Cleveland-Cliffs donated more than 240,000 pounds of food to feed the needy in communities where it has operations, including Northwest Indiana.
The Cleveland-based steelmaker recently held its Souper Bowl Food Drive to address food insecurity in 45 communities across North America.
Steelworkers donated nonperishable food items like soup, beans and canned vegetables to 48 food distribution organizations.
The company's Cleveland-Cliffs Foundation also donated $500,000 to nearly 50 food distribution organizations in the local communities where the Company operates in both the United States and Canada, including the Food Bank of Northwest Indiana.
Hunger relief organizations estimate the Cleveland-Cliffs Foundation's donation is enough to provide more than 5.2 million meals to the needy.
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“We recognize that food insecurity remains a common concern in communities across the United States," said Cleveland-Cliffs’ Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Lourenco Goncalves.
"As a leader in the North American steel industry and a prominent employer in the regions where we operate, we believe that Cleveland-Cliffs has an important role to play in addressing this need," Goncalves said.
Cleveland Cliffs has identified food insecurity as one of its key areas of social responsibility.
"Cleveland-Cliffs has shown its commitment to address the problem by donating more than $2.5 million over the past three years to organizations working with individuals and families who are food insecure," Goncalves said.
"In addition to the efforts of the company itself, our employees have once again shown their generosity by donating a remarkable 240,000 pounds of non-perishable food items during our annual food drive,” he said.
NWI Business Ins and Outs: Chipotle, Jet's Pizza, Maurice's Signature CheeseCakes, HolmesBoy Hotdogs, Nana's Subs & Salads and Professionally Polished open
Coming soon
Chipotle is moving out of the Southlake Mall across U.S. 30 so it can have a drive-thru where people can pick up online orders.
The popular purveyor of burritos hand-crafted to order with fresh, natural ingredients has long operated in a strip mall at 1948 Southlake Mall in an outlot on the mall property. It shares the building with Potbelly Sandwich Shop.
The fast-casual restaurant that's spawned countless imitators is building a new standalone restaurant across the street at the site of the former Don Pablo's restaurant next to Chuck E. Cheese in the Crossings at Hobart shopping center.
"This spring, we are relocating our Merrillville restaurant to a location that can accommodate a Chipotlane digital drive-thru pickup lane," spokesperson Annie Gradinger said.
No opening date has been set yet.
Contractor Innovative Construction Solutions built the new 2,333-square-foot restaurant that's now close to completion at 2831 E. 80th Ave., according to the Hobart Building Department. The estimated cost of construction was $523,462.
Open
Jet's Pizza has brought Detroit-style pizza to Northwest Indiana, a bastion of Chicago-style tavern-cut and deep-dish pizza.
The pizzeria recently opened at 1613 E. 37th Ave. in Hobart.
It specializes in pan-baked, square-cut Detroit-style deep dish, which gains its heft from bread instead of blankets of thick cheese and deep pools of tomato sauce. Flavors include Aloha BBQ Chicken, BBQ Chicken, Buffalo Ranch Chicken, Hawaiian, veggie and Eugene Supreme, which includes Italian sausage, onion, green peppers and mild peppers. It also has thin-crust, hand-tossed and New York-style pies.
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The suburban Detroit-based pizzeria long operated just in the Detroit metro and has taken advantage of the surging popularity of Detroit-style pizza to expand to more than 400 locations in 20 states, including in Chicago and downstate Indiana.
Jet's Pizza is open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.
For more information, call 219-529-5387.
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Maurice's Signature CheeseCakes is now serving up cheesecakes out of Lincoln Kitchen in Valparaiso, a digital food court at 704 Silhavy that's home to several ghost kitchens where people can order delivery or takeout.
Maurice Holmes started making cheesecakes with his mom's recipe, tinkered with it and came up with different flavors. He opened the business out of his home in Country Club Hills and then moved it to Valparaiso when he learned of the opportunity to operate out of a commercial kitchen there.
He sells both full and personal-sized cheesecakes with toppings like strawberries, sour cream and caramel pecans. The banana pudding cheesecake is the most popular one on the menu.
"One reviewer said they were better than Eli's," Holmes said. "They're distinct. When you have a fresh cheesecake with a crunchy crust and fresh fruit, it's just an amazing experience."
He asks people who want a full cheesecake to order a day in advance so it can sit in a refrigerator overnight before it's topped, which improves the flavor.
"I would definitely say our cheesecake is an experience," he said. "Once you try it, you'll be back."
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People can order cheesecakes for pickup or delivery through DoorDash, UberEats or Lincoln Kitchen's own delivery drivers.
