all of us can shape and continue to shape our lives far more than we can imagine. Though everyone’s See KATSAHNIAS, Page 22

Thomas Katsahnias 

SPRING 2014 | 21

THOMAS KATSAHNIAS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 21

Katsahnias

life has twists and turns, good times and some not so good, successes and failures, but ultimately it goes in the direction that the people determine it to go.”

Raised on the North Side of Chicago, Katsahnias attended Lane Technical High School, where he was commander of the school’s ROTC unit. On graduation, he applied to both the Illinois Institute of Technology and Northwestern University, but was rejected.

“I did rather well in high school, but they were favoring veterans of WWII,” Katsahnias said. “I went to North Park College and eventually transferred to IIT where I got a degree in chemical engineering.”

After college, Katsahnias was interviewed by several companies including Inland Steel Co, the steel subsidiary of Inland Industries.

“I took the job there in 1951 and was there 36 years and retired from there in 1986,” he said.

During the early 1950s, Katsahnias married his wife, Ann. They moved to Munster, where he still resides, in 1956.

The couple had been married for more than 60 years when Ann died two years ago. She is survived by their three children — Jeneane Caruso, George T. Katsahnias, and Theodore J. Katsahnias — plus seven grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

Katsahnias was drafted in 1954 as the Korean War was ending and he was employed at Inland.

Because of his background and education, he was trained at a bacteriologist and worked in that capacity until his tour ended. “I didn’t accept commission because I would have had to stay extra year,” Katsahnias said.

After leaving military service, Katsahnias went back to Inland. He also returned to school, attending the University of Chicago where he received a master’s degree in business.

“I had 12 jobs before becoming the operating officer for Inland,” he said. “When I first got there I said to myself, ‘What I am doing here?’

But it grew on me, and I tried and succeeded in making my own operatives.”

Katsahnias worked in all parts of the mil before taking charge and leading its huge operations.

“It got so when I joined an organization, I wanted to lead it and I was successful,” he said.

“It was an easy thing for me to make decisions and work with people.”

Katsahnias credits his upbringing for his leadership skills, “I think it’s because of how Mother and Father brought me up, they told me you don’t move up at the expense of anyone else. You do it because you did a good job. I’ve always kept that in mind.”

After Katsahnias left Inland, he became senior vice president and operating head for Ancilla Systems Inc.’s nine hospitals located in 22 | IN BUSINESS

Illinois and Indiana.

“The nuns there said to me, ‘Bring them (the hospitals) back to profitability.’ In two years I did that.”

He stayed with Ancilla for three years, and after leaving a Greek steelmaker offered him a job planning, building and operating Beta Steel hot mill in Portage. He was the mill’s president and chief operating executive from 1990 to 1995.

“It was interesting working with people from Europe, who wanted to do things the way they do them in Europe” Katsahnias said. “That just doesn’t work here.”

He held a series of positions following his career at Beta Steel. Katsahnias worked for several banks, a realty firm, home health care and steel company before his official retirement from the world of business in 1996.

“I was used to turning companies around,” he said.

During his working career and afterward, Katsahnias also has used his leadership skills to help his alma mater and other educational and cultural institutions.

He has served as president of ITT’s Board of Trustees and president of its Alumni Association, on the Northwest Indiana Symphony Board of Directors, on the board of Purdue University Calumet, and as President of the Board of Trustees of the Calumet College of St. Joseph from 1986 to 2011. He currently serves as president of the board of St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church in Hammond.

“It seems that’s what I’ve got to do,” Katsahnias said. “When I was chosen, I didn’t get elated. I’d say, ‘Good Lord what I’ve done.’

It’s just always been something to help other people.”

Dennis Rittenmeyer, the executive director of One Region and former President of the Calumet College of St. Joseph, credits Katsahnias for his appointment as president in 1987. Up to that time, only priests were selected as president of the institution, which was on the verge of closing. Katsahnias decided to turn it around financially and educationally that had to change, Rittenmeyer said.

“He asked me if I would consider being president,” he said. “He had to do some hand holding to get them to agree. ... He did a lot of negotiating behind the scenes.”

With Katsahnias leading the board and Rittenmeyer as the helm, the college turned around financially during his first year as president, Rittenmeyer said.

“Tom was instrumental working through those issues,” he said.

Rittenmeyer describes Katsahnias as a dear friend.

“Tom’s a very hard worker,” he said. “Very astute. A person who can cross boundaries to negotiate the best outcomes, but never wanted to have to act like a politician. He’s genuinely nice guy with a great conscience about the right thing to do. There’s not an arrogant bone in his body.”

Katsahnias contends there are things that were present during his working career that are still imperative to being successful, including a good education.

“Education is integral to the entire economy of a nation,” he said. “It creates jobs. It is essential to commerce and industry. It generates the organizations and the tools and technology to

“I had 12 jobs before becoming the operating officer for Inland.

When I first got there I said to myself, ‘What I am doing here?’

But it grew on me and I tried and succeeded in making my own operatives.”

THOMAS KATSAHNIAS

For your information NAME: Thomas Katsahnias AGE: 85 TITLE: Former General Manager and Chief Operating Officer of Inland Steel Co; former CEO of Ancilla Health Systems; former President and CEO of Beta Steel

support civilization. I feel education is the most important key our economic future individually and well as nationwide.”

Education must be coupled with hard work, faith, personal responsibility, and perseverance, Katsahnias said.

“One of my concerns to the present generation is that they will let all the new technology

suck them deeper into isolation and thereby draining them of their humanity,” he said.

“Technology saves a few seconds here and a few there, but you cannot divide your life into seconds, Life is people – man and woman and children – going about the business of being people. You must give that your undivided attention and enjoy the process of living.”

ACHIEVEMENTS: One Region Outstanding Achievement Award in 2012; former Chairman of the Board of Calumet College of St. Joseph and the Illinois Institute of Technology; former board member of Purdue University Calumet, Republic Bank of Chicago, Gainer Bank and Gainer Corp.; Calumet College of St. Joseph named its first floor addition the Thomas G. and Ann Katsahnias Student Commons in his and wife’s honor.

SPRING 2014 | 23

commitment

O’MERRIAL BUTCHEE

A

Butchee works for the community she loves ROB EARNSHAW

O

’Merrial Butchee is a firm believer that even in Northwest Indiana, changes that we dream about can come to be without waiting on a political group or organization to say “this is what it’s going to be.”

“I think it will be the responsibility on each and every one of us to make it happen,” says Butchee, the honoree of this year’s Public Service Award.

