Look for innovations in your business

We strive to cover innovation in every issue of Northwest Indiana Business Quarterly, but our Fall issue is extra special as we profile the creative and talented individuals and teams honored by the Society of Innovators of Northwest Indiana.

The society honors five individuals in this it’s thirteenth year. Dr. Chenn Zhou was named a Lamkin Fellow for her long-standing commitment to innovation in U.S. steel manufacturing. Chris Mahlmann and his digital news team help us accentuate the region’s positive news. Norm Fischer and his innovative dryer design saved his client ArcelorMittal a great deal of energy and money. Mike Schrage and Centier Bank’s focus on local customers have helped them thrive and grow along with their customers. Applying innovative and proven business concepts in a public school setting helps Superintendent Dr. Teresa Eineman and her staff make progress toward their goal of ensuring all learners reach their full potential.

Also honored are three local teams. Lead-based batteries may seem like a mature technology, but thanks to the research and products produced by The Hammond Group, this mature technology is continuing to gain efficiency. Arconic Power and Propulsion’s La Porte Engineering team designs and manufactures some aviation’s most innovative and complex engine parts. ArcelorMittal’s R&D Center in East Chicago is one of the world’s leading research facilities, creating and perfecting innovative processes to allow steel to remain competitive with other materials and find new applications.

We congratulate the honorees for their innovation and willingness to try something new. Inspired by their spirit of innovation, the magazine is planning several new initiatives of our own in 2018. Beginning with our next issue, we are removing quarterly from our name and increasing to six issues per year. In January, we are launching our Northwest Indiana Business Podcast. I am excited to start this journey in January, and I hope you will give us a listen.

Since joining the magazine, I have had wonderful conversations with leaders who taught me about their businesses, showed me their facilities, shared their philosophies and taught me about the region’s history. We will continue to share these types of stories in print and now in our podcast. These two additional issues and new weekly audio podcast will allow us to share these stories and conversations more frequently, bringing our readers and now listeners even more in-depth and frequent coverage of the region’s business community.

Just like the innovators we honor in this issue we don’t know if these changes will be a success, but we are excited to try something new. With the support and feedback of readers, and soon listeners’ we are confident we will succeed.

Please follow-us on social media or sign-up for our newsletter to learn more about the podcast, the magazine and the other new things we have planned for 2018.

Click to read more from the Fall 2017 issue of Northwest Indiana Business Quarterly.