The Brooke County Area Chamber of Commerce celebrated local businesses and community leaders during its annual recognition dinner Wednesday evening.
The organization presented multiple awards, including Business of the Year (Screwy Louie’s), Citizen of the Year (Laurie Labishak), Lifetime Achievement (Marc Chernenko), New Business of the Year (Fuscardo Family Urgent Care), Young Professional of the Year (Brianna Bates), and Non-Profit of the Year (Northern Panhandle Quail Forever). The event also highlighted a communitywide scavenger hunt and local entrepreneurs, with organizers pointing to the effort as part of building a better future.
Eric Fithyan, president of the Brooke County Area Chamber of Commerce, said the awards are designed to spotlight more than just the winners.
“And so what that does, we have 15 nominees for these awards,” he said. “It’s just not highlighting one at all, but highlighting 15 individuals so that somebody learns about a new business, a new organization, or something that they didn’t know how to bring to capacity. Gets to learn about new businesses that they’ve not already know about.”
The chamber also recognized John Panza, described as the oldest living World War II veteran in West Virginia at 105 years old. Panza was among thousands of American troops deployed to the Aleutian Islands to ward off Japanese troops.