On Wednesday, March 20, the Lake County Economic Alliance (LCEA) held its annual meeting at Briar Ridge Country Club in Schererville. The morning included a breakfast along with a panel or ‘Roundtable’ of five Lake County municipal leaders including; Hobart Mayor Josh Huddlestun, Crown Point Mayor Pete Land, Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr., Gary Mayor Eddie D. Melton, and Merrillville Councilman Shawn Pettit.
“It is exciting that we have this powerful of a team here to give us this perspective on where Northwest Indiana is going, particularly Lake County, and what their contribution is to it,” said LCEA President and Chief Executive Officer Donald Babcock.
Today’s breakfast had some of the best the Region has to offer all under one roof. There was one goal in mind for all of those in attendance – to make the Region the best it can be and make it one of the most attractive destinations in not only the state of Indiana, but the entire nation.
“This is the first year we have actually had five municipal leaders on the docket,” said Babcock.
Each member of the ‘Roundtable’ wants what’s best for their community, but overall knows that the Region is the main focus all attendees have in common. The event had a competition-like spirit that fueled much needed thoughts from each member on the panel. This challenged each of the presenters to answer a few questions that some in attendance may or may not have agreed with, but this goes to show that each member of the panel means business.
“The networking is good, but I want to hear from each one of them in the roundtable format, which will allow them to first have a little understanding of what's going on between each one of their communities as well as what they have a little competition perhaps, in terms of doing a little bit more. We have over 100 great guests here, there is a lot to look forward to,” said Babcock.
While the breakfast is an annual event for LCEA, this is the first year the economic group was able to have a panel of this magnitude. The ability to have many different perspectives from each part of the Region resonated with those in attendance. These many perspectives gave the room some camaraderie of sorts as they look towards the future for the Region and their respective cities.
“I would say it is guaranteed that if you have the right leadership continuously, it is going to benefit every single part of the Region,” said Mayor Melton.
For more information on the Lake County Economic Alliance, visit lcea.us.
