{"id":125120,"date":"2019-11-22T08:35:53","date_gmt":"2019-11-22T13:35:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=125120"},"modified":"2019-11-23T08:16:40","modified_gmt":"2019-11-23T13:16:40","slug":"van-wert-chamber-holds-14th-small-business-luncheon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2019\/11\/22\/van-wert-chamber-holds-14th-small-business-luncheon\/","title":{"rendered":"Local Chamber honors small businesses"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

DAVE MOSIER\/<\/strong>independent editor<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Van Wert Area Chamber of Commerce celebrated small businesses on Thursday with its annual Salute to Small Business Luncheon held at Willow Bend Country Club.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Small business award winners include (from the left) the Pregnancy Life Center, Gibsons Backyard BBQ, Collins Fine Foods, and Eric McCracken of Lee Kinstle GM Sales & Service.<\/strong> Dave Mosier\/Van Wert independent<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEach person here today has been impacted, directly or indirectly, by the success of a small business, or has certainly been impacted by a small business represented her today,\u201d said Chamber President\/CEO Mark Verville during the event. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eric McCracken, owner of Lee Kinstle GM Sales & Service, was presented with the Community Champion first place award and talked about his love for the Van Wert County community. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt should go without saying, but a lot of times we need to remind ourselves this is a great place,\u201d McCracken said. \u201cIt\u2019s a great place to raise your kids; it\u2019s a great place to grow up; it\u2019s a great place to get a job; and it\u2019s a great place to stay, or come back to.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Community Champion award is the only Small Business Award that can be given to an individual, as well as a business, and honors a person or entity that exhibits exemplary service to the community over time to strengthen Van Wert County and improve the lives of its residents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Main Street Van Wert Executive Director Mitch Price, who announced the winner, noted the many organizations McCracken is a part of, as well as the many organizations and causes he donates money to annually. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere are many people in our community who do meaningful things for one another, and Eric is one of those,\u201d Price said. \u201cWhen his name is mentioned, two thoughts come to mind: involved and willing to help.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Service Industry Showcase Award, given to established service-oriented businesses, went to McCracken\u2019s business, Lee Kinstle GM Sales & Service. Other nominees were Young\u2019s Waste Service and Laurie\u2019s Naturescapes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other awards, winners, and nominees are as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Spirit of Entrepreneurship Award, an award given to an innovative, established businesses that demonstrate commitment, initiative, and profitability to support community-oriented projects with their time and resources, went to Collins Fine Foods, while Young\u2019s Waste Service and Sisters Bridal Boutique were also nominated for the award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Collins also was awarded the Retail Champion Award, which goes to a business that goes above and beyond to please its customers, while also involved in community projects. Other nominees include Laurie\u2019s Naturescapes and Laudick\u2019s Jewelry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earning first place in the Charitable Non Profit category was the Pregnancy Life Center, while other nominees included Main Street Van Wert and the YWCA of Van Wert County.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Palate Pleasers award, given to a food service provider, went to Gibson\u2019s Barnyard BBQ in Convoy, while other nominees were Rager\u2019s Original Sausage Sandwich and El Mexicano restaurant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Van Wert County Foundation Executive Secretary Seth Baker provided welcoming remarks to begin the program.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DAVE MOSIER\/independent editor The Van Wert Area Chamber of Commerce celebrated small businesses on Thursday with its annual Salute to Small Business Luncheon held at Willow Bend Country Club. \u201cEach person here today has been impacted, directly or indirectly, by the success of a small business, or has certainly been impacted by a small business […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-125120","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-09 20:53:17","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125120"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125120\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}