Despite being a relative newcomer to the La Porte County area, Director of Community Events and Planning for La Porte County Beth Shrader is working to make sure that La Porte is taken care of and given the necessary attention and resources to find the success necessary to continue making La Porte the "Hub of Awesome".
"I like that I get to be involved in so many exciting projects here," says Shrader. "It's very exciting to be involved with a leadership team that is always working to make a positive impact on this area."
Shrader's responsibilities of planning on behalf of La Porte play into her passions of wanting to work with passionate people in a caring community. Working with the natives of La Porte allows her to see what they want most and how to make their wants and needs come true.
"I work a lot with La Porte natives and people that live in La Porte," says Shrader. "There is such a variety of passionate people here and it's part of what I find so compelling about La Porte. We have all of the elements of a great structure, neighborhoods close to downtown, schools in close proximity to neighborhoods and natural areas to enjoy."
Shrader enjoys the forward momentum of always improving that makes La Porte and its community so impressive to her. As someone who spends her working days towards making the area a better place, it brings out her passion of wanting to work with others and enjoys seeing them witness the new changes and improvements.
"I think for people living here, especially older people, they never had these things before because they were here in a time when things were still being developed," says Shrader. "However the fabric of La Porte has changed and it's become a good place to both live and work in."
Due to her busy schedule, Shrader doesn't always have ample free time but with the spare time she does have, some of it is spent helping her husband with a very cool side job.
"My husband actually owns an ice cream parlor called Dog Days Ice Cream Parlor in Chesterton," says Shrader. "Sometimes I am able to be there to help out my husband, otherwise, it's pretty much a work, church, and home routine for me."
For the future of La Porte and for Shrader, moving forward is the primary goal. The developments for La Porte still have more to go in their never-ending journey to provide for their residents.
"I hope to see all the work I'm currently doing for La Porte develop further," says Shrader. "I want to see New Porte Landing develop. I'm excited to see all of the projects currently in use. We are on the right trajectory and I am excited to be involved with it."