Most of the cars you drive, the planes you fly in and the medical equipment you rely on have pieces from a South Bend company called Manufacturing Technology, Inc., or MTI. It’s a fourth-generation welding business and won this year’s Indiana Chamber of Commerce Small Business of the Year Award.

"If you've had success in the past and you're currently struggling because of the economy the way it is now, find out what's worked for you in the past and stick to your core values," says Bob Adams, MTI owner.

Bob owns the company with his brother and sister. Together they make up the company’s forth generation. Their great-grandfather moved to South Bend in 1926 to start a company that would support the Studebaker-era.

"One of our core values is being a family company so we want to have an impact on the community," explains Dan Adams, MTI owner. "If every company did just a little bit of that, it'd be a better place to live."

MTI owners have taken their family values into helping the community. For example, employees go into classrooms and teach kids the basics of business.

"If you sit in a class with a fifth grader and you're teaching them some aspect of business and you see the gears turning and you see their eyes light up and they get it, then you know you've got a shot," says Doug Wait, MTI General Manager.

Another way MTI helps the community is at Monroe Circle Community Center. Companies, like MTI, hire people living in poverty so they get the first-hand experience they need to find another job.

"They not only provide a job for people but help them walk through and move from unemployment to employment," says Dan Blacketor, Monroe Circle Community Center.

"I actually like what I come and do everyday,” says Joe Bikowski, an MIT employee. “It's nice to be able to wake up in the morning and come do that."