Meet our Team

Interim CEO

Matt Wells

mwells@oneregionnwi.org

Matt Wells was recently appointed interim CEO of One Region and the Northwest Indiana Regional Opportunities Council at the beginning of August. He is also the Director of External Engagement & Partnerships at Purdue University Northwest, where he serves as the university’s primary business development executive and liaison to the public and private sectors. Matt has built up a diverse portfolio over the past ten years in a wide range of sectors critical to regional development, including agriculture, banking, healthcare, hospitality & tourism, K-12 education, public & non-profit administration, small business consulting, and workforce development. He serves on the board of directors for Junior Achievement of Chicago-NWI and the NWI Food Council.

Matt’s work has garnered numerous recognitions in recent years, including awards from AACSB International and the Mid-American Business Deans Association, and his work with the Indiana Bankers Association and a consortium of regional and community banks to create the first academic degree program in banking in the state of Indiana has been featured in Inside INdiana Business and the journal of the American Bankers Association. Matt was named as one of the NWI Times’s “20 Under 40 in Business” in 2018. He resides in Valparaiso, IN, where he and his wife own and operate a small counseling practice and try to keep up with their 7-year old son and three hyperactive dogs.

Board of Directors

• Chris White
  Publisher of the Northwest Indiana Times
• Colette Irwin-Knott
  Interim President of Valparaiso University
• BR Lane
  Helios Consulting
• Michael Bergerson
  Partner, Barnes & Thornburg