Congratulations go out to all of this yearâs âExcellence in Businessâ award winners and finalists from Wesley Chapel. The annual honors were presented by the North Tampa Bay Chamber (NTBC) at its awards gala held at TrebleMakers Dueling Piano Bar & Restaurant in The Grove on Nov. 17.
Among this yearâs award winners were Jennie Yingling of both Spinner Law and the Rotary Club of Wesley Chapel, who was honored with the âCommunity Heroâ award; Avalon Park Wesley Chapel, which took home the âExcellence in Innovationâ award; and to Parks Ford and AdventHealth Wesley Chapel, which (no pun intended) shared the âInnovation in Collaborationâ honors (the first-ever tie for an NTBC award, according to Chamber president & CEO Hope Kennedy). Other winners included Pepin Academy (âInclusivityâ) and SOF Missions (âIntegrityâ).Â
Jennie Yingling (âCommunity Heroâ)Avalon Park Wesley Chapel (âExcellence in Innovationâ)Parks Ford (âInnovation in Collaborationâ)AdventHealth Wesley Chapel (âInnovation in Collaborationâ)Pepin Academy (âInclusivityâ)SOF Missions (âIntegrityâ)
Assn. of Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE) Executive Committee chair Carlos Phillips (far left) and ACCE president & CEO Sheree Anne Kelly (far right) pose with (l.-r.) membership director Jen Tussing, president & CEO Hope Kennedy & foundation chair Michael Berthelette of the North Tampa Bay Chamber, at the ACCE awards event last month, where the NTBC was again a finalist for Chamber of the Year. (Photo provided by Hope Kennedy).
Both this year and last, the North Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce (NTBC) has been named one of three finalists for Chamber of the Year in its category by the nationwide Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE).
Both years, the NTBC has come up short of winning the award, but thatâs not stopping this busy chamber or its leadership team. âWin or lose, itâs such an honor to be a finalist, and no other chamber in any of the four categories was named a finalist the last two years,â says NTBC President and chief executive officer Hope Kennedy. âIt was hard for us to come home without the top prize again, but weâre still so proud of the work weâve done and the successes weâve had.â
Kennedy says the application process, which the NTBC has gone through âfor each of the last ten years or so, is extensive and difficult,â as the ACCE has more than 1,800 member chambers of commerce and business organizations of all sizes and locations across the country.
Kennedy also notes that the NTBC also was again the finalist with the smallest paid staff (just two â Kennedy and membership director Jen Tussing). By comparison, the Pearland (TX) Chamber, which won this yearâs award in the NTBCâs Category 1 (for chambers with less than $500,000 in annual revenues), has a staff of six.
Neither current NTBC Board chair Justin Keeney, the VP and senior portfolio manager of Fifth Third Bank, or immediate past chair Javan Grant of Slater Grant, was able to travel to Salt Lake City for this yearâs ACCE 2023 Awards Ceremony on Aug. 1, so foundation chair and 2021 Board chair Michael Berthelette of Platinum Salon made the trip with Kennedy and Tussing.
âEven some of the larger Chambers in our area â including the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce â have applied to be Chamber of the Year the last two years without even being named a finalist,â Kennedy says. âWe take a lot of pride in what we do and what we have accomplished.â
How You Can Get Involved!
Although being a finalist for Chamber of the Year is a big honor and is based on a variety of factors â including membership retention, advocacy, community involvement and more â the bottom line is that the NTBC also exists to help small businesses.
The Chamber features a variety of ongoing activities, including the following:
âą Breakfast-1st Tues. of each month
âą Luncheon-2nd Tues. of each month
âą Leading Ladies Network (formerly
WOW)-1st Fri. of each Month
âą Final Friday-Last Fri. of each month
âą Coffee Social-3rd Wed. of each Month
âą Member Orientation-4th Wed. of each mo.
The NTBC also offers member businesses the opportunity to host ribbon cuttings at their locations, as well as a variety of annual events, including the upcoming Wesley Chapel Fall Festival the weekend of Oct. 28-29 (co-sponsored by Floridaâs Sports Coast and Penguin Productions).
Also upcoming is the NTBCâs Celebrating Excellence in Business awards gala (on Thursday, November 16) and nominations for the Excellence in Innovation, Collaboration, Integrity, Inclusivity and the Community Hero award are now open. The Chamber also will host its third annual 5K Honor Run in February.
For more information about joining the North Tampa Bay Chamber, visit NorthTampaBayChamber.org or call (813) 994-8534.
Our hearty congratulations go out to all of the winners of the 2022 North Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce (NTBC) Excellence in Business awards, who were presented with their trophies at the NTBCâs annual âCelebrating Excellenceâ awards banquet on Nov. 10, at Treble Makers Dueling Piano Bar & Restaurant in The Grove at Wesley Chapel.
Hosted by NTBC Chairman Javan Grant and the Chamberâs president and CEO Hope Kennedy, the Excellence in Business awards event was a super-fun evening of delicious food, beverages, music and festivities, as several Wesley Chapel- and New Tampa-based businesses were finalists for the four awards which, as Kennedy explained, are the four guiding principles of the Chamber â Integrity, Collaboration, Inclusivity and Innovation.
