Lake County Indiana

A Recommendation

2011-11-26T15:29:00.003-06:00

Ok I do not do this very often but a friend has asked me for a favor and I have no qualms about doing this for him as I couldn't think of a better Heating and Air Conditioning Repair company to recommend.

I have been using J and L Mechanical for about 20 years and I have found them to be the most knowledgable, honest and dependable heating and air conditioning company in Northwest Indiana. For over 40 years I have had the opportunity to work with many companies either for residential and or commercial HVAC. None of them have stacked up against J and L Mechanical out of Crown Point.

I wouldn't hesitate to call him or recommend him if you have the need. Jim Loomis is the guy and I hope you give him a call at 219-232-9661 or visit there web site www.jandlmech.com

Lake County Convention Bureau

2011-03-27T15:59:00.005-05:00

I've pretty much agreed with Rich James of the Post Tribune all these years when reading his columns. We've always had interesting conversations about the region when ever we have spoken. However I've got to ask you Rich what rose colored glasses are you looking through?

You recent column about the need for a regional convention bureau and today's column on a convention center for Lake County I've got to respectfully disagree.

After reading your bio that states you have almost 40 years in the publishing industry I'm impressed. I also am working on 37 years in the Hospitality Industry, primarily in Marketing and Sales. During that time I have worked in cooperation with the Chicago Convention Bureau, The Chicago South Suburban Convention Bureau, The Woodfield Convention & Visitors Bureau and even our Lake County Convention & Visitors Bureau.

I have spent the last 15 years promoting a unified business community in Northwest Indiana. But a multi county convention bureau, I'm not sure if we really need one here but I can assure you this, if we do, we need someone at the helm that knows how to unify a community not someone that for years has set an example of dividing and conquering. Not someone who has to expand his fiefdom to try and justify his exorbitant salary compared to similar convention bureaus around the country. I think the bureau and its director should be held accountable for the results that they produce compared to the revenue brought in. Let the present director of the bureau prove he's given a return on the investment that he's worth of the position.

A convention center for Northwest Indiana is a hard sell. There are about three profitable convention centers in the United States. This doesn't make sense for here. About 15 years ago Mr. White commissioned a study to do an analysis on expanding the Radisson Star Plaza with a large sports facility/convention center behind the present structure in the back parking lot. That study couldn't justify enough events so they did a smaller expansion of the existing convention space. If Mr White the founder of tourism development in Northwest Indiana couldn't justify it then how could it be possible justified now in the economic downturn we've had now.

I've always said if the bureau wants a convention center, expand the Genesis Center into what you need. It would be a whole lot more cost effective and it would spur the redevelopment of downtown Gary. But we both know that won't happen unless pigs fly as they say. Our local governments cost us more that we can afford now. For the few days that they can sell a convention center out we would be losing millions every year. For someone who was in charge of the budget of the building of the tourism center on 80/94 that project was tremendously over budget I think they would have done better. It was also improperly built/designed with the building having to had extensive costly repairs to the leaks because of the design. And the parking lot falling into the lake because it wasn't design right. Then the cost of the lawsuit for the Dillinger museum should all be taken into consideration in deciding if the man who was responsible for all this is the right man to lead Northwest Indiana in its further development of tourism. I think not!

Lake County Indiana Convention Bureau Takes Credit Again!

2011-02-23T17:33:00.003-06:00

Its been a while since I did a post! How many times have you heard that from different sites? It is difficult to keep up with posts and to some degree I wanted to take a break from Speros bashing. But just when you think your out he draws me back in!

This last week I noticed a article in the Times about the bureau taking credit again for bringing the Salvation Army to Northwest Indiana for their convention. The fact is they have been coming here for more than 25 years and the sales staff at the Radisson Star Plaza were the original ones that brought that convention here and built a long standing relationship with the Salvation Army not the bureau.

