Chamber makes changes

This year there were changes to Stars in the Park and the Jay County Food and Drink Festival. In 2015, another annual Jay County Chamber of Commerce function will see some modifications.
The chamber announced this week plans to split its annual meeting and awards ceremony into two events, to be held in January and March respectively. It also introduced three new honors — Elwood Haynes Innovator Award, Not-For-Profit Organization of the Year and Young Professional of the Year — while expanding the selection process from the board to its full membership.
“We wanted to separate our annual meeting from our awards ceremony,” said chamber executive director Dean Sanders. “We wanted to find a way to really spotlight all the great things that businesses and organizations and individuals are doing.”
The annual meeting and awards have traditionally been a single event held in January, although weather twice postponed this year’s festivities and pushed them into February.
Under the new format, the annual meeting will remain early in the year, but will shift from an evening event to noon Jan. 29 at Jay Community Center with appetizers and refreshments being served. It will be a free event for chamber members only.
Those in attendance will discuss past events and plans for the future, hold a brief business meeting to elect officers, recognize outgoing officers and honor organizations that are celebrating anniversaries.
“It made for a pretty long meeting,” said chamber president John Boggs of the combined meeting and awards. “We didn’t get to transact much business.”
The chamber leadership will also announce the three finalists for its awards at the annual meeting. In previous years, only the award winners were honored.
“I think the great thing is there’s always several people that are doing great things in our community,” said Sanders. “And it’s great to acknowledge them even to be a finalist.”
The new Jay County Community Awards ceremony, scheduled for March 5 in the Jay County High School commons, is intended to be more of a community-wide event.
It will open with a reception, followed by dinner and a yet-to-be-named keynote speaker. The announcement of the chamber awards will follow, and the evening will conclude with a short “after party”.
The cost will be the same as it was this year — $28 per person and $300 for priority seating/table sponsorship — and invitations will be sent out in the next few weeks.
The new awards, which join the traditional Lifetime Achievement, Citizen of the Year, Business of the Year, Industry of the Year and Dunkirk Community Commitment, were added in an effort to honor more of those who make an impact in the community every day.
“We’re trying to recognize as many people who make contributions as we can,” said Boggs. “In the past there are people who have contributed who just didn’t quite fit into one of the categories.”
The award for innovation named for Haynes, a Portland native and automotive pioneer, will seek to honor an individual whose creativity is making an impact in Jay County. Not-for-profit of the year will focus on those groups that help the community, and the young professional of the year will target individuals ages 21 through 40.
“We wanted to recognize those that are up and coming and those that are younger,” said Sanders. “It’s easy to think of several young professionals in our area that are making a tremendous difference whether it’s in their business or whether it’s in the community or both. … I think it was time to acknowledge them for what they’re doing.”
Nomination forms for the awards have already been sent out to chamber members, and they will be available on both the chamber’s web site — http://www.jaycountychamber.com — and Facebook page. The deadline for nominations is Jan. 22.
The chamber board will then narrow the field to the three finalists, and chamber members will vote for the winners.
“We have so many great things that are going on here in Jay County, so many people who are making an impact,” said Sanders. “This is an opportunity to really spotlight the community … businesses and organizations that are doing a lot of great things.
“We have a lot of people doing that, and they need to be recognized for their contributions and how they’re making our community better and better.”