> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://bsquarebulletin.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Editor’s Notebook: Big names did their jobs at the luncheon. So did the servers. - URL: https://bsquarebulletin.com/editors-notebook-big-names-did-their-jobs-at-the-luncheon-so-did-the-servers/ - Published: 2026-10-20T17:48:46.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-20T17:50:01.000Z - Description: At an economic development luncheon featuring Indiana's governor and IU's president, one of the servers was the mother of a Bloomington man held in immigration detention. As officials discussed jobs and opportunity, she was working to serve lunch on the day her son was granted a $15,000 bond. - Author: Dave Askins - Tags: Editor's Notes, #no-inline-feature ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/20/6f/206f9007-c0a7-47d4-b87b-686c21961f22/content/images/2026/10/2026-10-19-IBJ-lunch-hall-of-champions-PXL_20261019_170846532.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/20/6f/206f9007-c0a7-47d4-b87b-686c21961f22/content/images/2026/10/cropped-jennyortiz.png) ****Left:** Panelists from left are Pat East (Co-owner, Darn Good Soup), Brad Wisler (Partner, Paragraph Venture Studio), Pamela Whitten (President, Indiana University), Tina Peterson (President and CEO, Community Foundation of Bloomington and Monroe County), Kyle Werner (Deputy technical director, Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division), and Gerry Dick (Inside INdiana Business). (Dave Askins, Oct. 19, 2026) ****Right:** Jenny Ortiz, mother of Manuel Alejandro Nadal Ortiz, in the Hall of Champions before the OSU vs. IU football game on (courtesy photo) At the Henke Hall of Champions at Indiana Memorial Stadium on Monday (Oct. 19), Indiana Gov. Mike Braun had a job to do. He was there to talk about Indiana’s economic future and his administration’s efforts to promote business growth. Indiana University President Pamela Whitten also had a job to do. As host of the Indianapolis Business Journal’s Innovate South Central Indiana luncheon, she highlighted IU’s role in creating jobs, developing talent and supporting the regional economy. Pat East, who is now probably best known locally as the guy who brought Darn Good Soup back to downtown Bloomington, also had a job to do on Monday. As one of the panelists, he talked about the importance of preserving existing small businesses, whose owners are retiring in large numbers. Unless someone takes over those businesses, East pointed out, the jobs they support will disappear. The servers at the luncheon also had jobs to do. They brought food to the tables, attended to the guests, and helped make the event run smoothly. One of those servers was Jenny Ortiz. Her son, Manuel Alejandro Nadal Ortiz, has been held in federal immigration custody since Sept. 1, when immigration agents [detained him and another man](https://bsquarebulletin.com/immigration-judge-sets-10k-bond-for-bloomington-man-after-federal-habeas-win/) outside the Walmart on Bloomington’s west side. When Manuel was detained, had a job. He worked as a delivery driver, with authorization to work in the United States while his asylum case was pending. On Monday, at the same time when his mother was helping to serve lunch to the governor, an immigration judge was holding a bond hearing. The judge granted Manuel a $15,000 bond. The amount of such bonds has to be paid in full. That was the latest development in a legal struggle that had already lasted almost seven weeks. A federal judge [ruled last Thursday](https://bsquarebulletin.com/second-bloomington-immigration-detainee-wins-federal-court-order-for-bond-hearing/) that Manuel was entitled to an individualized bond hearing or else release from custody. The $15,000 bond means he has a potential path out of detention, if his bond can be paid, while his underlying asylum case continues. Early in Monday’s program, Whitten made a point of recognizing the VIPs in the room. She wasn’t talking about the governor, or the business executives. She meant the students. Whitten asked the IU students in attendance to stand so everyone could recognize them. It was a fitting gesture for an event devoted to the region’s economic future. The students represent the workforce, entrepreneurs and community leaders of the next generation. Of course, the servers didn’t need to be asked to stand for recognition, because they were already standing, doing their jobs, delivering around 180 plates of baked chicken and vegetables to 25 different tables. That’s not any kind of argument against efforts to support economic development. Bloomington and the surrounding region need businesses, investment and jobs. The people onstage Monday were doing work that matters. But economic opportunity isn’t just a matter of creating new jobs or attracting new people. It also involves the lives of people who are here, already doing work that needs to be done. Like the governor, and the business leaders and the servers on Monday, I was there to do a job—as a journalist. I went to the Hall of Champions to listen to what the people at the microphones had to say about Bloomington’s economic future, and weave some words together into some kind of story about it. Of all the stories from Monday’s event, the one I found most compelling was about someone who wasn’t speaking into a microphone. She was serving lunch. --- Manuel’s family is raising money to cover his legal expenses and his bond with a [GoFundMe fundraiser](https://www.gofundme.com/f/bring-manuel-nadal-ortiz-home).