"Innovators of the Month" highlights the newest Members of the Society of Innovators of Northwest Indiana for use by the media serving Jasper, Lake, LaPorte, Newton, Porter, Pulaski and Starke Counties. The Society celebrates Fellows and Chanute Prize recipients, but also recognizes other Members of "The 2013 - 2014 Class." The Society shares their inspiring stories of innovation in each monthly edition. The Society is part of the Gerald I. Lamkin Innovation & Entrepreneurship Center of Ivy Tech Community College Northwest. For information, contact O'Merrial Butchee, Director, Gerald I. Lamkin Innovation & Entrepreneurship Center at (219) 981-4942, or John Davies, Assistant Director, at (219) 981-1111, Ext. 2292.
Carl & Lorrie Lisek, South Shore Clean Cities, 2013- 2014 Team Member
Building on national recognition for displacing petroleum with alternative fuels, South Shore Clean Cities (SSCC) champions a plethora of partnerships to build a green economy across Northern Indiana, said Carl Lisek, executive director, SSCC. "Our region continues to be a leader in displacing petroleum by using alternative fuels from biodiesel to electric, from natural gas to hybrids," he said.
Several years ago, the U.S. Department of Energy's National Clean Cities gave SSCC top awards that included best overall improvement in petroleum savings and the greatest increase in biodiesel fuel use. "Our huge steel industry is a major contributor to utilizing biodiesel blended with soybeans," Lisek said. In fact, U.S. Steel Gary Works' use of biodiesel was adopted globally. Also announced in February at the SSCC's annual meeting was NIPSCO's plans to add up to 250 electric vehicle charging stations at public locations to encourage electric vehicles. Earlier this company announced a home charging station program in which over 100 residential customers have already signed up encouraged by incentives. SSCC administers both programs.
Also, the City of Hobart showcased a new garbage truck fueled by natural gas, another project of SSCC. Perhaps the best national example of a major fleet embracing natural gas is Ozinga, which has 500 mixers and support vehicles, and a public fueling station in Gary. SSCC is a project of Legacy Environmental Services led by Carl and Lorrie Lisek, president.
Brandt Baughman, Indiana Dunes State Park, 2013 – 2014 Team Member
The first in the Indiana and among the first in the nation, the "daylighting" of Dunes Creek at the Indiana Dunes State Park is a shining example of collaboration in innovation, said Brandt Baughman, property manager. A two-phase project launched in 2005 and completed in 2012, it restored just under a mile of the stream to a near natural state that had been channeled into a culvert as it flows into Lake Michigan.
"We removed 280 parking spaces as a result," he said, "and instead of seeing fewer people, this led to an explosion in gate receipts."
Why? The answer: improved visitor's experience! Long championed by environmental groups, the restoration of the final leg of the creek that drains a 7400 acre water shed had been diverted into a culvert that ran underneath two parking lots since the 1930's. By the early 2000s, the main lot had fallen into disrepair and rather than restore the rarely used lot, the decision was made by DNR to remove it and restore the stream. The funding to design and construct the initial phase came from the Lake Michigan Coastal Program.
The second phase, which was adjacent to the main parking lot, came from Great Lakes Restoration funds. Funding was about $2 million. Benefits include restoring the ecosystem. Also more than one million people annually visit the park, up from under 500,000 in 2005.