PORTSMOUTH — The Portsmouth Area Chamber of Commerce recently met and brought together the business community for the Annual Portsmouth Area Chamber Dinner.

The dinner is a celebration of Chamber members, community innovators and business-minded individuals, alongside a welcome from a notable speaker.

“This dinner is all about our members in the business community,” Executive Director Lisa Carver said. “Everything the Chamber does is to enhance our members’ business dealings and provide them with an added edge and benefits of being a chamber member. We are coming together to honor them and what they’ve done in the community.”

This year, Carver was excited to welcome Shawnee State University’s Jason Lovins as speaker.

“We are very excited about Jason Lovins being our brief speaker,” Carver said, prior to the event. “Jason has owned a small business before and now instructs business and marketing at Shawnee State. I know he has a handle on the business climate and would be appropriate for our businesses to hear from.”

The dinner spent much of its time recognizing Chamber members and community leaders through its award ceremony, which includes Distinguished Citizen of the Year, the Jeremy Burnside Community Spirit Award, and two small business awards. Additionally, through a partnership with the ECDI Women’s Business Centers, the Chamber offers an award for Entrepreneur of the Year.

“The awards are sort of the highlight of the evening,” Carver explained. “It is a time to come together and celebrate achievements and positive work accomplished by members of the community. We do a lot of amazing things as a collective and on our own, so it is important to recognize those feats.”

Distinguished Citizen of the Year went to Bryan Smith. The Jeremy Burnside Community Spirit Award went to Edwin Martell. Farmer of the Year is Trenton and Trevor Otworth. Business (1-10 employees) went to Gray Brush Vintage Market and Gray Brush Collections. Business of the year (11+) employees went to Arrick’s Propane. Member of the Year was named KC Printing and Promotional. Kim Baker, of KB Flower Farm was named Entrepreneur of the Year. Startup of the Year was Amanda Klaiber, of the Landing. Lisa Carver was named Women’s Business Center Supporter of the Year.

One of the highlights of the evening was recognition of the Leadership Portsmouth class of 2023. The program has graduated over 500 leaders into the community. The class of 2023 includes Karen Cobbs, Kaitlin Setty, Autumn Dowdy, Gwen Suter, Beth Evans, Dylan Markins, and Taryn Mirabello.

“This year’s award night was magical,” Carver said. “That’s the only way I know how to describe it. So many deserving people and businesses recognized. And so many surprises! Those we recognized are the ones who do the most with least recognition. And Jason Lovins knocked it out of the park with his keynote address. He spoke about how small businesses can and do benefit from having a multi-generational work team. It was appropriate as our award winners represented multiple generations.”

Reach Joseph Pratt at (740) 353-3101, by email at [email protected], © 2023 Portsmouth Daily Times, all rights reserved.