New Porter County jobs cabinet members announced

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Updated: February 19, 2012 8:16AM

VALPARAISO — Porter County Board of Commissioners President John Evans, R-North, has announced the county’s new jobs cabinet, expanded from nine members to 11 because of the quality of the candidates.

The cabinet, announced in December, will focus on job creation and identifying shovel-ready sites in the county, Evans said, adding the cabinet attracted more than 20 applicants.

“This will position Porter County to become the premier shovel-ready, project-ready, jobs-ready site in the country,” he said.

The cabinet will complete its work in 12 to 18 months. The effort will cost at least $100,000, with 75 percent of the budget coming from the county.

Valparaiso Mayor Jon Costas and Portage Mayor Jim Snyder, who attended a news conference at the Porter County Administrative Center announcing the cabinet, said they are looking forward to the opportunities the cabinet offers not just for their communities, but also for the county as a whole.

“I’m excited about this effort because life is short and it’s important to get things done,” Costas said, adding he’s seeing more business expansion now than ever before. “It’s the right time. I’m very pleased with those on the panel.”

Former Portage Mayor Doug Olson, who was appointed to the panel, said the county has to make sure it has the tools available to continue attracting business. Those include tax increment finance districts and development areas.

Companies, he said, want to be able to “kick the tires” before they consider a community to locate their operations.

“We need to have the tools in place to do that,” he said.

Also appointed to the cabinet were: Ronald D. Belin, area general manager, Frontier Communications; Stewart McMillan, president, Task Force Tips; Heather Ennis, executive director, Chesterton/Duneland Chamber of Commerce and president, Duneland Economic Development Co.; Kent Meihofer, senior vice president, UGI Services; Tim Healy, managing partner, Holladay Properties; Larry Hitz, owner/broker, Prudential Executive Group Real Estate; Tom Golab, Route 6 Development; Chris Hernandez, president, Northwest Indiana Building and Construction Trades Council; and Harley Snyder and Jeff Good, Regional Development Corp.