As the year winds down, it's time to nominate deserving residents and businesses for awards.
The California Area Chamber of Commerce is accepting nominations for its Citizen of the Year and Business of the Year awards until Dec. 31. The awards are slated to be presented at the chamber's annual dinner on Jan. 28 at West Ridge Event Center in Centertown.
Sandra Ratcliff, executive secretary for the chamber, said the chamber is looking to increase community participation in the process.
"... (E)very year, we advertise for nominations to come in, but a lot of times we just don't get a response, and that makes it difficult to pick someone who's deserving of it," she said. "Most years we have somebody, but we'd like to have a nice pool of people and give the community the opportunity to participate."
Ratcliff said a chamber committee consisting of chamber officers and previous winners from the last three years will judge the nominations. A third award, Volunteer of the Year, is decided by the chamber itself.
According to the Citizen of the Year award nomination form, nominees must live within the "California trade area," with preference given to nominees who have lived in the area for more than a decade. Nominees will be judged on the "quality and quantity of volunteer service contributed to the California trade area and the contribution their careers have added to the betterment of the California trade area." Nominees are not required to be chamber members, and previous winners of the award are ineligible. Previous Citizen of the Year recipients were Ron Harlan and Bob Staton.
According to the Business of the Year award nomination form, nominees must be members of the California Area Chamber of Commerce, located within the area and employ 50 or fewer full-time employees. Preference will be given to businesses that have been in operation for more than a decade. Nominees will be judged on their overall success, contributions to the community, awards and honors, and the "quality and quantity of volunteer service" to the area. Bonecutter Body Shop was the previous Business of the Year recipient.
Ratcliff said nominations could be emailed to [email protected]; or mailed to, or dropped off, at the chamber office, 500 S. Oak St., Suite A, California, Missouri 65018. Contact the California Area Chamber of Commerce at 573-796-3040 8 a.m.-noon weekdays for more information.