IssueM Articles
The 24th Annual Entrepreneurial Excellence Awards. by Laurie Wink The Northwest Indiana Small Business Development Center (NWI-SBDC) honored ten outstanding regional business professionals at the Entrepreneurial Excellence Awards luncheon on Nov. 4 at the Star Plaza in Merrillville. The event marked the 24th year the organization has singled out entrepreneurs from its seven-county service area
Cut costs, improve quality of life and keep workers happy. by Laurie Wink “Who has time to exercise?” is a common refrain in our tightly scheduled, overcommitted society. And, in spite of intentions to eat better, our fallback plan too often is a quick, high-fat meal grabbed on the run. We all know a healthy
Is the region ready, and can leaders make it happen? by Jerry Davich Is Northwest Indiana ripe for a new, modern convention center, or is our region too rife with narrow-minded parochialism and political shortsightedness to finally pull it off? As with most long-term, big-scale projects in this contentious corner of the state, it depends
Keep these tips for meeting planners in mind to create a successful event. To pull off a successful event, meeting or convention, there are several factors to keep in mind beyond the size of a venue. “Our main marketing objective is to target conventions and tradeshows with significant downtown hotel room commitments, while continuing to service
The economy is strong, but manufacturers are having trouble filling jobs. by Steve Kaelble Indiana’s jobless rate as 2015 wound down was holding steady at 4.4 percent. That’s as low as it has been in a decade and a half, according to the Indiana Department of Workforce Development. That’s fantastic news, right? All in all,
Region’s construction projects are a sign of economic health. by Lauren Caggiano The construction industry is one of the prime factors and drivers of economic growth. It is not an exaggeration to say that significant movement in the construction industry is an indicator of the economic health. And if the amount of new commercial construction
Indiana infrastructure needs. by Michael Puente Indiana is considered by many to be the Crossroads of America. But some of those crossroads are in need of a major upgrade. That need became evident last summer when a portion of Interstate 65 near Lafayette was forced to shut down for repairs. The northbound lanes of Interstate
Service and ingenuity are the keys to this pallet manufacturer’s growth. Entrepreneurs know to always be listening so they’ll hear when opportunity knocks. What about when an opportunity goes “moo”? Yes, Wade and Susan Kohler of Pioneer Packaging answered that opportunity, too, when they got into the business of livestock bedding. It’s a perfect–but not
A checklist for reducing the risk of liability. The New Year presents a great opportunity for small business owners to review their operations and implement procedures to reduce the risk of liability for the coming year. Business owners face the risk of liability on many fronts, whether from transactions with customers, government regulation, or claims
SaaS, PaaS, IaaS. Cloud computing is a term thrown around a lot these days, but what is it and how can businesses benefit? The cloud is a distributed network of data centers and IT resources that are accessible on-demand over the Internet on a pay-as-you-go basis. While the concept of “the cloud” is abstract, ultimately
