On Friday, December 11, the West Orange Chamber of Commerce (WOCC) hosted the final event of the year, “It’s A Wrap 2020”.  The event was held at the Ocoee Lakeshore Center and was sponsored by Premier Sponsor Orlando Health – Health Central Hospital. Other sponsors included Duke Energy, Fifth Third Bank, Valley Bank, LaPorte Financial, Dawn Gilmore Productions, City of Ocoee and Cannonfire Photography.   At the event, the WOCC Chairwoman of the Board, Deborah Rios-Barnes of CenturyLink, officially passed the gavel, presented 2020 Awards and highlighted the 2019-2020 Leadership West Orange graduates.  

During the Passing of the Gavel, Chairwoman Barnes thanked the 2020 WOCC Board of Directors for their service during this unprecedented year and officially passed the gavel to the 2021 Chairwoman, Camille Evans of Virtus Law, LLP.  After being officially named the 2021 Chairwoman, Evans introduced the 2021 WOCC Board of Directors and nominated Dr. Kim Hardy of UCF to Treasurer and appointed Paul McNamara of Reed Nissan to Director of Human Resources. 

The WOCC leadership decided to forgo the Chamber’s Annual Award Presentation event typically scheduled for early 2021, the Chamber presented the 2020 Awards during the “It’s A Wrap 2020” event.  Barnes presented the 2020 Chair’s Award to three individuals: Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings, Chuck Whittall of Unicorp National Development and Deb Linden of The Vineyard Wine Bar & Bistro.  Barnes remarked that Mayor Demings led the business community in this pandemic by forming the Orange County Economic Recovery Task force.  This task force was comprised by many business leaders representing various industries throughout Orange County including Chuck Whittall of Unicorp National Development who Co-Chaired the “Working Group: Guidelines for Reopening Business” and Deb Linden of The Vineyard Wine Bar & Bistro who Co-Chaired the “Working Group: Business Readiness”.  

In addition to the Chair’s Awards being presented, the Small and Big Business of the Year were awarded.  Empire Finish Systems was awarded the Small Business of the Year.  This family-owned company located in Winter Garden has been specializing in exterior finishes and foam architectural detailing over the past 25 years.  They are deeply ingrained in the community and support many organizations such as Friends of Lake Apopka, Shepherd’s Hope, West Orange Habitat for Humanity and many more.   The Big Business of the Year was awarded to Florida Blue.  Through this past year, Florida Blue has partnered with many organizations including Walt Disney World, Orlando Magic, Early Learning Coalition of Orange County and OCPS to help our community in its time of need.  Congratulations to both Empire Finish Systems and Florida Blue! 

This year was like no other that we have experienced, the Chamber created two special awards, Innovator out of Necessity and Leader out of Necessity.  COVID-19 has certainly forced us out of necessity to do new things in order to survive the pandemic and leaders have emerged because of it. We asked our members to nominate businesses who have demonstrated Innovation and Leadership.  The first Leader out of Necessity award was presented to Adam Markowitz of Howard L. Markowitz P.A.  This year Markowitz made it his business to understand PPP inside and out and then share that information with everyone he could via Chamber virtual events and meetings.  The second Leader out of Necessity was awarded to Harold Gattereau of The Vitality Bowls of Ocoee and Dr. Phillips.  Gattereau had just opened his second restaurant just prior to the pandemic.  When he was forced to close his dining room, he chose to support the frontlline workers by providing them healthy food and snacks, at no cost to them, to help keep them strong and able. 

The first Innovator out of Necessity was awarded to Marilyn Sawran of Sewing by Marilyn.  As a seamstress, Sawran’s business dried up as the pandemic hit.  Yet, right away, she saw the growing need for quality, multi-layer masks and began filling that need.  Sawran made thousands of masks for healthcare workers and for the community.  The second Innovator out of Necessity was awarded to Ted Khoury of Salon Technologies.   Khoury’s company manufactures top line personal care products ordered by salons and doctor’s offices.  After the initial shut down, Khoury was determined to find a way to keep his employees working.  Using his background in chemistry, he was able to begin manufacturing hand sanitizer.  Through connections facilitated by the Chamber, Khoury and his team were able to manufacture, distribute and donate his products to many various entities in Orange County.  

Finally, during the event, the 2019-2020 Class of Leadership West Orange officially graduated.  Even though the program concluded in April, the group has not had the opportunity to be recognized for completing the class.  During the recognition of the graduates, Carl Dupper, AdventHealth Winter Garden President and class participant, highlighted the merits of the program and concluded that the future of West Orange is in good hands. 

To see photos of the event, please visit the WOCC Facebook page.