The Chamber's Annual Meeting and Awards Presentation allows The Chamber to reflect on the accomplishments of the previous year, announce goals for the Chamber and includes the official swearing-in of the incoming Board of Directors of The Chamber and The Chamber Foundation.
Special Recognition awards to be presented are:
-- The ATHENA Award honors individuals who strive toward the highest levels of professional accomplishment. It recognizes women who excel in their chosen field, have devoted time and energy to their community in a meaningful way, and who also open paths so that others may follow. Sponsor for the ATHENA Award is First Commonwealth Bank.
To access the nomination form, click here. *Nominations are now closed*
-- The Donna D. Gority Servant Leadership Award was created to honor individuals within Blair County who demonstrate ongoing servant leadership. Servant leadership is a practical philosophy, which supports people who choose to serve first, and then lead, as a way of expanding service to individuals and institutions. Sponsor of the Donna D. Gority Servant Leadership Award is Reliance Bank. To access the nomination form, click here. *Nominations are now closed*
-- The George Award was created to honor an individual who has improved the community through volunteer efforts and who has received little or no publicity or recognition for their efforts. Sponsor of the George Award is Allegheny Lutheran Social Ministries. To access the nomination form, click here. *Nominations are now closed*
-- The Small Business Person of the Year Award is given to a business person with 50 or fewer employees who has demonstrated staying power, positive response to adversity, community involvement and ethical business practices. Sponsor of the Small Business Person of the Year Award is First National Bank. To access the nomination form, click here. *Nominations are now closed*
-- The Joseph P. Rosenhamer Chamber Spirit Award was created to pay tribute to a longtime Chamber Member who personifies the best characteristics of a business person -- altruism, ethics and selflessness. Nominees should be members in good standing with The Chamber, actively involved in some Chamber programs and easily recognized as an advocate of The Chamber in the business community. Sponsor of the Joseph P. Rosenhammer Chamber Spirit Award is P. Joseph Lehman, Inc. To access the nomination form, click here. *Nominations are now closed*
--The Young Professional of the Year Award was created to recognize a Young Professional in Blair County who is an outstanding figure in their workplace and community – whose efforts are positively impacting our region, making it a better place for younger people to live, work, play and invest in our community. The Chamber’s Young Professionals of Blair County would like to recognize and thank those fellow Young Professionals for their efforts. Sponsor for the Young Professional of the Year Award is ABCD Corporation. To access the nomination form, click here. *Nominations are now closed*
--The Judith A. Rossi Educator of the Year Award was created to honor an individual who has had an impact on students, schools or educational systems that also benefit the local business community. The success of Blair County’s current and future workforce is heavily dependent on the ability of organizations like the Blair County Chamber to rally the business and education communities to work together. While there has been well-documented success in that collaborative effort, most of the individual recognition that has taken place has focused on the contributions of business leaders. Sponsor for the Judith A. Rossi Educator of the Year Award is DelGrosso Family Companies. To access the nomination form, click here. *Nominations are now closed*
Special Recognition awards to be presented are:
-- The ATHENA Award honors individuals who strive toward the highest levels of professional accomplishment. It recognizes women who excel in their chosen field, have devoted time and energy to their community in a meaningful way, and who also open paths so that others may follow. Sponsor for the ATHENA Award is First Commonwealth Bank.
