RADDSports, Junkluggers & WC Rotary Win Chamber Awards

RADDSports won this year’s Integrity Award.

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 NTBC’s annual “Celebrating Excellence” 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 Chamber’s 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 — Integrity, Collaboration, Inclusivity and Innovation.

Two businesses located in Wesley Chapel — 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 NTBC’s Board member judges, but didn’t end up winning their respective awards.

The other award winners, which aren’t 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 year’s 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 District’s 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.

Chamber Up For National  Award

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 NTBC’s score.

The following night, at the Awards Show at ACCE’s annual convention in Indianapolis, the winners will be revealed.

“When I first looked at the application I giggled,” Kennedy says, referring to how difficult it looked. “But Javan (Grant, the current Board chair) convinced me to do it. (The application) ended up being 31 pages long. It’s very comprehensive. However, the end result is that we are a Chamber of the Year finalist.”

The NTBC touted two of its programs in 2020-21 in its application — 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 Chamber’s 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).

“This is the Academy Awards for Chambers of Commerce, Kennedy says. “For me, this is the pinnacle of my career.”

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).

Recapping The North Tampa Bay Chamber’s Annual Awards Gala!

Although Jannah and I had to miss this year’s “Excellence in Business” 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 — Jannah’s daughter Lauren gave birth to the first of our two new grandchildren — the precious Rosalie (“Rosie”) Carolyn Cione — 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 year’s award winners. As a former “Small Business of the Year” 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 • 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. — GN