Welcome to Chamber Network Night! It’s the only night of the year where dressing in costume for professional business purposes is totally acceptable. Being the biggest networking event in Porter County, over 150 businesses from all over Northwest Indiana came and set up booths in the spacious rooms of the Porter County Expo Center. Everyone had a fun and productive time chatting with the other exhibitors, learning about new products and services, playing games, and eating LOTS of candy.
As stated before, many businesses attended. Read what some of them had to say about why they love coming to the Porter County Chamber Coalition Network Night.
"Frontier is huge into community involvement and networking with other businesses. It's natural to be part of this night. It benefits current and potential customers," Todd Pence of Frontier Communications said.
"It's a great opportunity to let our hair down - literally - and have fun. Work is so serious and it is fun to get away from the day-to-day, to network to our businesses, and to get exposure. This is a great event for the community," Kevin Kosek of Regional Federal Credit Union stated.
“I’ve been coming to the Chamber Network Night for six years now. And we like to do it because we can get our name out and let all the folks in Porter County know that we’re here, we’re strong, about all the opportunities that we have to make their businesses grow, and at Steindler Signs we like to turn your dreams into a reality,” Tom Steindler, Jr. said.
“The Valparaiso Chamber is a very vibrant chamber and gives so much back to the community and any business in Valparaiso that doesn’t participate is making a mistake,” Suzy Kull of Whispering Pines stated.
“We decided to be apart of the Chamber Network Night because I’ve been a part of another company and it’s always been a great event to get yourself out there and know what’s going on in the community, reconnect with people that you haven’t seen in a while. And we’re excited because we opened a new business and this is a great way to let everyone know of where I worked before that we have a new business and to come and stop by our store,” Heather Henderlong of the Extra Mile Fitness Company explained happily.
“I really like to meet all the other businesses in the community, so that’s nice. You see them here and there, but here you get to see everybody all at once,” Terry Peek of Master Tech Pest Control said.
“Businesses are important in our line of events because they sponsor a lot of our events. So we wanted to get the word out there about what we do, have the community come down and enjoy the events and if they want to market their own business at events they can do that,” Jennifer Peek of Valparaiso Community Festivals and Events said.
“I have been participating in Chamber Network Night since I first started my business seven years ago. I started out in entrepreneur row and moved up to a full booth last year and I find it to be an excellent opportunity to meet other businesses in the community, it’s great exposure for my business and it’s fun. More than anything else it’s just plain fun," Beckie Guffin of Direct Mail Advantage declared.
“We love participating in any Valparaiso event especially because we’re promoting some of our new services. We offer Wi-Fi, fiber and wireless services in Valpo and we also do the Wi-Fi here at the Expo Center, so it’s a great way to show what our Wi-Fi is capable of,” Heather Storey of NITCO said.
“We are new to the Valpo area and we’re building the Valparaiso Healthcare Center and we’re very excited to be a part of the community and provide healthcare to the Valparaiso.” Jane Powers of St. Mary Medical Center asserted.
“We came to this event last year and we got a very god response. We gave away some bracelets and it brought people into the store. We always like o do things that are local and network with other local businesses and recognize faces. Make sure we’re out so people can recognize us, so it’s a good event all around.” Erin Lively of Engstrom Jewelers affirmed.
“The Credit Union supports many events in the community and we appreciate the opportunity to educate the public and our business partners about what a credit union can do,” Jan Zurek of Midwest Family Federal Credit Union said.
“This is a very well attended event and you have a bunch of contacts under one roof, and it’s just nice to see meet new businesses and faces,” Heather Pflug of Chicago Street Theater professed.
“We think it’s important to connect with the people in our community. We have a lot of services to offer, and it’s our goal to always be bringing new and better services to the community. So this is a great way to connect with constituents whoa aren’t patients now but may be in the future,” Ellen Sharpe of Franciscan Alliance explained.
“We are the ninth largest employer in Porter County with 400 employees, so we have to be here. We’re a big business. There are so many different things that we’re into it just makes sense to be very involved members of the Chamber,” David Collins of Opportunity Enterprises stated.
“It’s a great way to get in front of over 150 businesses all in one night and network to the public,” Tom Jurcik of Rainbow International said.
