Accounting
Kruggel Lawton CPAs team members earned honors at the 2025 Indiana CPA Society Awards: Katherine Riffell, staff accountant, Indiana High-Grade Award; Shaun Mawhorter, first female partner on the firm’s executive committee and co-leader of the Women’s Initiative Network, “Women to Watch”; and Nick Muller, manager, Breakthrough Award. Courtney Watts was promoted to partner. She started with the firm in 2012.
Banking
Merrillville-based Centier Bank hired Jerry Del Real as an investment executive, Sean Highsmith as the branch manager of the bank’s Whiting location, and Andy Santangelo as director of treasury management.
South Bend-based 1st Source Bank promoted John Bedient to chief operating officer and executive vice president. Dan Lifferth was promoted to chief administrative officer and senior vice president. Amanda Miller was promoted to officer of the bank. John Griffith, executive vice president and chief risk officer of both the 1st Source Corp. and 1st Source Bank, retired Dec. 31. Griffth started at the bank in 2001.
Purdue Federal Credit Union, which has branches in La Porte and Crown Point, was named Bank of the Year by the Regional Development Co. Ivy McMurtrey of Peoples Bank was Lender of the Year. Jon DeSmet of Purdue Federal Credit Union won Lender of the Year. Phil Ignarski of Meridian Title Corp. won Supporter of the Year.
Larry Magnesen was appointed an independent director on Horizon Bancorp Inc.’s board of directors. Magnesen is a retired senior vice president and corporate communications director at Fifth Third Bank. Anthony Smith was welcomed as president of the private wealth management division of Horizon Bank, which is based in Michigan City. Pam Zarazee was appointed senior vice president, director of human resources.
Rachel Pitts was promoted to assistant vice president, business development representative, for the Michiana market of Notre Dame Federal Credit Union. Maria Rothy was named a mortgage loan originator.
Jon Martin is the new president of Mission Insurance Solutions, a personal and business insurance provider that is part of the Notre Dame Federal Credit Union family.
Muncie-based First Merchants Bank appointed Jill Robisch director of nonprofit services, leading the bank’s new nonprofit services division. The bank has branches in the Region.
Kyle Pierce was named vice president of information security at South Bend-based Everwise Credit Union.
Michael Varner was welcomed at Goshen-based Interra Credit Union as vice president, commercial banking development officer. He most recently was partner at Kruggel, Lawton CPAs since 2007. Kelly Mcgonagle was named assistant vice president and manager of the credit union’s Middlebury branch. He started as a member adviser in 2022. Kyle Revella was promoted to vice president, commercial lender, in Goshen. Revella began his career at Interra in 2014 as a drive-thru teller at the Nappanee branch.
F&M Bank, an Ohio-based bank owned by Farmers & Merchants Bancorp Inc., promoted Curtis Metz to market president for northern Indiana. Mike Benson was welcomed as senior vice president and senior small business banking manager, a new position that will focus on growth in Ohio, Indiana and Michigan.
David Findlay, chairman and chief executive officer of Lake City Bank based in Warsaw, was named chairman of the Indiana Bankers Association board.
Commercial real estate
Mary Paltani joined Bradley Company based in South Bend as managing director of commercial asset services in northern Indiana.
Construction
Frank Marcoccio was named president of L&W Supply, which has a location in South Bend, to succeed longtime president Dan Piché who retired.
Angelica Illanes was hired as a municipal and civil engineer at McMahon Associates’ Valparaiso office.
Nate Plooster was promoted to vice president of engineering and Jerrod Bolz to vice president of projects at Falk PLI in Portage.
Education
The Rev. Brian Konkol, former senior executive at Syracuse University, was named the 20th president of Valparaiso University. Martin Buinicki, professor of English and the Richard P. Baepler Distinguished Professor in the Humanities, released a new book, “Designing TTRPGs for Dummies,” through publisher Wiley’s long-running “for Dummies” series.
David Taylor was named the Teddy Jacobi Dean of the College of Business at Purdue University Northwest. Taylor is the dean of the Jack Welch College of Business and Technology at Sacred Heart University in Connecticut, where he is also a professor of marketing. He replaces Rachel Clapp-Smith. She is now the dean of the Mike Cottrell College of Business at the University of North Georgia. Kwangsoo Park will continue to serve as interim dean through June.
Ivy Tech Community College honored 57 faculty, adjunct faculty and dual credit instructors with its annual President’s Awards. Gerald Lamkin Award for Excellence in Instruction was bestowed on Christine Grice, adjunct faculty in information technology at the Lake County campus. Faculty members honored included Andie LaCombe, assistant professor, healthcare specialist in Lake County; Alf Sanford, assistant professor of cyber, ITSP, INFM, data and networking in South Bend/Elkhart; Krystal Madden, associate professor in Valparaiso. Adjunct faculty members included Billie Stamp, NRSG in South Bend/Elkhart; Marilyn Myers, Valparaiso. Dual credit instructor honorees included Virginia Sparks, health science education, Hammond Area Career Center in Lake County; Grace Allen, agriculture, NorthWood High School, South Bend/Elkhart; William Guinee, design technology, Porter County Career Center in Valparaiso.
