By Heather Lusk
Work, leadership and commitment of local residents will be recognized at the Zionsville Chamber of Commerce annual awards banquet, to be held at the Palomino Ballroom Jan. 22.
This year’s keynote speaker will be Abdul Hakim-Shabazz, known for his WIBC radio show Abdul at Large.
“We thought our guests would enjoy his presentation, especially since it’s a state and national election year,” said Julie Johns-Cole, the chamber’s executive director. Zionsville resident and Fox 59 reporter Sherman Burdette will return as emcee.
Nine awards will be presented this year, two of which are new categories: Outstanding Public Official and the zWorks Startup of the Year award.
“The (zWorks) board thought it made sense to recognize an up-and-coming entrepreneur or startup company,” said Johns-Cole, who serves on the board of directors for zWorks.
The award winners are “amazing, innovative, hard-working and have dedicated so much to Zionsville,” Johns-Cole said. “They’re really the culmination of what makes Zionsville an outstanding place to live and work.”
The oldest award to be presented is the Town Crier Award, recognizing persons who have made outstanding contributions to Zionsville. The first recipients, H. Roll McLaughlin and Donald Keller, were recognized in 1967 with former Zionsville Police Dept. Captain Doug Gauthier winning last year.
The Community Service Award – won in 2015 by the Zionsville Lions Club – is also many decades old with the first winner in 1973 (Farmers State Bank). Business and professional awards such as Business of the Year and Emerging Professional of the Year were added to the event in 2013.
