Greater Fort Myers Chamber celebrates community excellence at annual Chamber Awards

FORT MYERS, Fla. - Aug. 2, 2023 - PRLog -- The Southwest Florida community came together to recognize local businesses and leaders at the Greater Fort Myers Chamber of Commerce's second annual Chamber Awards, held July 27 at the Caloosa Sound Convention Center in downtown Fort Myers.

The program celebrated the installation of the Chamber's 2023-24 board of directors and honored dozens of business and community leaders as finalists in a variety of awards categories before naming the overall winners.

"Our Chamber is here to Empower, Connect and Unite our members, and the annual Chamber Awards pay tribute to the many incredible business and community leaders who call Fort Myers home," said Jay Johnson, chair of the Greater Fort Myers Chamber. "We were proud to recognize nearly two dozen finalists for their outstanding achievements and celebrate our 2023 honorees for their impact."

The Chamber Awards recognized a recipient in each of the following categories:

• Small Business of the Year was awarded to SPADA Salon & Day Spa. Other finalists were Offshore Sailing School and Spiro & Associates.
• Large Business of the Year was awarded to Stevens Construction. Other finalists were Norman Love Confections and Scotlynn USA.
• The Community Impact Award was awarded to Will Prather. Other finalists were Talisha Faber (SVN Commercial Partners) and Kelly Thawley (The School District of Lee County).
• Entrepreneur of the Year was presented to Rob Whyte. Other finalists were Ryan Carter (Scotlynn USA) and Matthew Rebstock (Tech in a Flash Computer Services).
• The Nonprofit Excellence Award was awarded to Community Cooperative, Inc. Other finalists were The Heights Foundation and Our Mother's Home.
• Young Professional of the Year was presented to Stefanie Ink Edwards. Other finalists were Melissa Mitchell (Priority Marketing) and Kelly Thawley (The School District of Lee County).

This year's APEX Award was presented to Marilyn Santiago. Other finalists for the APEX Award were Darla Bonk, Alicia Miller, Anjali Van Drie and Jen Whyte.

"Southwest Florida is such a special community full of resilience and drive, and the evening left me with so much hope," said Brian Hamman, president and CEO of the Greater Fort Myers Chamber of Commerce. "I am proud to recognize all new board members, award finalists and winners, the amazing sponsors and everyone who made our Chamber and APEX Awards a success this year. I am excited to see the future of our chamber and the community as a whole!"

The Chamber Awards were presented by title sponsors Convergint and Verizon. Additional event sponsors included SPADA Salon & Day Spa, Priority Marketing, Fort Myers Brewing Company, Florida Gulf Coast University, DoubleTree by Hilton at Bell Tower Shops, Solomon & Hoover CPAs, City of Fort Myers, Henderson, Franklin, Starnes & Holt, P.A., Waste Pro USA, Sanibel Captiva Community Bank, Pool Pro's Inc., Norman Love Confections and M&M Multimedia.