Butchee has been making things happen in a lot of places for a long time. She is the former treasurer of American Can Co. where she managed a portfolio that covered six manufacturing facilities, as well as most of the major automotive companies that used aluminum and aluminum products in their cars and SUVs in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

“I negotiated finance agreements that included but not limited to land agreements; the construction and financing of a new plant for Chrysler; the remediation of landfills; developed their first technological driven cash management system; and served as one of the chief credit representatives for the second largest secondary aluminum smelter in the country,” she says.

With a lifetime of experience as an entrepreneur, author, business and community leader, Butchee started a training and consulting organization, Visionamics Inc., where she experienced best practices and innovative works of clients such as Johnson Controls, McDonald’s Corp., Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. and the Environmental Protection Agency.

“After training for McDonald’s Corp. for approximately four years and receiving some of the best evaluations that they had ever received for any workshop, they contracted me to develop their Career Professional Women’s Development Program for their U.S. employees,” she says. “In 2009 I created

24 | IN BUSINESS

PUBLIC SERVICE AWARD

to lifelong learning and developed the standard training program used for developing future senior female leaders at McDonald’s. To the best of my knowledge, they are still using it today. The broad-range of products, services and benchmarking techniques gave me the experience, knowledge and examples from these global companies to better equip my face-to-face and online students with timely and meaningful training.”

While simultaneously closing down her lucrative training business after 14 years, Butchee began teaching as an adjunct at Ivy Tech. For the last 17 years she’s taught several business courses and technical writing for engineers at ArcelorMittal.

“Presently I teach union apprentices technical writing for the bricklayers, plumbers and sheet metalworkers unions,” she says. “I also developed the first course in the Ivy Tech system directed at teaching business skills and related matters to non-business majors.”

Butchee’s fondness for Ivy Tech and observing the college living up to its mission “changing lives … making Indiana great” sparked a sense of wanting to do more for the community she loved.

“I then pursued my full-time interest at Ivy Tech and landed the position of Director of the Gerald I. Lamkin Innovation & Entrepreneurship Center at Ivy Tech Community College Northwest where I serve seven counties and Ivy Tech’s four campuses located in Gary, East Chicago, Michigan City and Valparaiso,” she says.

When what is now known as the One Region effort began several years ago, Butchee launched the “Dare to Dream” project made possible by a Knight Foundation grant that allowed a team of seven sister universities and colleges, 30 community groups and organizations and “highly motivated people” to communicate how they would be “better together.”

“The goal was to discuss how our seven counties had the power of friendly conversations to improve our ability to collaborate and move the region forward,” she says. “I firmly believe that our future mandates a spirit of cooperation for sustainability in this global

economy.”

She also put “leadership legs” under an idea created by former Ivy Tech Chancellor Guadalupe Valtierra, as well as her assistant director, John Davies, and moved the Society of Innovators of Northwest Indiana into becoming a premier organization for discovering and celebrating innovative thinking.

Butchee served as the interim chair of The Society prior to the election of Richard Sussman of ArcelorMittal.

Butchee is a member of several boards and is especially fond of her membership with the Gary Chamber of Commerce because “it’s more than a meeting.”

“I’d rather be at a meeting where we spend an extra five to 10 minutes where everyone has an opportunity to introduce themselves and tell the group what they are about and what they do,” she says. “An old fashioned format where people get a chance to know each other.”

Butchee says she is committed to lifelong learning. At first she was embarrassed when The Times ran an article last year announcing her as the recipient of a $500 award from Centier Bank for the best entrepreneur plan written in an Indiana University Northwest master’s program.

“I was able to accept it once I recognized the fact that this award was evidence of my lifelong learning commitment,” she says. “I take pride in ‘walking my talk.’”

Davies says Butchee is one of those charismatic leaders who populate our everyday lives, and when she walks into a room “you pay attention.”

“Part of this is her voice,” Davies says. “It’s distinctive and clear, not muddled.”

Davies says Butchee is fiercely loyal to her team, her college and her community.

“She creates a culture around her in which all flourish, even the least of us,” he says. “She makes us better and while we may do amazing things, we’re really part of a culture branded

by O’Merrial that states ‘We can do anything we put our minds to do.’”

O'Merrial Butchee 

“She creates a culture around her in which all flourish, even the least of us. She makes us better and while we may do amazing things, we’re really part of a culture branded by O’Merrial that states ‘We can do anything we put our minds to do.’”

JOHN DAVIES, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF THE GERALD I. LAMKIN CENTER, SPEAKING ABOUT O’MERRIAL BUTCHEE

For your information NAME: O’Merrial Butchee,

TITLE: Regional Director, Gerald I. Lamkin Innovation & Entrepreneurship Center COMPANY: Ivy Tech Community College Northwest, Gary ACHIEVEMENTS: Launched “Dare to Dream” project; developed the Career Professional Development program for McDonald’s Corp.; developed the first course in the Ivy Tech system directed at teaching business skills; recipient of award from Centier Bank for the best entrepreneur plan written in an Indiana University Northwest master’s program; Fellow, the National Institute of Credit; Toastmaster International Distinguished Toastmasters Designation; recipient of 2008 Women of Distinction award, YWCA; 2005 Honor Teacher Day “Red Apple Award” from the Inspirational Community Center Ministry; Gary Chamber of Commerce board member and publisher of the Lifeline Newsletter.

SPRING 2014 | 25

FRED HALPERN

F

LOUISA MURZYN

red Halpern knew his dream and fortunes were underneath the square pink neon clock and through the front door of the jewelry store he acquired in 1960 at the corner of Main and Broadway streets in East Chicago.

“I was in my own ‘Acre of Diamonds,’” says Halpern, 74, of Schererville, co-owner of Albert’s Diamond Jewelers, referring to the ageless parable. “And it was just one more shovel I would have to dig to get there. I was fascinated with ‘Success through a Positive Mental Attitude’ (PMA). Nothing could stop me and I wasn’t afraid of failure. I’ve been broke many times and nothing bothers me.”

The Acre of Diamonds parable made famous by motivational speaker Russell Cromwell explains opportunity doesn’t just come along – it’s there all the time and we just have to see it. It explains that it’s folly to charge off in search of greener pastures. Each of us is in the middle of our own acre of diamonds if only we realize it and develop the ground we’re standing on.

Halpern’s son, Josh Halpern, who is co-owner, says his dad listened to PMA tapes on the ride home from the store every day.

“Regardless of where we were, he was going to make the best of the situation,” Josh says. “No matter how successful we are now it stems from what he created in East Chicago. He used to say we should be in the Guinness Book of World Records for what we accomplished there.”

In 1905, Albert Rubinstein set up shop on the corner in the Indiana Harbor neighborhood. In 1960, Fred Halpern’s parents, who were in the jewelry business, acquired the bankrupt store and Halpern began running it at age 21 while he was on summer break from the University of Alabama where he was a kinesiology major.

