Great News with GreatNews.Life

John Jordan and Mark Powers from CertaPro Painters of NWI stop by to talk to Chris Mahlmann about their years of working together, building and maintaining a team, their core values, and more!

Mike Jessen, President and CEO of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Northwest Indiana sits down with GreatNews.Life Founder Chris Mahlmann to talk about his influences growing up, making the decision to go to college, serving as Valparaiso city administrator, and what it takes to lead a great team.

Aaron McDermott, CEO and President of Latitude Commercial sits down with GreatNews.Life Founder Chris Mahlmann to talk about his realty business, what it takes to be a leader,  being a "Region Guy", having a family that's involved in politics,  and the future of NWI.

Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb traveled to Valparaiso on Tuesday, February 21 to congratulate both the Valparaiso Vikings State Championship Football Team and visit the GreatNews.Life office. Continuing his support of Northwest Indiana (NWI), Holcomb took time out of his busy schedule to highlight the positive news throughout the state. Read more about Governor Holcomb's visit here: https://valpo.life/article/gov-holcomb-shares-good-news-around-the-state-and-beyond/

SSCVA President/CEO Dave Uran sits down with GreatNews.Life Founder Chris Mahlmann to discuss a wide array of topics, including the growing tourism industry in Northwest Indiana and his lifelong involvement with sports. The South Shore Convention and Visitors’ Authority is a not-for-profit organization that plays a vital part in the growth of tourism in the Northwest Indiana Region, providing marketing and support services for convention, sports, and special interest segments that help lead to the economic growth and overall enhancement of quality of life in the Region. Uran goes in depth on the impact that tourism has on the Region, and why adding a Convention Center to the area is on the top of his priority list as SSCVA President. Uran speaks about his time being the Mayor of Crown Point, and how the relationships and experiences gained during that tenure have influenced his leadership at the SSCVA. Uran is also actively involved with local sports in the area as a fan and referee, and talks about his perspective on being an official and how it has shaped him as a person. https://www.southshorecva.com/https://nwi.life/partners/south-shore-convention-visitors-authority/3:00 - Sports Teach Leadership Through Practice and Preparation5:12 - Family and Coaching Taught Him the Principles7:21 - South Shore Teamwork Makes Revitalized Dream Work17:42 - Tourism's Impact in Northwest Indiana20:39 - Convention Center - Sports Arena - Best of Both23:34 - Reffing games, using your whistle wisely, and focusing on one play at a time33:27 - 40 Years of South Shore Tourism37:19 - Rose and Rise Awards Recognize Excellence38:40 - Good News Draws People Together41:54 - Valpo - Your Home Base, the Cubs, and Jeff Samardzija

Days before kicking off a nationwide tour, Joe Hertler of Joe Hertler & The Rainbow Seekers sat down for an all exclusive virtual interview with GreatNews.Life Executive Director Jenny Craig-Brown. Originally from Lansing, Mich., the band got its start in 2011 and is known and well loved for their indie, colorful discography. Today, the group has numerous albums under their belt and is getting ready to set out for their next show in Indianapolis, Ind.!Learn more about Joe Hertler & The Rainbow Seekers by checking out their social media below:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joehertlermusicInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/joehertler/

GreatNews.Life is shining a spotlight on NW Indiana ER & Hospital CEO Scott Samlan this week! With more than 15 years of practice, Dr. Samlan is Board Certified and recognized as a Fellow of the American College of Emergency Medicine.

Surf Internet’s CEO Gene Crusie visited the GreatNews.Life office to share some of what he’s learned after three decades of championing affordable, high-quality, reliable internet around the country. Crusie began his internet career in the early ‘90s and has helped develop and launch dozens of internet service providers. Since taking over Surf Internet five years ago, the company has grown to nearly 125 people providing internet access across three states. Surf Internet is committed to building an unparalleled network to provide high-speed, reliable internet access to all.

John Jordan is the Owner and President of CertaPro Painters of Northwest Indiana. He began the Northwest Indiana franchise location of CertaPro Painters out of the basement of his home in 2013 after the successful sale of his family’s three-generation business. His objective is to offer a trusted and reliable service to homes and businesses within his community in Northwest Indiana.Jordan focuses most of his efforts on the leadership and strategy of the company as well as sales in both residential and commercial divisions. Learn more about his background, leadership style, and goals for CertaPro Painters of Northwest Indiana in the videos below!

Prior to being elected as the 51st governor of Indiana, Governor Eric Holcomb served in the United States Navy and as the state chairman of the Indiana Republican Party. Holcomb has met with officials from all over the world and was recognized as the International Center’s International Citizen of the year in 2018. He has been involved in many projects and foundations, including “Skillful Indiana,” Next Level Connections, Next Level Recovery, The Last Mile, and more. During the past few years as governor, Holcomb decided to take advantage of his travels and shoot a hoop on a basketball court in every county in the state. Holcomb lives in Indianapolis, IN with his wife, Janet, and their Miniature Schnauzer, Henry.

Matthew Wesaw currently serves as the Chairman of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians. Prior to his time with the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, Wesaw served with the Michigan State Police where he had a full career, retiring from that career in 2001 as a Detective Sergeant.Wesaw served as the vice-chair for the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians before becoming the Chairman in 1996. Wesaw had 4 children at home, and after a couple of years of serving, he decided to step down until his retirement in 2001. In 2002, Wesaw was reelected to the tribe and has served in one form or another ever since.From 2013 to 2015, Wesaw served as the Executive Director of the Department of Civil Rights for the state of Michigan.