Two businesses located in Wesley Chapel â Junkluggers, which won the Innovation Award, and RADDSports, which won the Integrity Award (and also was nominated for the Collaboration Award), ended up taking home top honors, while Wesley Chapel-based Innovation Preparatory School (Innovation), Blue Heron Senior Living (Integrity) and RAW Space Collaborative (Inclusivity) and New Tampa-based Shred 360 (Integrity) all made it to the top-three vote-getters among the NTBCâs Board member judges, but didnât end up winning their respective awards.
The other award winners, which arenât located in New Tampa or Wesley Chapel were AmSkills, Inc. (based in Holiday), which won the Collaboration Award, and the Pace Center for Girls in New Port Richey, which took home this yearâs Inclusivity Award.
Also honored at the event was Rotary District 6950 (of which the Rotary Club of Wesley Chapel Noon is a member club), which took home the Community Hero Award for the Districtâs efforts to help Hurricane Ian victims in Ft. Myers.
District 6950 Governor Troy Willingham accepted the award on behalf of the District, and he was joined on stage by numerous members of the Wesley Chapel club, which helped spearhead the collection of truckloads of much-needed supplies that were brought to Ft. Myers.
Congratulations again to all of the winners, finalists and 93 total nominees!
For membership and other information about the North Tampa Bay Chamber (1868 Highland Oaks Blvd., Suite A, Lutz), call (813) 994-8534, or visit NorthTampaBayChamber.com.
CEO Hope Kennedy has had a hand in putting Wesley Chapel on the map with her stewardship of the former Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce, now known as the North Tampa Bay Chamber (NTBC).
Hope Kennedy
Later this month, Wesley Chapel, and its massive growth, could play a hand in putting the Chamber itself on the map.
On July 26, Allen and Board member Michael Berthelette will be in Indianapolis answering questions from the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE) judges in a final test to see if the NTBC is named the Small Chamber of the Year for the entire country.
The extensive application process got the NTBC to the finals, but the 45-minute Q-&-A session on July 26 will account for 2/3 of the NTBCâs score.
The following night, at the Awards Show at ACCEâs annual convention in Indianapolis, the winners will be revealed.
âWhen I first looked at the application I giggled,â Kennedy says, referring to how difficult it looked. âBut Javan (Grant, the current Board chair) convinced me to do it. (The application) ended up being 31 pages long. Itâs very comprehensive. However, the end result is that we are a Chamber of the Year finalist.â
The NTBC touted two of its programs in 2020-21 in its application â a Road Show in which Kennedy went to businesses during the Covid-19 pandemic and filmed interviews for social media, letting people know which businesses were still open, and the Chamberâs reimagined Celebration of Excellence awards program, which was held both in-person and virtual last November.
The NTBC is a finalist in Category 1, the smallest category, along with the Mason City (IA) Chamber and the Zionsville (IN) Chamber.
The ACCE is comprised of more than 1,600 Chambers of Commerce from across the U.S. It will name four winners in four different categories (according to size, budget and location of the chamber).
âThis is the Academy Awards for Chambers of Commerce, Kennedy says. âFor me, this is the pinnacle of my career.â
The NTBC has 570 members, many of which are from Wesley Chapel and New Tampa, although there also are member businesses located in western Pasco and north Pinellas counties. Kennedy said when she started at the Wesley Chapel Chamber 11 years ago, there were roughly 200 members.
Awards are nothing new for the NTBC, which won the 2019 Small Chamber of the Year for the state of Florida from the Florida Association of Chamber Professionals (FACP).
Although Jannah and I had to miss this yearâs âExcellence in Businessâ Awards Gala, hosted on Nov. 7 by the North Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce (NTBC) at Tampa Palms Golf & Country Club (for the first time), we had a pretty good reason â Jannahâs daughter Lauren gave birth to the first of our two new grandchildren â the precious Rosalie (âRosieâ) Carolyn Cione â at almost exactly the same time, on the same day, as the event.
But, even though we missed the gala, I still wanted to congratulate this yearâs award winners. As a former âSmall Business of the Yearâ award winner (in 2014) for the former Wesley Chapel Chamber, I know how nice it is to accept one of these awards:
Small Business of the Year – Advisor Magazine
New Business of the Year – Hilton Garden Inn Tampa-Wesley Chapel
Large Business of the Year – AdventHealth Wesley Chapel
Entrepreneur of the Year – Slater âą Grant
Board Member of the Year – Michael Berthelette, Platinum Hair Salon
Volunteer of the Year – Cam Caudle, Shred 360
Congratulations to all of the winners and finalists! And, as always, the attendees were all well-dressed and ready to enjoy the party!
Thanks to David Alvarez of DCI Media for taking these great pics in our absence!
For more information about the North Tampa Bay Chamber, call (813) 994-8534 or stop by the office at 1868 Highland Oaks Blvd., Suite A-1, Lutz. â GN