He left college and never returned. The store had no inventory and no customers. Fred worked for five years before taking a penny from the company and invented his own business strategy, which he coined “the piranha effect.” The building became a center for water and energy bill payments, Western Union, lottery tickets and currency exchange.

“He created an excitement, a buzz and a buying atmosphere,” Josh says. “He found a way to build traffic into his business. Those things had very low margin and profit and barely covered the expense to staff them but people were in the store. He was savvy and did things that were unorthodox. He did things against the grain and it worked for him.”

Fred, a Chicago native, married his wife, Donna, on Valentine’s Day in 1968 and they went on to raise two children, Josh Halpern and Holly Metzger. In 2002, the Halperns opened the doors to a new flagship facility in Schererville and have now opened a second location at Southlake Mall

26 | IN BUSINESS

gem

Store owner a rare Halpern finds seeds of his fortunes in his own backyard

in Hobart.

Metzger co-owns two stores, which include one in Northbrook Court and Old Orchard shopping malls in Illinois. Fred Halpern’s brother, Charles, is a buyer and a partner in the company.

All stores combined employ 150 workers. More than 120,000 customers walk through the doors of the Schererville store yearly.

Charles Halpern has worked with Fred for 45 years. “The best part is family,” he says. “It’s better being with him than without him. He’s an icon and does things his way, but he’s humble. He wants the best store in the country. It’s like inviting a person into your home. That’s how he wants the customers to be treated. ” Fred says everybody wants to be where everybody else is. “I create an atmosphere where everybody wants to be,” he says. “I call my store the love store because we have seven or eight layers of love we put on everybody that walks in. I give as many free things as I can to a customer to make their experience a little different than the next place.”

The love also includes freshly baked cookies seven days a week.

Over the years, the streetwise jeweler has taken many risks both within the store and in other ventures including a gold mine, a race horse and an oil well. An investment in cable television paved the way for TV commercials in which he dressed as a swami or interviewed himself. “He was thinking out of the box and it was a catapult for the business,” Josh says.

Although he was influenced by the lectures of Cromwell, Fred Halpern credits his parents for his work ethic and values. They struggled through difficult financial times, yet managed to put five kids through college.

“My father is extremely driven and has a no lose attitude,” Josh says. “He’ll out work and out hustle you.”

Fred also inherited the gift of an open heart and the sharing of love and compassion from his mother. “We never had a neat house but we always

had an open house,” Fred says.

Josh says his dad taught him to be a giver. “One of his lines is ‘Do something great and don’t tell anybody about it,’” he says. “Part of the life lesson was caring about people and to not be selfish but be selfless.”

Josh recalls at age 5 the weekly ritual of spending the afternoon with his dad at a nursing home every Saturday to visit an ailing former building tenant.

Josh remembers bringing sweet rolls and passing them out to each and every grateful resident.

Today, Fred supports fundraisers for multiple sclerosis, AIDS and Parkinson’s Disease, to name only a few. His wife, Donna, was diagnosed with MS when she was in her late 20s and now nearly four decades later is in a wheelchair.

Every year he raises money for MS research during an auction at his store and participates in numerous other fundraisers. To date, the Halperns have donated more than $750,000. Last year, they were recognized by the National MS Society Volunteer Hall of Fame in Colorado. Halpern’s brother, Ken, died from AIDS in 1996. Fred Halpern participated several times in The Chicago AIDS Ride, a six-day, 500-mile bikathon from Minneapolis to Chicago, Donating his time and money to organizations as well as countless local groups and individuals is a way of life for Fred Halpern. The stories are endless: he bought the entire East Chicago Central boy’s basketball team, including coaches, gold rings for winning the state championship in 2007. Recently he gave someone $25,000 for food in Somalia. Last year, Albert’s gave away 70 watches to the most improved students.

“Everybody I touch I try to make them have a better day,” he says. “I want to change the world one person at a time. I want to make a lot of money so I can give it away. I’d like to live longer so I could be like Bill Gates and his efforts against AIDS. The truth is people who are givers have more fun and enjoy life more than takers. And I’m always going to be a giver.”

“I want to change the world one person at a time. I want to make a lot of money so I can give it away. I’d like to live longer so I could be like Bill Gates and his efforts against AIDS. The truth is people who are givers have more fun and enjoy life more than takers. And I’m always going to be a giver.”

FRED HALPERN

For your information NAME: Fred Halpern AGE: 74 TITLE: Co-owner COMPANY: Albert’s Diamond Jewelers, 711 Main St., Schererville, and Southlake Mall, Hobart ACHIEVEMENTS: Founded in 1905, company is the largest watch and jewelry retailer in Northwest Indiana. Named Northwest Indiana Small Business Person of the Year in 1995. Inducted into the National Multiple Sclerosis Society Hall of Fame.

SPRING 2014 | 27

JIM McGILL

legacy

Continuing the family McGill continued business, community involvement lessons

LESLY BAILEY

D

rawing from his years in the family business, Jim McGill had the opportunity to carry on the legacy and lessons fostered during his family’s leadership of McGill Manufacturing Co. Launched at the turn of the century by James H. McGill, the manufacturer of bearing and electrical products moved to Valparaiso in 1905. It was run by the McGill family until being bought

by Emerson Power Transmission in 1990.

“My dad (Charles S. McGill) was boss until 1976. I had worked at the plant during summers and such and he gave me lots of advice. I was 20 when my grandfather (James) died, but I had had conversations with him. He said, ‘You are a McGill, carry on the name and remember who you are,’” Jim says. “I learned a lot from Bob Anderson (former executive vice president). He was very civic-minded. He taught me to give back to the community because the community gave so much to us as far as what we got in the people who worked for us. I always worked under that philosophy. McGill was a good contributor to the area.”

“My parents are very philanthropic. Their philosophy is to give back to the community where you had your success and the McGill family had a lot of success here with our headquarters based in Porter County,” says Jim’s son, Charlie McGill, who is vice president of manufacturing at Nu-Life Products.

At one time, McGill employed up to 1,500 with a total in sales of about $50 million. The company has a long history including making tank bearings during World War II, inventing cam follower bearings and venturing beyond bearings with stints at golf club and venetian blind manufacturing.

“We were one of the largest employers in Porter County. From an economic development standpoint, McGill Manufacturing and family

28 | IN BUSINESS

did a lot to support the community in terms of employment,” Charlie says. “We were always known as a wonderful place to work.”

“The advantage of running your own company is you can pay what you want, have picnics … employees are just like family. The main thing is they are treated like individuals and not a number,” Jim says. “We had third generations working for us. The guys at the plant were just wonderful. I wasn’t an engineer and didn’t know a lot about bearings. I learned on the job and they taught me about the process.”

