Greater La Porte Chamber Holds Annual Meeting

lp-chamber-annual-mmeting-2014-oneThe Greater La Porte Chamber of Commerce held their annual meeting at the Best Western in La Porte on Friday, recognizing board members and chamber members that have made special contributions to the community in 2013.

“This is a good way for us to give recognition to our deserving board members and provide a nice networking opportunity for members of the Chamber,” said Michael Seitz, president of the Greater La Porte Chamber of Commerce.

lp-chamber-annual-meeting-2014-twoIn addition to a recap of the 2013 annual report, the Chamber handed out three awards; one for the John C. Hardgrove “Ambassador of the Year,” another for the Clem T. Otolski “Business Person of the Year” and a third for the Chamber board member of the year.

Jay Pouzar, chair of the 2013 Chamber Board, said points were calculated among several candidates for the “Ambassador of the Year” award, with Bobbi Petru, a Chamber board member since 2003, winning the award with 570 points.

lp-chamber-annual-meeting-2014-three“She has been a member of numerous advisory boards and is a partner with the United Way of La Porte County,” Pouzer said.

The “Business Person of the Year” went to Michelle Thompson of La Porte Savings Bank. Pouzer said Thompson “believes in civic responsibility, serving on several boards and committees over the last 10 years.”

“I am privileged to be able to give back to the community and am lucky enough to have done it in La Porte,” Thompson said.

Dan Kaminski of General Insurance was named board member of the year.

Following the awards, a keynote presentation was delivered by Hodge Patel, who has been the Indiana State Director for U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly since November, 2012.

Before Patel addressed the Chamber, a video of Donnelly praising recent successes in La Porte was played to the 70 or some members in attendance.

“La Porte has achieved substantial success in 2013,” Donnelly said, noting the “successful expansion projects” by MonoSol and American Licorice - both companies in which Donnelly visited in 2013.

Hodge informed the Chamber of the committees of which Donnelly is a part of and noted that an average-response time of 11 days for all e-mails, calls and faxes was made by the Senator’s office.

“Joe comes home after they vote in Washington,” Hodge said, indicating the Senator is in Indiana 162 days of the year, many of which are spent attending meetings and events in the state.

He plans to visit all of Indiana’s 92 counties in 2014.

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