NWI Forum announces this year's board, officers

PORTAGE | Members of the Northwest Indiana Forum voted unanimously to retain Don Babcock, of NIPSCO, as chairman of this year's managing board of directors.

Jill Ritchie, of United States Steel Corp., will serve as chairman-elect, and Tom Keilman, of BP, will serve as secretary and treasurer.

Charles Weaver, of the Starke County Economic Development Foundation, will lead economic development efforts. Presiding over environmental affairs and public policy are Robert Crookston, of Microbac Labs, and Ritchie, respectively. Cal Bellamy, of Krieg DeVault, will oversee the Audit Committee while Dewey Pearman, of the Construction Advancement Foundation, will handle member retention and recruitment duties, a news release states.

"The Forum is focused on creating high paying jobs and quality capital investment while respecting the environment and creating a better business climate," Babcock said in a statement. "We have built a credible institution over the past several years thanks to strong volunteer leadership, and we look at 2012 as a year of driving the region forward."

The Forum also welcomed new directors James Dworkin, of Purdue University North Central, and Joe Coar, of Tonn & Blank. In addition to the officers and committee chairs, directors elected to continue their service on the Forum's board are Speros Batistatos, of the South Shore Convention and Visitors Authority; Ron Bush, of DRD; Gene Diamond, of the Franciscan Alliance; George Douglas, of North Coast Distributing; Danita Johnson Hughes, of Edgewater Systems; Larry Fabina, of ArcelorMittal; Andrew Fox, of Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad; Jim Jorgensen, of Hoeppner, Wagner & Evans; Mike Lisac, of Chase; William Nangle, executive editor of The Times Media Co.; Dan Nita, of Horseshoe Casino; Pete Novak, of the Greater Northwest Indiana Association of REALTORS; Erica Passauer, of the Regional Development Co.; Craig Pratt, of Fifth Third Bank; Matt Reardon, of SEH; Bill Wellman, of Whiteco; Curtis Whittaker, of Whittaker & Co.; and Linda Woloshansky, of the Center of Workforce Innovations.

Jim Flannery, of the Quality of Life Council; Bill Hanna, of the Regional Development Authority; Steve Landry, of the Gary/Chicago International Airport; Leigh Morris, of the Indiana Economic Development Corp. and RDA; Jim Staton, of the Indiana Economic Development Corp.; and John Swanson, of the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission, will serve in ex-officio roles as will Forum President and CEO Mark Maassel.

The Northwest Indiana Forum is a private economic development group serving Lake, Porter, LaPorte, Starke, Jasper, Newton and Pulaski counties. For more information, contact Karen Lauerman at (219) 763–6303, ext. 181, or klauerman@nwiforum.org or visit www.nwiforum.org .