BUSINESS AWARDS
2022 Business of the Year Dinner
Celebrating Local Businesses Big and Small
By Hayli Zuccola
On Monday , October 17 , the Chamber ’ s 2022 Business of the Year Dinner made a grand return to the Suwannee Coliseum for the first time since the pandemic began . Sponsored by the Suwannee County Economic Development Office , Riveroak Technical College and First Federal Bank , the evening welcomed 200 guests to enjoy a delicious dinner catered by 11th Street Kitchen against a backdrop of décor designed by Epic Events all in preparation to announce the winners of Large , Medium and Small Business of the Year and Nonprofit of the Year .
Before videos of the nominees were presented and the winners were announced , guests heard from Economic Development Director Jimmy Norris , Don Hale with the Board of County Commissioners , TJ Vickers on behalf of Mary Keen of Riveroak Technical College as well as a special guest appearance by Congresswoman Kat Cammack . When the speeches concluded , the moment everyone waited for arrived and the winners of the 2022 Business of the Year were revealed .
> Large Business of the Year :
CenterWell Home Health
CenterWell Home Health provides quality at-home care services like nursing , physical therapy , speech therapy and occupational therapy to qualifying senior citizens under the referral of physicians and nurse practitioners from surrounding hospitals , nursing facilities , doctor ’ s offices and assisted living facilities . Their dedication to their patients ’ health , care and comfort are just a few of the factors that led to CenterWell Home Health to being named Large Business of the Year for 2022 .
“ We had been nominated two other times , which was an honor in itself just to be nominated knowing that the nomination process comes from someone outside of the organization , that was an honor and then this was our third time being nominated and we won so we were thrilled about that ,” said Jeff LeRoux , the Senior Home Health Specialist at CenterWell .
“ To win and have that recognition from the community to be Large Business of the Year on this was quite an honor . We ’ re surprised , but you know , thrilled at the same time ,” he added .
That recognition also encouraged the CenterWell team to look beyond the impact they make on their own patients and discover ways to use their status as Large Business of the Year to help other businesses and community members outside of their target reach whether it ’ s hosting blood drives or supporting incoming businesses both large and small .
“ It ’ s helped us to look at the community more , about the resources out there and what we can do to help with those ,” said Branch Director Diane Ellis .
“[ It ’ s ] just such a huge honor to be nominated and then to win . It ’ s just very humbling as a corporation to know that we have this much of an impact on people ’ s lives in our community and we ’ re just very thankful to the community and surrounding communities because we cover more than just one county we cover Hamilton and Lafayette [ too ] so just very thankful to these communities for allowing us to take care of them and their family members . That ’ s just a huge honor .”
112 SUWANNEE CHAMBER IMPACT | 2023-2024