Welcome to the pilot of our Meet Your Indiana Business section. We’re very excited to bring to you, a close up and personal view of people and businesses in and around Northwest Indiana.

It’s no secret that our economy has been taking a turn for the worse and there have been many businesses that have been affected by this which trickles down to the employees who work for these businesses. One company that has employed many people in Northwest Indiana and the surrounding areas for many years is the Ford Motor Co. which is a very well respected and aged company, but the fact is Ford has either been laying off, or buying out many of their employees to pave the way for their new reconstruction.

As a result of these actions being taken by Ford and many other companies as of late, many people are being forced to change their lives as far as making money. We have been talking to some people that have already lost their jobs permanently in Northwest Indiana in the last week. We talked about their situations and what their future plans are mostly and I have to say that I was personally surprised at the great attitudes that people have towards meeting a new challenge in life. We talked to one person in particular that has been faced with changing her life and we felt that she was a perfect story to share with our viewers.

We’ve had the pleasure this week to visit with Jorie Tapley. Jorie was born and raised in Crown Point Indiana which she spent most of her life, but now resides in DeMotte Indiana with her husband and three kids. Jorie is an ex employee of the Ford Motor Co. as of approximately 18 months ago and she told us that when she found out that she was going to have to move on into something else, she immediately thought that it was a great opportunity to pursue something else. I personally was moved by her cheery personality as well as her very positive outlook about the future. Great things come out of bad situations if you go through them with a positive attitude she told us.

Jorie has enjoyed making candles and wax gifts for many years as a hobby. She has a friend in DeMotte who at one time was pretty serious in the same thing. They got together one day for a visit, and in that visit a great idea was born. Jorie decided to make an offer for the equipment that was once used by her friend to go into her new venture which is the Soy Passion Candle and Gift Company. This has always been a dream of mine, Jorie explained.

We are told that the Soy Passion name has a couple of different meanings to it. Jorie stated that she has always been a bit of an environmentalist and when soy wax products came out, she was thrilled with the idea of making something for people who want to think Green! As far as the Passion, she tells us that she absolutely loves her work and she has a great passion to offer products to the public that she believes in. I was amazed to see the great selection of products that she has when we visited her facility located in DeMotte Indiana. She offers soy candles, scented fragrance oils, melting tarts as well as wax bears and critters which I thought was very cool and would make a great gift for anyone. There are so many different candle scents that the list is to long to list! I particularly liked the different food scents that are offered such as Chocolate Brownie and Banana Bread. They smell amazing! She has a very well maintained facility to do her work and I have to say that I was very impressed by the quality that she puts into her products.

In the 18 months that she has been in business, Jorie has been getting great reviews on her products and a few local stores are now offering the Soy Passion line. She and her husband Scott have been very busy in the last 14 months with doing shows such as County fairs and different types of arts and crafts festivals within a 100 mile radius in Indiana we are told. Jorie also told us that she has had many requests to wholesale some of her products for others to offer in e-commerce websites which is something that she is considering. After visiting her operation, I believe that it would be a fantastic way for people to offer quality candles and gifts online to areas all around the world if she did offer something like that. Everybody likes a quality product! She has recently opened SoyPassion.com which is an online shopping facility for her products which I strongly encourage our readers to have a look to see the great products that she offers, and even comment to this story.

I would like to thank Jorie Tapley for allowing us to have a look at her life for a bit and I have to say I was very pleased to write the story after all was said and done. It is people like Jorie that will survive the economic roller coaster of life by simply having a positive and diligent attitude. You can contact Jorie Tapley, or the Soy Passion Candle Company by using the details below. Thanks again and we wish you great success!

Jorie Tapley

The Soy Passion Candle Company

Wheatfield Indiana

219-956-4829

sales@soypassion.com

Online Shopping at www.soypassion.com