Entertainment
The 4th Street Theater in Chesterton announced cast members for its production of “The Da Vinci Code,” which will be performed March 6 through 22: J Swindell, Sarah Dolan, Brian Brophy, Caibhan McClure, Jerry Golvidis, Spencer Coleman, Michael Pritchard, Chelsea Coleman, Laura Blythe, Kaelie Winebrehner and Mark McColley.
Lamar Grear was named the Gary Civic Symphony Orchestra’s conductor.
Finance
Eric Speer joined TrueWealth Advising Group in Crown Point as a financial adviser.
Government
Mike Repay, Lake County commissioner, was elected first vice president of the Association of Indiana Counties board of directors.
Scott Schmal, Lake County finance director, and Attorney Felipe Sanchez were honored with The Chief’s Award by the Lake County public defender’s office.
Assistant Police Chief Jeffery Long assumed command of the Hammond Police Department Jan. 1, replacing Chief William Short, who will serve as chief emeritus until his retirement in early April.
Chuck Williams, of C.L. Williams and Companies in Valparaiso, was appointed to the Lake County Convention Center Authority.
Leila Allen, of the Lighthouse Autism Center, was reappointed to the state’s behavior analyst committee.
Christopher Gamblin of the Lowell Fire Department was appointed to the state’s board of firefighting personnel standards and education.
Amy Sink of Interra Credit Union was appointed to the board of depositories for Elkhart County.
Sean Norris of the Northern Indiana Hearing Center in St. Joseph County was appointed to the state’s committee of hearing aid dealer examiners.
Joseph Zwierzynski of DLZ in St. Joseph County was reappointed to the state’s Bureau of Motor Vehicles Commission.
Michael Simms, of the International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 150, was appointed to the Ports of Indiana Commission, representing Porter County.
Eric Camel of the Chesterton Fire Department was appointed to the state’s Board of Firefighting Personnel Standard and Education representing Porter County.
Judith Sawyier, who is retired, was appointed to the Indiana Arts Commission, representing Porter County.
Barbara Calhoun of the University of Notre Dame, was appointed to Indiana’s Rare Disease Advisory Council, representing St. Joseph County.
Josue Pedraza of Morton High School in Hammond is the winner of the 2025 Congressional App Challenge in Indiana’s First Congressional District.
Charles Sawyer was promoted to the rank of lieutenant at the Hobart Fire Department. Brian Wedel, Bryan Sons, Kevin Williamson, Donald Peckler and Ciara Ditchcreek were promoted to the new rank of engineer.
Health care
The Franciscan Physician Network welcomed doctors, including infectious disease physician Marrium Siddiqui in Crown Point; internal medicine physician Alicja Milik and cardiologist Vinod Sehgal in Michigan City; and internal medicine and weight management physician Leonid Kats in Munster.
Powers Health and Powers Health Rehabilitation Center were honored with NRC Health Excellence in Patient Experience Awards. The hospitals of Powers Health — Community Hospital in Munster, St. Catherine Hospital in East Chicago, St. Mary Medical Center in Hobart and Powers Health Rehabilitation Center in Crown Point — received the Small Health System Award for 2025. Powers Health Rehabilitation Center also earned the Specialty Hospital Award.
Bowen Health’s new clinic in South Bend’s Southeast Neighborhood Center will be led by Lola Bosstel, who will oversee clinic operations as practice administrator. Kristi Cooper is the practice administrator at the Bremen clinic.
South Bend-based Beacon Health System named Kira Carter-Robertson president of Elkhart General Hospital.
Health care industry executive Joseph Giles was named CEO and board of directors chair for Mishawaka-based Lighthouse Autism Center, a national provider of services for children with autism.
Northwest Health – Porter recognized oncologist and hematologist Tareq Braik as the Northwest Health – Porter 2025 Physician of the Year. Dr. Joseph Venditti Jr. was recognized for serving as the president of the medical staff during 2025. Dr. Rashad Hammour, a member of the faculty for Northwest Health’s internal medicine residency program, earned Most Influential Instructor Award.
Northwest Health – La Porte recognized Dr. Julius Ellis with the R.B. Jones Award for patient care; Dr. Irfan Ahmad with the G.O. Larson Award for leadership; and Dr. Smari Thordarson with the William G. Moore Lifetime Contribution Award for serving on staff since 1991.
Brandon Kastner has been named president and chief executive officer for Holy Cross Village at Notre Dame.