The real question here is what has the bureau been doing for the last few years? For all the taxes they collect what new conventions have they brought here? Also besides two or three hotels that the bureau regularly promotes what about all the other hotels, how have they helped them? I'd really like to hear directly from the hotels! If Speros is doing such a great job they should be singing his praises. Lets get the Times to do an article and have them do interviews with the all the properties that fund the bureau and see if were getting our dollars worth for all their efforts! Aren't we all held accountable on our own jobs? Why shouldn't the bureau staff be held accountable also! I just wish the board that Speros and his staff reports to had the experience to know if the wool was being pulled over their eyes!

Go back to Mowing Lawns!

2007-11-18T12:26:00.000-06:00

I just received a letter from the Lake County Convention & Visitors Bureau here in Northwest Indiana.
It was a response to my recent column in the Times newspaper on Oct 31, 2007.
What was surprising was the personal attack in the letter by Speros the bureau president.
He claims I got several facts wrong in my article. He may be right but so did he in his response!

He claims that I ran a drug infested hotel overrun with prostitutes. How would he know?? He never stepped foot in the hotel for the year that I was there to see what I was doing? That's something he does very well... he doesn't visit the hotels he claims to bring in all this business for. A few years back when Speros left Northwest Indiana, I did apply for the position and I personally went to every hotel and met with each of the general managers for their support. The majority of them told me it was the first time anyone had ever visited them at their property to see what they were doing and offer help. They claimed Speros and the bureau never assisted them and they felt that for all the monies they had collected from their clients in taxes, which were handed over to the bureau, was equal to taxation without representation.

What is also interesting, is that under Speros management during the year I was at the property, my hotel was the number one referred hotel by the bureau! Several of his present board members and several past board members can attest to that fact.

When it comes down to taxes, revenue bonds etc., it gets kind of cloudy regarding the facts, I may have misspoken, and I apologize for that. In reality, we do want the same thing, a convention center for the area. The Genesis Center which Speros admits in his letter that he has written off years ago, and doesn't support, is a place to at least begin without spending millions of dollars.

Despite what he thinks about it, the City of Gary spent something like 5 million upgrading the facility a few years ago. I wish I had that upgrade, during the seven years I worked for the City of Gary, as the Director of Sales and not the general manager as he inferred in his letter.

Despite that, when I was there I did book events that did put rooms in hotels in Lake and Porter Counties! Which again, several of his board members can confirm! Despite his opinion I was successful there in bringing thousands of banquets, meetings and events! All of these events brought dollars to Northwest Indiana. Monies went to local hotels, restaurants, gas stations, and numerous suppliers that served the Center. Most of all, the tax dollars collected at the hotels for those thousands of room nights that the Genesis Center generated, went to our friend at the convention bureau. Yet as he said, he's written off Gary years ago and he doesn't care! I'm sure his two board members from Gary and the Mayor of Gary will really enjoy hearing this!

Now that the Genesis Center has been upgraded why can't it be supported? Why can't Speros book events there that will fill up Northwest Indiana Hotels! I did it with a $1500.00 a year marketing budget, he has millions to work with, come on Speros!

I guess he was blinded by all the success he had for the 3 months (?) he was at the helm of Atlantic City Convention Bureau! Maybe he should go back to mowing lawns for Dean White at Star Plaza and do what he does best!

Congrats to the Gary Airport!

2006-01-16T22:07:00.000-06:00

It's about time! Their must have been a lot of political wrangling over the funding for the Gary Airport! Congrats to the airport and to Northwest Indiana! This has been a major piece of the puzzle to Gary's redevelopment. I've said this numerous times over the years... As Gary grows so does the rest of the communities surrounding it. It's to everyone's best interest to support Gary's growth because the money will trickle down. Real estate prices I would imagine took a steep climb anywhere near the airport today with this announcement. I'd also consider buying land on the south side somewhere accessible easily to the airport.

I could make a prediction that Mayor Daley is also happy about this. In fact I've always thought he'd support the Gary airport. I think his vision of Gary airport is different than ours though. I think he wants to move all shipping companies like UPS, Federal Express and other package carriers to Gary airport. He wants to expand O'Hare for more travelers and the shipping business limits that growth.

Who knows what will happen. Either way were still years away from the major work that will be done being completed. It will be interstice to see what other developments are spurred on because of this.

Northwest Indiana Convention Center?

