ASHLAND – Ten Ashland-area businesses were honored Thursday night during the 6th Annual Ashland Area Chamber of Commerce Member Awards Banquet in Myers Convocation Center at Ashland University.
Chamber Executive Director Barbie Lange said there were a record 73 nominees and another record 35 finalists in the 10 categories for this year’s awards.
The 10 winners chosen included:
- Agriculture: Ashland County Farm Bureau
- Culture & Recreation: Ashland Chautauqua
- Education: North Central State College
- Health & Medical Services: University Hospitals Occupational Health
- Social Services: Appleseed Community Mental Health Center
- Small Business: Higgins Computer Service
- Large Business: Ashland University
- Professional Services: Farmers and Savings Bank
- Retail Business: The Parsley Pot
- Entrepreneur of the Year: Lange Design
The winners were chosen by the Chamber Judging Committee based on four criteria:
- Business performance and standing
- Customer service strategies and practices
- Community involvement
- Promotion of Ashland County and surrounding areas
Dan Lawson of Ashland University and Stacy Schiemann of the United Way of Ashland County presented the awards to this year’s winners.
Ohio Lt. Gov Mary Taylor was the keynote speaker for the banquet. The former state auditor and state representative noticed the Chamber’s tagline, “Promoting Business to Enhance Community.”
“I can’t think of anything that more accurately describes the importance of a chamber in any single community, because, yes it’s about jobs and about businesses being successful. But it’s mostly about community and about the people that those jobs represent,” Taylor said.
The lieutenant governor’s father was a bricklayer who was stricken with polio as a child and struggled because of it, but he worked hard to overcome his illness. Taylor worked her way through college and became the first in her family to graduate from college. Immedicately out of college, she was recruited by one of the Big 6 accounting firms in the country.
She transitioned into public service by first serving on her local city council and then moving on to serve as state representative and finally state auditor before running with Kasich in 2010.
Taylor was appointed by Kasich to oversee Ohio’s Common Sense Initiative to help create a more jobs-friendly regulatory climate in Ohio. CSI was established to create a regulatory framework that promotes economic development, is transparent and responsive to regulated businesses, makes compliance as easy as possible, and provides predictability for businesses.
In 2016, Ohio had a net decrease in the amount of overall business regulation for the second straight year.
“We are cutting red tape and returning the government back to the people and holding our government accountable to the businesses they regulate,” Taylor said.
Taylor pointed out how Ohio has improved in the Forbes Best States for Business list.
Since 2010, Ohio has jumped from 38th to 15th, the highest jump in the country during that time. In the Regulatory Environment category, Ohio is ranked 5th and in the Quality of Life rating, the Buckeye state is 2nd.
One major step Taylor and Gov. John Kasich have taken is to cut taxes in Ohio by $5 billion during their tenure.
“We didn’t do it just for the sake of cutting taxes. We did it because we trust people not government to make decisions about how their money is going to be spent,” Taylor said. “Because of that, nearly 450,000 jobs have been created in the private sector since 2011.”
Taylor said she is often asked why she left a job as a CPA for a career in public service. She used to have trouble answering that question but now she has an answer.
“I want the next daughter or son of a bricklayer to have the opportunity to live their version of the American dream. I want the next young person who has to struggle and scrape by to pay for their college to have the opportunity for an affordable college education and a job opportunity afterwards so they’re not hobbled with student loan debt. And I want to make sure that the next working mother or working father who wants to spend more time with their children will have the opportunity to make ends meet. And I want the next Ohioan who faces long odds or is told they can’t achieve their goal to know that Ohio is a place where the only limits are those which you place upon yourself,” Taylor said.
