Looking Back at 2012 on LaPorteCountyLife.com

2012 has been a great year for the Ideas in Motion Media team. We launched our third online community, we overhauled our web design to be faster and easier to navigate, we doubled the size of our team, and by every measure we will complete our year having had the best 12 months since we launched back in 2009.

Below are the 10 stories, photo galleries, or videos that best summarize what it is we are doing and what we strive to do to bring you the absolute best good-news stories in our communities. We hope you enjoy this look back at the year as we look forward to bringing you even more good news stories in 2013 and beyond!

Welcome to LaPorteCountyLife.com: Simply Good News!
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Welcome to LaPorteCounyLife.com, your brand-new, 100%-positive online news source sharing and promoting the good stories about the people, organizations, and businesses serving La Porte County, Indiana.

We started our first online community in March of 2009 by launching ValpoLife.com, and that along with PortageLife.com serve as great examples of what you can expect from LaPorteCountyLife.com.

The premise is simple: we share good news.

La Porte County Lives in the Spotlight
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A La Porte County Life in the Spotlight highlights people around our community who go the extra mile to make La Porte County a better place to live.

If you know of someone who is going above and beyond, someone who is truely doing great work in the community, in a school, in a church, on a team, or in an organization, send us an email at share@laportecountylife.com and we'll add them to our continually growing list of people to highlight in our community.

More than $10,000 Raised for United Way of La Porte County in Dodgeball Challenge
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Michigan City High School played host to the “Play 4 Life” Dodgeball Challenge to benefit the United Way of La Porte County on Saturday, with dozens of teams competing for the title.

The event, in its third year of existence, is expected raise over $10,000 for the United Way of La Porte County.

Economic Achievement Celebrated with Groundbreaking Ceremony on Expansion of Thomas Rose Industrial Park
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On a beautiful fall afternoon, around 200 people ventured to the Thomas Rose Industrial Park groundbreaking ceremony to celebrate an economic achievement for the city of La Porte, La Porte County, and all of Northwest Indiana.

Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels was on hand to honor the ceremony and spoke along with La Porte Mayor Blair Milo and Tom Casey, Vice President at Space Center LLC, the company developing the 137 acre expansion of the property.

United Way of La Porte County Presents: A Night in Old Chicago
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Where can you find gangsters, flappers, The Blues Brothers, and a parade of restaurants all coming together for a good cause? Only at A Night in Old Chicago! The event was presented on Friday evening by United Way of La Porte County and it took place at the Blue Chip Casino’s spectacular Stardust Event Center.

This is the biggest event in Northwest Indiana for United Way of La Porte County. Nearly 600 people showed up, many dressed in 1920s garb. Dave Sisk, the Manager of Community Engagement for United Way of La Porte County was very pleased with the turnout.

Lubeznik Center for the Arts Presents Iconoclastic! and Other Excellent Exhibitions
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We at LaPorteCountyLife decided that we needed to find out what else out there in Michigan City. Let’s see...there’s the outlet mall, the Uptown Arts District, Washington Park, the many beaches, PNC, Blue Chip Casino...Hmmm.

How about the Lubeznik Center for the Arts? That’s a neat place! It’s a non profit arts center that shows exhibitions, performing arts, community events, and educational programs to the citizens of Northwest Indiana.

Steindler Signs Wraps Yet Another Ideas In Motion Media Vehicle, A 2012 Chevy Volt in "Connect to Good News" Partnership with Arnell Chevy-Kia
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Have you seen the highly decorated and detailed vehicles that belong to Ideas in Motion Media? They sport our logos with colorful designs displayed all over, making quite a positive statement as they cruise down the street. Well, meet the newest addition to the fleet Chris Mahlmann, Publisher and CEO of Ideas in Motion Media, took his Arnell Chevy-Kia Chevrolet Volt to Steindler Signs & Graphix in Wanatah, IN to get a custom car wrap.

"This will be the fifth car wrap that they have done on our behalf and we love working with them,” said Mahlmann. “We are more excited about this one than any other as it really focuses on our core messages and ties into what is awesome about the Volt being plugged in to good news," Mahlmann said.

Q & A with La Porte Mayor Blair Milo
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Blair Milo, Mayor of La Porte, Indiana, stopped by the Ideas in Motion Media studio for a video interview with Chris Mahlmann, Publisher of ValpoLife.com, PortageLife.com and LaPorteCountyLife.com.

The two talked about a wide ranging variety of topics, including positive outlooks, Mayor Milo's first eight months in office, and her plans for the future of La Porte. The video will be completed and available next week, and a transcript of their interview is below:

LaPorteCountyLife's Q&A with Michigan City Mayor Ron Meer
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Michigan City Mayor Ron Meer dropped by the Ideas in Motion Media office to chat with publisher Chris Mahlmann about all of the positive happenings in Michigan City and La Porte County in advance of the upcoming launch of LaPorteCountyLife.com.

Chris Mahlmann, Ideas in Motion Media Publisher: What I would like folks to get a perspective of is who Ron Meer is. Tell me a little bit about yourself and your connection to La Porte County and to Michigan City.

One Small Piece of Track for La Porte County, and One Giant Interconnection to the World
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It has been a blockbuster week for economic development in La Porte County. This morning at the Kingsbury Industrial Park in La Porte, Indiana, a strong crowd of business, community, regional, and state leaders came together to celebrate the groundbreaking for the INland Logistics Port.

Among the VIP's attending or presenting today were Congressman Joe Donnelly, La Porte County Commissioner Ken Layton, La Porte County Councilman Rich Mrozinski Jr., Greater La Porte Economic Development Corporation Executive Director Bert Cook, Director of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation Leigh Morris, City of La Porte Mayor Blair Milo, and Michigan City Economic Development Corporation Executive Director Kevin Kieft.