“Horizon Bank is the major sponsor for the event and we’ve done it for as long as it’s been in place. And it’s a good opportunity to get the businesses together in Porter County, to get an opportunity to know each other’s services and products, and it’s something that doesn’t really happen too often throughout the year. But this is a good opportunity for us to network.” Dave Rose of Horizon Bank asserted.
“It’s a great opportunity to network with other Chamber members, and it’s great to see people from the community come through and learn about not only our organization but all of the other organizations here and new things going on in the Valparaiso community,” Kelly Credit of Porter Regional Hospital explained.
“I absolutely love Chamber Network Night. It is the premier event of the chambers of Porter County. Everybody is here that you would ever want to visit, and once a year it’s almost like a family reunion. I really enjoy the people, the connections you make, the networking you do, and the main reason I’m here is that there’s ton of fun. You can’t beat a night of fun, and this is where it’s at,” Allen Kent of Kent Heating and Air Conditioning declared.
“We recently joined the Valparaiso Chamber so we here for that reason and to network and meet some of the businesses to let them know about Blue Chip. It’s the best place ever to have your event or your dinner, you can come to our spa, come out and gamble, enjoy our steakhouse, our Vegas Baby Night Club, and you can have your weddings there, too,” Cathy Horning of Blue Chip Hotel and Casino said.
“It helps me brand my business and helps me connect with my customers and prospects,” Neil McLaughlin of Minuteman Press stated.
“First off, the event is a ton of fun. Secondly, it’s a good opportunity to get to know a diverse crowd of individuals business owners and people making it happen,” Wade Breitzke of 27 Entertainment said.
“We do this every year. We feel that it’s very important to get out into the public. Our agents volunteer for this and everybody gets excited about it,” Jim Singleton of Re/Max Affiliates exclaimed.
“Porter Starke is always interested in getting our mission out into the community and this is a great opportunity to promote our mission of health balance and hope. It’s great to see everybody else out here promoting their businesses and it really gives a great sense of community,” Elliot Miller of Porter Starke Services, Inc. said.
“Purdue North Central participates every year. This is maybe our seventh year and it’s a great time to get to know other businesses. And it’s great to have a theme so everyone can have fun at the event. We come every year and we look forward to it. We come up with creative ideas. You get to showcase what you have and go out and mingle with other people,” Susan Brychell of Purdue North Central said with a smile.
“This is our third year doing it and we do it more for our branding and it’s a great way to network and get to know people in the Porter County Area and let them know about Rittenhouse and what we have to offer,” Judy Kukelka of Rittenhouse stated.
“We wanted to meet new people and create some new business,” Mike Rubacha of Heinold and Feller said.
Click here to find out more about the Chamber Network Night!
{valpo}Click here to veiw the complete photo gallery!!{/valpo}{portage}Click here to view the complete photo gallery!!{/portage}
Sponsors for the Porter County Chamber Coalition Network Night:
Grand Sponsor: Horizon Bank
BAH Sponsors: Horizon Banks, Porter Health Care System
Sponsors: 1st Source Bank; Absolute Apparel & Promotions; Anton Insurance; Blachy Tabor Bozik & Hartman; BMO Harris Bank; Burke Costanza & Carberry; Blue Chip Hotel & Casino; Centier Bank; Century 21 Executive Realty; Citizens Financial Bank; Coco's Canine Cabana; Comcast Business Services; Comfort Keepers; Fifth Third Bank; First Trust Credit Union; Franciscan St. Anthony Health; Frontier Communications; General Insurance Services; Hoeppner Wagner & Evans LLP; Kramer & Leonard Office Products; Laciak Accountancy Group; Lakeside Wealth Management Group; La Porte Savings Bank; Lighthouse Marketing & Events; McShane's, Inc.; Midwest Family Federal Credit Union; NITCO; Peoples Bank; Porter Bank; Porter County Business League; Purdue University North Central; REGIONAL Federal Credit Union; Rittenhouse Senior Living; Scannell Wealth Management Group; Shelter Insurance; St. Mary Medical Center; Teachers Credit Union; The Kotys Group; The Times Media Company; Uzelac & Associates, Inc.; Vic Volom CLU, CFP - Northwestern Mutual Financial Network.
