Our first “Chamber Connects” after hours mixer will be hosted by Brown’s Corner Dueling Piano Bar & Grill on Tues evening, Feb 9 from 5 to 7pm. There will be great food, music and networking. Plan now to join us and ask a friend! All employees of Chamber member businesses are invited as well as prospective members.
Congrats Fitzgerald Washington, Member of the Year!
The 109th annual celebration of The Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama celebrated progress and honored volunteers, community service and a year of achievements.
Randy Skagen, Vice President & General Manager of Nucor Steel of Tuscaloosa and 2009 Chairman of The Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama, presented the organization’s annual leadership honors and presided over the annual event.
Fitzgerald Washington, General Sales Manager of BuffaloRock/Pepsi, was honored as the recipient of the 2009 Charles H. Land Member of the Year, which is The Chamber’s highest honor to an individual member.
Washington was selected as the individual whose commitment and efforts contributed most to the advancement of the mission and objectives of The Chamber, and for his exceptional effective leadership of The Chamber’s organizational development initiatives over the past year.
The 10th annual Robert C. Tanner Corporate Service Award was presented to Ellis Architects. The award, which is the organization’s highest corporate honor, is given annually to recognize exceptional charitable, volunteer and philanthropic service by a corporate entity in the Tuscaloosa County/West Alabama region.
In addition, Candy Lowery of Bryant Bank was honored as The Chamber’s Ambassador of the Year, for her exceptional service to and on behalf of The Chamber’s membership. The Ambassadors are The Chamber’s official hosts for all Chamber functions and responsible for member relations.
The Chamber also recognized outstanding community leadership with the presentation of twelve Distinguished Service Awards, which are presented to individuals or organizations that have displayed effective service and leadership. The 2009 awards were presented to:
Jerry Belk, former Director of PARA, was recognized for his faithful leadership of the civic hall of fame over the past years and his community service.
George Hamner of The University of Alabama was cited for his efforts and leadership on behalf of The Chamber’s technology council and recent WiFi initiative on “The Strip”.
Donna Gilliland of MOSTraining was recognized for her outstanding training efforts on behalf of The Chamber’s small business and technology training programs.
Bryan Winter of Lewis-Smyth-Winter and Ryan deGraffenried III, of deGraffenried & Associates, were recognized for the effective leadership of The Chamber’s public affairs council during the past year.
Mike Case of The Westervelt Company and Tim Harrison of Harrison Construction were honored for their leadership and development of a regional career-technical high school concept.
Eric Larmore of Nucor Steel and Shane Daugherty of the City of Tuscaloosa were recognized for their efforts in environmental quality and The Chamber’s highly successful E-Cycling Day.
State Representatives Alan Harper and Chris England were cited for their efforts to bring a high level of awareness and community attention to the Bryce Hospital issue.
Don Staley, Executive Director of the Tuscaloosa Sports Foundation, was honored for his exceptional leadership of the foundation and the high successful Super Six Championship project.
The Chamber begins its 110th year of continuous operations in Tuscaloosa County, currently representing almost 1,100 businesses, industrial, professional and institutional members. The official transition to the 2010 leadership team was made at the annual celebration. Claude Edwards, President of Bryant Bank, will serve as the 2010 Chairman of The Chamber.
CHAMBER CHAMPIONS 2010 RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM KICKS
OFF
During 2009, The Chamber’s leadership developed
an aggressive bold strategic initiative – Direction 2012 –
which we believe provides a roadmap that will lead us to new levels
of service and productivity, address the challenges in our economy and
allow us to work toward building a more livable and progressive region.
While we understand and appreciate the uncertainties in
our economy and the pressures on the business community, we sincerely
believe that we all have to work together to transform a new horizon
of possibilities into results.
The Chamber Champions resource program has been highly
successful in building a fiscally sound organization, which we must
sustain to carry out our economic development mission; and implement
strategies that impact business growth and retention, education, workforce
development, legislative and public affairs activities, along with a
host of other member initiatives and services.
Chamber Champions is a great way to support the economic
development, education, and livability and at the same time receive
a great value in sponsorships, exposure for your company, free training,
free tickets to events and much more. For each dollar you invest in
Chamber Champions you will receive a double return on your investment.
To find out more about this great opportunity for our
member firms call us at 758-7588 or simply CLICK
HERE to download the brochure and choose your investment
level.
The 109th annual celebration of The Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama celebrated progress and honored volunteers, community service and a year of achievements.