To access the nomination form, click here. *Nominations are now closed*
-- The Donna D. Gority Servant Leadership Award was created to honor individuals within Blair County who demonstrate ongoing servant leadership. Servant leadership is a practical philosophy, which supports people who choose to serve first, and then lead, as a way of expanding service to individuals and institutions. Sponsor of the Donna D. Gority Servant Leadership Award is Reliance Bank. To access the nomination form, click here. *Nominations are now closed*
-- The George Award was created to honor an individual who has improved the community through volunteer efforts and who has received little or no publicity or recognition for their efforts. Sponsor of the George Award is Allegheny Lutheran Social Ministries. To access the nomination form, click here. *Nominations are now closed*
-- The Small Business Person of the Year Award is given to a business person with 50 or fewer employees who has demonstrated staying power, positive response to adversity, community involvement and ethical business practices. Sponsor of the Small Business Person of the Year Award is First National Bank. To access the nomination form, click here. *Nominations are now closed*
-- The Joseph P. Rosenhamer Chamber Spirit Award was created to pay tribute to a longtime Chamber Member who personifies the best characteristics of a business person -- altruism, ethics and selflessness. Nominees should be members in good standing with The Chamber, actively involved in some Chamber programs and easily recognized as an advocate of The Chamber in the business community. Sponsor of the Joseph P. Rosenhammer Chamber Spirit Award is P. Joseph Lehman, Inc. To access the nomination form, click here. *Nominations are now closed*
--The Young Professional of the Year Award was created to recognize a Young Professional in Blair County who is an outstanding figure in their workplace and community – whose efforts are positively impacting our region, making it a better place for younger people to live, work, play and invest in our community. The Chamber’s Young Professionals of Blair County would like to recognize and thank those fellow Young Professionals for their efforts. Sponsor for the Young Professional of the Year Award is ABCD Corporation. To access the nomination form, click here. *Nominations are now closed*
--The Judith A. Rossi Educator of the Year Award was created to honor an individual who has had an impact on students, schools or educational systems that also benefit the local business community. The success of Blair County’s current and future workforce is heavily dependent on the ability of organizations like the Blair County Chamber to rally the business and education communities to work together. While there has been well-documented success in that collaborative effort, most of the individual recognition that has taken place has focused on the contributions of business leaders. Sponsor for the Judith A. Rossi Educator of the Year Award is DelGrosso Family Companies. To access the nomination form, click here. *Nominations are now closed*
2021 Annual Meeting Awards Presentation
The Chamber made history once again as we held our Annual Meeting & Awards Presentation on Zoom February 26, 2021. The event included a look back at the accomplishments and challenges that faced the organization during 2020. It marked the passing of the gavel as board chair from Darin Tornatore to Richard Fiore, Jr. and it featured the presentation of seven awards to unsuspecting recipients.
Previous Annual Meeting Honorees
ATHENA Honorees
