The philosophy of BNI (Business Network International) is built upon the idea of "Givers Gain®": By giving business to others, you will get business in return. The mission of BNI is to help members increase their business through a structured, positive, and professional "word-of-mouth" program that enables them to develop long-term, meaningful relationships with quality business professionals. Last year alone, 200,000+ members of BNI passed 6.6M referrals which generated $9.3B of business for its members! BNI is a business and professional networking organization that allows only one person per professional classification or specialty to join a chapter. BNI was brought to Northern Indiana in late 1995 by Mark Botts, owner of Doors & Drawers, Inc. Doors & Drawers is a cabinet refacing company and Mark was looking for a referral organization that "worked" so his sales reps could participate and generate new business for the company. Having seen BNI "work" in Toledo, Ohio Mark volunteered to become a BNI Director to start a couple of chapters in the area to benefit his refacing company, and it has! BNI also worked very well for other business professionals. The "couple of chapters" have now turned into 21 with nearly 500 members in the Northern Indiana Region.