Holmes County Chamber to honor 6 award recipients Nov. 13

The lights are set to shine on six new Holmes County award winners as the annual Holmes County Chamber banquet and award evening draws near.

Every year the Holmes County Chamber has the obligation to sift through a host of nominees for the annual Holmes County Chamber awards it doles out to its members.

Every year that task honors impressive recipients, and according to Tiffany Gerber, Holmes County Chamber of Commerce & Tourism Bureau executive director, the process never gets easier.

“I can’t even begin to describe how difficult it is for our committee to narrow it down to just one winner in each category,” Gerber said. “We have so many amazing nominees, and they are all so richly deserving of being honored.”

The recipients will be honored at the chamber’s annual awards dinner Nov. 13 at the Encore Event Center in Berlin.

Gerber said the committee, which includes members of the chamber’s executive core, a few volunteers and some past winners, gathers and does a deep dive into all the accomplishments, service efforts and impacts each nominee has made in the county and even beyond.

She said they usually try to narrow their effort down to two key nominations in each group and then discuss further before eventually tabbing a winner.

With the hard work of carving all those nominees down to the six category winners now in the rearview mirror, the Holmes County Chamber of Commerce Nominations Committee has announced the 2025 annual award recipients.

This year’s award recipients include the following:

—Small Business of the Year: Cline Plumbing & Heating.

—Medium Business of the Year: Dutch Craft Furniture.

—Large Business of the Year: Melway Paving Company.

—Community Service: Cheryl Shaver, volunteer with several organizations.

—Educator of the Year: Joe Wengerd, former administrator in both East and West Holmes School Districts.

—Lifetime Achievement: Steve Mullet, owner of Mt. Hope Auction.

“This is the 32nd year for the awards, which began in 1994 with the first Large Business of the Year, and has grown to include six categories.” Gerber said. “This one night is an opportunity for our members and friends to help us celebrate the businesses, organizations and individuals who make Holmes County great through their investing, creating jobs, volunteering and making a difference in the lives of their fellow residents.”

The chamber event also will include a video presentation featuring the recipients, chamber updates, and fellowship among its members, elected officials and other stakeholders.

Gerber said the video presentations that began during the pandemic years were so well-received they continue to be a major part of the presentation for each winner — the videos allowing more time to share insight into each winner’s accomplishments.

She said these professionally done videos truly allow the chamber to showcase everything wonderful about each recipient.

She also said this event not only showcases the award winners, but also embellishes how hard the Holmes County community works together for the good of the county.

“This amazing event wouldn’t be possible without the support of many sponsors and supporters — specifically, the video sponsor, Liberty Health Share; meal sponsor, The Holmes Area Safety Council; and the award sponsors including Millersburg Financial, Killbuck Savings Bank, Rea, The Commercial & Savings Bank, The Holmes County Education & Community Foundation and Hummel Group, as well as many additional supporters,” Gerber said.

Gerber said this annual banquet is important because it is the one time each year the chamber can bring nearly all its members together to inform them about the past year’s accomplishments and future endeavors, and it allows all those in attendance to do plenty of networking.

It also gives the members a chance to properly congratulate the award winners.

“We have such a close-knit community here, and many of us already know almost everyone involved, but each year we have new members come in who get a chance to meet with and network with our other members,” Gerber said.

She said this year nearly three dozen new members joined the ranks of the chamber.

Tickets for the chamber event are $65 each, or a reserved table for eight is $475. To purchase, email Samantha Whitworth at samantha@holmescountychamber.com. To become a sponsor, email Tiffany Gerber at tiffany@holmescountychamber.com. For questions call 330-674-3975.