The wait is finally over! On Wednesday, April 12th, the Crossroads Regional Chamber of Commerce held a celebration at Hard Rock Casino to reveal its longly awaited announcement. At exactly 5:30 p.m., Crossroads announced its rebranding and shared its new name: Crossroads Northwest Indiana’s Chamber.
The Crossroads team came up with the idea to rebrand about a year ago when someone asked a seemingly simple question: what is Crossroads?
“When we sat down thinking we knew, we realized we all had different ideas. So, we decided we need to go back to the drawing board and really figure out what our DNA is, what makes us who we are, and what our purpose is,” said Jennifer Doffin, Crossroads chairman of the board.
After working hard on the rebranding for over six months, Crossroads had decided on its new identity and redefined its purpose: to be a valuable resource to its members and the businesses in Northwest Indiana. There was no better way to commemorate this rebranding than with a celebration.
“I thought that if we were going to make this big announcement that we needed to give everybody a reason to come out, have a good party, enjoy themselves, and celebrate. We wanted to make a splash and I think we did,” said Crossroads President Deann Patena.
At the celebration, people definitely enjoyed themselves. Between an incredible band, a delicious variety of food, and plenty of opportunities to kick back and mingle, everyone had a great time. People especially loved dressing up and dancing at the 360-degree photo booth. It was all truly unforgettable.
Nothing was as unforgettable, though, as the announcement. To break the news of their rebranding, the Crossroads team made a heartwarming video. The video went over everything the rebranding entails including a new name, redefined goals, a redesigned member-focused website, and so much more. When the video ended, the room broke into applause.
The pride on the Crossroads teams’ faces was unmistakable. Patena was truly blown away, and as she took the stage to thank everyone, she had to fight back a few tears.
“It was really emotional for me--a lot more emotional than I thought it was going to be. I’ve seen the video so many times but when I saw it up there in front of everyone it was just different. It made this a reality,” said Patena.
Doffin couldn’t contain her excitement.
“It’s our new identity. It’s who we were and where we come from just amplified to the next level. We’re so proud of who we are and we’re excited for our members. We’re now completely focused on all the good that they do,” said Doffin.
Now that Crossroads’ new identity is official, the team is ready to start fulfilling its goal of connecting Northwest Indiana’s business community.
“We just want to partner with everybody. We want all of our community chambers to know that we’re here to partner with them and support them and their members. We want to connect Northwest Indiana businesses and be their support system,” said Patena.
Now more than ever it’s important to help Northwest Indiana businesses thrive to make the Region an even more amazing place for people to spend their lives.
“We all have one thing we share: we’re passionate about Northwest Indiana. It’s why we live here, it’s why we work here, it’s why we raise our families here, and we just want to continue to make Northwest Indiana a great place. Our mission will help people and strengthen our community,” said Patena.
Overall, the night was a celebration of a beautiful past and an even greater new beginning. Crossroads is grateful to everyone who made this night possible and can’t wait to see what the future holds.
“I want to thank all of tonight’s sponsors as well as Hard Rock for helping us put on this celebration, they’ve been such a great partner. I also want to thank everyone who helped us make our video and design our new logo,” said Patena.
To learn more about Crossroads Northwest Indiana’s Chamber, visit its all-new website https://crossroadschamber.org/home/.
All branding and graphics created by Vast Creative Co.
Video credit: The Times of Northwest Indiana