Monday, February 24, 2014

Lansing Regional Chamber Annual Dinner - - February 20, 2014 - - Lansing Civic Events - - by Chuck Krafft


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.

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