By K.D. Norris
The 37th annual meeting of the Wyoming-Kentwood Chamber of Commerce was a night for recognition of local business leaders, local government leaders who support the business community, and the wide array of volunteers who support the chamber — volunteers ranging from the chairman of the chamber board to the people who make sure everybody has name tags at such events.
“Volunteers are very important to the chamber, without them we could not do a lot of things we do, including this event,” chamber president Bob O’Callaghan said.
The evening event, held Friday, Jan. 26, at the Doubletree by Hilton on 28th St. SE, included “state of local business” reports by O’Callaghan, Kentwood Mayor Steven Kepley and Wyoming City Councilor Kent VanderWood — all three of which made light of a changing big-screened image of the chamber logo which alternated between reading “Wyoming-Kentwood Area Chamber of Commerce” and “Kentwood-Wyoming Area Chamber of Commerce”.
Chamber board chairperson Michelle Born-Fischer also introduced the 2018 chamber Board of Directors.
But it was the nights award winners who were the buzz of the evening. (And O’Callaghan talked about the awards and other chamber activities to WKTV Journal earlier that day.)
The Business of the Year awards went to Dyna-Plate Inc. for Manufacturing, Wyoming’s Buffalo Wild Wings for Retail, and – in probably the most widely applauded award winner of the night — JA PR Group, and Jessica Ann Tyson, for Service.
The Daniel McLaren Committee of the Year Award went to the volunteers behind the 28th Street Metro Cruise, and the Gerald E. Fessell Distinguished Service Award went to Mike Zomerlei of Diversified Protection and Investigations LLC.
But seeing as how the chamber — from its board, to many of its committees, to much of its event management staff — is a volunteer “opportunity”, there was special appreciation given to the all the chamber’s volunteers including the two winners of the Daniel VanDyke Volunteer of the Year Award: Kate Pyles of Sterling Massey — State Farm Insurance, and Juliette Cowall of Guided Communications.
And both Pyles and Cowell, after receiving their awards, spoke on the importance of the volunteer work.
“It is as way to give back, it is a way to support my business and to support the chamber,” Pyles said. While Cowell added: “For me it about getting involved with the chamber, establishing relationships with other people in the chamber.”
For more information on the WKACC visit southkent.org . For more photos of the event, visit the chamber’s Facebook page at @wkaccambassadors .