2005-11-24T12:28:00.000-06:00

People have again been talking about building a convention center here in Northwest Indiana!

It is being heavily suggested to build it in Merrillville, near the Star Plaza of course. I hate to disagree but bring in any respected industry consulting firm and I doubt seriously that the proposed site would even be considered. The location need to be in a higher traffic area and be more accessable to airports, and alternate transportation modes. A large hotel base with multiple full service hotels needs to be close. Additional entertainment and restaurant options need to support it. Competing against the likes of Chicago, Rosemont, and Oakbrook with thier convention centers would also affect Northwest Indiana'a ability to sustain the occupancy for such a facility. The Radisson Star Plaza isn't keeping up with occupancy rates concurrent with facilities that would warrent such an investment.

Being near `I80/94 & I 90, near the Gary airport, and the South Shore commuter line and the casinos is the best option for such a facility if it were to be built. But then once again, were passing over the Genesis Convention Center in Gary that was built for this purpose. Yes I know no one likes the downtown Gary location but with it you have blocks and blocks of land to develop with it. Yes I know the Genesis Center is not exactly configured right but building an addition on the building would be a less costly alternative. With this location you also have the baseball and basketball teams as added entertainment and the close proximity to the boats and great access off of I90 and I65. Consider this also, most convention centers also bus out conventioneers out to addoitional attractions such as Star Plaza for a night of entertainment.

It is also a known fact that convention centers lose money. I believe thier is only one convention center in the country that makes money. It's the Rosemont Convention Center. It's kept quite busy, has a gigantic hotel base, and its in a great location population base wise.

I really don't believe that Lake County could financially support such funding on an ongoing basis. The Genesis Center is a good example of this. Convention Centers are used as economic development tools in a community. They help develop additional business in the area. They create jobs, and additional tax revenues. Which it has begun to do in Gary. Why would we take that away from Gary?

I'm sorry folks but it just makes sense to do it in Merrillville.

Change There's A Reason For It!

2005-07-20T21:14:00.000-05:00

In the corporate world change happens a lot. People come and go in there positions. Economic circumstances can have an impact on the face of a corportion. People get burned out. Some management styles consider it necessary that certain positions be turned over every so many years. Competition has gotten tougher in all industries hence everyone has to be on the top of their game at all times. Some corporations feel it's important to bring in fresh ideas and they look outside of their companies for that freshness.

If you listen to the news much here in Northwest Indiana or Chicago you notice a lot of problems with city government or boards. In Chicago, Mayor Daley is watching all of his department heads who have been with him for years go down in flames. In Northwest Indiana certain boards of different organizations have taken liberties beyond the norm. Change, it's important. My father in-law always said to vote for someone new to take office when we went to the polls. I think he had the right idea. People need change to keep fresh, people need change to prevent corruption. People need change to keep from being complacent.

We live in a much different world. Many of our parents had the same job for their entire life. In my career I can't remember how many hotel firms I've worked for. In today's market, that has given me an edge. Having worked in so many different properties I've had to deal with issues many of my counterparts have never seen. It has enabled me to get into the market place quicker and produce results faster.

People are people and they are corruptable and their not infallable. We can tell when a waitress doesn't enjoy their job anymore or for that matter many other daily service positions that we run into in our daily lives. Whose to say that politications, or appointed board members aren't the same way...people are people! They may say they have the drive or the desire but is that the desire of money or the power, or the influence that they thrive on? Are they comfortable with things the way they are and don't want to rock the boat as they say?

As I have said before the world is a smaller place and things are going at a faster pace. You have to be in a proactive environment rather than a reactive environment. Having to always catch up to everyone else isn't the place we need to be here in Northwest Indiana. One person can make a difference in the world. Are you making a difference?

We've got it all here in Northwest Indiana

2005-06-29T22:22:00.000-05:00

When I came here about 15 years ago I came from the North Shore of Chicago. They were nice communities, but the North Shore was changing. It was crowding, it was expanding it was becoming unfriendly. I couldn't believe Northwest Indiana compared to the North Shore. People were a little more down to earth. People were more friendly. People opened doors for you, and people waved you on at stop signs. They were polite.

