Cedar Lake, Indiana

25 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 9, ISSUE 12 active and robust chamber with a growing membership of hundreds. The chamber leads business marketing efforts and manages events designed to drive both new entrepreneurs and visitors to the Town. According to Salatas, Cedar Lake offers a flexible zoning process that allows for changes to meet the needs of the community. That process offers few restraints except for smoke-stacked heavy manufacturers. That means retailers, service-based businesses and even some light industrial may have their choice of locations for future developments assuming Town approval. Salatas says Cedar Lake benefits from its partnerships with many organizations. The state Department of Natural Resources has oversight of Cedar Lake but works with the Town on specific initiatives, including the lake dredging program. Lake County commissioners work closely with Cedar Lake leadership on many projects, including planning for a current road annexation effort. The Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission supports federal infrastructure needs. One such need is a federally funded $3 million sidewalk project connecting multiple neighborhoods around the Town. Business owners are extremely active with the Cedar Lake Chamber and have been involved in “many ribbon-cutting ceremonies,” recently, according to Salatas. Numerous other developers support ongoing projects while Drive Clean Indiana is a non-profit that is helping Cedar Lake with its green scaping efforts. “It takes a community to build a community and we are fortunate to have these partners,” Salatas notes. The next few years will witness Cedar Lake’s leaders and residents trying to restore the Town to its golden era. To do that, Cedar Lake continues to build and grow in a holistic way that is attractive to a diverse group of stakeholders. “We want to further build our reputation as a destination community to live, work and play,” Salatas concludes. PREFERRED VENDOR/PARTNER n Henn and Sons Construction www.hennandsons.com