The Best of Plant City were honored last week during the Greater Plant City Chamber of Commerce’s annual gala.
As the chamber prepared to enter a new year, the community gathered alongside to celebrate the victories accomplished in 2020 despite the crippling pandemic that is still ongoing throughout the nation and much of the world.
This year’s event was held at Wishing Well Barn. In order to maintain the COVID-19 safety regulations, things looked a little different at the annual Chamber Gala. For example, the past chairmen of the chamber typically come on stage and pass the gavel from the earliest chairman’s hand to that of the current chairman, who in turn will pass it on to the new chairman that will step up to helm the organization for the next year.
Rather than have the gavel physically pass through a plethora of hands, the chamber had past chairmen head to the dance floor in front of the stage and the gavel was passed only from Courtney Paat to incoming chair Mike Arndt.
Paat took a moment to reflect on the past year. The theme was “Reimagine” and she said when it was selected at the end of 2019 the chamber had no idea how true that theme would be.
“We had a great start to the year: a successful networking lunch, the 10th anniversary of Planes, Trains & Automobiles, a relationship building Tallahassee Trek and an amazing Roaring 20’s themed gala. Then the world stopped,” Paat said. “All events were cancelled, calendars were cleared and we all went home. With our calendars cleared however, we were given an opportunity to press pause, decide our true purpose and reimagine the chamber in ways we never dreamed of.”
Paat went on to share many of the abrupt changes the chamber implemented. The organization strengthened its alliances with the Florida Chamber and local chambers to “create a platform of reliable and consistent content.” The Plant City Partnership was revitalized to focus on the new Back to Business Campaign that centered around safely reopening businesses, financial support for businesses to recover and a buy local campaign.
The chamber switched from a massive in-person candidate forum to a virtual interview process that allowed anyone to get an in-depth look at each candidate from the comfort of their own home before the elections. The RISE events were available via Facebook Live and the Be Informed video series was streamed by residents all over the community.
“This year was not what we planned.No chair wants to be the one to cancel all events, but in a way we got what we asked for -— to reimagine how our chamber served our members,” Paat said. “In a matter of moments, COVID laid bare for us our true value: advocacy, education, leadership development and being a trusted resource. We’ve adapted, stayed true to our purpose and have become more relevant than ever.”
For years, the oldest living past chairman was Don Walden, who in many ways was a cornerstone of the community. Walden died Jan. 18, 2021 and the chamber asked those gathered to take a moment of silence in his honor. Then Paat passed the gavel to Arndt, owner of Minuteman Press in Plant City and Brandon.
Arndt started the Minuteman Press franchise in Plant City in 2004 and expanded it into Brandon in 2009. He has been active in Rotary for 20 years and has served on the Board of Directors for three years. He has served the Plant City Chamber of Commerce as a Board Member, Vice Chair of Government Affairs, was on numerous committees, was an ambassador, Chair-Elect and the 2021 Chairman of the Board. Arndt is also a graduate of Plant City Leadership class of 2007.
Arndt shared memories with the crowd of immersing himself in the community via the chamber and reflected on moments that remained close to his heart as he started his career here. He remembers the chamber members who went out of their way to welcome him to the community and praised the chamber for its ability to quickly adapt in 2020.
“Due to the swift and decisive actions taken by Christine (Miller), Courtney, the board of directors and staff, our chamber came out of 2020 very strong without touching any of our reserves,” Arndt said. “Moving forward into 2021, we will continue to evaluate what has worked in the past, what needs to change and how we can move successfully into the future.”
The Chamber’s board for 2021 is:
Chair-Elect: Jake Raburn (Hinton Farms)
Immediate Past Chair: Courtney Paat (State Farm)
Treasurer: Irene Castillo (Raulerson, Castillo & Co.)
Vice Chairman, Community Relations Division: Nick Thurston (Bank of Tampa)
Vice Chairman, Community Event Division: Chuck Gore (Stahl Insurance)
Vice Chairman, Membership Division: Lisa Rhodes (Marzucco Real Estate)
Vice Chairman, Governmental Affairs: Wesley Joyner (Pilot Bank)
Directors:
Kayla Drawdy (Hillsborough Title)
Jason Jones (Advantage Restoration)
John Haney (ACE Realty)
Deanna Hurley (Deanna Hurley Photography)
Shelley Jemison (Solution Source)
Tim Lovett (The Florida Strawberry Festival)
Dean Pfeffer (Hope Lutheran Church)
Karen Kerr (South Florida Baptist Hospital)
Arley Smude (MAKE Plant City)
Trey Stevens (Coulter, Aviles & Co.)
Shari Sun (Suncoast Community Health Centers)
The evening wrapped up with the award ceremony that the community waits in anticipation for each year. The annual Chamber Gala always includes the Best of Plant City awards.
This year’s winners were
Best Community Event Award: The United Food Bank’s Empty Bowls
Customer Service Award: The Corner Store
Non-Profit Award: Bikes for Christ
Economic Development Award: Jesse Carr
New Business Award: Second Plate Catering
Small Business Award: Plant City Observer
Business of the Year Award: Patterson Companies
Entrepreneur of the Year Award: Aaron Davis (Hillsborough Title)
Rising Leader Award: Kayla Drawdy
Health & Wellness Award: Chris Welbon Karate Clubs
Community Service Award: Stingray Chevrolet
The Spirit of the Chamber: Ross Spano and Rick Lott
Employer of the Year Award: Jarrett-Scott Ford
Downtown Enrichment Award: Krazy Kup