Ten years ago, John Jordan walked into a Crossroads Chamber meeting for the first time. Now, he sits as the chairman of the board.
Jordan joined Crossroads Chamber in 2014 shortly after starting CertaPro Painters of Northwest Indiana. He knew he needed to put effort into networking to make his business successful, so he decided to join a few local chambers of commerce. While he enjoyed others, he felt particularly drawn to Crossroads Chamber.
As he dug deeper into what the chamber had to offer, Jordan decided to serve on a committee. He first served on the ambassador committee, which led him to mingle with prospective members and get familiar with the benefits Crossroads Chamber offered.
After spending some time as an ambassador, Jordan moved into the committee in charge of organizing the annual golf outing, which proved to be another networking benefit. As he got to know other members, Jordan continued to become more personally invested in the chamber’s mission.
It wasn’t long before Jordan was considered as a candidate for a board position. Rounds of interviews led to an offer to become a board member, and once again, Jordan was presented with an opportunity to get more involved with the business community.
A few years later, Jordan was asked by then-chairman Jennifer Doffin to be the chair-elect. Accepting the position would mean taking on a six-year commitment, serving two years as the chair-elect, two years as the chairman of the board, and a final two years as the immediate past chairman. Jordan again accepted without hesitation.
In the two years that Jordan served as the chair-elect, Crossroads Chamber underwent major changes including a rebrand that worked to modernize the chamber from the ground up. Formerly Crossroads Regional Chamber of Commerce, Crossroads Chamber’s new look emphasized the development and progression that so many Northwest Indiana businesses hoped to see in their own companies.
The rebranding efforts happened due to the hard work and dedication of the board led by former chairman Doffin. While Jordan has big plans of his own, his main goal as chairman is to let the changes settle and work to expand the chamber’s reach under a more unified and modern front.
“The focus for me is to try to build off the momentum of the rebrand,” Jordan said. “I’m not trying to top what we did there, which was a pretty big event for a chamber like ours to go through, but to continue to grow our reach now that everything is in place.”
As chairman of the board, Jordan is responsible for working on the big-picture plans alongside President and CEO Deann Patena. For Jordan, the opportunity to support others in their decision-making is a welcomed change from the everyday demands of owning his own business.
“I own a business. I have a team that I work with, I get to make a lot of decisions, and I get to run that business,” Jordan said. “This is a circumstance where you're not in the day-to-day business and you're not managing employees directly. It's a unique opportunity to work closely with an executive like Deann to support and help with things that affect the chamber.”
Patena believes that Jordan’s experience as a business owner makes him the perfect fit for the job.
“His hands-on experience as a small business owner brings invaluable insights to the table, and I am eager to collaborate with him to implement initiatives that will empower our members, foster economic development, and strengthen community engagement,” Patena said.
Jordan is eager to use the next few years as a way to open the chamber up to new avenues of networking and business development. While there is no way to tell exactly how the business landscape will change in the future, Jordan hopes to use the chamber’s current momentum to build a richer landscape for businesses in the Region for years to come.
“There could be a lot of opportunities down the road for the chamber to grow and support its business community,” Jordan said. “I want to make sure that we're open-minded to that and looking at other opportunities to do that.”
Ten years of service is still only the beginning of Jordan’s future with the chamber. Together, he and Patena hope to further establish the chamber as something that benefits the community by bringing businesses together.
“His dedication to serving our community and his unwavering commitment to fostering economic growth and prosperity are truly commendable,” Patena said. “Together, with John's leadership and the collective efforts of our board members and staff, I am confident that we will continue to advance the mission of the Crossroads Chamber and make a positive impact on the businesses and residents we serve.”
To learn more about Crossroads Chamber, visit https://crossroadschamber.org/.