Business news: MLK events and new firefighters graduate

PNW sets MLK Day events

Purdue University Northwest has scheduled celebrations of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s life and legacy through free programming on Jan. 15 and Jan. 19 at the Hammond and Westville campuses, according to a release.

PNW’s Jan. 15 MLK Day celebration runs from 12:30-2 p.m. in Alumni Hall of the Student Union and Library Building on the Hammond campus, 2200 169th St., Hammond. The keynote speaker will be Shontrai Irving, PNW alumnus and clinical professor of Business Law at PNW. PNW’s Jan. 19 MLK Day celebration, which will coincide with the federal holiday, runs from 7:45-9:30 a.m. The program takes place in the Great Hall Events and Conference Center inside the James B. Dworkin Student Services and Activities Complex on PNW’s Westville branch campus, 1401 S. U.S. 421, Westville. Michigan City native Kiahna W. Davis, CEO of Indianapolis-based Mind Your Business Accounting and Business
Consulting, will deliver the keynote address.

Event and registration information can be found at pnw.edu/mlk-celebration.

MAAC Foundation graduates 11 new firefighters

In partnership with the Northwest Indiana District 1 Firefighter Training Council, the MAAC Foundation recently graduated 11 new firefighters at the MAAC Foundation First Responder Training Campus in Valparaiso.

The graduates completed an 11-week training program that included instruction in fire suppression, hazmat operations and technical rescue, along with other vital firefighting skills, a release said.

New graduates include: Nathan Brandt, Portage; Robert Cloyd, Michigan City; Tyler Martin, Michigan City; Ryan Mattel, Portage; Austin Nickos, Ogden Dunes; Edwin Schmidt, Michigan City; Ruben Silvas, Whiting; Larz Stanford, Michigan City; Pedro Valerio, Whiting; Noah Villarreal, Portage; and Caitlin Wilcox, Liberty Township.

$239K awarded in NIPSCO holiday program

A group of Northern Indiana organizations and municipalities were awarded donations this season in NIPSCO’s 13th annual Hope for the Holidays campaign.

With grant support from the NiSource Charitable Foundation, NIPSCO donated $239,425 to 23 organizations across NIPSCO’s service area, according to its website.  Additionally, employees contributed more than 800 new toys to be distributed to seven local Toys for Tots chapters.

Among those receiving donations were Family Promise of Porter County, Hobart Food Pantry, North Township Trustee’s Office, Trinity Church, City of Gary, Greater Hammond Community Services and Salvation Army LaPorte County.

Donations from the Hope for the Holidays campaign were presented to a range of organizations committed to providing food security, sustaining families and housing services, the website said. For more information, visit NIPSCO.com/GivingBack.

Northwest Health discusses weight-loss options

Dr. Andrew Martin, a bariatric and general surgeon with Northwest Health, will hold a free seminar that will explore weight-loss surgery options, compare bariatric surgery with GLP-1 medications and explain how both approaches may complement each other.

The event, “Bariatric Surgery & Long-Term Health: What You Need to Know in the GLP-1 Era,” will take place from 5:30-6:30 p.m., Jan. 19 at Northwest Health – Porter, Community Room, 85 E. U.S. 6, Valparaiso, according to a release.

The seminar will also explore how bariatric surgery works and whether it’s right for you, the health benefits beyond weight loss and how bariatric surgery can resolve many medical conditions and concerns and recovery timelines, lifestyle changes and success strategies.

The event is part of the Northwest Health HealthyU series, a community program that provides free seminars on various health and wellness topics. To register, visit NWHinfo.com/WeightLoss.

PNW earns national recognition for cybersecurity education

For the third consecutive year, Purdue University Northwest has received the International Council of Electronic Commerce Consults’ Academia Circle of Excellence Award in recognition of its cybersecurity program.

Since 2019, PNW’s College of Technology has partnered with the EC-Council in offering two of the council’s accredited certifications, Certified Ethical Hacker and Computer Hacking Forensic Investigator, within program curricula, a release said. PNW undergraduate students pursuing bachelor’s degrees in Cybersecurity and Computer Information
Technology can earn the Certified Ethical Hacker certificate through their plans of study, while working professionals can complete both certificates through the PNW Center for Cybersecurity’s Cybersecurity Workforce Certification Training. More information can be found at pnw.edu/cybersecurity.