Jim joined the McGill Manufacturing team on a permanent basis after returning from his service during the Korean War. “Six of us got picked after basic training to join the counter-intelligence corps. A lot of my buddies got out and joined the FBI,” Jim says.

“It helped me a lot in sales as we did calls for character references and security checks. It was very interesting.

“I started at McGill in the electrical division in sales, then general manager, then I moved to the bearing division and had all kinds of jobs over there. When my dad became ill in 1976, that’s when they made me CEO and I had that role for about 15 years.”

It was during the late 1980s that company began to attract unsolicited offers and was the target of greenmailing, the practice of buying stock to threaten a takeover.

Jim turned to Chuck Knight, of Emerson, who had offered to buy the company 20 years earlier.

“The reasons we were so sellable were we had no debt and we had a product in each division that was a money maker. I was always

taught to not have debt and to hire a lot of people if you need them,” Jim says. “We lost the company but we got somebody that could run it and that we agreed to without being picked by some corporate raider who would just take out the money-making part of it.

“We sold it to the right people because we had to and they are doing a good job of keeping it here (in Valpo).”

Jim says Valparaiso offered a key connection to the type of employees that McGill needs.

“An advantage of being in Valpo is that we had a pool of skilled employees to draw from … we needed mechanical engineers, machinists, assemblers … so that is one of the reasons we enjoyed the opportunities that we had in this area and the diversity,” he says.

“Today, we still have a few good ones left, like Thorgren, Urschel and Task Force Tips. I think along with some of the older companies, we set a pace for continuing that diversity and being a good place to work.”

Over the years, Jim has served on a variety of boards including the Indiana Commission for Higher Education and the board of directors at his alma mater, Valparaiso University.

“I learned a lot being on different boards.

It was good experience,” he says. “When kids graduate from VU, we hope they stay in this community and go to work – that has always been the goal and each generation has tried to keep that going.”

Now retired, Jim has been married to high school sweetheart Johanna for 62 years. The two have three children: Charlie and daughters Margaret Paris and Kate Gangi.

“We have a place in Michigan and I hunt, fish

“I learned a lot being on different boards. It was good experience. When kids graduate from VU, we hope they stay in this community and go to work – that has always been the goal and each generation has tried to keep that going.”

JIM MCGILL

For your information NAME: Jim McGill AGE: 85 TITLE: Former CEO Jim McGill 

and play golf and am involved in our church, Immanuel Lutheran,” he says.

Charlie says the example his parents set showed him the importance of volunteering and making an impact in the community.

“I certainly learned from both parents to have an impact not only from an economic standpoint … both have volunteered tremendous amounts

of time to serve on boards. To be involved in terms of time, that just carried on and as I grew up, I saw that’s how you help contribute to the community: to be involved. They walked the walk,” Charlie says.

“I learned to be very thankful, express thanks and be humble. If you care about something, get involved and make a difference.”

COMPANY: McGill Manufacturing Co. ACHIEVEMENTS: Continued to lead family business until retirement, served on variety of boards including Valparaiso University Board of Directors and Indiana Commission for Higher Education

SPRING 2014 | 29

ADELA ORTEGA

P LESLY BAILEY

owerful and quiet.

Two words that Adela Ortega uses to describe a locomotive’s engine and what pulled her into the industry.

“I loved that fact that this huge, long train was pulled by one engine. Basically, one engine does all the work, so it has to be in good condition,” she says. “It’s very powerful and quiet, and that goes along with my personality. I don’t need fame, and I don’t need my name up there. I am very shy and I enjoy my privacy very much.”

She finds a sense of power in being a business owner and offering a place of employment at East Chicago-based Professional Locomotive Services, which she launched in 1996.

Her team services locomotives through repair, refurbishing and maintenance services, including inspection programs, engine overhauls, wheel cutting and steam cleaning both on-site and in the field.

Customers are primarily in the private sector and range from steel to pharmaceutical companies.

“I started the company not because of any goal to be powerful to own a business … that wasn’t the concept at all. I thought, ‘Wow, not only can I give myself a job, I can give jobs to other people,’” she says. “To find those who have a passion, that is a key word for me when hiring. I need to see that they aren’t doing something because they have to, but because they are happy and proud of it.

“In that respect, I feel power in that my ideas can create jobs and if it was up to me, to have jobs for thousands. That is phenomenal in my point of view. I don’t need rewards … seeing people take their paychecks home, get married, have kids, spoil their kids … that is payback, that is wonderful to me.”

When she was a child, Ortega didn’t dream of entering the locomotive industry and, in fact, she wouldn’t have chosen to live in the United States. Born in Mexico, her parents brought her to the U.S. at age 9.

“If they had asked me, I would have chosen not to come here. Our children get mad at us, but eventually say, ‘Thank you.’ Thank you, Mom and Dad,” she says.

“They knew better for me. Being here, soon enough, I learned the culture of this country and what makes it great, and I learned to love it.

“I gave my heart to this country. I saw its way of protecting people. There is a lot  Adela Ortega

30 | IN BUSINESS

success

The track to Professional Locomotive Services president cultivates passion for industry of negativity out there but I see all the greatness.

I promised at a very young age that I would not be a burden to this country and I would take care of myself and not be someone else’s burden and I would empower myself to help others.”

A job in the locomotive industry was her only exposure to the world and the spark needed to fuel her passion.

“If you had asked me as a child what I wanted to do, this wouldn’t have been it. It’s not in my family … no one in my family does this,” she says. “I wanted a job where I could travel – I was young and had no kids and nothing to hold me down. I took a job that would keep me traveling and that job was in the railroad industry.

“When I was first exposed to locomotives and freights, I felt a passion and knew I wanted to work on this engine. I have always known I wanted to be in an executive position. My dream job was on Michigan Avenue (in Chicago). It’s funny how my dress code is steel-toed boots.”

Ortega launched the business at a young age when she was at a crossroads in her professional life. She continued to be exposed to the industry and had former customers and vendors seeking help getting connected.

“It was a very scary moment when I thought of having a business. I started it when my son was a few months old — now he is 18 — and I did it being a single parent,” she says.

“My role in the company when it first started was every position you can possibly think of. I was my own secretary, attorney, accountant, administrator, sales person, operations. I hired a mechanic and electrician to go out in the field. I purchased a vehicle and tools to do the work and set up a customer base and a vendor base.”

She has since built her fleet of vehicles and team members remaining around 16 to 24 employees over the years. She still has the original Lansing location and she moved her administrative offices to East Chicago in 2007.

“My job is to accelerate or slow down the growth without letting people go. I make a commitment to people when I offer them a job that they will have 40 hours, and I stick to that no matter what,” she says.

Lakeshore Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Dave Ryan says Ortega sparked a change when she moved PLS to East Chicago.

The chamber named PLS the business of the year in 2012 and nominated her to the Society of Innovators in 2013 when she was named an individual member.

