The Duneland Chamber Envisions a Promising 2014

A new year and new happenings are taking place at the Duneland Chamber of Commerce. On Wednesday January 22, 2014 the Duneland Chamber Annual Meeting and Board Installation took place at the Waterbird Lakeside Inn & Spa in Chesterton, IN.

This is the biggest meeting of the year for the Duneland Chamber. The purpose of the annual meeting is to recognize the hard work and efforts of the outgoing members, welcome newly elected members and to celebrate the grand achievements that occurred in 2013.

"Not only are we welcoming new members and saying goodbye to retiring members, we are doing bylaw changes. Bylaws are the guidelines that we use to run the organization,"Heather Ennis, Executive Director for the Duneland Chamber of Commerce, explained. "So we have all of our members here and they have been very cooperative and we are very happy to have them here."

Things started off with a warm welcome by Tracy Freeze, the 2013 Duneland Chamber of Commerce President. She excused members who weren't staying for lunch and then suspended the meeting so that the meal could be served.

A light lunch was provided by the Waterbird Banquet Center. The staff quickly and efficiently served the members fresh salad and bread, followed by herbed chicken with sweet pepper coulis. Sweet treats were created by Wrap It Up and left at each place setting that adorned the white linen-covered round tables that filled the lovely banquet hall.

Toward the end of the meal, Ennis approached the podium and brought the room to silence as she honored and said goodbye to the outgoing Board Members and President.

Retiring Board Members:
James Anton – Anton Insurance Agency
Hesham Khalil – Global Engineering Land Surveying
Brock Lloyd – LaPorte Savings Bank
Charles Parkinson – Harris, Welsh & Lukmann

Following this, Freeze came to the podium in the middle of the room and gave her farewell speech. She spoke of her time as President and what she learned during her term.

"This year has been everything that I hoped it would be. It was a year that taught me numerous things," Freeze said to the crowd. "It taught me that there are many people that are dedicated to the success of this community and that these people are not in it for the glory. Countless numbers of people give freely of their time and their resources to make our Duneland community a great place to live; a great place to raise a family; a great place to retire and enjoy life."

The new 2014 Board Members were then announced:

Michael Hogan – Hogan Consulting Group
Ann Lichnerowicz – Edible Arrangements
Julie Paulson – Harris, Welsh & Lukmann
Jo Winey-Babcock – Winey Insurance Agency

Finally, the 2014 President of the Duneland Chamber of Commerce made his way to the podium. Scott Mundell, Director of Business Development for Franciscan Alliance stood in from of the room and humbly thanked everyone for giving him the opportunity to serve as the Chamber President for 2014.

"This has been a great year for the Chamber. We've had increasing membership, a strong fiscal year, we continue to bring new businesses to the community, and we've hosted many successful events," Mundell said. "I'm very honored to be in this position and I look forward to a great year in 2014."

The meeting then closed and everyone rose to extend their congratulations to the new Board Members and President.

Dave Arnell, Owner and General Manager of Arnell Chevy-Kia in Burns Harbor, IN is on the Board of Directors of the Duneland Chamber. Arnell Chevy-Kia has been a member of the Chamber for the past 20 years.

"Today I participated in the vote and I played host to one of the new board members, Mike Hogan. I shepherded him through the whole process," Arnell said. "I think Mike and the other newly elected members will be tremendous assets to the board."

Mike Hogan is the President of Hogan Consulting Group. He is very interested in giving back to his community and working along side of the other board members.

"I'm really excited to be a part of this," Hogan said. "We've been a member of the Duneland Chamber for about 10 years now and it's great to have the opportunity to get more involved help steer things in the right direction."

That direction can only be up from here. The Duneland Chamber of Commerce is going to have a wonderful year and we at Ideas in Motion Media can't wait to be a part of it and see what happens.

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Sponsors for the event:
Porter Regional Hospital
Franciscan St. Anthony Health
Waterbird Inn
Wrap It Up
BusINesses
Times Media Company
BMO Harris Bank
Hogan Consulting Group
TCU
The LaPorte Savings Bank
Kramer & Leonard, Inc.
Centier Bank
Horizon Bank
Lakeside Wealth Management Group
Tiger Lily