Celebrate With the Chamber As We Honor Our Home Front Heroes

Come celebrate the WWII era as our Chamber honors our Home Front Heroes at our annual Chamber Bash on Thursday, February 6, 2014, at the Manor in downtown Puyallup.  Our annual fundraising event will focus on local businesses of the 40's and feature tastings from local restaurants, wineries and distilleries.  We encourage all members to dress in your best 1940s themed attire and what better place to rent a military or 1940s outfit than at Chamber member, Northwest Costume, 253.383.4700.   Come and learn about how our communities have grown since the 40s and experience local cuisine as you mingle with local business owners and representatives.  It'll be a night to remember and a great way to support our Chamber activities.  See you there.

Rising Star Awards Breakfast Tuesday, January 14th, 2014

Don't forget to register for the annual Rising Star Awards Breakfast which will be held at the Pioneer Park Pavilion on Tuesday, January 14, 2014, 7:30am.  Bring a friend or co-worker and start your day off celebrating with our local businesses who are being recognized for excellence.  See you there!  

Nominees Receive Certificates at Group Health After Hours Reception

Chamber Board members, Ambassadors, staff and Group Health Cooperative representatives all gathered December 19th to honor 62 Chamber members nominated for our 2013 Rising Star awards.  In addition to our nominee announcements and general holiday well wishes, we also had the opportunity to hear Dr. Delgado from Group Health give an update on the growth of their new facility on So. Hill.  Celebrating with our members at Group Health during the holidays has become a great tradition and we look forward to seeing everyone at the January 14th Annual Rising Star Awards Breakfast.  Congratulations to all of our nominees and a big Chamber thank you to Group Health and all of our members who took the time to nominate well deserving individuals and businesses.  Happy Holidays from our Chamber staff and we look forward to seeing you in 2014.

Dillano's Tours a Big Hit with Chamber Members

Our Wake Ups at Dillano's on the first Thursday of every month is growing in popularity and our December 5th meeting included a tour of the plant with the ever popular green hair nets.  A big thank you to our monthly hosts at Dillanos for making waking up a fun place to be.

And the 2013 Award Nominees Are......

Our Chamber nominating committee has received 62 nominations for our 2013 Rising Star Awards.  A big thank you to our chamber members who submitted a record number of nominations this year and a hearty congratulations to all of our businesses and community leaders who were recognized and named as award nominees.

Business After Hours Award Nominee Reception:  

      Thurs. Dec. 19th, 5:30pm  Group Health, So Hill Campus

Annual Rising Star Awards Breakfast:

      Tues. Jan 14th, 7:30am  Pioneer Park Pavilion

See you at the Reception and the Breakfast!

John Porter Memorial
Dave Radcliffe, The Old Cannery Furniture Warehouse
Karissa Thompson, Heritage Bank
Mayor Dave Enslow, City of Sumner

Bridget O’Connor, Red Canoe Credit Union

Rob Lewis, Columbia Bank

Volunteer of the Year

Captain Scott Engle, City of Puyallup/Puyallup PD

Cheryl Mamiya, Hampton Inn & Suites

Mike Nelson, Retirement Planning Inc.
Officer Loren Houselog, City of Sumner/Sumner PD
Sherrie Duggan, City of Sumner/Sumner’s Toy Box
Rhonda Kirkes, Relay for Life

Volunteer Business of the Year

Act 1 Theatre Productions

Cascade Regional Blood Services

Dr. Cool, Dr. Heat Inc.

Holiday Inn Express Sumner

McLendon Hardware

Ambassador of the Year

Karissa Thompson, Heritage Bank

Laura Davis, Heritage Bank

Michele Suepke, LegalShield

Rob Lewis, Columbia Bank 

Small Business of the Year (1-10)

Epic Donuts

Goldenrod Jewelers

Grossland Branding Co.

