In Business

From the BusINess inbox—The BusINess editors are committed to keeping you informed about the latest news in NWI. Here’s today’s submission from the STEM Mentor program:

Middle school girls and their mentors in the STEM Mentor program will explore the field of biomedical science as IVDiagnostics and Entech Innovation Center hosts Discoveries Unlimited on December 11, 2010.

“I am thrilled with the opportunity to have the Entech Innovation Center host the last in the series of Mentor and Mentee events for 2010,” stated Charlie McGill, Executive Director of the Entech Innovation Center. Read the rest of this entry »

>> CROWN POINT

NICU coming to local hospital this fall

A neonatal intensive care unit is scheduled to open in the fall at Saint Anthony Medical Center, 1201 South Main Street.

The 12-bed unit, slated to open in November, will be housed in the hospital’s maternity department, called the Birth Place. Staff will include neonatalogists and specially trained nurses.

“This is something we have wanted for years,” said Carol Schuster, vice president of patient services. “With our number of annual deliveries now up to around 1,600, we are able to justify the need and better serve our parents and their babies.”
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Resetting the agenda to help kids with Down Syndrome

(Photograph by Tony V. Martin.)

Jennifer Heath, interim administrator at Barker Woods Enrichment Center in Michigan City, began her work helping children with special needs after she and her husband Jerry’s lives crossed paths with the center.

Heath, who grew up in South Bend, Skokie, and then Michigan City, attended Indiana State and PNC and studied marketing, but she says that career vision changed when she had her first child. “I came into a totally different area than what I intended, but that all changed when I had my oldest daughter, Libby, who was born with Down Syndrome,” says Heath. “I studied about Down Syndrome, I learned about it and I became involved with Barker Woods Enrichment Center. I served on their board for eight years before I began working there,” Heath says.

Barker Woods Enrichment Center provides childcare and preschool services for children of all abilities, specializing in serving children with special needs. They also provide pediatric occupational and speech therapy services for children. The facility was started by a group of parents whose children were not welcomed in the public school system during the 1950s.
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Combining entrepreneurship with community service

(Photograph by Tony V. Martin.)

Like anyone who runs a small independent business and has young children, Shannon Burhans stays very busy. Paid vacations are hard to come by. When her young children aren’t in school, they’re probably with her—and need rides to sports or gymnastics practices.

That would be enough for most people, but not Burhans, who for the last seven years has run The eState, a jewelry, memorabilia and antiques shop in Portage, with her husband Dave. Throughout those years, the 38-year-old mother of two also volunteered for a dizzying array of positions in four organizations: the Portage Chamber of Commerce, the Portage Kiwanis club, Safe Sitter and the Portage Parks and Recreation Foundation.

“I really enjoy doing community service,” says Burhans, who’s originally from Schererville and went to Lake Central High School. Last year, she was named “Distinguished Club President” by Kiwanis International, which is dedicated to “changing the world, one child and one community at a time.” Burhans is the immediate past-president of the Portage club. She’s also served as the club’s secretary and vice-president, and is currently chair of its membership committee.

She also coordinates the club’s Dictionary Project, which she created while serving as vice president in 2006. Each year, the club fundraises to purchase dictionaries that are given to all third graders in Portage Township schools. “Most of us have the internet, so you wouldn’t think a dictionary would be such a big deal,” says Burhans, who lives in Portage. But children like having their own dictionary. “Every one of those kids is extremely grateful—they’re using it, they’re interested.”
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General manager John Stroia, left, owner Mark Leyden and Mike McNamara, operations manager, run the Fieldhouse-Merrillville, which offers basketball leagues, tournaments, and camps. Open since November 2008, the 53,000-square-foot facility has six NCAA regulation-size basketball courts. (Photograph by The Times.)

The Fieldhouse-Merrillville opened Nov. 1, 2008, with time running out on the economic shot clock.

Franchise owner Mark Leyden said financing was arranged right before “the whole meltdown.”

Merrillville was fortunate to gain the 53,000-square-foot basketball facility with six hardwood NCAA-style courts when it did. Another franchise in Bolingbrook, Ill., has been stalled in construction because of the financial crisis.

“We opened in the teeth of a pretty ferocious economic cycle,” he said.
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Alex Hurudean, 6, tests for his yellow belt by breaking through a wood plank held by Fight Barn co-owner Dan Kocsis at the Munster business Wednesday. (Photograph by The Times.)

The owners of the Fight Barn want their students to learn not only martial arts skills but the discipline and self-confidence it instills.

The business, which is having a grand opening today, is owned by Darin Mainwaring and Dan Kocsis, two friends who have been involved in martial arts training for the past 20 years.

Kocsis previously owned and operated the Modern Day Martial Arts Academy in Munster. As the school outgrew its 1,000-square-foot location, he and Mainwaring decided to go into business together in a larger venue.
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Youth Summit at IUN outlines choices for students

More than 600 eighth-grade students from the region hope to have a better grasp on a career path after attending the 7th Annual Youth Summit Friday at Indiana University Northwest.

The event, presented by IU Northwest’s Occupational Development Program, the Center of Workforce Innovations and the 21st Century Scholars program, invites students to explore their future careers via round table discussions, presentations, seminars and exhibitions from local businesses.

“We’re trying to give them an overall view of what careers there are and what they might be interested in because most of them aren’t thinking about it too much,” said program director and summit chairwoman TJ Stoops. “School counselors tell us this does get them to at least start talking about what’s out there.”
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While others are blowing their holiday budgets, you can set an example and send a message by giving a gift with a focus on personal finance.

The economic downturn highlights the importance of understanding money matters, and there are items available for every age group that can help teach important concepts.

The important thing is to make sure gifts are presented in an appropriate manner. Kim E. Jones, a financial planner in Broomfield, Colo., said you should make sure the message you’re giving is caring and not judgmental.
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(Getty Images; Photo illustration by Amber Siegel.)

Tinley Park, Ill., has been named the “Best Place in America to Raise Kids” by BusinessWeek, a national honor for the town announced last week. The magazine highlighted schools, low crime, parks, affordable houses and easy access to jobs as reasons Tinley Park stood out from 800 other communities being considered for the distinction.

Of the 800 communities across the nation analyzed by the magazine, Tinley Park garnered the highest scores in factors important to families with children. “Of course, we’ve known for years that our Village is a great place for families—a wonderful town in which to live, work, play and raise children—but it’s exciting that our Village is recognized now by a national and highly respected magazine that specializes in understanding what makes a place highly livable and special,” said Mayor Ed Zabrocki.

This is the fourth year that the publication has researched towns across the country, analyzing such factors as school performance, affordability, safety, cost of living, air quality, job growth, racial diversity and accessibility to local parks, ball fields, zoos, recreation centers, museums and theaters.

Continue reading here.

Robotic toy hamsters, the latest Barbie dolls and stylish boots are disappearing from store shelves as holiday shoppers start to get serious. But don’t confuse this with the days of Tickle Me Elmo.

Instead of a throwback to great buying binges of the past, the empty shelves are just another sign of bad times.

The shortages come from stores that are terrified of ordering too much and are keeping their inventories thin.
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