“She transformed a closed business into a great new locomotive repair shop. She put in new infrastructure and rehabbed a building that had been closed for years,” he says. “Now, it stands as a testimony to her hard work and her staff’s dedication to the locomotive industry.”

Though some may perceive women in the locomotive industry as unique, Ortega feels a natural ease. She sees her path as a progression of her experiences, work life, travels and family base, which includes members in the construction industry.

“It made it easy for me … simple … we are who we are with all of the pieces that make us up. It’s no different than a puzzle with pieces built a little at a time. It was kind of natural for me to deal with men and the industry and I had already built a passion for the locomotive,” she says.

Ortega sees her role in the community as leading a stable region business that can be a source of pride and a good neighbor, but she shies away from addressing her impact directly.

“I don’t know that I make an impact. Only when other people think I am, when other people notice, did I make a difference. … Now that I see that people are giving me that look that I used to give others, then I notice I am making a difference to someone.

“That’s inspiring … it takes my breath away.”

“I gave my heart to this country. I saw its way of protecting people. There is a lot of negativity out there but I see all the greatness. I promised at a very young age that I would not be a burden to this country and I would take care of myself and not be someone else’s burden and I would empower myself to help others.”

ADELA ORTEGA

For your information NAME: Adela Ortega

TITLE: President and owner COMPANY: Professional Locomotive Services based out of East Chicago ACHIEVEMENTS: Successfully launched locomotive repair and maintenance company at a young age and continues to foster growth and development of the business, including relocation of administrative offices to East Chicago in 2007

SPRING 2014 | 31

& ideas Sharing space

Collaborative working space encourages creativity, innovation DIANE POULTON

C

reative space is a place to share ideas and inspirations. It is a place buzzing with ideas and having an atmosphere conducive to creative growth.

This sharing of creative energy has brought four local business owners together in Hammond’s Merge Building located at 5920 Hohman Ave. The Merge partners are Leon Dombrowski, owner of Accucraft Imaging; Gina Altieri and Seda Turan-Yahne, owners of ds303; and Tim Simic owner of Green Light Creative.

Dombrowski says his partners in the Merge Building help each other successfully embrace the inevitable changes in life. Dombrowski said he finds it important to surround himself with creative people whom he trusts and who have similar motivations and goals.

“Nothing stands still,” Dombrowski says.

“That is what sets different people apart in different ways. I’ve always looked at it as there are three things you can do when it comes to change.”

Dombrowski says the first possible reaction is stress and agony accompanied by a feeling there is nothing you can do about it. The second thing, Dombrowski says, is simply accepting and dealing with change.

“What I’ve always thought, though, is the third thing and that is embrace change,” Dombrowski says. “I think it is the greatest thing in the world. I love when things are changing. I love looking ahead trying to anticipate where it is going to go and try to stay one step ahead of the game.”

Dombrowski says his Merge partners, in whom he has complete faith, are invaluable See CREATIVE, Page 34

32 | IN BUSINESS

The creative workspace Merge in Hammond.

From left, Leon Dombrowski, Seda Turan-Yahne, Tim Simic and Gina Altieri.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 32

Creative

when dealing successfully with change.

“It’s impossible to accomplish anything by yourself,” Dombrowski says. “The more people that you can bring into a situation who have the passion to do things the right way and are doing them for the right reasons, not doing it just for a paycheck and not just doing it to make a few bucks here or there, but doing it in your own little way you are helping someone else accomplish something else and that is the attitude that we have here. Being a leader is really just surrounding yourself with the right people. Where we sit right now never could have happened without all the other people who are our partners.”

The Merge Building is based on the concept that when creative people get together and share ideas, amazing things happen, Turan-Yahne says.

“The Merge Building is a shared creative ecosystem which encourages collaboration, open and free dialog, innovation, diversity, interdependence, play, cross-pollination and vision,” Turan-Yahne says.

Dombrowski agrees.

“The concept of the Merge Building is people and ideas coming together,” Dombrowski says.

“We’re creating an environment that strongly encourages creativity.”

The four partners have been sharing more than 17,000 square feet of office, meeting and production space since October 2012.

Turan-Yahne says shared expenses and collaboration are the main advantages of sharing space with the other creative teams.

“After being friends for 16 years and owning businesses in the same industry, we felt it would be advantageous not only for us but for our clients as well because we are bringing together our combined years of experience and expertise,” Turan-Yahne says. “And, at the same time, we are greatly reducing overhead costs — savings which we can pass on to our clients.”

Turan-Yahne says she has seen no disadvantage to sharing space in the Merge Building over the past months. She absolutely recommends the concept as advantageous to others especially for businesses which complement each other.

“Every company here is completely independent but there’s a strong sense of interdependence,” Dombrowski says. “Everybody has different levels of expertise and it’s just a free-sharing of information and resources.”

Turan-Yahne says the client relationship is at the heart of everything done at her marketing firm ds303 a marketing firm whose services include providing research, strategic planning, copywriting, brand identity, public relations and offset and digital printing. Turan-Yahne says for two decades ds303 has united this personal touch with practical experience.

“Clients have access to a gifted team of professionals with expertise in serving the diverse needs of an array of client from national brands to local businesses,” Turan-Yahne says.

In business 27 years, Accucraft Imaging is a full service commercial printer providing 34 | IN BUSINESS

A sharing of creative energy has brought four local business owners together in Hammond’s Merge Building at 5920 Hohman Ave. The Merge partners are Leon Dombrowski, owner of Accucraft Imaging; Gina Altieri and Seda Turan-Yahne, owners of ds303; and Tim Simic owner of Green Light Creative.

offset, digital and large format printing as well as complete mailing services.

Advertising and graphic designers Green Light Creative has been in business for more than 17 years. The company’s services include annual reports, billboards, brochures, catalogs, copywriting, direct mail, eblasts, logos, invitation packages, websites and newspaper and magazine ads.

Martin Oleksy, Creative Director and co-host of the Ad Men Radio Show, currently works solo as a freelancer.

“However, I’ve worked for Chicago public relations and advertising agencies and experienced both the traditional and shared space office settings,” Oleksy says. “The shared space concept is meant as an open area, or collaborative work space. It was the reaction, or rebellion, against the closed-off corner offices and confining cubicles. It is meant to remove boundaries set by title and eliminates the isolation of the cubicle system.”

Oleksy says the benefit is an immediate sense of energy.

“That energy can be the rising tide that lifts all boats for productivity,” Oleksy says.

“The office is alive for all to see and every work area can have access to natural sunlight and a window view.”

Oleksy says the drawback is the lack of privacy.

