By: Julie Foster, Lincoln News Messenger
3:07 PM PST
A surprised Bob Romness tearfully accepted the first award
presented at the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce Kickoff Breakfast
for 2005 Wednesday morning.
"I don't know if I can get through this," Romness, director
of the Lincoln Volunteer Center, said of receiving the first
Chuck Wing Spirit Award for Community Service at the annual
chamber event honoring local businesses for their contributions to the community.
Wing, who passed away last summer, was the longest serving
chamber board member.
Along with receiving the spirit award, Romness' name will
be put on a gold plaque attached to a chair that will be placed
in the chamber office in Wing's honor.
Harvi Callaham, executive director of the chamber, noted that she
had wanted a wingback chair, which Wing would have liked,
but the office was too small.
"We all know and appreciate what Chuck did for our community and I know I have big shoes to fill," Romness said.
About 200 people attending the breakfast also witnessed the
presentation of the new chamber board. Mark Luster with Sierra
Pacific Industries is the new chamber president.
During award presentation that followed, it was Callaham's turn
in the spotlight. She was given the President's Award for significant contributions to the chamber.
"I could not have done this without my wonderful staff and
a great board," Callaham said. "We are almost to 500 members, so
let's keep growing."
Award presenter Jan Kovacs-Jones said that as the personification
of hard work and dedication, chamber ambassador Julie
Crespin - a marketing and sales consultant for the News Messenger
- won the Ambassador of the Month award.
"I love being involved in this city and I appreciate this
acknowledgment," Crespin said.
The program then moved on to awards for outstanding local
business. Awards were presented to outstanding small, medium, large and
major businesses, grouped by the number of employees.
"The 19 nominees for Business of the Year were judged by a
panel of seven chamber directors and a point system for the 2004
winners," Callaham said.
Outgoing chamber president Judy Bennett said all chamber members in good standing were invited to nominate a business they
believed enhanced and promoted the chamber mission over the past
year. A committee was then selected from board volunteers to go
over the nominations. Callaham and her staff then added up
the points based on participation in the chamber and community,
contributions made to the business industry as a whole and
contributions or in-kind support benefiting the chamber.
Plaques were awarded to the businesses receiving the most
points.
"Even the committee members did not know which businesses
won," Bennett said.
The Lincoln News Messenger won in the small business category
of one to five employees. Tom Taylor, senior publisher of
Gold Country Media, accepted the award.
"The staff at the News Messenger in honored by this award,"
Taylor said. "It is nice to be recognized for the effort the
staff puts in week after week to bring the news of the community
to our readers, and even just as important is the
individual volunteerism that our employees do in the community.
The leadership of general manager Jean Lund has been instrumental in
the News Messenger being a big part of both the business
community and the community at large."
The award for the business with six to 25 employees went to
Richland Planned Communities.
"We are very honored to be selected as one of the businesses of the year," said Tom Kollen, vice president of
operations for Richland. "It is rewarding for us to make a contribution to a growing and vibrant community like
Lincoln."
Callaham noted that Lincoln palates were happy with the winner of
the large business award, Buonarroti Ristorante, with 26 to
100 employees.
Award recipient Kathy Alcantaro expressed disappointment that
her business partner and husband, Daniel Alcantaro, was not
able to attend the breakfast.
"I wish Daniel could have been here," she said. "I am very
surprised and so honored to be a part of this community, this has
been such a great experience."
With an annual payroll of $44 million, Thunder Valley Casino
took home the award for Major Business of the Year. Director of marketing and awards for Thunder Valley, Bob Almo,
accepted the award.
"We just want to thank everybody that has supported us over
the last two years," he said.
Almo noted how much he had enjoyed working with the community and plans to continue to be a good community
sponsor.
Good community relations for the chamber are a priority for incoming chamber president Luster.
"I hope to enhance and improve the communications within
our business community," he said.
Luster stressed that he hoped to be able to help provide valuable information for the business community so it can
prosper.
"It is good to be of service and give something back to the community," he said.
