Banquet honors local businesses | News, Sports, Jobs

Photo courtesy of the Fairmont Chamber of Commerce Above: Brian Hill, Nick Mace and Cory Hallberg of Fareway Grocery in Fairmont received the Big Company of the Year award at the Fairmont Chamber of Commerce’s annual banquet last week. Several local companies were honored at the event.

FAIRMONT – The Fairmont Chamber of Commerce held their annual banquet last week, declaring four winners, talking about the direction of the chamber and enjoying the social time and Twin Cities comedian Tim Harmston.

“He was a lot of fun” Fairmont Chamber of Commerce President Ned Koppen said. “He’s really fun and brought everyone together at the end of his performance and I think everyone enjoyed him.”

Koppen’s general takeaway from this year’s banquet was to commend all companies for their resilience over the past year, staying afloat, staying viable, and serving the community over the past year. It was also an opportunity to see people he normally wouldn’t see.

Koppen reckoned that between 70 and 100 people would come to the annual banquet, and this year the number of visitors was 77, which Koppen and the Chamber were delighted with.

Earlier this month the chamber launched nominations for four different categories. These four categories are Large Company of the Year, Small Business of the Year, Nonprofit Company of the Year, and New Business of the Year.

Big Company of the Year nominations included Fairmont Roofing, Mayo Health Systems, Fareway, and the Holliday Inn. Fareway Meat and Grocery was named Large Company of the Year.

Small Business of the Year nominations included the United Hospital District’s Fairmont Clinic, Martin County License Center, The Ranch, and Bowlmore Lanes. The ranch was named Small Business of the Year.

Nominations for the Charitable Business of the Year included the Lakeview Methodist Healthcare Center, Step Inc., the Red Rocks Center, and Rotary. The Lakeview Methodist Health Care Center was named Nonprofit Company of the Year.

Finally, nominations for New Business of the Year included the Old Alley Quilt Shop, Dominos, Remax, and AT&T. The Old Alley Quilt Shop was named New Business of the Year.

“It’s always fun to celebrate one of our companies and recognize the winners.” Said Koppen. “I think this year, if you look at the list, most of our winners worked really hard to change the way they did business and got through COVID-19.”

Agribusiness and Office 14 have also resumed their meeting. The Social Media Breakfast will take place on March 23 at 9 a.m. in the SMEC building.

The chamber’s focus is on five different goals. These goals are part of a three-year plan and have been progressively pursued and validated for this year. The five goals are better corporate governance, better communication in the community, better communication in the internal chamber, use of the chamber as a good news tool and workforce, and the efforts of Fairmont Area Life.

“We have made good progress towards all five and we want to continue moving forward with all five in the coming year.” Said Koppen.

Five companies sponsored the annual banquet in JL Computers, Dees Floral & Designs, Hyvee, Bank Midwest, and United Hospital District. Koppen wanted to acknowledge her, as well as the Holiday Inn and The Green Mill, for all of her help in making the banquet a success.

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