Leaders from Around Northwest Indiana Celebrate All of the Good in the Region at “For the Love of the Region” Workshop

Leaders from Around Northwest Indiana Celebrate All of the Good in the Region at “For the Love of the Region” Workshop

‘For the Love of the Region’ brought together civic and business leaders from far across the Region on Tuesday to share insights into what makes their communities great and to take part in the inspiring presentation and workshop from Peter Kageyama, author of “For the Love of Cities.”

“We’re super excited about today,” said Bert Cook, Executive Director of the Greater La Porte Economic Development Corporation. “Peter Kageyama is a very well known expert in community development and he’s got a great book out. We’re really looking forward to those ideas on how we can grow all of our communities. My focus is La Porte specific but we’re going to have a lot of people from a seven county area here.”

In attendance were civic leaders from across La Porte, Porter, Lake, Starke, Jasper, Newton and Pulaski Counties.

“I think that speaks really well towards the regionalism we believe in here in Northwest Indiana,” Cook said. “I’m hoping for all of us to get some ideas on how we can reinvigorate and revitalize our downtowns and grow our communities in general. We’re all doing things that work really well. There are different things going on in different communities so it’s nice to collaborate together and figure out how we can have more of a cohesive approach. We’ve got a lot of movers and shakers here today. I think Peter calls them ‘agents of change’. The goal is to attract those people who can make a difference.”

In Kageyama’s presentation, he implored those in attendance to listen to members of the community as even the smallest, craziest ideas can grow to have a profound impact on everyone around them. In his travels around the globe he has seen countless cities and has discovered what makes those cities lovable.

“In my book, when I talk about the things that people love about their places what I’ve noticed is that they tend to be rather small things,” Kageyama said. “Intimate things, personal things. I liken them to the idea of a handwritten note that goes with a gift. That little thing has a pretty big impact on the way the receiver feels about the gift and by extension the way they feel about the giver. These love notes are things that cities will give to their citizens and if cities are very, very lucky citizens might be inclined to give them back to their cities as well.”

“That notion of citizens wanting to do something, we need to nurture that because we need their energy, we need their enthusiasm and we need more of them into the game,” Kageyama said. “The opportunity is to find more of this little stuff that percolates up from our creative people that want to do something positive for their city. It is an amazing opportunity.”

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Don Babcock, Director of Economic Development for NIPSCO, spoke at the event as well and was honored to share in the celebration of pride for Northwest Indiana and the communities that make it up.

“I read ‘For the Love of Cities’ last year and was impressed with its powerful and simple messages,” Babcock told IIMM. “It really hit home with me. The timing is great with the renaissance we are seeing in cities like Whiting, Michigan City, Valparaiso, and other communities across Northwest Indiana.”    

“(This initiative) is almost perfectly aligned with the State's Regional Cities Initiative," Babcock added. "So we contacted Kageyama and the NWI Forum. Raeann Trakas, Director of Marketing of the Forum lead the Forum's effort to put together a great event. Proof of the pudding was how engaged the audience was for the entire afternoon. Kageyama really came through and created some powerful memories and ideas for the region's leaders. I am hopeful it will have a long lasting impact and I am proud to have NIPSCO as one of the main sponsors.”

Michigan City is one local city working to revitalize its downtown area. Clarence Hulse, Executive Director of the Economic Development Corporation of Michigan City, was excited about Kageyama’s presentation and the ideas he had for creating a city in which residents love to live.

“A lot of the things he (Kageyama) is saying definitely translate into what we’re talking about: having an exciting city, finding yourself within everybody else and finding your true calling for your city,” Hulse said. “What he does actually brings your tangible ideas to the forefront. Instead of thinking it always has to be big, here are some detailed but small steps that you can take that will make an impression on someone that comes to your city immediately. It could be from someone living in your community. That’s important because a lot of time we think you have to bring in some outside expert to make things happen but some of the most significant changes have come through average citizens. To me, that’s very exciting to hear.”

“For Michigan City, I think we’re doing a lot of great things and this helps enhance what we’re doing, it helps energize people in the community and it lets them know you can be a part of what’s happening.”