Grants/Cibola County Chamber of Commerce Awards Banquet on March 5
GRANTS, N.M. – The annual Grants/Cibola County Chamber of Commerce Awards Banquet is an opportunity for the community to come out and celebrate Cibola County. The businesses of Cibola are the life blood of the community, in this awards ceremony the businesses owners and businesses themselves receive the recognition in their effort.
This award banquet is held annually, as it is not only a celebration of Cibola businesses, but the general membership meeting for the chamber. This is where the chamber elects its new president, vice president. This annual meeting is scheduled to be held the first Saturday of February, however, because of the spike in COVID-19 cases in Cibola County the date was pushed back to March 5. The delay in the event was done to ensure that Cibola’s workers do not contract COVID-19, and that businesses can continue operating at full capacity.
The 2022 Chamber Awards Banquet will not be the same as in the past, however, many of the awards have changed, and the event will be more like an awards show. The doors will open at 6 p.m. for a silent auction, all proceeds go to benefit the Dennis Moleres Scholarship fund. Dinner will be served at 7 p.m. at the same time, the awards will begin. A dance will proceed the event starting at 9 p.m. Tickets can be purchased $50 for the dinner and banquet; this includes the dance. For those citizens just interested in the dance, a ticket can be purchased for $25 at the Chamber of Commerce located at 100 Iron Avenue.
Why did the event date change?
“We would like everyone who is an award recipient to enjoy the event, and to us here at the Chamber of Commerce, the health of the community is more important than having our event on time, so we have decided to move it forward. Let people become well, and come enjoy the banquet,” Brenda Curtwright, executive director of the chamber, explained, “We worked really hard to secure great entertainment, the food, and the venue. Our goal is to allow this COVID virus to clear up and allow people to come enjoy the celebration without fearing their whole staff will be out sick again.” Curtwright explained that this move was in favor of the businesses, “and the greater community too.”
How will the 2022 event be different than in the past?
“We’ve changed this into a ‘black-tie’ event this year, to make it a little more formal, or as formal as possible,” Curtwright explained. The banquet has historically had some of Cibola’s best-looks; ensuring that the chamber continues this tradition of best-looks, the “black-tie” will help enforce great dress.
“We are putting an emphasis on entertainment,” Curtwright explained, there will be a live band. Another major shift in this year’s awards ceremony, is being formatted more like an award show. Unlike previous years, the ceremony will have three nominees for every category, no one will know who won, not even the award presenter, until the envelope is open. In previous years, winners were alerted before the ceremony. “We want to celebrate everyone in the community, not just the winner. This way all the three top vote earners see that the community supports them.”
New to this year’s banquet will be a recategorization of awards. The awards have been recategorized to show the strength of Cibola’s businesses, but does mean that some staples, like best chile and best burger, are not in the running this year.
What are the awards?
This year’s awards aim to celebrate the diverse business community in Cibola County.
The awards will be: Dream Big Small Business Award – Celebrating Cibola’s small businesses that are pushing ahead and serving their customers even in the face of COVID-19.
The nominees are:
Journi Jo’s
Paleteria Lucas
Clem’s
Emerging Business of the Year – Celebrating businesses that are making waves and quickly becoming community favorites.
The nominees are:
Blended
1912 Market
Pizza 9
Health and Wellness Award – Celebrating the businesses and individuals who help keep Cibola healthy, especially in the face of COVID-19.
The nominees are:
Jonathan LaVelley
Parkhust Pharmacy
Stacy Dimitt
Sustainability Award – Celebrating Cibola’s businesses with a history of longevity that support the community.
The nominees are:
Serenade Music
T-Bones Gym
West Theater
Digital Business of the Year – Celebrating Cibola’s businesses that do may not have a physical storefront and support the county’s economy through digital means.
The nominees are:
Twisted Honey
Distinked Ink Custom Etching
Custom Etching
Educator of the Year – Celebrating the educators in Cibola County that make a difference to their communities.
The nominees are:
Mark Lowther
Amy Cameron
Lucinda Tafoya
Public Servant of the Year – Celebrating those public servants, whether an elected official or just an outstanding citizen that goes above and beyond in their work for the community.
The nominees are:
Tony Mace
Robert Hays
Jeff Marez
Community Leadership Award – Celebrating those people and businesses in Cibola County that go above and beyond their station to make a Cibola County a better place to live.
The nominees are:
New Mexico
Mining Museum
Erik Garcia
Brenda Curtwright
Business of the Year (25 or Less employees) – Celebrating the buisnesses that are making a great impact on Cibola County, supporting the area economy, and doing outstanding work in community service and operations, but can’t be considered a large business.
The nominees are:
Mt. Taylor Coffee
El Cafecito
State Farm-Tom
Fitzsimmons
Business of the Year (25 or More Employees) - Celebrating the businesses that are making a great impact on Cibola County, supporting the area economy, and doing outstanding work in community service and operations, and are considered a large business.
The nominees are: Smiths
Smiths
Cibola General Hospital
Diamond G
These are the ten primary awards to be given out this year. Two additional awards are being added, celebrating those citizens who support Cibola’s economy by shopping locally and make a positive difference in the community.
# S h o p L o c a l C i b o l a Super Shopper Award – This celebrates those citizens who go out of their way to shop locally. Every dollar spent in Cibola County benefits Cibola County. The winner of this award will be announced at the event. The Grants/Cibola County Chamber of Commerce Hero Award – This award will be presented the night of the banquet to a person or business that has worked for the benefit of Cibola County and has received honorable mentions through the community.
The award restructuring was done to ensure that all businesses and people in Cibola County who make a difference and support the growth of the community can be noticed.
Winners of the awards will be announced on March 5.
How do the awards benefit Cibola?
“The Chamber of Commerce wants to build up a tight network of business owners, that work together for a common goal. That goal is success, we want to succeeed in our community. We want to invite people to move here and open up businesses. We want them to feel this is the place to do it. When you build a tight network like that, it shows. That is when we succeed,” Curtwright said, “When one business succeeds, it ignites another business to try and succeed. It starts a new ripple. A lot of people might sit and say ‘I want to start this business’ and there is fear, ‘I need to feed my family, what if this business doesn’t make it.’ That’s a real fear when you start a new business, especially a small business. But I have seen some really neat businesses open up here in Cibola, and they’re doing well.”
Curtwright explained that when business leaders support each other, all the local businesses can be successful. This is a large part of the Chamber’s #ShopLocalCibola initiative, which encourages local shopping, and networking among business leaders. “You always hear people say, ‘well we don’t have this big chain, or that big chain,’ well, do we need them?” Curtwright declared, “Not if we have great businesses minds in our community that can think outside the box. I will say, when I travel, the unique part of every community are the small businesses, and how they make us feel when we go inside. Small businesses are the heart of communities, especially here in Cibola.”
Purchase tickets for the Chamber Awards Ceremony at the Grants/Cibola County Chamber of Commerce located at 100 Iron Avenue in Grants, N.M.