“There is very little of it,” Oleksy said. “To fix that, many meeting rooms are established for more intimate conversations and/or brainstorm

sessions. Those help, but one can feel a bit of a reality show sense of being observed.”

Oleksy says eventually people learn to adapt but it can take some getting used to.

“I do like to positive open-energy it provides but admittedly I like to observe my surroundings, so a door and four walls may be advantageous to my workload,” Oleksy says.

Dombrowski said as part of the Merge Building concept, MergeArts hosts a quarterly art exhibition primarily featuring the work of 20 local artists. Ten percent of the purchase price from each piece of art sold will benefit a charity designated for that quarter’s exhibit, he says. In addition, Merge will match 10 percent of each piece sold. Beneficiaries have included Tradewinds, Edgewater Systems, St. Joseph’s Carmelite Home and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Northwest Indiana, Dombrowski says the MergeArts exhibits combine the partners’ shared passion for the arts.

“With our intrinsic appreciation of community issues, the MergeArts Project has emerged to achieve two primary objectives,” Dombrowski says. “First is to provide a unique forum to regularly introduce and showcase the works of regional artists to the ever-growing of Merge friends and guests and second, to generate increased awareness and generate financial support for local charities and community groups.

For more information, visit www.mergebuilding.com or call (219) 931-4005.

Making A Difference

Become a champion of NWI

‘G

BY LINDA WOLOSHANSKY

President and CEO, Center of Workforce Innovations & the Northwest Indiana Workforce Board‌

ood leaders must first become good servants.”

– Robert Greenleaf

I want you to put down this magazine for just a few seconds, raise your right hand, and repeat these words: “I, (insert your name), resolve in 2014 to give back to my community.”

Forget about that earlier resolution to join a health fitness club (you would have quit in by now anyway).

I want you to consider what I see time and again: the unselfish act of giving by a long list of highly successful business people from Northwest Indiana.

Many give money. A large number volunteer their time for a cause. And others offer ideas and suggestions that support existing programs, activities or new efforts.

And most of these folks lead full lives, multitasking their workload and family life, but somehow finding time to give back. Servant leaders.

Many of them have been inducted into The Times Business and Industry Hall of Fame. And I am sure, over time, the membership roster will add people who exemplify many if not all of the above qualities.

As we welcome and honor the Hall of Fame inductees, each individual clearly met the entrance requirements, which state “nominees should have exceptional business success, ” demonstrate “a lifetime commitment to the region and its communities” and played a key role “in leading, developing and positioning the region for the future.”

Successful businesses survive and thrive because they pay attention on delivering an excellent product or service year after year. They stay focused on their customer.

Think, for a moment, about your favorite restaurant.

Great food. Great service. Great value.

In my opinion, the common thread found in these successful business establishments is they place a high value on their workers. The act of caring about another human being is the virtue that propels business leaders to express that philosophy beyond their company walls and to the community at large.

Passionate owners or leaders generate handsome bottom lines for their firms, but they also understand the return on their investment of time and treasure to their community.

I would characterize this virtue or attribute as service above self. They give back to the community in numerous ways. The strongest and most notable business leaders support various causes that improve the quality of life for residents in Northwest Indiana. They serve on nonprofit boards giving their knowledge, lending their expertise, providing guidance, offering their help and donating their time, talent and often their treasure.

They are philanthropists, knowing that by

These business leaders are successful. The overarching question is which comes first: their contribution to their communities which then results in a more successful business? Or is it because they are successful business leaders that they then have an opportunity and time to contribute to their communities? contributing the right sum of resources, the efforts of the cause have a greater chance of success. They help their towns, cities and counties by serving on task forces, planning commissions on in some other pubic service.

They work with their schools to improve the educational system or the lives of students directly. They set an example and, by doing so, inspire others to do the same.

I have been inspired by these business leaders and look for those qualities and attributes that I could incorporate in my own life and in our organization.

These business leaders are successful. The overarching question is which comes first: their contribution to their communities which then results in a more successful business? Or is it because they are successful business leaders that they then have an opportunity and time to contribute to their communities?

As we move into the forthcoming months, I ask you to give serious consideration of becoming a servant leader.

Contribute what you can. Money is always welcome. But your time to support a positive cause is welcome, too.

In 2014, resolve to become a champion of Northwest Indiana.

The Center of Workforce Innovations creates a dynamic climate for business through workforce solutions based on research, relationships, resources and results.

SPRING 2014 | 35

Eyes On The Future

Keeping a community perspective

O

BY GARY MILLER

AND SHAR MILLER

Chief Executive Officers, PROMPT Ambulance‌

36 | IN BUSINESS

nce again The Times and BusINess magazine have unveiled a new class of The Business and Industry Hall of Fame, which honors individual business people throughout Northwest Indiana. The Times Media Co. should be commended for this and the many other activities that they do for the general welfare of the community.

This year’s class joins an impressive list of Hall of Fame winners. In the past, each had a fascinating story to tell. Some stories are familiar to the public at large like Steve Teibel, Don Powers, Dean White and Dennis Ribordy. Others may be less known, especially if their impact is primarily industry specific or they stay out of the public eye.

Regardless of how well known their stories are, each of these individuals and businesses have had an impact in Northwest Indiana that is immeasurable.

Their leadership and innovative approach in their field, their personal and business commitment of community service, mentorships and philanthropic causes – each have demonstrated their outlook and leadership that spreads far and wide.

As a life-long resident of the region, Gary was fortunate to watch his family’s three generations that preceded him and what they went through to be business owners. He, along with his siblings, had a head start on learning some of the secrets of running a successful business.

When Shar joined the company, she brought with her the same work ethic and care for the Community that her parents instilled in her. Between the two of us, the stars fell into line and we were able to emulate the practices we saw and brought success to other business people. By following their lead, we were also honored by being inducted into the Hall of Fame Class of 2011.

In our business, we try day in and day out to emulate the best practices we have seen as common traits of these Hall of Famers. The first trait is to operate in an open and honest manner. Parallel to this theme is our mission statement, which is: To be the leading provider of medical transportation by doing what is right for our patients, associates and the community. This simple and clear philosophy has done us well and is easy to follow.

By following this approach we have seen substantial growth not only locally but in other areas of the state.

Locally, we currently transport in two weeks the

number of patients we transported in the entire year of 1999. We have also been blessed with more than 600 associates who chose to work with us.

Other traits which we have found to be common in not only this year’s inductees but with all of the previous members is their willingness to operate their businesses as an integral part of the community, not simply as a stand-alone entity.

We have not known one Hall of Famer that does not support local nonprofits or churches by either financial support or time spent serving on boards or committees.

Quite often these boards have no impact on their business but serve to strengthen the community and serve as mentors to others.

The community-wide perspective is also demonstrated by support of other local, and in particular, small businesses. The financial return to the community by local spending compared to national spending is dramatic and easily documented.

