The Carmi Chamber of Commerce held a special meeting yesterday for the purposes of recommending a replacement for Amber Ackerman in the role of Executive Director. Ackerman, who took over the role in late 2017 has seen a dramatic boom in her new business as owner and broker at The Property Shop. Pair that with her and colleague Angie French’s purchase of what was Logo Graphics in recent weeks and Ackerman knew the jobs were going to take more time and effort than she felt she could devote to her role as Chamber Director.
Current Chamber President Toby Brown has had to shoulder the load of not only running the post, but also the unenviable task of leading the search for not one, but now two hiring expeditions. We’re hoping to hear later today whether the Board was able to come to a consensus on a new hire to fill the vacancy.
One of the first orders of business for whomever takes over as Executive Director will be putting together the annual Chamber Dinner to be held October 1st. With that in mind, time is running out for the public to nominate individuals for the annual Citizen of the Year Award, an honor that’s been bestowed on Carmi’s finest since 1957. Nominations are due August 15th.
The Chamber also needs to hear from you regarding Small and Large Business of the Year nominations. For guidelines on what qualifies a business as Large or Small, please contact the Carmi Chamber office at 382 – 7606 or email [email protected]. You’ll find a list of all past winners of each award when you look for this story in the Local News section of our website, www.wrul.com.
Citizen of the Year recipients
1957 Rev. Fredrick Hahn
1958 Robert Randolph
1959 Carl G. Anderson
1960 Harold Robbins
1961 C.F. “Bud” Rebstock
1962 Byford G. Karns
1963 William F. Sharp
1964 Earl C. Boehringer
1965 George H. Schanzle
1966 J. Robert Smith
1967 Allen Ball
1968 Herbert G. Bayley
1969 Michael F. Croghan
1970 John Evers
1971 Carl D. McVey
1972 Talmage W. Kisner
1973 Judge Henry Lewis
1974 Mrs. Marie Worlds
1975 Robert G. Brown
1976 Miss Marie Harrawood
1977 Mrs. Ruth Burdette
1978 Miss Mertice Pyle
1979 Roger Heckler
1980 Rev. Frank Brown
1981 Ivan A. Elliott, Jr.
1982 Paul Hayse
1983 Ken Alldredge
1984 Charles Hortin
1985 Ms. Susan Murphy
1986 Gerald Pollard
1987 Morris McCall Family
1988 Mrs. Ruth Musgrave Coulter
1989 Mrs. Anita Peyton
1990 Manley Holt
1991 Charles O “Bill” Williams
1992 Robert Harlan
1993 Gary Edwards
1994 Dr. Charles Schanzle
1995 Phillip Endicott Stocke
1996 Mrs. Suzanne Calvert
1997 Sam & Martha Endicott
1998 Janice Gates
1999 Iva Jean Bayley
2000 Robby King
2001 Betty Brown
2002 Loren Minnick
2003 Archie Brown
2004 Barbara Kearney
2005 Don Winkleman
2006 Roscoe Templeton
2007 Mike Knight
2008 Jimmy Gaines
2009 Scott & Todd Rice
2010 Dan Drone
2011 Tom Logan
2012 Keith Hoskins
2013 David Port
2014 David Campbell
2015 Jack Martin
2016 Tim Gholson
2017 Dave Templeton
Small Business of the Year Recipients
Plum Street Pharmacy
Hale Body Shop
Campbell Funeral Home
Merle Norman Cosmetics and Boutique
WROY/WRUL
Carmi Vet Clinic
Taylor Eye Care
Nancy J. Winter, CPA
Large Business of the Year recipients
Wabash Christian Retirement Center
Geo. N. Mitchell Drilling
Elastec
O’Daniel Trucking Company
Martin & Bayley
City of Carmi
Little Giant
First Bank
