Annual Economic Forecast and Awards Presentation Televised on PCTV

Josh Buffington, Man Cave Metal Works receives Entrepreneur
of the Year award from Tracey Pidge, Chair of Puyallup Sumner
Chamber of Commerce and Congressman Denny Heck

This year's annual Economic Forecast and Rising Star Award Breakfast was attended by more than 200 chamber members.  Guests listened to featured speakers as they shared local economic impact information about the county, the 2015 U.S. Open and the cities of Puyallup and Sumner.  The Chamber also presented their annual Rising Star Awards to local businesses in 14 categories and Congressman Denny Heck spoke about the local economy before assisting with the presentation of awards.  Click here to watch the televised event which will also air on PCTV on Fridays at 1 pm and Mondays at 9 pm for the next few weeks.

We want to thank our guest speakers, Bruce Kendall, Denise Dyer, Tom Utterback and Ryan Windish as well as our partner sponsors, Columbia Bank and Puget Sound Energy and our investor sponsors, Sumner Veterinary Hospital and Charles Schwab for their support of our event and our Chamber programs.

Large crowd at the annual Economic Forecast & Rising Star
Awards Breakfast at Pioneer Park Pavilion

2016 guest speakers include Bruce Kendall, Tacoma Pierce County EDB,
Denise Dyer, Pierce County Economic Development, Tom Utterback,
City of Puyallup, Ryan Windish, City of Sumner

Karissa Thompson, Heritage Bank, receives John Porter Memorial Award

Leslie LaCaze, Heritage Bank, Receives Volunteer of the Year Award

Eric Welsh, Columbia Bank, Young Professionals: Organizational

Danelle Bentley, D'Lectable Desserts, Small Business of the Year

Ciera Lopez, Bill Korum's Puyallup Nissan,
Best Company Representative

Mike Lynch & Tracy Odd, Sumner Veterinary Hospital,
Best Company to Work For

Mt. View Community Center, Mike Wilson, Non-Profit of the Year

Robert Bradford, Armstrong Fitness, Medium Business of the Year

Rob Lewis, Columbia Bank, Ambassador of the Year

Sunset Chevrolet, Reyna Gonzalez, Large Business of the Year

Trackside Pizza, Shaun Brobak, Restaurant of the Year

2016 Board of Directors, Puyallup Sumner Chamber of Commerce
Charla Neuman, Neuman Navigations, Debi Gregory, Edward Jones, Tracey Pidge, Coleman American Moving Services, Dave Radcliffe, Old Cannery Furniture Warehouse, Kyle Hardtke, Evergreen Ground Works, Glenn Kasman, MultiCare, Kent Hojem, Washington State Fair

Lunch with Legislators Feb 2nd - Chamber Bus Trip to Olympia

Next Tuesday, February 2nd, Chamber members are invited to participate in our Lunch with Legislators event at the Capitol in Olympia as we share our 2016 legislative priorities for local businesses.  Members will have the opportunity to meet and ask questions of our legislators in the 25th and 31st districts.  Sen. Bruce Dammeier, Rep. Hans Zeiger, Rep. Melanie Stambaugh and Rep. Drew Stokesbary will be present to listen and provide legislative updates for issues pertaining to our communities.

We encourage all of our chamber members to consider attending this event and participating in the conversation.  

Event Schedule:

• 10:40am   Bus boarding at the Chamber office
• 10:45am   Bus departs for Olympia
• Noon        Lunch served in capitol meeting room 
• 1:05pm     Bus departs for Puyallup 
• 1:45pm     Est. arrival at Chamber office

Cost:  $35.00 (includes bus transportation and lunch)

To register for our Lunch with Legislators, contact the Chamber office at 253.845.6755.

Leadership Institute Class of 2016 Welcomed by Community Leaders

Class of 2016 with Congressman Denny Heck

Participants in the Chamber's 2016 Leadership Institute class were welcomed at last Thursday night's opening reception by Puyallup Mayor John Hopkins, and Sumner Mayor Dave Enslow as they each shared the importance of community leadership and getting involved.

Friday morning's class was greeted by Congressman Denny Heck as he explained how leadership roles can impact organizations, communities and government and then provided examples to illustrate how he achieved his leadership roles and why he enjoys the work he currently does.  The morning also included a personality assessment activity for students.  Each year the LI program stresses the importance of leaders understanding personality types with a fun and interactive color assessment exercise.  

Also included in the first day activities were bus tours of Puyallup and Sumner and a kick off of the 2016 class project.  It was a really busy and productive day for everyone involved.  Our Chamber thanks all of our businesses who supported this year's program and especially our class facilitator, Marty Cavalluzzi, and Pierce College.  It's going to be a great year and we all look forward to learning more about this year's class project.  Graduation will be held on June 24th.

Class of 2016 visits Sumner City Hall

First day of class

Class Facilitator and President of Pierce College, Marty Cavalluzzi,
Shelly Schlumpf, Chamber CEO & Puyallup Mayor John Hopkins

Sumner Mayor Dave Enslow addresses class of 2016
at opening reception and talks about leadership

Mayor Hopkins welcomes class of 2016 at
opening reception & shares leadership responsibilities

Congressman Heck talks about the importance of
leadership and hard work

Day one included a color personality assessment

Tom Utterback, City of Puyallup Development Services Director,
leads a bus tour of Puyallup explaining current and future development projects

Class photo op before boarding the bus.  Sumner tour led by
Ryan Windish, Community Development Director

Personality assessment exercise

Class listens to presentation by community leader