Eyes on the future and on the environment are also key components. Developing others through shared responsibility, in-house mentoring, support of schools and expanding other skills all pay dividends. This is true even if their new skills allow them to advance outside of the company.

The focus on the environment is not only logical; it saves you money in the long run. Our region is heavily industrial and yet we have much cleaner air than we had 30 years ago.

If we want others to invest and move into the area, we want to make it appealing to do so.

The final common trait is each of these business owners participate in their industries’ state and national associations. Constant learning, and keeping up with industry trends, is the best insurance policy you can have in protecting the long-term survival of your company. To stay on top of industry trends, PROMPT has invested heavily in new technologies and will soon be expanding our scope of practice to include more at home treatments as to concentrate on outcome based medicine.

Every business has to keep an eye on the bottom line, yet we have found that the money spent on the items listed above have been investments that are still paying dividends.

A big thanks to all the individuals for serving as such leaders for the community.

In our business, we try day in and day out to emulate the best practices we have seen as common traits of these Hall of Famers. The first trait is to operate in an open and honest manner.

Company Culture

The importance of a winning culture

W

BY TOM COLLINS SR. CEO and president of Luke Oil‌

e have realized through much trial and error that building a winning culture is critical in any efforts toward continuous business growth.

If correctly defined, establishing a true and effective mission statement and vision statement are necessary to building that winning culture.

These days terms such as “culture, mission, vision, best practices and synergies” are grossly overused in the business world.

However, these words symbolize important principles every company should implement. In an effort to appear marketable, companies will adopt mission statements and corporate visions that are nothing more than meaningless advertisement. They do not necessarily apply to the core business or the development of the employees.

When our company was smaller, corporate vision was something the business owner had in their mind, and it was shared only with key employees from time to time.

Recruiting, hiring and training were instituted by the business owner and top level management. Employees were selected based on characteristics the business owner was seeking. During this time, we were developing a “culture,” although it may not have been noticeable.

As our business continued to grow, attempting to preserve the culture of a family-owned business was a challenge. It became impossible for top management to select all new employees. Our Human Resources department was established out of necessity. Recruiting and training were now in the hands of others who we had to trust in order to keep up with the growth of the company and to continue our employee development.

Hence, a mission statement and vision statement were created in an effort to build on our family-owned business culture of helping our employees grow and advance.

What do you want your mission statement to say? Who is it really for? As I mentioned, some companies prefer to use their mission statement as an advertisement. We thought it was more relevant when building a winning and sustainable culture to develop a mission statement directed internally toward our employees and ourselves. A mission statement should state the purpose of an organization. What do we want to accomplish through our efforts? The goal of running a successful business venture goes without saying, so we decided to articulate what has been our direction in the past and our intent going forward. We made every effort to keep it as simple as possible.

Luke Mission Statement — “To consistently provide solid growth opportunities for all partners and associates who qualify.”

Whether you are an employee, a business partner/investor or even a supplier, we want to grow with you. The growth of our partners and associates assures our growth as a company. Providing growth opportunities for employees has always been at the core of our business philosophy.

In business, nothing is more rewarding than observing employees grow and advance in their careers.

These are 13 simple words that reach the core of our business principles. Whether you are an employee, a business partner/investor or even a supplier, we want to grow with you. The growth of our partners and associates assures our growth as a company. Providing growth opportunities for employees has always been at the core of our business philosophy. In business, nothing is more rewarding than observing employees grow and advance in their careers. Caring about your employees and helping in their continued growth creates sustainability and reduces turnover.

In choosing a vision statement we thought it was vital to articulate our goals and what we aspire to do.

Luke Vision Statement — “To set the standard for quality, service and convenience in every market we serve.”

The vision statement exemplifies our goals as a company. Our vision statement simply reminds us we want to be the best at what we do. It exemplifies our desire to win each and every day.

These statements are not just words on the wall to us.

We adhere to them as solid rules for our development and they are a daily measure of accountability as it relates to performance — for us as owners and for our teams.

Building a winning culture takes time. If we follow our mission and vision with discipline and use them as the baseline for our day-to-day decisions and strategy, the winning culture will continue to grow and develop as a genuinely true process.

SPRING 2014 | 37

One Region

Playing nice in the sandbox

O

BY DENNIS RITTENMEYER Executive director of One Region

38 | IN BUSINESS

ne Region, the community development organization serving the three counties in Northwest Indiana, is approaching its second anniversary. This spring, the One Region Board of Directors will engage in a retreat to review the past two years and make appropriate corrections in our priorities and activities.

In the months since the organization’s founding, a great deal has been accomplished. We have hosted two very successful annual luncheon meetings filling the Radisson Hotel to capacity. We’ve also hosted community leadership retreats identifying the most important issues facing Northwest Indiana now and in the future.

Finally, we sponsored a threecounty summit on the health of our citizens, which was one of the two indicators identified in 2012 as having a negative trend during the last 10 years. The purpose of all these meetings was to identify issues in the context of the 10 quality-of-life indicators which were published in the 2012 Quality-of-Life Indicators Report.

All our activities have been designed to generate broadly inclusive conversations among people from all three counties in Northwest Indiana. They were also intended to highlight the most important issues in our region that impact the quality of life of our citizens. Our goal is to improve the quality-of-life of our citizens by improving our performance on the 10 quality-oflife indicators.

The majority of the work done

by One Region is accomplished in the committees overseeing the action projects that relate directly to the quality-of-life indicators.

Accordingly, we will work to improve the health of our residents by addressing issues such as infant mortality, health disparity, and the expansion of mental and physical health services. We will endeavor to make our citizens safer by improving the performance of our various law enforcement agencies.

And we will strive to improve the performance of our local government entities by helping them to become more effective servants of our citizens.

Improving the quality of life of our citizens is

a daunting task to be sure. Nevertheless, it is our mission, and we accept that mission and intend to attack it directly. At the same time we know none of these quality-of-life issues will be addressed by simply “throwing” money at them. While there are some matters which require additional funding to be found — for example, the expansion of early childhood education — there are others that can be addressed by improved coordination and most importantly more cooperation.

A good example is public safety, which historically has been viewed as the “sacred cow” of government funding. Now, however, there is little new funding available. The duplication of services represented in the form of numerous different local policing agencies is but one example. Unnecessary elected official positions is yet another.

Do we really believe it is important to have three executives in county government?

The collection of geopolitical entities that make up Northwest Indiana have long been referred to as “Balkanized.” Furthermore, we seemingly have turned our disagreements and our occasionally disagreeable nature into an art form whose time clearly has passed. The imposition of tax caps has forced some adjustments, but more are necessary if we want to invest in our future and not “cut” our way in to it!

