Leading Business Networking | September | 2013

Extending welcome to community’s new educators Community partners and the Greater Elkhart Chamber welcomed nearly 130 new county educators this summer with tote bags filled with useful products. The new educator bags have become a tradition at the Chamber, a valuable resource for teachers and administrators transitioning to start or continue careers in local public and private schools. Dr. John Hill, assistant superintendent of Elkhart Community Schools and chair of the Chamber’s Education Council, said the supplies within the bags are valuable and the number of participating donors this year “speaks to the fact Elkhart County is going back to work” after the recent period of economic decline. The bags are a symbol for something bigger, too, according to Wayne Stubbs, superintendent of Concord Community Schools. “Other places have chambers of commerce, but Elkhart is special,” he told Concord’s new teachers during orientation on Aug. 9. “It’s nice they provide these welcome gifts, but it furthers the point we are friends and we work together in a variety of ways.” Along with the welcome bags, educators also receive information about the many ways businesses and schools can connect through Chamber programs, whether it’s the Education Council, mentoring Above: Dr. John Hill of Elkhart Community Schools and the Chamber’s Kyla Martin help pack the welcome bags for new educators. Left: Dr. Hill delivers one of the bags to a teacher at Memorial High School. programs or legislative initiatives. Sponsors of the bags this year were: Indiana Michigan Power, McGladrey, Interra Credit Union, Heritage Financial Group, Robert Weed Plywood, ETHOS, the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi, Skyline, Chase, NIPSCO, 1st Source Bank and Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center. Community Banking. No Strings Attached. Experience the difference Community Banking offers. Call us today! Elkhart Office 303 South Third Street Elkhart, IN 46516 574.295.9600 Building Relationships...Delivering Solutions Goshen Office 511 West Lincoln Avenue Goshen, IN 46526 574.533.2006 www.indianacommunitybank.com 12 GREATER ELKHART CHAMBER

Leading Business Networking | September | 2013 | Page 12