Sometimes I felt that all that crowding going on in the suburbs of Chicago was turning people into "New Yorkers." At that time Midwesterners seemed to feel that "New Yorkers" were a bit un-friendly, a bit rude and very sarcastic. I didn't like that. It's not what "Midwesterners" are like!

I believe it was the second year here, someone convinced me to go to the Crown Point 4th of July Parade. Now I hadn't been to a parade for years and I wasn't really looking forward to it. But I had noticed that the previous year my neighborhood seemed to have emptied out and gone somewhere. So I was somewhat curious.

I think the people in the Chicago burbs just didn't know how to do it right! I was shocked at the display of friendliness. People were actually letting you sit on their lawns with all your stuff (lawn chairs, coolers, umbrellas, etc.). People were saying hi to everyone, people were watching each others kids, people were offering drinks to you. This was a bizarre world to me. But one I liked. Then the parade came, I said to myself the hell with the parade the people themselves were the show. The parade was huge and loud. Did I say loud, I meant LOUD!!!!

As a kid I always wanted to be a fireman. Well, their were more fire trucks than I could count. All of them blaring their horns and sirens and bells. They actually threw candy at us on the sidelines. I was feeling like I was in a movie from the 60's were they had a parade and it was a big deal! I knew I couldn't be awake! I really didn't know what a community was. People didn't act this way. People didn't care this way. The parade was something like 3 hours plus long. It was in the hot sun. It didn't matter, my son and I stayed for the whole thing. I've tried to see it as often as I can in years since then.

My last blog talked about how Northwest Indiana is a hot market. What's interesting is that the outside world doesn't even know about this part of our communities. Their strength of being a community, their Midwestern values, their not being to full of themselves. Imagine if we marketed this aspect of Northwest Indiana! We better not, we might open the flood gates and once the flood gates are open you know how difficult they are to close. When I'm here enjoying our communities I really have no desire to go to Chicago!

So to my friends and neighbors who haven't experienced this, I invite you to Crown Points parade on the 4th and hope you all remember this day that we celebrate our freedom and how good we have it here and shhhhhhh, keep it down a little we don't want our secret shared with everybody! Lets enjoy this while we can.

Earl

I was right! Northwest Indiana is HOT HOT HOT

2005-06-20T21:45:00.000-05:00

In today's paper surprise surprise. An article about a real estate investor out of Chicago, who's been investing in land around Gary Airport over the last two years. From reading the article it's like they are surprised?? Why? It makes perfect sense. Gary airport is just 30 minutes from downtown Chicago. Where can you drive in Illinois that's 30 minutes from downtown Chicago, and have this much land really cheap, next to an airport that is expanding? It also has great highway access to go in any direction you want!

It's a shame though he's only in it for the money. There is no commitment to the community. It's purely profit driven. You can't blame the guy. If I had the money it would be tempted to do the same thing.

The city and the airport are going to have to buy the land from him for their expansion. He's then going to walk away. Maybe not, the land game isn't over yet in our area. Remember, we're HOT HOT HOT!

Now, if I was involved in economic development here in Northwest Indiana,I would ,probably try and make this man one of my new best friends. I'm sure he has other good friends that have money to invest. We should throw him a party! Hell I bet the casinos already have his name after reading the article this morning, and he's at the blackjack table now having eaten a great steak dinner. They know a good thing when they see it.

That's part of the problem here in Northwest Indiana. Many people only look at the negative aspect of things. Why not look at it from another angle? T,urn the box around there's always a better side! Stop complaining, in the casino industry there are only so many whales to go around. When you find one, you want to attract him (or her, excuse me) with the best bait possible. I think we're use to fishing for bottom feeders, the carp! But, even with carp there can be a silver lining. A few years back there was a bow and arrow fishing tournament here. They went out and were looking for carp to shoot with their arrows. Well, they caught a ton of them. We filled a bunch of hotel rooms, they ate in area restaurants, bought gas in area stations and then we were left with a ton of carp. But even carp are good for something. A fertilizer company wanted the fish.

So folks, lets try and look at things a little differently around here huh!

