BENTON — Recognition was the theme of the day as the Benton Area Chamber of Commerce acknowledged the accomplishments of its members during the First Thursday Lunch and Awards Presentation.
Lori Terrell, the incoming president of the chamber, welcomed the crowd Jan. 8 at the Benton Event Center.
“I hope we can continue to move forward and grow our community,” she said.
Terrell, who is the group human resources manager at CoorsTek, cited the chamber’s 2014 accomplishments, which included hosting the 2014 banquet with guest speaker Bill Rancic, conducting the first Saline County Business Expo, publishing the first Saline County Restaurant Guide in partnership with the Bryant Chamber of Commerce and organizing a presidents’ club that will include all past chamber presidents and will meet quarterly.
She also said attendance at last year’s events was “great,” noting that 700 attended the Cajun Fest, 1,500 attended Savor the Flavor, and 6,000 attended the Glitz & Garland event.
Terrell and Gary James, executive director of the chamber, presented plaques to the honorees.
Terrell introduced four individuals who were honored with special awards “for the impact they have made on the community,” she said.
The following awards were presented:
• Ambassador of the Year — Lisa Thornton
Terrell said this award is determined by a “point system” and takes into consideration such things as how many special events a member attends, how many new members he or she helps recruit and how well he or she serves as a public-relations ambassador for the chamber.
“Lisa is very active in the community, as well as in the chamber,” Terrell said. “She is a past president of the Kiwanis Club, a leader of the Benton Middle School Elf Christmas Present Program, the 2012 Saline Courier Woman of the Year and a past member of the Benton Area Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors.”
Thornton is the business development officer at First Security Bank in Benton.
• Volunteer of the Year — Tamra Gore
“Tamra is Saline County’s law enforcement chaplain and is chaplain for Marketplace Chaplains, a group that serves many businesses in central Arkansas,” Terrell said.
Gore is the founder of the Vine and Branches ministry, a nonprofit organization that helps those in need, including victims of domestic violence and violent crimes.
“Through this ministry, Tamra probably provides food to hundreds of people each week,” Terrell said.
Terrell said Gore has also developed a “clothes closet” in Saline Memorial Hospital’s emergency department to aid victims of rape or other forms of domestic violence.
• Citizen of the Year — Sue Shults
“Sue has spent tireless hours with schoolchildren,” Terrell said. “She is an amazing lady.”
Terrell said Shults is one of the organizers of the Ralph Bunche Community Action Committee’s annual Back to School Backpack Program, which provides backpacks and other school supplies to at-risk children in the Benton School District.
Shults retired as the principal of Benton Middle School in 2014. She is the 2012 Arkansas Middle Level Principal of the Year and is an outgoing member of the chamber’s board of directors. Shults is now director of the student teaching program at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia.
• Visionary Award — Jasen Kelly
Terrell said this is a new award and honors a visionary, which she described as someone “thinking about or planning the future with imagination or wisdom.”
Kelly is director of the Boys & Girls Club of Saline County.
Terrell said Kelly held various jobs at the club before he was promoted to chief executive officer in 2007.
“Under his leadership, the summer and after-school programs at the Benton facility have had enormous growth,” Terrell said. “The club will break ground this year on a state-of-the art facility that will allow Jasen and his staff to serve even more youth in our community.”
Terrell said the local Boys & Girls Club has been chosen by the National Boys & Girls Clubs of America to be the lead agency for the state of Arkansas.
Terrell said Kelly has been active in the GoBenton movement and is a member of the local Rotary Club.
Others receiving recognition at the awards luncheon were Sam Ed Gibson as the 2014 chamber president and Holley Little as the 2013 chamber president. Terrell also recognized the 2014 retiring board members — Ray Baggett, Brandan Hudspeth, Little, Shults and Mary Williams.
James said he looks forward to 2015 as “an exciting year.”
He encouraged members to “talk up your business” and “network with each other.”
“Do business with each other,” James said, noting that there are approximately 600 members of the local chamber of commerce. “We are all here to promote your business. It’s all about networking.”
James reminded the audience that the chamber manages the Benton Event Center, which opened Oct. 1, 2013.
“Since then, we have had 295 events in this facility. Is that not incredible?” he said.
“We had a total of 87,000 individuals in attendance,” he said, adding that the facility was utilized 364 days during that time period.
James said one of the new events the chamber will host this year is the 2015 Arkansas Championship Steak Cook-off on July 18.
“Teams will be traveling from across the Midwest and South to get to Benton to test their grilling skills and compete to win cash, prizes and a spot in the 2015 World Championship Steak Cook-off and the U.S. Invitational Steak Championship,” he said. “There will also be a communitywide rib-eye dinner that will be a unique and fun experience for the community.”
Other upcoming events sponsored by the Benton Area Chamber of Commerce include the chamber banquet on March 3, the Cajun Feast in April, Savor the Flavor on Oct. 8, the Saline County Business Expo on Oct. 20, and Glitz & Garland on Nov. 13-14.
For more information on these events and the Benton Area Chamber of Commerce, call (501) 860-7004 or visit www.bentonchamber.com.