PortageLife.com
A new, but familiar face will be at the helm when the Portage varsity football team takes the field next August. Wally McCormack has been named the new varsity head coach, replacing Jeromy Flowers, who resigned to take a job as an assistant at Homewood-Flossmoor High School in Illinois. McCormack has deep Portage roots, having lived in the city his whole life, played football for the Indians, graduated from PHS and started his coaching career at Fegely Middle School.
“I started coaching here, and I kind of always thought in the back of my mind that someday it would be cool to end up back here,” McCormack said.
In many circles, success is measured by money. How much money someone makes how much money they have and how much they spends seems to label the level of success they have achieved.
Our chamber just completed a month of activities that showcased a level of success that we are very proud of. As a not-for-profit organization, financial stability is very important, but helping to insure the financial strength of our members is the main goal of our chamber. For our chamber, the number of Portage citizens and businesses at our events is a real benchmark to how successful we are.
Attendance, support and service are three long time commitments that McShane’s, Inc. has made to our chamber. Regular attendances at our luncheons, activities, and fundraisers have become second nature to Paul Povoris.
Their support of our chamber through membership, donations, ads and sponsorships has continually helped the chamber met its own financial responsibilities.
“We have been a part of the fabric of this community for 100 years and we’re excited ,” stated Jimmy Staton, Chief Executive Officer for NiSource Gas Transmission & Storage, during a presentation in front of the Porter County Chamber Coalition at Strongbow Inn on May 17, 2012.
The NIPSCO CEO spoke in front of about 150 of members in Strongbow Inn’s Charles Room of their banquet hall. The Porter County Chamber Coalition includes the Chesterton/Duneland, Hebron, Kouts, Portage, and Valpo Chambers of Commerce.
There was a commercial a few years ago that had a great message. The commercial put two business owners side by side. The one needed two thousand of a certain item within a few days. The other individual needed space and was trying to find a buyer for two thousand of that particular item. Neither individual offered a hand or a hello. Many times, a simple good morning or hello can be the start of a lasting relationship, friendship, or business partnership.
My wife and I went on a cruise in March. The first morning at the pool, I said good morning across the pool to a man sitting in a lounge chair. That day we spent a few minutes visiting. He shared he was retired from the Navy and I shared that I served in the Army and that I worked for the Portage Chamber of Commerce.