We've Got Some Stinkin Thinkin!

2005-06-07T23:38:00.000-05:00

I just went to my son's graduation from Crown Point High School.

Congratulations son I'm very proud of you.

Over 400 students graduated in his class. There were about 6-8 speeches from different students. I was very impressed with many of them and what they had to say. Several of the administrators also had a few words to the class.

According to the administrators this was quite a talented lot, and they expected great things out of them. In the school paper that was distributed at the entrance, all of the students were asked several key questions and all of their answers were published.

Many of the graduates expressed their goals on what they were planning to be in the future or where they were going etc. I'm sure they all have some sort of plan in their mind which I give them credit for. When I graduated I don't think I had as good as a support system as these students have had here. My goals weren't too clear at that time.

One thing upset me and it has been discussed before about the brain drain here in Northwest Indiana. Many of our students graduate and leave and go on to live their lives elsewhere only to return on holidays to visit the family.

I question whether our school administrators are even concerned about our communities future, and our inability to support corporations who are thinking of moving here with potential employees. Not one mention of the opportunities here in our own backyard. Not one mention of supporting our community or bringing back what you have learned out there in higher education for the betterment of our children and grandchildren was mentioned at the graduation. They talked about going out into the world, they talked about leaving here and meeting new people and exploring new places etc.

Maybe this is a cause that needs to be addressed by our chambers or the Northwest Indiana Forum as they try hard to bring those corporations into our area. Many of these bright students are growing up thinking that they have to leave in order to get ahead. As one famous motivational speaker says that's "stinkin thinkin," just because our steel mills may stink that isn't any reason for our brains to stink also.

Indiana Universities Leadership Program under the direction of Keith Kirkpatrick is a start in the right direction and maybe we need to adapt their program to a shorter format in time and scale to accomplish what we need to get done.

Again I'm open for suggestions.

Earl

Northwest Indiana's Hot!!!!

2005-06-03T20:53:00.000-05:00

Right now you see articles in Wall Street Journal, CNN, all the papers about the "Hot" Real Estate market in key U.S. cities. I've got to tell you I really believe "were" hot right now!

There are a lot of indicators to point in this direction. New homes are going up like crazy in all parts of the county. I've never seen more retail outlets being built in my life. I wouldn't be surprised if we finally get a very "upscale large mall" here in our area. My old boss Joe D'Rosa just came back with "Resorts International" and took over Harrahs East Chicago. Welcome back Joe and I wish you the best! For Resorts to invest in the area they have got to see great potential here.

Now this one is a really big indicater... Deep River Water Park increased their size dramatically!

The Northwest suburbs of Chicago, where I grew up and just visited recently for the first time in 10 years is absolutely packed. The traffic is unbelievable! The stores and malls are on top of each other. People are commuting from an hour to an hour and a half from the Northwest Chicago suburbs to downtown. It's a quicker commute to come here and they are saving on taxes, better house values, no food tax, lower taxes across the board.

This is all great for business, for quality of life etc. What it's not good for is the people who moved here to get away from all the hustle and bustle of "Chicago" and its suburbs. At a certain point people will get fed up with the traffic and the expansion will continue out elsewhere. The question is can we keep the balance to make everyone happy?

I've got to admit working in Chicago for the last two years has made me aware of many of the things I've missed that we haven't had here like certain stores and services . I'm excited about this growth.

But... We all have to keep an eye on it, we all have to let our voices be heard about our concerns about growing so fast. We have to be concerned about who is in office, who's in control. I urge the business community to be active in their chamber or chambers for the good of the community, not whether it brings you any business. I urge the Chambers and the Forum to unify their efforts, we need a larger unified business community not a divided one.

That's enough spouting off, thanks for stopping by and I look forward to hearing from you all.

Earl

We've Moved

2005-06-02T23:31:00.000-05:00

Just to let everyone know I've changed the address so please bookmark it and visit often. Please also let me know your thoughts by sending me comments about my rantings. Or I'm up for suggestions for topics you'd like me to pontifacate about???

I should have a new blog up within the next few days.