As Regional Director of Big Shoulders Fund, Dan Kozlowski knows the importance of serving the Northwest Indiana and Chicagoland community. He grew up in Cedar Lake, attended catholic elementary and middle schools as well as Hanover Central High School, and received his Bachelor’s in business and accounting from Valparaiso University.Once Kozlowski moved to Michigan to start his career after college, he quickly realized accounting was not the correct career path for him. He returned to Valparaiso University, received his Master’s in business, and began working closely with nonprofits in the area. Through his work at Marian Catholic High School in Chicago Heights, Ill., Kozlowski got a deeper understanding of what education truly means and how important a helping hand, like the nonprofit organization Big Shoulders Fund, can be for the youth.

After graduation from West Virginia University Institute of Technology in 1995 and working at American Electric Power from 1996-2011, Mike Hooper made the shift to Northern Indiana Public Service Company, Inc. (NIPSCO), where he now serves as its president. Between 2011-2022, he served in a few positions at NIPSCO before working his way up to become president in 2020.Although he started his career in mechanical engineering and carried that expertise with him to each position at both American Electric Power and NIPSCO, he also pursued leadership training at The Ohio State University Fisher College of Business. Hooper graduated from the Strategic Leadership program, and he is also a licensed Project Management Professional.With his history in leadership, GreatNews.Life Founder Chris Mahlmann invited Hooper to sit down and discuss leadership and the past, present, and future plans for NIPSCO as part of the GreatNews.Life Leadership Life Series.

Before stepping into his role earlier this year as CEO and President of United Way of Northwest Indiana, Adam O’Doherty was working hard to make a positive impact on lives across the county in Arizona.O’Doherty realized he had a passion for helping others from the very beginning of his career. Starting in education, he then transferred to working with nonprofit organizations when he discovered how a child’s home environment can also affect their school life as well.O’Doherty is no stranger to the work of United Way either, as his most recent position before moving to Indiana was the CEO of United Way of Graham and Greenlee Counties in rural Arizona.He shared that he had five different job offers at once but ultimately decided to relocate from Arizona to Northwest Indiana because he believed in the community. With friendly community members that really cared about each other, he was confident he could lead the Region to drive positive change through his role at United Way Northwest Indiana.In his conversation with GreatNews.Life Founder Chris Mahlmann, O’Doherty also details how he decided to carve his own path with his legacy in mind, how advocating for others is an even higher calling than standing up for oneself, and so much more.

Matt organizes and plans for the long-term vision of the organization and oversees all day-to-day operations. Prior to his position as President/CEO of Porter-Starke Services, Matt served as Chief Executive Officer at the Swanson Center for 8 years. Matt holds an M.A. and Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from Loyola University Chicago and has held academic and research/faculty positions at University of Michigan and Wayne State University School of Medicine’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences.

Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch was born and raised in Evansville, Indiana, and entered public service as a means to help her community feel more connected with local and state government. She’s served as County Auditor, County Commissioner, State Auditor, State Representative for House District 78, and now Lt. Governor. Her portfolio in this role includes overseeing the Indiana State Department of Agriculture, Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority, Office of Defense Development, Office of Community and Rural Affairs and Office of Tourism Development, among myriad other responsibilities as chairwoman of several councils and tasks forces. When asked recently whether she enjoys running as a means of fitness, she promptly answered, “Yes. For office.” Get to know more about Lt. Governor Suzanne Crouch here in the Leadership Life series.

Our own Jenny Craig-Brown sits down with Joe De Sena who is not only the CEO of Spartan, a leading endurance sports brand, but also a New York Times best selling author of The Spartan Way, Spartan Up!, and Spartan Fit!Like and subscribe! Follow us on social and our websites!Facebook: GreatNews.Life, NWI.Life, Valpo.Life, Portage.Life, LaPorteCounty.LifeInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/greatnews.l...Twitter: https://twitter.com/greatnewslife?lan...The Life Sites:NWI.LifeValpo.LifeLaporteCounty.LifePortage.LifeGreatNewsLife looks to form positive, online communities centered around the idea that, given the option, viewers prefer to see all the good things going on in their community, as opposed to negative news. Here you’ll find exclusively positive, hyper-local stories, features, and news touting everything exceptional about the communities that make up Northwest Indiana. We invite you to partake in the Region’s only source for all-positive news, all the time.

Join us this week for our season finale of Great News Weekly. We get the scoop on the NSA World Series from Crown Point Mayor Uran and Bill Horton, President of NSA North. The new art installation at NorthShore from Brian Dortmund, Allen Grecula, and our very own Lifer Carter Puckett. Finally, Lifer Carter Dahlgren gives us some camping tips as we head out of summer and into the fall season.Great News Weekly will be back for Season 2 in September!

On this weeks episode of Great News Weekly we get a look at all that the Lakes of Valpo has to offer, a sit down with Indiana American Water, Friday Night Live in La Porte, and an interview with local artist Ally Christian!

Join us for this weeks Great News Weekly. The exclusively positive news show brought to you by GreatNews.Life. This week we have a little more information about our mission brought to you by our very own Lifer Carter, a recap from the Franciscan Do Good Feel Good challenge from some of our Lifers who took on the challenge, and internet safety tips brought to you by Horizon Bank.