Illinois remains Holmes' strongest area. He's looking to eventually open a brick-and-mortar location, ideally in downtown Lansing or somewhere where he could conveniently serve customers in both the south suburbs and Northwest Indiana.
The Valparaiso kitchen would remain open.
"I could delivery in an eight-mile radius and pick up Munster and Dyer over there," he said. "Over here, I serve not just Valpo but Chesterton and Portage."
For more information, call 219-600-4848, visit www.mauricescheesecake.com or find the business on Facebook or Instagram.
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Lincoln Kitchen owner Eric Berindei advised Holmes on how he could maximize the commercial kitchen space he's renting, so he opened not just one restaurant but three.
He also runs HolmesBoy Hotdogs out of the space in Valparaiso, where it offers delivery and pickup. The menu includes a Chicago dog, a beef Polish, a bacon cheddar dog, a nacho dog with jalapenos and Dorito chips and the HolmesBoy Hookup that's loaded with toppings like onions, tomatoes, sport peppers and relish to the point where one may need a fork.
"We use Nathan's all-beef hot dogs," he said. "There's nothing like a good dog."
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He's looking at adding items like a dog with dried onions, barbecue sauce and coleslaw and Portuguese hot dogs with rice and baked beans.
"At home, I love experimenting with new things like mixing jalapenos with pork and beans," he said. "I think people go to restaurants because they want to try different types of concepts. We'll have some items that set us apart from the bars and hamburger shops. We'll have something for people interested in trying new things."
For more information, visit thelk.menu online.
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The third restaurant Holmes opened in Lincoln Kitchen in Valapraiso is Nana's Subs & Salads.
It's a tribute to Holmes's late mother-in-law, a gifted cook.
"We lost her last year," he said. "She was a sweet person who was always around and watching the kids. Losing her was a devastating blow to the family."
The menu includes turkey subs, ham subs, roast beef subs and grilled chicken subs as well as Buffalo chicken sliders and Dillon sliders with hot capicola, hot pepperoni, pepperjack cheese and garlic spread on a Hawaiian roll.
"With a ghost kitchen, you're already paying for the kitchen so you want to produce as much as you can without losing customer service or quality of product," he said. "We're taking advantage of the space to have three different concepts."
It gets especially busy during the lunch and dinner rush hours.
"It's a way to have a small business without the brick-and-mortar overhead so you're not bleeding out," he said. "We're definitely grateful for the chance to try our concepts. The cheesecakes are the main focus but we're doing pretty well with the other concepts too."
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"We're a green company that uses all-natural cleaning products and no harsh chemicals," she said. "We want to keep chemical-free."
The cleaning service targets anyone who needs help with their home cleaning needs. It works with clients' budgets.
"It might be busy parents. We do a lot with the elderly. A lot of clients don't live in the area but want to maintain their homes," he said. "We serve homes that are medium to large but small as well. We do everything from townhouses to multimillion-dollar homes."
She founded the business after having trouble finding a cleaning service that met her expectations while she was working in the eyecare business.
"I didn't feel like any of them understood my needs or met my standards," she said. "We go through everything so we meet expectations. We have full transparency from beginning to end."
She's looking to expand to other markets like Indianapolis in the future.
"If you've never tried a cleaning service before, give us a shot and you'll wonder how you ever lived without it," she said.
For more information, call 219-779-7664, visit www.professionally-polished.com or find the business on social media.
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Professionally Polished is a new cleaning service near Crown Point that serves residential and commercial clients across Northwest Indiana.
The Lakes of the Four Seasons-based business aspires to be "Crown Point's Premier Cleaning Service." It also serves customers in nearby communities like Valparaiso, Schererville, Highland, Cedar Lake and Hebron.
Professionally Polished is now cleaning 100 homes and a few offices. It employs 13 contractors who provide recurring cleaning services, typically weekly or biweekly.
"We do deep cleanings, move in and move out, and commercial," owner Rachel Slack said. "We do small offices like a State Farm office. We clean everything there, even the toilets in the bathroom. We just do small businesses, nothing like grocery stores or restaurants."
The business offers home-based consultations where it explains the services it offers and learns the homeowner's dos and don'ts, such as if they want the shelves dusted but the cabinets untouched.
"We make sure we're meeting the expectations and following a specific checklist that dictates everything we clean," she said. "You can choose scent options like lemon or lavender and scented toilet paper. We'll spray your signature scent so it's fresh and clean."
Professionally Polished keeps in close contact with clients and keeps notes in its computer system to ensure their needs are being met.
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Joseph S. Pete
Business Reporter
Joseph S. Pete is a Lisagor Award-winning business reporter who covers steel, industry, unions, the ports, retail, banking and more. The Indiana University grad has been with The Times since 2013 and blogs about craft beer, culture and the military.