Thanks for your support

Earl

Lets Create Some Art in Northwest Indiana

2005-06-02T22:52:00.000-05:00

I drive through many parts of Northwest Indiana every day on my way to Chicago.

Northwest Indiana, Gary, East Chicago, Whiting, Hammond, there all known for their industrial sites. We see the steel mills as we drive by along I90 or the Whiting Refinery along Cline Ave!

I've always said lets use our biggest "eyesores" (though I hate to use that word) to our advantage.

Lets turn Northwest Indiana into works of art! Lets take the oil storage tanks that dot the landscape of our northern towns and have an artist use them as his/her canvas! Make animals out of them, or abstract art, hell I dont care just make them beautiful. How about the big dark ugly buildings of the mills? Why not improve the look of the mills with a little art? It can't hurt!

Look at what Christo has done. He's wrapped landscape with cloth in the name of art! There was a famous painter that painted whales on the side of massive buildings in major cities. We've got a lot af walls around here. I've got it, the perfect place.... I80/94 sound barriers, long walls that would make a great canvas for long underwater scenes.

What happened in all the cities where these types of art were created? They created traffic (I know just what we need more of on the Borman). They created tourism, they came they stopped at hotels, ate at restaurants, bought gas the list goes on and on.

I say it's about time we beautify Northwest Indiana. If ABC can do a makeover why don't they put on a new face in Northwest Indiana! It could use a face lift, a boob job would attract a lot of attention, it always does!

Teenagers and our Legislators not much difference

2005-04-26T21:40:00.000-05:00

Being the father of two teenage boys is a great learning experience. It's intresting in that you can compare teenagers to some of the politicans in Northwest Indiana. Some of them think they know everything and they don't want to listen to you. They also associate with a certain group of people and you are definitly not on that list! They also do not want to be seen talking to you anywhere in public.

Until my teenagers break from their group of friends and change their circle of influence, things won't change much in their development. Northwest Indiana has somewhat been run by a group of individuals that have also failed to improve their circle of influence. They have failed to see how diverse our area has become. They have failed to see how it can benifit them or their community to learn how to colaborate.

They don't learn until their forced to. Finally, that is just what is happening now with the proposed legislation to fund major economic development projects in our area. Its a shame though, that it took this long for everyone to come together. Well maybe its more like they came along kicking and screaming because they had to or "Dad" was going to take away their allowance. The question is have they learned their lesson?

Maybe they should of been grounded a long time ago!

We don't live in Northwest Indiana!

2005-03-20T21:43:00.000-06:00

Northwest Indiana maybe where I reside but in actuality I live in a world that's getting smaller and smaller. I am also pleased to hear that in this great world one person can still make a difference.

I just watched "Nightline" and learned about a women in Pakistan who's younger brother was accused of an infidelity with another families daughter. The local village judge decided the appropiate thing to do to make things right was for four members of the family of the girl to tear off the older sisters clothes of the accused young man in front of the village and then rape her.

Usually in a case like this the women who has been raped is ashamed and it is accepted and expected for her to then go home and kill herself. This women refused to kill herself. In fact being in this "smaller" world her story got out and The prime minister heard her story and had the men arrested. She then had to go to court and face her accusers. A women in this country, specifically in the rural villages does not do such a thing. A women is considered property.

But this women perservered and won in court and the men went to prison and she was awarded something like $8,000 dollars. More than 20 times the average salary for a man in that country. You know what she did with it! She could of moved to a large city and began a new life but no she went back to her village and built a school so young girls could be educated. Normally girls are not educated at all.

A upper court overturned the lower courts decision and released the men. Pakistan is presenty an allie of the United States. So we are paying close attention to human rights issues. Her story got to the U.S. and in turn the world and embarrased the Pakastani government. Now the men have been re-arrested and their supreme court will hear the case. A whole national womens movement has been started and hopefully equal rights will be given soon to the women of that country.

Our actions today affect things globally. At work now I am focused on business from all over the world. I make decisions on our companies web site that makes people react on the other side of the world. When we do things in Northwest Indiana we have to even think bigger than Chicago area! Maybe someone on the other side of the world wants to invest in Northwest Indiana.