1988 - Patricia Gildea 1989 - Edith Walker Isacke 1990 - Sandra K. Albright 1991- Donna D. Gority 1992 - Margaret Hopfl 1993 - Zoe Bellamy 1994 - Jolene G. Kopriva 1995 - Jeanne Hanlin 1996 - Betty James 1997 - Judy Boerger 1998 - Sylvia Schraff 1999 - Gwendolyn Patillo 2000 - Bobbie Miller 2001- Pat Stoner 2002 - Elizabeth Doyle 2003 - Carolyn Donaldson 2004 - Anne Benzel 2005 - Sister Mary Ann Dillon 2006 - Dr. Lori J. Bechtel 2007 - Nancy Campbell 2008 - Janice Freehling 2009 - Cheryl Johns 2010 - Jackie Bernard 2011 - Betsy Lehman 2012 - Debra Dellaposta 2013 - Amy Seltzer 2014 - Kate Shaffer 2015 - Diane Meling 2016 - Amy Mearkle 2017 - Charlene Dodson 2018 - Carol Gensimore 2019 - Maria Brandt 2020 - Judy Ward 2021 - Judy Juda 2022 - Becky Stevens Donna D. Gority Servant Leadership Award Honorees 2003 - Tom Kopriva 2004 - Steve Seltzer 2005 - Chuck Welker 2006 - Scott Cessna 2007 - Michael Fiore 2008 - Jim Balzano 2009 - Dr. Lee Ann DeReus 2010 - Gary Clare 2011 - Booker Moore 2012 - Mayor William Schirf 2013 - Heather & Jim Little 2014 - Richard Fiore, Jr. 2015 - Tom Bradley 2016 - Juls Bratton 2017 - Jim Kilmartin 2018 - Tim O'Brien 2019 - Matt Pacifico 2020 - Derek Martin 2022 - Scott Brenneman Small Business Person of the Year Honorees
2000 - Tim Rea 2001 - Brent Wright 2002 - Joe Keller 2003 - Bob Hollenbach 2004 - Dennis Burket 2005 - Thomas J. Kristofco 2006 - John Bolger 2007 - Donald Ruggery, Jr. 2008 - Joseph DeGennaro, Sr. 2009 - Robert Zeigler 2010 - Karen Wyland 2011 - Linzi Biesinger 2012 - Dave Helsel 2013 - Jeff Sefchok 2014 - John Muccitelli 2015 - Ron Perretta 2016 - Scott Boyer 2017 - Dr. George Zlupko 2018 - Donald Delozier 2019 - Bill Scully 2020 - Matthew Fownes 2022 - Travis & Katy McCabe Young Professional of the Year Honorees
2017 - Sherrie Ayers 2018 - Jessica Fisher 2019 - Jackie Lantzy 2020 - Chelsea Kerr Veneskey 2022 - Rebecca Culp |
George Award Honorees
1966 - George Cox 1967 - Domenic (Tiny) Uliano 1968 - Dorthy Umbower 1969 - Harriet Townsend 1970 - Shirely Maher Woolford 1971 - Charles Sakmar 1972 - Ada Alloway 1973 - Floraence Hammel 1974 - James Lawrence 1975 - Marlie Rand 1976 - Beverly Gardner 1977 - Elizabeth Garver 1978 - Marlie Rand 1979 - Beverly Gardner 1980 - Elizabeth Garver 1981 - Al Burd 1982 - Marie Delozier 1983 - Edna Speacht 1984 - Nancy Schwartz 1985 - J. Wilson Lindsay 1986 - Leon Kensinger 1987 - Alice Goodfellow 1988 - Helen Brumbaugh 1989 - Frances Casey 1990 - Bea Cannarsa 1991 - Louise Magee 1992 - Regis Nale 1993 - Charles Harlow 1994 - George Glashauser 1995 - Elizabeth Chilcote 1996 - Paul L. Johnson 1997 - Jane Fellinger 1998 - Margaretta Perry 1999 - Gweyn Patillo 2000 - Roxanne Doughty 2001 - Kathy Snowberger 2002 - David Cadle 2003 - Orlo Thomas 2004 - Randy Miles, Sr. 2005 - Janet Kreider 2006 - Bob Hamp 2007 - Elaine Kilgore 2008 - Thomas Baker 2009 - Rita Sangiorgi 2010 - Colleen Montrella 2011 - Robert Good 2012 - Charles Brennaman 2013 - Ruth Weaver 2014 - Merrill "Wobbie" Hoover 2015 - Barbara Baughman 2016 - Dave Zeek 2017 - Peggy Fields 2018 - Mary Ann and Bernie Sutusky 2019 - Hymie Antikol 2020 - Virginia Helsel 2022 - Dee Martin - Spallone Joseph P. Rosenhamer Chamber Spirit Award Honorees
2004 - Ticky Hendricks 2005 - Dave Beeney 2006 - Judy Ward 2007 - Andrew Katz 2008 - Judy Rossi 2009 - Randy Green 2010 - Randy Smithmyer 2011 - Sherri Stayer 2012 - Jim Oswalt 2013 - Diana McClure 2014 - Todd Lewis 2015 - Nancy McClelland 2016 - Rodney Green 2017 - John and Evelyn Shields 2018 - Alex Seltzer 2019 - Cory Gehret 2020 - Debbie Eckenrode 2022 - Jamie Stumph Educator of the Year Honoree
2019 - Judy Rossi 2020- Lindsay Bumbarger 2022 - Nicole Zernick |