Michigan City Chamber of Commerce Celebrates Members during Annual Member Dinner

The Michigan City Chamber of Commerce celebrated its’ 2021 Annual Member Dinner Celebration on June 4^th at Blue Chip Casino.

Hosted at Blue Chip Casino, Hotel, and Spa in the Fremont Ballroom, members of the Michigan City Chamber of Commerce came together for their Annual Member Dinner on June 4, 2021. Straying from the normal timeframe of the event, the dinner was planned for a later part of the year in hopes that COVID restrictions eased, vaccinations increased, and individuals felt more comfortable gathering. With over 180 guests in attendance, the delay of the event paid off and everyone was ready to celebrate being together.

Katie Eaton, President of the Michigan City Chamber of Commerce, began the evening with a warm welcome to the Chamber’s long-standing members. “The Michigan City Chamber of Commerce has a tradition of recognizing our members as they reach milestone years of membership. Over 50 members are celebrating significant milestones in their membership this year,” stated Eaton. She went on to celebrate the Chamber’s legacy members, which are businesses that have remained in the same family for two or more generations.

After an enjoyable dinner, Eaton introduced Bill Gertner the 2021 Chair for the Chamber’s board of directors who thanked his fellow board members and summarized the actions of the Chamber over the last year. “We continued to be the resource, the connector, the sounding board, the champion for our businesses. We partnered with local, regional, and state organizations to assist our businesses through it. And what we learned along the way is that we are resilient, our community is strong, and the Chamber was needed more than ever,” stated Gertner.

Eaton continued that message of resiliency, “I am proud to stand here tonight leading the Chamber and representing a strong and resilient business community. And we are resilient because we come together for the greater good. I have seen that over the last year more than ever. And, as we put traditional events on hold our sponsors allowed us the flexibility to support other needs in the community. Businesses came together to help seniors have a graduation ceremony that they so deserved. Restaurants worked side by side to feed those in need. We supported our small businesses by distributing and selling over $7,000 Chamber Community Gift Certificates. County Wide Private, public, and nonprofit organizations meeting on a weekly basis to communicate through the pandemic and now assisting with vaccination awareness.”

Eaton ended the evening by stating, “Many of these new partnerships and collaborations will continue even as COVID becomes less of what we talk about. Our conversations now turn to rebuilding, and workforce, and community as we strive to make the Michigan City area and La Porte County a great place for our businesses, our visitors, and especially for those who call it home!”

Sponsors of the event included Blue Chip Casino, Crosscurrent Media & SERA Solutions, Edward Jones, Franciscan Health – Michigan City, GAF Materials, General Insurance Services, Horizon Bank, NIPSCO, Northwest Health – La Porte, Sullair, Visit Michigan City La Porte Convention & Visitors Bureau, Attorney Dan Granquist, Harbour Trust & Investment Management Company, Northern Indiana Chapter of the National Electrical Contractors Association, Newby Lewis Kaminski & Jones, Purdue University Northwest,1st Source Bank, Applegate & Company, Centier Bank, Economic Development Corporation Michigan City, Haas & Associates, and Indiana University Northwest – School of Business & Economics.

Members of The Lakefront Career Network, the Chamber’s Young Professionals Committee, pose for a committee photo at the dinner. L to R: Matt Weber, Danny Hogan, Jessica O’Brien, Brealon Hervey, Janelle Elwood