The 4th Annual NEI Pioneer Event was our biggest event yet!
If you don’t remember how the night unfolded, watch our recap HERE!
This year, we had more nominees than ever, more videos, more categories, and more community involvement. This resulted in a packed top floor of The Fairfield and more stories to highlight a handful of our region’s best.
Our 2026 Pioneer of the Year was Edwin Chow!
Edwin, Owner of Summit City Climbing Co., was also a winner of the Entrepreneur category.
The other two category winners and Pioneer of the Year finalists were Tomi Cardin, Social Impact, and Lance Clark, Brand Champion. Tomi is the Founder & CEO of Redemption House, and Lance is the Co-Founder of Forester Film.
Our other finalists include Brandon Gerber and Rob Mitrevski in the Brand Champion category. Brandon is the Founder and Steward of BCG Capital, and Rob is the President of Golden Dome Strategy & Integration for L3 Harris Technologies.
In the Entrepreneurship category, the other finalists were Chris Ratay and Jerod Hevel. Chris is the General Manager of the Bradley, and Jerod is the Vice President of Innovation and Strategy of Rival.
Ashley Wagner and Kent Castleman were the other finalists in the Social Impact category. Ashley is the Market Manager for the YLNI Farmers Market, while Kent is the Executive Director of the Fort Wayne Trails.
We also, in partnership with Junior Achievement, awarded our second Junior Pioneer to Raydin Garrett, who runs Amend Landscaping and is a 3DE Student.
A first for the event, we presented our first-ever Pioneering Perseverance Award to John Guingrich, President and CEO of The League.
Thanks to all our partners who helped us organize the event, especially our Platinum Sponsor Lake City Bank, and our Gold Sponsors Junction 36 and the University of Saint Francis.
Their support helped us in every aspect of the event and was truly appreciated by all.
We look forward to seeing you all again next year!
-SACKETT!!!
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