Greater Palm Bay Chamber Announces Businesses of the Year for 2011

14-Feb-2012

The Greater Palm Bay Chamber held their annual Installation and Awards Banquet on February 3rd and announced the winners of the 2011 Businesses of the Year according to Victoria Northrup, president and CEO. This year’s event was held in the private banquet room above Capt’N Hiram’s in Sebastian and was attended by area dignitaries as well as state, county and local elected officials. Large Business, Small Business and Distinguished Service are the chief categories along with Volunteer of the Year. The winner of the 2011 Large Business of the Year was Holiday Inn Express on Malabar Road in Palm Bay.

“Our new hotel was able to maximize our marketing efforts by capitalizing on our chamber membership benefits and succeeded phenomenally this past year,” general manager Puneet Kapur (PK) stated as he accepted the award. PK remarked that he took advantage of the chamber networking events to meet his potential customer base. In the first year of membership he stated the hotel booked large groups as a result of his chamber connections including government entities such as the Palm Bay Police, City of Palm Bay & others in the county.

In addition to receiving the awards, special Congressional Certificates were handed out by Rob Medina of U.S. Congressman Bill Posey’s office. This is the first year that Palm Bay Chamber award winners were presented with this certificate personally signed by the congressman who was not able to attend the event but sent the following statement:

“Small businesses are the backbone of our economy,” stated Congressman Bill Posey. “It’s a real privilege to honor our local businesses that have gone above and beyond their role in making a significant investment in our communities.”

Two companies tied for the 2011 Small Business of the Year. Done Right Contracting and Al Dia Today bilingual newspaper both received the honors and each also received a congressional certificate. Distinguished Service Award of the Year was presented to Sutton Properties for their continued support over the past twenty years to the city of Palm Bay and the business community. Volunteer of the Year was awarded to Lynne Jonkoski, a two-year volunteer with the chamber.

For the second year, the Golden Palm Award, designed to recognize one committee that performs above the expectations of the board of directors by either succeeding in their first year or to an existing committee that evolves into a dynamic group that exceeds all goals. This year’s winner was the new Multicultural Committee led by committee chairman Javier Molinares. Two additional awards were announced this year – the Platinum Palm that recognizes a business or organization that gone the extra mile to help the Palm Bay Chamber and fully supports the chamber by attending as many events as possible. This first-time award was presented to A Taste of Thai Restaurant, Mr. Aoy Tristophan.

The second new award, the Crystal Palm, was designed to recognize one employee of the Chamber that went beyond the call of duty in 2011 and made the organization a better place through efforts in creating and executing successful programs. The 2011 award went to Denise Beasley, formerly the Senior Marketing Specialist.

Palm Bay City Manager Sue Hann officiated the oath of office and installed the new board of directors. The incoming board of directors includes:
Cindy Forstall, Wells Fargo Bank as Chair
Danny Timothy, El Chico Mexican Restaurant as Incoming Chairman (not in attendance)
Nancy Domonousky, Peninsula Title as Treasurer
Tari Fazekas, MIMA as Secretary (not in attendance)
Stuart Borton, YellowDog Café as Immediate Past Chair
Joe Raley, State Farm Insurance as Vice Chair
Dr. Jeff MonteLeon, Life Force Chiropractic as Vice Chair
George Geletko, Waste Management as Vice Chair
Vicki Mays, PIP Printing as Director
Al Sharie, Liberty Cartridge as Director (not in attendance)
Larry Loschiavo, Health-First as Director
Vaughn Holeman, HSA Architects as Director
Jennifer Crumpler, TD Bank as Director
Puneet Kapur, Holiday Inn Express as Director
Javier Molinares, Al Dia Today as Director
Donn Miller-Kermani, Florida Tech Women’s Center as Director (not in attendance)
Mike Hazlett, American Recycled Plastics as Director
Skip Allgood, Shuttle Carts, Founder and Director
Ray Grady, Founder and Director (not in attendance)

The Greater Palm Bay Chamber of Commerce, formed in 1989, has more than 900 active, courtesy and prospective members and is accredited with the US Chamber of Commerce with a four-star ranking, a distinguished honor bestowed to select Chambers and the only chamber in the US aligned with an international “sister” chamber in Cashel, Ireland.

Interested companies wishing to attend the event or join the chamber may contact the chamber at 321-951-9998 Monday through Friday 9am to 5pm. Additional information can be found on the website: www.greaterpalmbaychamber.com.

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