Top 10 Business Stories on LaPorteCountyLife in 2015

Top 10 Business Stories on LaPorteCountyLife in 2015

We published several hundred business stories to the LaPorteCountyLife.com Business section this year. Stories on great local businesses to a lot of great new developments in La Porte County were fair game for good news.

Have a good story to share? It is still as easy as ever to share your business story with us! Just send an email to share@laportecountylife.com and we’ll be on it!

Without further ado (and in no particular order), here are your Top 10 business stories in La Porte County from 2015!

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Pfeil Innovation Center Strives to Create a Competency of Innovation in the Workplace
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The Pfeil Innovation Center's main goal is to help organizations of all types, including for-profit and non-profit, develop an innovation competency and culture. While this may seem like a redundant lesson to be taught to organizations, the ability to innovate and the ability to form positive relationships can be easily forgotten and the focus on innovation can be replaced with maintaining the status quo.

Pfeil’s most recent guests consisted of Baylor Regional Medical Center, a not-for-profit healthcare system based in Plano Texas. Baylor sent 28 members including directors, presidents and vice presidents to spend two days learning how they can build on their innovation knowledge and invigorate their culture of innovation in the workplace.

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2015 Made in La Porte County Connects Students with Local Manufacturing
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Over 50 businesses from all over La Porte County gathered at Space Center la Porte for this year’s Made in La Porte County manufacturing expo. Indiana does more manufacturing per capita than any other state so it encompasses a huge part of our economy. The Thursday, September 24th event gave students and other residents of the county a chance to see how critical manufacturing is to the workplace and what opportunities there are for them in the industry.

Greater La Porte Economic Development Corporation (GLEDC) Executive Director Bert Cook was one of three representatives of the community that spoke to the crowd. “Throughout our county,” he said, “there is a major effort afoot to better the communication between our schools and businesses; and in turn rediscover manufacturing.”

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Michigan City Hopes to Develop Future Prosperity with New Residential Care Facility
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Vermillion Development is currently planning on developing a new residential care facility in Michigan City. The new facility is planned to be located near the corner of Highway 12 and Meer Road. This building plans to provide assisted living to senior citizens by having 115 units and offering Michigan City a variety of benefits to come from the development of this project.

“This building generates approximately 30-35 full-time equivalent jobs,” says Executive Director of the Economic Development Corporation Michigan City Clarence Hulse. “It also brings a significant level of amenities and services for Michigan City residents, a boost in payroll for the city and represents an investment of approximately $20 million in the community.”

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City of La Porte Holds Groundbreaking Ceremony for Younger Life Plaza 618
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The City of La Porte broke ground and marked the beginning of Younger Life Plaza 618 a new, centrally located outdoor facility designed to allow individuals and groups participate in outdoor shows, dining social interaction.

“The creation of this location was made with through a formed task force composed of City of La Porte employees, Downtown La Porte Main Street Association members, Business Improvement District representatives, Redevelopment Comission members and community stake holders,” said Executive Director of the Greater La Porte Economic Development Corporation Bert Cook. “It was a clear vision of what we wanted from the beginning, a centralized outdoor location for everyone in La Porte to enjoy.”

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NIPSCO and the United Way of La Porte County Donate $60,000 to Lake Hills Elementary
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NIPSCO, along with The La Porte County United Way helped to give young children a head start with kindergarten classes at Lake Hills Elementary with a generous donation of $60,000 to their Kindergarten Countdown Camp program. This donation will also help fund other Kindergarten Countdown Camps throughout La Porte County school districts. This includes Michigan City, Westville and La Porte.

Representatives from both NIPSCO and the United Way were present to give the donation to the school along with NIPSCO Senior Vice President Violet Sistovaris taking some time to read a storybook about the importance of electricity to a classroom of children.

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Michigan City Welcomes New City Gem in North Pointe Pavilion
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Mayor Ron Meer proudly presented North Pointe Pavilion located on 6 On the Lake with a ribbon cutting ceremony on September 26, 2015. The brand new building offers a restaurant named Fire and Water, along with a large dock on the top floor for all to enjoy the million dollar view of Michigan City.

This new venue will bring people from near and far, and is designed for the people of the community whose hearts can’t leave the lake.

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Michigan City McDonald's Continues to Serve the Community After 54 Years
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For 54 years, the McDonald’s located on 3507 Franklin St. in Michigan City has been dedicated to serving its community. On July 31, the newly remodeled facility re-opened its doors to its loyal customers, inviting them to take part in the grand opening that included a flag raising ceremony and ribbon cutting.

The renovations, which first began in March, included creating a larger parking lot, a double drive through lane and a new indoor playland. The new building is energy efficient, and leaves a much smaller carbon footprint than before. It has the latest and greatest of everything, including LED lights, a new playland, sparkle tables, photo booths, slides, a video game projector, a music machine and all traditional toys for the kiddos.

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For a Love of La Porte: The Story of LPCDJR's Lifelong Pride, Passion and Commitment to the Community
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“Slicer for life.”

That phrase means everything to La Porte Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram SRT (LPCDJR) General Manager, Matt Magnuson. Slicer for life extends much further than the pride of wearing the orange and black; as Magnuson did when he attended La Porte High School after graduating from Crichfield Elementary and Boston Middle School; it represents the Magnuson’s love, support, and commitment to the entire La Porte community

La Porte is a community that the Magnuson family has lived in their entire life. They’ve dug their roots deeply into La Porte, investing their family business in a community where “Slicer for life” translates to “La Porte for life.”

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Members Advantage Credit Union Thanks Members, Gives Back to Community at Member Appreciation Day
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“Members Advantage has always been very supportive of the Salvation Army, and they reached out and offered to do a canned food drive today,” said Silvas. “They are collecting food until the end of the month for us.”

“Frank and MACU are very supportive of us both in monetary donations and in time. And you can’t put a value on people’s time.”

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Greater La Porte Chamber of Commence Honors Local Businesses with 12th Annual Salute to Business
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The Greater La Porte Chamber of Commerce celebrated local businesses and organizations for their contributions to the La Porte community with their 12th Annual Salute to Business Luncheon, bringing together local businesses who have done their part to bring forth economic success and stability to La Porte.

"The Chamber of Commerce is a member-driven, non-profit business organization," said Greater La Porte Chamber of Commerce President Mike Seitz. "We represent over 300 members and approximately 18,000 employees."