119th Annual Chamber Dinner celebrates Newton

The 119th Annual Greater Newton Area Chamber of Commerce Dinner celebrated a year of firsts on Thursday. Area business people and members of the community gathered to celebrate the work accomplished in 2016 and handed out several awards to various sectors of business and education in Newton.

Chamber Executive Director Amanda Price, who is in her first year in the position, started off the evening by welcoming everyone and introduced emcee for the night Craig Armstrong, development specialist for the city of Newton.

“It was a year of growth and collaboration for our community,” Price said. “There has been amazing things done here in our community, amazing progress.”

Mayor Mike Hansen, Sen. Chaz Allen and U.S. Rep. Dave Loebsack also spoke to the crowd about challenges facing them this year, work that is coming and how Newton and its businesses continue to make an impact locally, statewide and throughout the country.

Following dinner, Lonnie Portner spoke for outgoing board chair Frank Buckley, who could not attend, and introduced incoming board chair Miranda Kulis.

“We have an extraordinary two years that we are looking forward to,” Kulis said. “Truly this has been an extraordinary year where I have learned so much and made so many friends and I am looking forward to having a fun next couple of years.”

Serving two-year terms, a change from one year terms voted on and approved at the meeting portion of the dinner, are board members Toni Peska, Julia Prendergast, Jessica Deutsch and Heather Dawson.

Several individuals, including a large group, were honored at the dinner for work they have accomplished in many areas of the community. Receiving the Key Award was the 30-member Preserve the Pride Committee, which worked for more than a year to bring the new Berg Middle School build to fruition through the recent bond vote.

“These continuously focused members were expressing the need for the new building and the best methods for Newton to drawing the same conclusion,” Armstrong said. “The committee was dedicated beyond the more than 1,500 volunteer hours, the Preserve the Pride committee raised more than $7,000 from supporting businesses and community members for the bond campaign.”

The Community Service Award was presented to Bryan Friedman, the director of finance and development for the City of Newton. Through his work with the city and many volunteer endeavors, Friedman has collected a vast resume of efforts to make Newton a better community.

“I am truly honored,” Friedman said. “I never want it to be about me, I try to help empower others, I try to set the stage for others to help work together and bring people together to move this community forward.”

Mike Farley received the Ambassador of the Year Award for his many years of work as a Chamber Ambassador. The ambassadors are an extension of the chamber who spend many volunteers hours helping at chamber events and continuing the vision of the organization in the community.

Also honored were six educators through the Excellence in Education Awards. Susan Sheeks, a fourth grade teacher at Aurora Heights, Melissa Sommars, a second grade teacher at Thomas Jefferson, Jo Ellen Linn, a special education teacher at Berg Middle School, Ryan Comer, a social studies teacher at West Academy, Pat Riley, a math teacher and boys golf coach at Newton High School and Ann Nelson, a librarian who also received the Above and Beyond Award, were recognized for their achievements in the school district.

The evening concluded with a presentation by Joe Benesh, CEO of the Ingenuity Company and Senior Architect at Shive-Hattery Architect and Engineers. Benesh spoke about the evolution of strategy and community visioning, disruptive innovation and creative destruction.

Contact Jamee A. Pierson at 641-792-3121 ext. 6534 or jpierson@newtondailynews.com