Wednesday, January 25, 2012
 
sponsored by

Chamber congratulates Pride & Progress winners

Send a link to a friend

[January 25, 2012]  The Lincoln/Logan County Chamber of Commerce had its annual dinner Saturday, celebrating excellence in Logan County. The event spotlighted the chamber's success in 2011, introduced the new board members and was highlighted with Pride & Progress Awards. The event was at the American Legion and was attended by over 120 community members.

The evening was a wrap-up of 2011 and the success the chamber experienced under the past president, Donna Boyd, and a "ringing in" of the new year with the 2012 president, Eric Graue. Community members from all over Logan County came together to show their pride in the chamber's accomplishments and to embark on a new year.

The Pride & Progress Awards are sponsored by the chamber's executive committee and are designed to recognize outstanding achievement and promote positive awareness of local businesses. The Pride & Progress Awards celebrate and acknowledge excellence, innovation, initiative, community involvement, and are a thank you to those who go the extra mile to make Logan County a great place to live, work and play. 

The award recipients are nominated by community members and judged independently by a committee using scoring criteria for questions related to the award. All scores are then tabulated, and the 2011 nominations resulted in the following:

The New Business of the Year was given to Anytime Fitness, because they opened in 2011 and are making fitness a top priority in the minds of residents in Logan County. Anytime Fitness already has 450 members and has been open for only a couple of months. They offer personal and group training and make sure that each person is making exercise a part of their routine. Of the 279 Anytime Fitness facilities that were opened in 2011, the Lincoln facility was ranked No. 4. Chris and Jamie Beard, local partners of Anytime Fitness, accepted this award.

The Beautification Award winner was Lincoln Theater 4. The owner of the theater made sure the renovations were going to attract more people but still keep the historic look alive. He was successful in doing that, and many people appreciate the historic look that this building still has. The results speak for themselves and truly have made Lincoln and Logan County a more beautiful place to live. David Lanterman, owner of the Lincoln Theater 4, was on hand to accept this Beautification Award.

NAPA Auto Parts received the Excellence in Service award for dedication to the community of Lincoln. Each employee of NAPA Auto Parts makes sure you are helped when you walk in the door and that you feel welcome until you get in your car to leave. The owners of this business are very involved in the community and make sure that each customer is served at the most convenient times, with changing hours for different seasons. The owners, Dave and Diane Campbell, were in attendance to accept this award.

[to top of second column]

The Ambassador of the Year for 2011 was Marcia Cook. Marcia received the award for attending ribbon-cuts, Business After Hours and other chamber events, encouraging chamber membership and being an overall ambassador and steward of Logan County. It is rare that there is an event in Logan County that Marcia is not in attendance to support.

Graue Inc. was the recipient of the 2011 Distinguished Business of the Year for being a business that not only serves their customers, but also the community of Lincoln and Logan County as a whole. The staff at Graue spends a lot of their time volunteering for events and giving to charities, as well as making sure their customers always have a way to get where they need to be. With most of the staff being Logan County residents, this business will always have a hometown spirit. Graue Inc. is heavily involved in every event at the chamber as well as many events around the Lincoln and Logan County area. Chris Graue, owner of Graue Inc., along with many other staff members, was there to accept this award.

The Mike Abbott Volunteer of the Year went to Joe Fitzpatrick, who went above and beyond in the biggest event the chamber puts on, the Lincoln Art & Balloon Festival. Without Joe's help, the festival would be not what it is today. Since 2005, when the festival first moved to the airport, Joe was there to help with the planning and build-out of the electrical infrastructure required for the event. Thousands of dollars in materials and countless man-hours were donated to help make the event successful. Since then, Joe works weeks in advance to make sure that everything is taken care of. Many trips from downtown to the airport are made, and he is always on hand during the festival if anything is needed. After the festival, Joe is back to help take it all down. Joe was in attendance to accept his award.

The annual dinner and the Pride & Progress Awards are part of the chamber's mission to serve the membership through a commitment to the economic prosperity of Lincoln and Logan County.

[Text from file received from the Lincoln/Logan County Chamber of Commerce]

< Top Stories index

Back to top


 

News | Sports | Business | Rural Review | Teaching and Learning | Home and Family | Tourism | Obituaries

Community | Perspectives | Law and Courts | Leisure Time | Spiritual Life | Health and Fitness | Teen Scene
Calendar | Letters to the Editor