Business View Magazine Jan-2019

194 property information and listings • Share incentive information and provide local support • Assist small businesses in conjunction with the Chambers of Commerce, the Northwest Indiana Small Business Development Corporation, the Regional Development Company, and the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) 504 and 7A loan programs “The LCEAwas created out of the necessity for a county-centric, non-partisan, economic develop- ment group for the county and its 20 municipalities,” explains Karen Lauerman, the Alliance’s President and CEO.“The catalyst organizations for this change were our two largest Chambers of Commerce– Crossroads and Lakeshore, representing four of the largest municipalities in the county; the Northwest Indiana Forum,which is our seven-county, regional economic development group; the Indiana Econom- ic Development Corporation (IEDC),which is our state economic development entity; and NIPSCO (Northern Indiana Public Service Company),which is our regional utility. “Those groups were encouraged by then Governor Daniels to put together an organization to capitalize on the opportunities of Lake County, Indiana, being the second-largest,most populous county in the state,with immediate proximity to the third-largest market in the country,which is the City of Chicago and its suburbs; and to take advantage of the fact that from Lake County, you can reach two thirds of the U.S. population, plus some of Canada within a day’s drive.We are at the crossroads of America because we, literally, have everymajor piece of infrastructure–road, rail, air,water–all within our footprint, plus we have the assets of the Chicago area,which include Midway and O’Hare Airports. But more importantly,we wanted to capitalize on the fact that we had very diverse opportunities, from small retail in downtown districts; to large-scale greenspace for significant development of indus- trial and business parks; to brownfield, remediated opportunities; to big box stores and aged, industrial facilities that can be repurposed into new opportu- nity.” Lauerman joined the LCEA in 2014 with a man- date to make sure that the organization was well- run, sustainable, and positioned for growth.“Our