Lansing Regional Annual Dinner
M.S.U. Kellogg Center
February 23, 2014
Tonight, the Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce is
celebrating its Annual Dinner. This is a
huge event that brings a lot of Lansing’s top business people and government
officials together for an evening of socializing and enjoying a fine
dinner. This year, the event is sold out
as over 650 people will attend.
The event is held in one of the banquet rooms at the
Michigan State University Kellogg Center.
The evening starts out with a Cocktail Reception. It is a great time to renew acquaintances and
meet some new people. I was especially
happy to meet Chris Holman, as he as an accomplished media veteran and I’ve
been getting more active with my blogs the last year.
We were ushered into the banquet room where the ceremonies
started. Tim Daman, the Director of the
Lansing Regional Chamber welcomed everyone to the dinner. He introduced the PAC Board members as well
as the Chamber Board Members including the Board Chairman, Bill Kimble, who was
the next to speak.
Mr. Kimble wants to have a strong local chamber to support
business growth in the Lansing area. He
praised how the Regional Chamber works with LEAP (Lansing Economic Area
Partnership) and Michigan State University to see how the business community
can better work together with the government.
Mr. Kimble feels that we need a strong central Capital City
to have the Strongest Business climate possible. He also hopes for a Regional Visioning Summit
to help attract more talented young people to Lansing’s Economic
Community. The Chamber has given a
Chamber Board Seat to the Grand River Connection, which is an organization for
the younger members of the area’s business community.
Some recent successful steps toward the expansion of our
region include Pat Gillespie’s Developments in the city, the Jackson National
Expansion and the Michigan Avenue Corridor.
The Whole Foods Grocery chain will be moving to the area.
GM is making the Cadillac ATS and the Cadillac CTS, which is
the Motor Trend Car of the Year in Lansing.
Two Men and a Truck are doing a four million dollar
expansion and Niowave is expanding near the airport!
Matthew Anderson, the Sales and Marketing Manager for Hager
Fox Heating and Air Conditioning is invited to the podium. He will be doing the Celebratory Champagne
Toast! He tells a story of how Hager Fox
has grown and evolved since its beginning in 1941. He points out that to succeed, you have to
WANT to succeed! Hager Fox’s vision is
to be the premier Air Conditioning Company in Michigan.
Matt is in the millennial age group. He came back to Lansing after having moved
away to Chicago because he likes the Lansing culture which is built around
working hard.
He believes that with vision, a team can accomplish
anything.
His toast was, “To 2014.
May we all have the vision to make this a great year!”
Dinner was served. It
included roasted potatoes, mahi-mahi, steak and asparagus. A chocolate mousse cake was served for
dessert. The food was quite tasty and
presented beautifully.
After dinner, Jason Colthorp of WILX Channel 10 Emceed the
Program.
First, he recognized the outgoing board of directors. He then mentioned people who had won awards
earlier in the year. This included the
10 Over the Next Ten Year Award that recognized 10 people aged 35 and younger
in the Lansing business and professional community.
He also recognized the Celebration of Regional Growth awards
which were given to Agro-Culture Liquid Fertilizers, Emergent BioSolutions, the
Eyde Company, IDV Solutions and Plas-Labs.
Also mentioned were the ATHENA and ATHENA PowerLink Award recipients,
which were Jill Marlan of Peak Performance Physical Therapy and Kelly Rossman
of Truscott Rossman, respectively.
The Chamber then presented the awards to the people who were
to be specifically honored at this dinner.
Michael G. and Deborah L. Harrison won the Community Service
Award based on their long history of working with various charitable and
non-profit causes in the community.
The Outstanding Small Business Award was presented to Harvest Creative
Services, a company that offers clients creative branding solutions through
various types of media and Stony Point Communications, which is a strategic
public relations and marketing agency.
PNC won the Chamber Legacy Award for its proud history of
serving the Chamber and Greater Lansing Region since its origin in 1892 as the
American State Savings Bank.
Everyone in the Lansing Community should appreciate the
things that these people and organizations have done to improve our economic
and social lives in the area!!
This was my first Annual Dinner; I’ll be sure to try to
attend this event in future years as well.
The evening was an experience to remember!!
I would also like to thank Michelle Rahl and the Regional Chamber for their help putting this article together.
