The Indiana Chamber announced today that former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich has signed on to speak at the 19th Annual Awards Dinner to be held Thursday, Nov. 6. This celebrated event will be held in the Indiana Convention Center’s Sagamore Ballroom in downtown Indianapolis.

Gingrich served as Speaker of the House from 1995 to 1999, and was named as Time magazine’s Person of the Year in 1995. Gingrich now works as a political analyst and consultant, and his latest book, Real Change: From the World that Fails to the World that Works, hit stores in January.

The 2007 Annual Awards Dinner speaker was Rev. Martin Luther King III. To register for the dinner, please visit the Indiana Chamber’s online registration page.

A Wednesday Indianapolis Star article in the Careers section highlighted a quintet of the Best Places to Work in Indiana companies for 2008. They — and the 61 other companies to be honored at the May 7 awards dinner – deserve the recognition.

But the actual rankings won’t be revealed until the May 7 Indiana Chamber event. The only clue is the late February press release that identified the companies (in alphabetical order).

It’s the third year of the Best Places to Work program. The biggest awards celebration and most special edition of BizVoice magazine (all dinner attendees will walk away with a copy in addition to the 15,000 regular recipients) will cap the program in 27 days.

There’s always next year. Applications will open in July. Stay tuned.