Our target area is quite large from a marketing point of view and we should be using a shotgun when were hunting for economic development. Later on we can switch to a rifle and be more targeted.

You know, man gave names and drew up boundries to the land we live on. Those boundries are invisable in most cases, so remember we all live on one big land mass called Earth.

The Great Wall of China Around Northwest Indiana

2005-02-26T21:48:00.000-06:00

When I drive my car I tend to look around alot. I do it for several reasons. First of all if I didn't, I'd fall asleep instantly and two, I want to see what I'm passing by. I've got to think that many people are like me in that aspect of driving. If I see something that attracts me I might even pull off the highway and do a short visit or catch a bite to eat at a restaurant that also catches my eye.

If we take into consideration human nature, like I said earlier I think many more people are also like me and they would probably stop also. So potentially thousands and thousands of people driving across Northwest Indiana in 80/94 could also stop and spend thier money. Thier money would have an economic impact on our communities, create jobs and over all improve the quality of life here in our area right???

If you've driven 80/94 lately you may have noticed that a great wall is going up both sides of the highway. Now I know they usually put it up as a sound barrier for neighborhoods. But, I think they have taken it a little bit beyond that! There was once some great views of some fantastic nature areas, a golf course and other areas I can't even remember now because they covered them up already.

How can we expect people to stop and spend thier money when we hide everything behind a wall of concrete. People like to see things up ahead when thier driving. They need time to decide if thier going to stop.

But who would decide to hide us from the world? Who would want the world to forget about us here in the Northwest corner of the state? Lets see, the State Highway department is run from Indianapolis. There it is again "Indianapolis" they just don't want us to take the limelight away from them. In fact I think thier planning to put this wall up all along the highway and even down I 65 to Indianapolis. People will think they can't get off and have to drive all thier spending money to Indianapolis.

No it can't be that it must be the concrete lobbyists we should blame.

We need our Own McCormick Place in Northwest Indiana!

2005-02-07T21:50:00.000-06:00

I just attended a convention at McCormick Place in Chicago. If you haven't been there lately you need to go and see the new additions they have added on. It's an unbelievable facility. I'm sure that costs have gone up dramatically for exhibitors. Being in the hotel industry in Chicago I've also noticed that many conventions are leaving Chicago for other cities due to costs. The funding of the new additions and the higher union labor costs in Chicago are driving business away from Chicago to cities like Las Vegas or other secondary cities like Houston, St Louis,Phoenix and Canada where costs are significantly lower. The same thing happened to the film industry in Chicago also. Millions and millions of dollars were being spent in Chicago by movie crews filming major films and and also commercials by major ad agencies. The unions stepped in and demanded that only union labor could be used for the majority of positions involved with the production of these films. Within a few years all filming ceased to exist in Chicago and had moved to Canada.

So how does this tie into Northwest Indiana?

What this means is an opportunity for Northwest Indiana to take advantage of the lower costs here to attract smaller cost concious conventions to the area. In turn these conventioners stay in local hotels, spend money in local restaurants, gas stations, and other entertainment facilities. Then these local establishments have to purchase goods and services from other companies in the area to provide there services thereby infusing the local economy even further.

Thiers only one problem with this... We don't have a convention facility capable of handeling these events. There has been lots of talk about one in Merrillville and Mr Barden had proposed one near the Majestic gaming boat in Gary but nothing has happened for years. Again here we sit in Northwest Indiana with our thumbs up our you know what and watch as someone else steps up to the plate and takes a swing at it.

That's just what is happening out in Schaumburg, near Woodfield shopping center. Thier building a convention center and when they build it they will come!

If theres a chance in hell that this is a possibility still, I hope it happens soon and more importantly it needs to be built in the right place. I don't think south county is the right place. It needs to be near the gaming boats. Conventioners like the additional entertainment that the boats offer. At the same time this development would help the tax base of the cities that have lost so much and create jobs that many people from the south county will fill. Then those same south county residents will spend thier hard earned dollars back in south county when they come home each night! Everyone wins! It's really quite simple.

I hope the powers that be will hopefully wake up and smell the coffee while it's hot and fresh!