Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce honors members at annual banquet

About 850 members of the Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce gathered Friday evening at the Show Me Center for the largest chamber event of the year.

The annual dinner is organized to celebrate the successes of chamber members and businesses and to look to the year ahead.

Jay Knudtson, the chamber's 2015 chairman of the board, led the festivities. He began with an acknowledgment of chamber partners and a recognition of outgoing and incoming chamber board members. Knudtson introduced the "Community Spotlight," featuring Dan Drury, president of Midamerica Hotels.

Bill and Susan Cole, right, owners of Realty Executives of Cape County, receive the 2015 Small Business of the Year Award from the Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce at its annual dinner Friday, Jan. 29, 2016 at the Show Me Center. Also honoring them are U.S. Rep. Jason Smith, left, State Sen. Wayne Wallingford and State Rep. Kathy Swan. (Fred Lynch)

Drury spoke of the sports complex being built in Cape Girardeau and what the new venture will mean to the community. He focused on the potential for tourism.

"There isn't a c-store, a restaurant, a business that doesn't benefit from visitors to the community," Drury said.

State Sen. Wayne Wallingford, State Rep. Kathy Swan and U.S. Rep. Jason Smith joined Knudtson on the stage for the award ceremony.

Patrick Furniture was acknowledged and congratulated for the company's investment in the Cape chamber. This year marks the furniture store's 50th year of chamber membership.

Paula Myers was posthumously awarded the 2015 Ambassador of the Year Award. It was the sixth time Myers received the honor. In 2015, Myers recruited nine new members, attended 42 ribbon-cuttings and groundbreakings and attended 21 chamber functions before she died in November.

In her time as a chamber member beginning in 2005, Meyers attended 379 ribbon-cuttings and recruited 95 members into the chamber. Myers "lived and breathed the chamber," said Kim Voelker, membership development specialist for the chamber, who presented to the award to Myers' sister.

Realty Executives of Cape County was awarded the 2015 Small Business of the Year award for its contributions in the region since it were established in 2003. Laurie Everett of Annie Laurie's Antiques, the 2014 Small Business of the Year, presented the award. Everett spoke of the challenges of selecting a winner and how that difficulty speaks to the strength of the candidates. Bill and Susan Cole accepted the award.

Jim Limbaugh joined the stage to present the Rush H. Limbaugh Award to honor an area businessperson who has expended exceptional effort on behalf of the community for an extended period of time. Dennis Vollink, president of Drury Southwest, was presented the award.

"There is no finer example of quiet leadership" than Vollink, Limbaugh said.

Vollink is a distinguished graduate of the Air Force Academy. In 1981, he joined Drury Southwest as a corporate pilot and engineer. Since then, he has served as president of Drury Development and of Drury Southwest. He has volunteered and dedicated his time to many organizations including the Knights of Columbus, Discovery Playhouse, American Cancer Society and the Cape Girardeau Partnership for Higher Education Advisory Committee.

During his acceptance speech, Vollink said in all his travels and after "all the impossible projects" he has accomplished in his time with Drury, "the neatest thing we are able to talk about is that we're from Cape Girardeau."

The evening ended as Knudtson introduced the chamber's 2016 chairman of the board, Bob Neff, who called it an honor and a privilege to be the chamber's new chairman.

"We have great plans for 2016," Neff said.

bbrown@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3630

Pertinent address:

1333 N Sprigg St, Cape Girardeau, MO 63701