Honey Baked Ham

Mt. Rainier Coffee Company

Parliament Distillery

Medium Business of the Year (11-50)

Bridge Property Management, The Hamptons

Diagnostic Imaging Northwest

Eterna Vein & Medical Aesthetics

Northwest Brewing Company

Salon Ish

Taco Del Mar

Large Business of the Year (51+)

BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse

Columbia Bank

Linden Grove Health Care Center

Mama Stortini’s

Puget Sound Energy

Sound Family Medicine

Young Professionals: Individual

Ashley Blair, Best Western Premier Plaza Hotel and Conference Center

Derek Barry, City of Sumner

Kyle Hardtke, Evergreen Ground Works

Scott Jones, Newland Communities

Traci Nelson, Best Western Premier Plaza Hotel and Conference Center

Young Professionals: Organizational

Columbia Bank

Dillanos Coffee Roasters

Green Mt. Coffee Roasters

Salon Ish

Non-Profit of the Year

Communities for Families – Sumner School District

Communities in Schools of Puyallup

Exodus Housing

Helping Hand House
Good Samaritan Hospital MultiCare Health System

Best Company to Work for

Columbia Bank

Dillanos Coffee Roasters
Good Samaritan Hospital MultiCare Health System

Heritage Bank

IKEA
Red Canoe Credit Union

Entrepreneur of the Year

Charla Neuman, Neuman Navigations

Gary Kemmer, STAC Inc.

Jarrett Tomal, Parliament Distillery

Kyle Hardtke, Evergreen Ground Works

Mike Brown, Dominos Pizza, Pizza Theatre

Business Innovations

Eterna Vein & Medical Aesthetics

Good Samaritan Hospital MultiCare Health System 

MOD Pizza

Newland Communities

Troutlodge Inc.

Washington State Fair

From One Mayor to Another

Sumner Mayor, Dave Enslow, bids a fond farewell to Puyallup Mayor, Rick Hansen, last week at a reception at Puyallup City Hall.  Mayor Hansen will be retiring from city government due to term limits on the council.  

A number of local community leaders, city staff, friends and family, attended to give their thanks to Mayor Hansen for his service to the community. Puyallup City Manager, Bill McDonald, Deputy Mayor, John Knutson, Police Chief, Brian Jeeter, Senator Bruce Dammeier and Representative Hans Zeiger, Col. Louis Ziesman, from 2nd Stryker Brigade at JBLM, Puyallup Public Works Director, Rob Andreotti, Central Pierce Fire & Rescue Chief, Keith Wright, and more came to speak and wish Mayor Hansen well.  Tuesday, December 10th, was his last council meeting as Mayor of Puyallup.  

On behalf of our Chamber, we also thank Mayor Hansen for his advocacy of our business community, attending our government affairs functions and many of our ribbon cuttings and business grand openings.  As a former President of our Chamber Board, and a business owner himself, we appreciated his relationship with our members and organization and wish him well in his future endeavors.

  

2015 U S Open - Pierce County Updates

The holiday season is a great time to talk about golf in Pierce County.  So hearing from our local USGA representative, Danny Sink, Pierce County Economic Development Director, Denise Dyer, and Brian Simpson from Chamber Bay Golf Course was a big hit for our December luncheon. 

There were lots of new and familiar Chamber faces who attended to hear about the current status of plans for the 2015 event and they had plenty of questions to ask as well.  Danny talked about Sound Transit's plans for a new stop right at the golf course, 2015 ticket sales and parking availability, sponsorship opportunities, volunteer sign ups, youth admissions, pre-event course closures, weather impact and more.  

Our Chamber will continue to work with Pierce County, the USGA and local tourism organizations in the coming year as we create and augment existing programs to make guests from all over the world feel welcome in Puyallup and Sumner.  Our Chamber will also be working with our business members interested in being sponsors to partner together for affordable alternatives.  If you are interested in more information, please contact our office.

The event is June 15-21, 2015, and that's only 548 days away for world wide media exposure for our region and Danny has agreed to come back again in December next year with event updates so be sure to watch for next year's December luncheon announcement.  

   

Bridge Lighting at the Cannery

Congratulations to the Old Cannery Furniture Warehouse for another great bridge lighting event and a big thank you to Columbia Bank and Sunset Chevrolet for co-sponsoring the fireworks show that wowed the crowd after the bridge was lit.  It was also great to hear the Sumner High School Choir singing Christmas carols with Santa and all the children who came to see him.  It's a wonderful Sumner tradition and one of our newest Chamber members who attended it for the first time said he felt like he was in Bedford Falls.  When you're standing there caroling with 4,000 of your closest friends, you realize it really is a Wonderful Life.