Drew White, the director of operations at Access La Porte County (ALCO), works on a daily basis to ensure that residents of La Porte County can readily access information about the goings-on in their community. Alongside his team at ALCO, White helps his fellow citizens connect with one another and engage with the rest of their community on a deeper level.
“I am pleased to say that I enjoy my job,” White said. “I don't necessarily have the same day over and over. Every day provides a new challenge. I care very deeply for the La Porte County community, and I want to see ALCO become the ultimate county resource.”
ALCO has been serving the La Porte County community since the late 1990s. It started out as an online database that gave Internet users easy access to the web addresses of La Porte County-affiliated sites like the Michigan City website or the police department’s website. This was especially useful in the time before search engines became widely available. In fact, one of White’s favorite facts about ALCO is that it predates Google, which was released to the public in 2004.
In the early 2000s, ALCO took over the management of local public access television from Michigan City Public Library. Today, ALCO broadcasts four television channels across La Porte County. These include a local events channel and a Michigan City Area Schools-sponsored education channel.
ALCO is best known for its Channel 97, a government channel that broadcasts every meeting held by the roughly 50 boards and commissions affiliated with La Porte County. These recordings are archived on the ALCO website and YouTube page for community members’ future use.
As the director of operations, White attends many of these meetings personally and works with his team to make sure that every meeting is recorded. He also leads his team in the planning and execution of broadcasting schedules. With such a busy agenda, White frequently works 12-hour workdays.
White graduated from Michigan City High School in 1996 and went on to earn his bachelor’s degree in sports communications from Indiana University Bloomington in 2000. He then worked for about eight years as a shift manager at both the Blue Chip Casino, Hotel & Spa in Michigan City and the Four Winds Casino in New Buffalo. White went on to work as a sportswriter for the “Michigan City News-Dispatch,” now the “La Porte County Herald-Dispatch,” and became well-known in the Region for his writing.
After spending four years at the “News-Dispatch,” White worked for seven years as a sales executive for The Beacher Business Printers in Michigan City. In 2020, he served as the president of Michigan City’s Board of Works. A year later, White accepted the director of operations position at ALCO and has been working there ever since.
ALCO gives White a unique position to provide La Porte County residents with a straightforward account of what takes place in the community’s various meetings.
“As a former journalist, I have seen that, if you send 10 writers to the same municipal meeting, you’ll probably get 10 different stories. Each writer will likely focus on a different agenda item. One of ALCO’s biggest benefits is that we let people watch these meetings in an unfiltered and unedited format. That way, they can take from the meeting whatever they choose to instead of having to rely on someone else's account of what happened.”
A self-proclaimed sports junkie, White enjoys watching his favorite teams, which include the Chicago Cubs and the San Francisco 49ers, take the field. He often joins his daughter, who golfs competitively, on the course to help her prepare for her tournaments. In 2013, White became the head Girls Golf coach at Michigan City High School, a role he enjoys to this day.
White’s love for Michigan City motivates him to contribute to the betterment of his hometown in any way he can.
“I like to think of myself as being unapologetically Michigan City,” White said. “I've pretty much been a resident of Michigan City and La Porte County my entire life. Michigan City gives me a certain sense of comfort, and I've always tried to represent my hometown in the best possible fashion. The city has its challenges, but I believe they can be addressed if people are willing to engage in civil discourse. We are taking advantage of a lot of Michigan City’s assets, and things are moving in a positive direction. I'm excited to be a part of that. I want nothing more than to see Michigan City succeed.”
Through his work at ALCO, White has helped foster better communication among residents of La Porte County, and, in so doing, he has helped strengthen the county and the Region as a whole.