Kent Chamber honors top business leaders

The Kent Chamber of Commerce on Saturday hosted its annual President’s Banquet and Business Excellence Awards, handing out awards to business and community leaders.

The event was held at the ShoWare Center.

This year, the Government Employee of the Year award went to Ben Wolters, Economic Development director for the city of Kent, for his work in bringing the ShoWare Center to the city.

Dan Bernard of Work Source won the Economic Engine of the Year award for his work matching employers with workers.

The Innovative Award went to Cafe Pacific and Catering for its development of the “Catering Crate,” a container that can keep food at temperature for three hours.

This year’s Company Citizenship Award went to Classic Accessories for its sponsorship of Neely-O’Brien Elementary School, which raised money for school supplies.

Rob Cannon of New York Life walked away with the Robert E. Lee Membership Development Award because of his dedication to chamber events and willingness to help out.

The Educator of the Year Award was given to Kent School District Director of Student Services Israel Vela. Vela was instrumental in opening the district’s Refugee Transition Center, in addition to serving as a board member for Kent Youth and Family Services and for being a strong advocate for the Lucy Lopez Center.

Valley Medical Center earned the Best Practices Award for its work in helping to pilot the Intensive Outpatient Care program.

The Ambassador of the Year Award went to Larry Robillard of Sunshine Delivery.

And the President’s Award this year went to the 2008 Chamber Executive Committee for its work in maintaining and running the chamber last year while a new executive director was being hired and the board president was out of commission due to surgery.