Hospitality
David Cirincione was promoted to regional director of operations for the Teaneck, New Jersey market of Merrillville-based White Lodging. Bruce White was posthumously honored with the Pioneer Award by the International Society of Hospitality Consultants in partnership with the Americas Lodging Investment Summit.
Insurance
Synergy Insurance of Mishawaka is teaming up with Fort Worth, Texas-based Higginbotham, an employee-owned insurance, financial and HR services firm.
Law
Kahlyn Ashcraft, an attorney with THK Law LLP in South Bend, earned state board certification in trust and estate law by the Trust & Estate Specialty Board.
Tim Emerick, who serves the Elkhart and South Bend locations, was elected to Barnes & Thornburg’s 2026 management committee.
Logistics
Kent Ebbing was hired by the Ports of Indiana to lead a Foreign-Trade Zone initiative supporting the growth of global trade in Indiana.
Aimee Nolan was appointed chief legal officer of Anacostia Rail Holdings, which owns Chicago South Shore & South Bend Railroad.
Manufacturing
Quad Innovations of Brentwood, Tennessee, acquired Bristol-based Stoutco, a fabricator of metal parts for the bus and trailer industries.
Michigan City-based DwyerOmega, a manufacturer of sensors, instrumentation and monitoring solutions, acquired Macurco, a global provider of gas detection monitoring solutions.
Edilson Camara, chief executive officer emeritus at Egon Zehnder, a global leadership advisory and executive search firm, was appointed to Cleveland-Cliffs’ board of directors. The steel producer has locations in the Indiana Harbor in East Chicago and Burns Harbor.
Nonprofit
Shalana Thompson joined the United Way Northwest Indiana as vice president of finance. Kimberly Smith was appointed vice president of community impact.
Benjamin Dunn, curriculum imagineer at Opportunity Enterprises, received the Keystone Award at the Indiana Association of Rehabilitative Facilities’ 2025 annual award celebration. Kathleen Parks, senior director of employment services and transition, was honored with the Pinnacle Award. HealthLinc received the Partnership Award.
TechPoint CEO Ting Gootee transitioned to the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership’s executive vice president of digital adoption, and managing director of Crossroads Health Ventures.
Carol Cody, who works for the Lake County Council, was named The Blind Social Center of Gary’s Volunteer of the Year during the center’s 10th annual Dining in the Dark fundraising gala.
Mary Harkins, demand generation specialist at Fronius, was honored by the Greater Portage Chamber of Commerce as Volunteer of the Year.
Habitat for Humanity of Northwest Indiana Executive Director Dawn Michaels stepped down after eight years.
Cathie Dull was welcomed by Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Gary as development director.
Celina Weatherwax was appointed executive director of the Methodist Hospitals Foundation in Gary. She most recently served as president and CEO of the MAAC Foundation in Valparaiso.
Jerry Czarnecki joined the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Northwest Indiana as vice president of operations. He most recently was the executive director of the Greater Portage Chamber of Commerce. He also is a PA announcer for the Gary SouthShore Railcats.
Retail
Franchise owners Kamlesh Raj and Sanjay Patel opened a Jersey Mike’s Subs on Nov. 12 in Schererville.
Small business
The Greater Elkhart Chamber Commerce honored the following businesses during the Celebration of Minority Business Excellence dinner: communications: Oliver Pettis, Black Lion Cinematography; community impact/service: Robert Taylor; construction and skilled trades: XML Construction; emerging entrepreneur: Angela Hernandez, Bright and Shiny Cleaning Services; health care: Jessica Aguilar; nonprofit leadership: DaVonne Kramer, Regality; retail/restaurant: Kao’s.
Griffen Plumbing and Heating in Elkhart was purchased by Astra Service Partners, a division of Orion Group.
Technology
James Horvath, founder and CEO of Plymouth-based LecsIT, is a finalist in the 2025 MSP Titans of the Industry Awards.
Michelle Metz was named a sales development representative at Pulse Technology, which has a location in Merrillville. Filippo De Frenza was named a sales development representative.
Isaiah Harvey, creator of SignalSafe 2.0, a haptic device for hard of hearing and early dementia onset patients, was chosen for the 2026 IDEA2 Program by the MIT linQ team based in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Tourism
Deniece Williams, international recording artist, and Nick Popovich, founder of Sage-Popovich, were named South Shore Legends by the South Shore Convention and Visitors Authority.
Transportation
Sage-Popovich Inc. in Valparaiso hired David Dai for the new position of aviation associate supporting project management.
Mike Noland, president of the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District, announced his retirement once a successor is chosen.
Utilities
NIPSCO hired Spencer Summers as its economic development manager. Summers most recently served as the Northwest Indiana Forum’s economic development director. •
Read more stories from the current issue of Northwest Indiana Business Magazine.
One step at a time
Region on prosperous path
Making surgery safer
Support for big ideas
A value-added food chain
Change for the better
New medical partner
Economic foresight
Paladin’s dream hub
