Thursday was a special day for the Greater La Porte County Chamber of Commerce. It was their Salute to Business Luncheon. It was held at the Silver Palace in La Porte, IN.
Mike Seitz, I.O.M., President of the La Porte Chamber of Commerce, opened the luncheon by speaking of the reasons for the event.
“There were four reasons for the La Porte Luncheon today,” Seitz said. “The first was to honor those chamber members that have had an increase in employment, reached a milestone in years of service, or made capital investments in their services; the second objective is to honor a company in our community that has contributed in enhancing our quality of life and supported our nonprofit organizations and charities; the third objective is to project what the economic climate will be in 2013; and finally, we’d like to provide another great opportunity for networking, get everybody involved in the community, meet new friends, see old friends, and have a good time.”
Seitz also announced the winner of the 2012 Corporate Citizenship Award: American Licorice.
Guest speaker John Davies was at the luncheon. He is the Managing Director for the Society of Innovators of Northwest Indiana. He spoke about manufacturing and the roll of innovation in making manufacturing greater.
“Congratulations to the recipients today and to the Chamber for recognizing the greatness of the business and industry of this community. Yesterday had I the privilege of attending the 21st annual Entrepreneurial Awards in Merrillville. And I’m reminded once again that the spirit of innovation and entreneurship is strong in Northwest Indiana,” Davies said.
Davies chose to visit three companies that he thought were innovative. He shared them in his presentation at the luncheon: TFT, MonoSol, and Tri-State Industries. Each company started small and transformed into great entities that have had positive impacts on their respective communities. Davies then spoke of prosperous programs for high school and college students who are looking for a career in the manufacturing, electronics and engineering industries.
“I hope you’re proud of Northwest Indiana. You need to be,” Davies said, “Is it not time for Northwest Indiana to usher in a new era of pride in our manufacturing capacity; To deepen awareness of opportunities unveiled to our community; To encourage our youth to pursue these highly rewarding highly skilled jobs; to remind everyone how vitally important manufacturing is to this region? Now I can’t help that I’m passionate about this, but I believe in my heart that manufacturing is the cornerstone of this region.”
To find out more about the Greater La Porte Chamber of Commerce, click here!
Click here to view the complete photo gallery!
Photos provided by Richard Warner of LaPorteCountyLife.