The Sheridan County Chamber of Commerce announced the recipients of the 2020 Awards of Excellence during its virtual Awards of Excellence program Feb. 10.
The recipients were voted on by the membership via on-line ballot.
The awards presented and the recipients are:
Spirit of Sheridan
This award honors a business or individual who volunteers countless hours for the betterment of the Chamber and our local area. They demonstrate vision, ambition and drive to serve the community and the mission of the Chamber, understanding that a community thrives when those in it invest and contribute to its success.
2020 Recipient: Erin Kilbride
Erin Kilbride has served as the Executive Director of the Tongue River Valley Community Center in Dayton and Ranchester since 2007. She has a passion to help others and believes that good, positive opportunities help everyone to grow. She believes in giving opportunities, like those afforded to her when she was growing up, to youth, families and senior citizens to increase quality of life. Erin has served or currently serves on several boards, including the Wellness Council of Sheridan County, Sheridan KidsLife, the Center for a Vital Community, and the Sheridan Economic and Educational Development Authority (SEEDA). She volunteers her time for The Food Group, Habitat for Humanity, Sheridan Memorial Hospital Foundation, Antelope Butte, the YMCA and Sheridan County School District #1. She is currently the board chair for the Center for a Vital Community, serves as a trustee for the Homer and Mildred Scott Foundation, and was recently elected to the Northern Wyoming Community College District board of trustees. Erin said she serves because she has a passion for giving, and she believes in a healthy community. Erin says the Chamber is a major contributor to the healthy community and if she can be a small part of that, it is very worthwhile.
Key Service
This award honors a Chamber member non-profit organization that has made a significant impact in Sheridan County. This organization serves with enthusiasm and dedication, addresses needs in the community and aligns the vision of its organization for maximum effectiveness.
2020 Recipient: The Hub on Smith
The Hub on Smith, known as the Sheridan Senior Center until 2017, started in 1973 when the Senior Citizens Council became a private, non-profit corporation. The Senior Center rebranded as The Hub to better reflect how the center encompasses people of all generations. Today, The Hub provides community-based services to older adults, family members, caregivers, people living with disabilities and many others, in 10 different program areas, with 100 staff members. The Hub offers several programs and services that support and keep older adults engaged in the community. These include providing healthy and nutritious home delivered meals, offering public transportation through Goose Creek Transit, connecting seniors to important services through the Support Center, supporting families through the Help at Home, Day Break and Family Caregiver Support programs, lending adaptive equipment through the Community Loan Closet and leading several diverse activity opportunities throughout the community. In the last fiscal year, more than 3,500 individuals were served, including nearly 106,000 meals served to the community, 18,000 hours of homemaking and personal care, 18,000 hours of care were provided through the Day Break program to families needing respite and care services, and more than 40,000 rides were provided to Sheridan County residents through Goose Creek Transit’s door-to-door service along with 12,000 rides on the Fixed Route.
Strength of Sheridan
This award honors a Chamber member business or organization that has a distinguished tenure of 20 or more years in the community. This business or organization demonstrates consistent service, continually invests in the community, meets challenges with innovative solutions and demonstrates sustained quality performance.
2020 Recipient: Sheridan Commercial Company
In 1892, when Sheridan was just seven years old and before the railroad came to town, a general store was started to serve the needs of the young community. This was the beginning of the Sheridan Commercial Company, located on Alger Street. When the railroad arrived, the company moved to its current location on Broadway, with a rooming house and restaurant added on to the second floor. The building was destroyed by fire in 1915 and its contents and entire structure were razed. In 1916, the company reorganized with new stockholders. The current building was erected by John B. Kendrick and opened in 1917. Sheridan Commercial now helps do-it-yourselfers, providing quality service with knowledgeable staff. The building next to Sheridan Commercial houses local non-profit organization, The Food Group, and the Sheridan Commercial staff work hand-in-hand with the group – providing their forklift to move pallets and unload trucks as well as clearing snow. In 2020, Sheridan Commercial implemented a “rounding up” initiative where their customers donate to The Food Group through rounding up their sales transactions at the retail counter, raising more than $1,500. Through the True Value Foundation’s Education Heroes Campaign, Sheridan Commercial also was able to provide health and safety kits to Holy Name School. Sheridan Commercial remains the oldest commercial establishment in Sheridan still doing business in the same location.
Business of the Year
This award honors a Chamber member business that positively impacts the economic health of the Sheridan area through exceptional business practices, customer service and innovation. This business shows steady growth and consistent strong performance, excels in community relations, practices exemplary business conduct, responds positively to adversity and shows proven business achievement.
2020 Recipient: First Northern Bank of Wyoming
First Northern Bank of Wyoming is a local family and employee-owned financial services institution. From humble beginnings in 1885, First Northern continues to be a community focused financial services provider for the communities it serves. The bank is proud to be a community champion. They advocate for local youth by supporting the Sheridan County YMCA, 4-H, FFA, FBLA, school academic and athletic teams, drama and arts. First Northern Bank also supports The Hub on Smith, Sheridan Memorial Hospital Foundation, Sheridan College, Downtown Sheridan Association, WYO Theater, the Chamber and many other local organizations and events. The bank donates and volunteers many staff hours serving on boards or volunteering to give back in areas such as the WYO Rodeo, Habitat for Humanity, Sheridan County 4-H and FFA and larger philanthropical boards across the community. In 2020, they partnered with the Scott Foundation and other financial institutions to help create a significant contribution to the Sheridan Area Employee Relief Fund to help those impacted by the effects of the COVID-19 shutdowns. The bank increased community giving, supported local retail stores and encouraged shopping local. First Northern continued to provide five area scholarships to graduating seniors, helped several nonprofits with match grant challenges, provided support to the Big Horn baseball field and much more. Innovative, not for products but for their people, First Northern Bank believes in reinvestment in its people with additional professional development certifications and an experience rather than a transaction for their clients.
Business Person(s) of the Year
This award honors a Chamber member business person(s) who shows outstanding business acumen and strong leadership in business and community efforts. This person is a champion for economic development, strives to exceed customer expectations, delivers industry leading standards of service and quality and exhibits innovation in business development.
2020 Recipient: Paul & Christina Haworth, Sackett’s Market
Paul and Christina Haworth met while building boats in Florida. Christina is a licensed interior designer and was doing boat and yacht interiors, and Paul was a fiberglass and gel coat engineer. The couple traveled all over the world and loved researching foods in the areas where they visited. After owning several private businesses, the couple moved back to Wyoming in 2005 to purchase a meat processing facility in Riverton. In just four years they turned the company around to be a $2 million company, and the largest meat processor by volume in the state of Wyoming. Paul and Christina moved to Sheridan in 2009 and founded Sackett’s Market in 2010 with the goal of providing local, back-to-basics, quality foods. This past year with the pandemic, Paul and Christina were able to provide consistent quality products from local farmers and ranchers, never running out of product and serving as the only grocery store in the area providing true farm-to-table products. In October 2019, Paul and Christina bought a “diamond in the rough” building and began planning its facelift. Though they had planned on doing many of the renovations on their own, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and the Haworths decided to utilize people that had lost their jobs to help with the renovation. With their new location on Burkitt Street, the Haworths have been able to expand their product offerings, employ more staff and provide more services to the Sheridan area.
For more information, contact the Sheridan County Chamber of Commerce at (307) 672-2485.
