Phoenixville Chamber Celebrates Community at Annual Awards Dinner

Phoenixville Chamber Celebrates Community at Annual Awards Dinner

April 5, 2017 Phoenixville Chamber Celebrates Community at Annual Awards Dinner

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PHOENIXVILLE – At Wednesday night’s 88th Annual Award Dinner, the Phoenixville Regional Chamber of Commerce recognized eight citizens, organizations, and businesses who made a significant impact on the Phoenixville community.

The evening’s presentations kicked off with the 2017 State of the Chamber Address, which detailed the tremendous growth of the Chamber over the last year.

“The Chamber is in the strongest financial position in its 88-year history,” said President and CEO Jessica Capistrant. “Our members have helped us to understand this is due to the number and types of events we host, access to an extended business team, and our work in the community.”

Focusing on collaboration, Capistrant went on to discuss various partnerships with other area Chambers of Commerce, community organizations, and business resources such as SCORE, and how each of these have a role in the growth of the Phoenixville Chamber.

“Progress accelerates when we do,” she said. “2016 was a year of persistent growth for the Phoenixville community, and the Chamber’s role in that was not a small one.”

Touching on already-successful events in Phoenixville, such as First Fridays and Food Truck Festival, Capistrant said these events have evolved into well-oiled machines that residents and visitors by the tens of thousands have come to love.

Never content with the status quo, the Chamber and its collaborator, Phoenixville First, worked toward further developing Phoenixville’s comprehensive marketing plan, including a goal to create a signature event for each month. The first of these, Capistrant was proud to announce, will be Harvest Fest, a four-day, borough-wide event designed to showcase Phoenixville’s beautiful parks and community gems.

Closing with the African proverb, “If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together,” Capistrant said this is the embodiment of the success of Phoenixville, and that the renewal of the borough has been a collaborative effort of many organizations, individuals, elected officials, and businesses who invested their time, money and talents.

One of the organizations, the Phoenixville Area Economic Development Corporation, or PADECO, has played a significant role in Phoenixville’s rebirth, including the iconic Colonial Theatre, and the rehabilitation of the Phoenixville Foundry. For this, and many other contributions to Phoenixville, they were the recipient of the 2017 Chairman’s Award, presented by Michael Polin of Premier Planning Group, and Chairman of the Chamber’s Board of Directors.

Polin went on to present two Merit Awards, one to the Phoenixville Public Library’s Lauren Coy, for her contributions to fundraising efforts for the library and other Phoenixville organizations, including the Rotary Club. Among her accomplishments is the creation of a new spring event for the Library, A Novel Lunch. Coy has also secured critically-acclaimed authors such as Lisa Scottoline, and David Baldacci as guest speakers for the Library’s annual Wine, Wit, and Wisdom fundraiser.

The second Merit Award winner, Teresa Haag, serves on the Beautification Advisory Commission for Phoenixville, and has herself beautified the town with hand-painted murals on and in buildings throughout the borough. Haag recently opened a studio in downtown Phoenixville, and hopes to give back as much as the tow have given her.

The spirit of the Business Development Award is to recognize and honor entrepreneurship, sustainability, aesthetic improvement, and business productivity. For these reasons, Riverworks Luxury Apartments, Stirling Storage, and Uncle B’s BBQ Shack were chosen as the 2017 award winners.

Polin presented awards to each of the businesses as he detailed their contributions to Phoenixville.

“Riverworks is a unique addition to the authentic charm of Phoenixville and brings a new level of luxury living to the community,” he said. “They are excited to grow their relationships with the surrounding neighborhoods and businesses.”

Stirling Storage, which, at the conclusion of its two-phase project, will have invested $6.6 million in the Phoenixville community, was the kick-start project of the revitalization of the Route 113 corridor, said Polin. They are pleased to be part of the Phoenixville community.”

The third recipients, the owners of Uncle B’s BBQ Shack, are very familiar faces in Phoenixville. From sponsoring local sports teams to “supporting more non-profits than we can count,” Uncle B’s has given more than $18,000 to the Phoenixville community since opening its first brick-and-mortar in January of 2016. Uncle B’s has been a strong supporter of its fellow small businesses, and has made a great impact on the community as a whole.

The Daniel Foundation was the recipient of the 2017 Community Betterment Award, which comes with a $500 check on behalf of Piazza Subaru of Limerick.

“The Daniel Foundation has invested in the Phoenixville community, always striving to make it a better place for those in need,” Polin said.

Polin and Capistrant presented the check to foundation representative Greg Porter.

The final award of the evening was presented to Cheryl Messere, co-founder of The House Phoenixville Women’s Outreach. Messere is a life-long Phoenixville resident who graduated from Phoenixville schools, then taught in Phoenixville schools, and now dedicates her heart and time to the community through various volunteer works.

“Cheryl Messere is so invested in Phoenixville, even her resume says, ‘I bleed purple,’” Polin told the crowd of over 125 people. “What does Cheryl do that makes her such an outstanding citizen? Let me take a deep breath.”

Polin went on to speak about more than a dozen organizations for which Messere volunteers, culminating in her most-recent, The House, which opened its doors in 2015 to homeless women.

“When we think about what it means to be outstanding, a few words come to mind,” Polin said. “Magnificent, superlative, and first-rate. Cheryl’s history of impetuous passion transcends these.”

Amidst a standing ovation, Messere was presented with the Chamber’s 2017 Outstanding Citizen of the Year Award.

Each of the night’s winners were presented with a plaque or glass award, and gifts from fellow members, including a box of gourmet chocolates courtesy of Bridge Street Chocolates, tickets to The Colonial Theatre, and citations from elected officials, including U.S. Congressman Ryan Costello, State Representatives Warren Kampf and Becky Corbin, and State Senator Andrew Dinniman. Messere also received a gift certificate for Molly Maguires, and flowers.

To view the State of the Chamber Address, click here.

To view the entire Annual Awards Dinner presentation, click here.

For more information on this event and many others, please visit www.phoenixvillechamber.org.