If we are serious about improving the quality-of-life of our citizens, we need to think of all our citizens and not just our own constituents. We must look for ways to cooperate to benefit one another instead of searching for ways to isolate one community or one group from another.

One Region’s goal can be simply stated as “getting everyone to play nice in the sandbox and get something done to improve the quality of life for all our citizens”. Accomplishing this goal is our most important priority.

Our mission statement, the 2012 Quality of Life Indicators Report, the most recent South Shore Journal and other information about One Region are available on our website at www.oneregionnwi.org.

All our activities have been designed to generate broadly inclusive conversations among people from all three counties in Northwest Indiana.

They were also intended to highlight the most important issues in our region that impact the quality of life of our citizens. Our goal is to improve the quality-of-life of our citizens by improving our performance on the 10 qualityof-life indicators.

nwi.com nwi.com

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Calendar Business calendar Business 4 Business | Merrillville

7:30 to 8:30 a.m. Mondays, A J Specialties, 1308 E. 85th Ave. Join Business 4 Business Referrals at its weekly meeting.

This is a non-competitive group with 25 members.

FYI: Contact Tony Schifino by phone at (219) 736-0367 or email ajspecialties1990@yahoo.com

Kiwanis Club meets | Hammond

7:30 to 8:30 a.m. Tuesdays, The Wheel Restaurant, 7430 Indianapolis Blvd.

Woodmar-Hammond chapter of Kiwanis International meets every Tuesday morning for breakfast. Guests are always welcome. Kiwanis is a global organization of volunteers dedicated to changing the world, one child and one community at a time. Buy your own breakfast..

FYI: Contact Alice Vockell by phone at (219) 845-8250 or email alicedalla@aol. com. Visit http://www.kiwanis.org.

South Shore Business Networking | Merrillville

8 to 9 a.m. Tuesdays, Spill the Beans, 7992 Broadway. Meet on the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of every month.

FYI: Contact Rick Gosser by phone at (219) 808-9888 or email sales@ gossercorpsales.com. Visit http://www. southshorebusinessnetworking.com.

Retirees share lunch |

Calumet City 8:15 to 9:15 a.m. Tuesdays, Tom’s Restaurant, 894 Burnham Ave. Amaizo, Cerestar, and Cargill retirees meet for breakfast the third Tuesday of each month. $10 per meeting.

FYI: Contact Ken Meier by phone at (219) 931-8751 or email djmotto45@gmail. com.

Referral Organization of Indiana (ROI) | Schererville

11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Tuesdays, ENG Lending, 833 U.S. 30, Suite 400. The Referral Organization of Indiana (ROI) Business Networking Group meets Tuesdays.

Networking starts at 11:15 a.m.

FYI: Contact Jane Koenig by phone at (219) 662-7701. Visit http://www. roinetworkinc.com.

40 | In Business

Rotary Club of Hammond | Hammond Noon to 1 p.m. Tuesdays, Student Union Library Building at Purdue Calumet, 2200 169th St. The Rotary Club of Hammond meets Tuesdays FYI: Contact Rotary Club of Hammond by phone at (219) 513-0549. Visit http:// www.hammondrotary.org.

Northwest Indiana Professional Network | LaPorte

1 to 2:30 p.m. Tuesdays, LaPorte WorkOne, Sagamore Center, 300 Legacy Plaza. The Northwest Indiana Professional Network, or NIPN, meets Tuesdays in LaPorte. NIPN is a networking group for professionals interested in sharing information and resources that would allow them to meet their career objectives and work opportunities.

FYI: Contact Sharla Williams by phone at (219) 462-2940 ext. 43 or email swilliams@gotoworkonenw.com.

Northwest Indiana Professional Network | Portage

1 to 2:30 p.m. Tuesdays, Portage WorkOne, Ameriplex Commercial Park, 1575 Adler Circle, Suite A. The Northwest Indiana Professional Network, or NIPN, meets Tuesdays in Portage. NIPN is a networking group for professionals interested in sharing information and resources that would allow them to meet their career objectives and work opportunities.

FYI: Contact Sharla Williams by phone at (219) 462-2940 ext. 43 or email swilliams@gotoworkonenw.com.

ROI Business Networking Group | Crown Point

7:30 to 8:30 a.m. Wednesdays, Crown Point Civic Center, 101 S. East St. The Referral Organization of Indiana (ROI) Business Networking Group meets Wednesdays. Networking starts at 7:15 a.m.

FYI: Contact Debra Corum by phone at (219) 769-7787. Visit http://www. roinetworkinc.com.

Northwest Indiana Professional Network | Gary

8:30 to 10 a.m. Wednesdays, Gary WorkOne, 3522 Village Circle (Village Shopping Center). The Northwest Indiana Professional Network, or NIPN, meets Wednesdays in Gary. NIPN is a networking

group for professionals interested in sharing information and resources that would allow them to meet their career objectives and work opportunities.

FYI: Contact Sharla Williams by phone at (219) 462-2940 ext. 43 or email swilliams@gotoworkonenw.com.

Merrillville Rotary Club | Merrillville 12:15 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. Wednesdays, Radisson Hotel at Star Plaza, 800 E. 81st Ave. Merrillville Rotary Club is a service club that is active in community concerns.

The membership is composed of business professionals, business owners or partners, administrators of non-profits, and retirees.

FYI: Contact Ana Grandfield by phone at (219) 769-3541 or email agrandfield@ lcplin.org. Visit http://www.merrillvillerotary.org.

Northwest Indiana Professional Network |

Hammond 8:30 to 10 a.m. Thursdays, Hammond WorkOne, 5265 Hohman Ave. Northwest Indiana Professional Network, or NIPN, meets Thursdays in Hammond. NIPN is a networking group for professionals interested in sharing information and resources that would allow them to meet their career objectives and work opportunities.

FYI: Contact Sharla Williams by phone at (219) 462-2940 ext. 43 or email swilliams@gotoworkonenw.com.

Noon Kiwanis Club | Merrillville

Noon to 1 p.m. Thursdays, Petro’s Restaurant, 6190 Broadway Ave. Merrillville Noon Kiwanis Club meets Thursdays.

FYI: Contact Bruce Woods by phone at (219) 794-1259. Visit http://www.merrillvillenoonkiwanis.org.

NWI Networking Professionals | Merrillville

7:15 to 8:30 a.m. Fridays, AJ Specialties, 1308 East 85th Ave., 1308 East 85th Ave. NWINP, Northwest Indiana Networking Professionals, meets Fridays. NIPN is a networking group for professionals interested in sharing information and resources that would allow them to meet their career objectives and work opportunities.

FYI: Contact Carl Watroba by phone at (219) 776-7423. Visit http://www. nwinetworking.org.

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 matthew.saltanovitz@nwi. com

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