Tag: small business council

Small Business Council selects finalists for Business Person of the Year

The Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce Inc. and the Small Business Council have chosen the finalists for the 2020 Business Person of the Year Award.

In the category of 50 and under employees, the finalists are:
• John Allen, president, Allen Associates Inc.
• Jason Barrett, president, Black Button Distilling
• Aaron Gordon, founder and CEO, Optic Sky Productions LLC
• Jill Knittel, president, JK Executive Strategies LLC
• Nannette Nocon, private wealth adviser, Nocon & Associates

The finalists selected in the over 50 employees category include:
• Michael Hess, founder, president and CEO, Waste Harmonics
• Jay McHarg, CEO, AeroSafe Global
• Bill Pollock, president and CEO, Optimation Technology Inc.
• Timothy Pope, CEO and owner, Ironwood Heavy Highway LLC/Terry Tree Service LLC
• David Scalen, executive vice president and co-founder, Regional Distributors Inc.

The Business Person of the Year Award was first given in 1983 and recognizes for-profit business leaders in Greater Rochester who have demonstrated outstanding success, growth, leadership and service in both civic and professional areas.

“Congratulations to all the finalists named for the 2020 Business Person of the Year. It will be a great honor for me to recognize the outstanding achievements of these Rochester business leaders who rose to the challenge of 2020 by demonstrating excellence in growth, leadership and community service,” Small Business Council President Greg Miller said in a statement.

Greater Rochester Chamber and its Small Business Council will announce the winner of the 2020 Business Person of the Year Award at a hybrid virtual and in-person celebration at the Genesee Valley Club on June 24, 2021.

“While the COVID-19 pandemic may have disrupted many plans in 2020, it also provided an opportunity for true leaders to shine. Being chosen as a finalist for the Business Person of the Year Award in a time of such challenge is an honor with special distinction,” said Bob Duffy, president and CEO of the Greater Rochester Chamber. “We look forward to joining our Small Business Council in celebrating the service and success of our local businesspeople on June 24th.”

[email protected] / 585-653-4021
Follow Velvet Spicer on Twitter: @Velvet_Spicer

70 businesses and Small Business Council get school supplies to kids

The Small Business Council of Rochester’s annual Backpack Give Back program will help an estimated 1,500 local kids with school supplies. (Photo by Velvet Spicer)
The Small Business Council of Rochester’s annual Backpack Give Back program will help an estimated 1,500 local kids with school supplies. (Photo by Velvet Spicer)

More than 70 area businesses participated in the Small Business Council of Rochester’s annual Backpack Give Back program, helping an estimated 1,500 local kids with school supplies.

Now in its third year, the SBC program uses just word-of-mouth through members and nonmembers to gather school supplies and stuff backpacks for underprivileged children, culminating in Wednesday’s all-day drop off at R.W. Dake & Co. Inc. in East Rochester.

Dake also supplied the truck to deliver the backpacks and has supported the event since its inception, said SBC President Ray Isaac, who also is president of Isaac Heating & Air Conditioning Inc.

“It’s just one of those small, unseen things that our organization does,” Isaac said of the backpack drive. He picked up roughly 100 backpacks Wednesday morning from M&T Bank Corp., Nixon Peabody LLP and Genesee Regional Bank.

By late morning Wednesday, hundreds of bags already had been loaded into a Dake delivery truck, including 150 from All American Home Care. Companies were given about a month to pull together supplies such as paper and notebooks, pencils, pens and highlighters for area children, Isaac said.

“This is an initiative where we said, hey, there’s people out there in need, let’s see what we can do,” Isaac said of the program, run almost entirely by volunteers.

SBC also runs a program at Thanksgiving in which it solicits food items for baskets the organization distributes to families in need. Isaac said more than 3,000 boxes of items were donated last year, helping to feed some 12,000 people.

Isaac Heating & Air Conditioning Inc. President Ray Isaac heads the Small Business Council of Rochester, which will deliver roughly 1,500 backpacks to local children this year. (Photo by Velvet Spicer)
Isaac Heating & Air Conditioning Inc. President Ray Isaac heads the Small Business Council of Rochester, which will deliver roughly 1,500 backpacks to local children this year. (Photo by Velvet Spicer)

As far as the backpacks, though, Isaac said the looks on the kids’ faces when SBC volunteers deliver the bags is priceless. Often the children will show their thanks by hugging the volunteers. SBC delivered more than 1,100 backpacks last year.

“SBC is your friend in business and your friend in the community,” Isaac said. “Our whole initiative as an organization is to set up businesses for success. In this way we’re setting up kids for success and giving them the essentials they need when they go back to school, so at least they have a good start to a successful school year.”

[email protected] / 585-653-4021
Follow Velvet Spicer on Twitter: @Velvet_Spicer