Welcoming new Rotary President Eric Garton + Introduction of 2021-22 Board and Chairs

Welcome Mike Keen, Managing Partner with Hometowne Development LLC, and President of The Bakery Group LLC. 

Mike received his PhD in Sociology from the University of Notre Dame in 1985. He spent 30 years as a professor at Indiana University South Bend. In 2008, Mike founded the IU South Bend Center for a Sustainable Future and led the development of the first B.A. in Sustainability Studies in Indiana.  He was awarded a Sagamore of the Wabash in 2016, the highest recognition that can be awarded to a citizen of Indiana. Currently, Mike is a faculty member with the Incremental Development Alliance.

As a Managing Partner of Hometowne Development, Mike is serving as master developer for Portage Midtown, a sustainable neighborhood demonstration project located in the middle of the Near Northwest Neighborhood.  This has included the acquisition and renovation of three structures (909 Portage, 905 Portage, and 819 Cushing), acquisition of several vacant lots in the area, and collaboration with Habitat for Humanity to build five high performance New Energy Homes on Shetterly Triangle just north of the Ward Building.  As President of The Bakery Group, Mike is taking the lead in the renovation and adaptive reuse of the abandoned Ward Bakery building.  He is also the founder, in collaboration with the Incremental Development Alliance, of the Michiana Incremental Development Ecosystem, a network of small scale developers, design professionals, finance officers, real estate agents, property managers, contractors, neighbors, and municipal officials dedicated to helping create wealth in neighborhoods for neighborhoods.

This will be a hybrid meeting - - you can attend in-person or virtually on Zoom at noon: