About
The City of Hammond is an ever-growing city; the largest in Lake County. Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. shared that the city is constantly working to improve quality of life whether that means bringing out the natural beauty of the city’s front-row seat to Lake Michigan, paving the way for new educational opportunities, or bringing a continual flow of new economic development for Hammond.
Challenges
Although there are so many good things happening in Hammond, McDermott often saw the negative outshine the positive. Good news did not get the attention it deserved in Hammond and did not spread throughout Lake, Porter, and La Porte County the way McDermott thought it should.
Solution
Early on in GreatNews.Life’s history, McDermott connected with GreatNews.Life and has maintained that relationship for many years. After meeting with GreatNews.Life Founder Chris Mahlmann, McDermott quickly saw the value of positivity.
“Chris and I met each other about a decade ago,” McDermott said. “I think I was the first mayor that supported GreatNews.Life. I got invited out to the house in Valparaiso, where it was originally stationed. Chris and I sat there for about 45 minutes before I went on the air, and we talked about the stock market and baseball. Then we went on the air, and he talked about just positive things. I thought, ‘Wow, this is really refreshing.’”
With GreatNews.Life’s audiences through NWI.Life, Valpo.Life, Portage.Life, and LaPorteCounty.Life. McDermott is now able to guarantee that the good people and happenings in Hammond are elevated on an all-positive platform.
McDermott is able to shed light on Hammond’s positive celebrations, events, projects, jobs, and news, finding ways to use GreatNews.Life’s far-reaching platforms. These platforms include its websites as well as its social networks, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram. This active communication between the City of Hammond and GreatNews.Life has helped to cultivate a relationship that continues to grow.
“I’ve never really let my guard down around reporters, but I know Chris is trying to find the good in people. I think that’s wonderful, and quite frankly, it’s missing,” McDermott said. “Nowadays, usually when the media is calling, it’s not over something positive. That’s not the case with GreatNews.Life–that’s why I like it, that’s why I support it, and that’s why Hammond supported it for the past decade.”