Cutting the ribbon on their new Valparaiso branch made a special day of August 16th for Oak Partners Inc. On top of being proud of the accomplishment, Oak Partners Inc. was able to celebrate the 4th location bringing the business home.
More than half of the firm's partners and employees live in Valparaiso. Clint Henry, a partner of the firm, said he now has a five minute walk to work.
“I was pushing for this office,” he said. “I wanted frontage on Lincolnway, so everyone knows we have a presence.”
Jason Urbaniak, a senior partner, agreed that Valparaiso was the perfect place to expand the business. “We wanted a location representative of the partners,” he explained. “We wanted our friends and family to have easy access to us.”
The building was a familiar one: Oak Partners designed it to be as close in cosmetics to their other locations. No one can say that one branch is better than another.
“We want [our clients] to have the same experience as in other locations. It’s all about the client experience- this [location] allows us to do educational events, fun events,” said Mario Ruiz, another senior partner.
Their dream is to have a beer garden at the popcorn festival.
“We want to make it convenient for our clientele,” said Ruiz. Their Porter County clients used to have to drive to Lake County to enjoy Oak Partners’ parties.
Kyle Hovanec, representing JM2 Webdesigners, said his company likes to see others succeed and grow in the city. “We believe in supporting the business community of Valparaiso. When a business like this comes up it works toward the rest of us building up.”
