Belpre Area Chamber of Commerce talks business at dinner

VIENNA -- The Belpre Area Chamber of Commerce held its 85th annual dinner, "Work Made Fun Gets Work Done," on Thursday at the Grand Pointe Conference and Reception Center in Vienna.

The master of ceremonies was Ben Bradley of Sow-N-Sew and Sun LLC.

The annual dinner included a special guest panel focused on best practices, experiences and innovations for a positive work culture and environment to attract and retain employees. Prior to the panel, Barb Close, President of the 2023 BACC Board of Directors, talked about how great the MOV is and reviewed the accomplishments for the 2023 year.

The guest panel moderator was Chuck Helmick, Results Radio and 2023 board member; and the panelists included Simon Hargus, First Settlement Physical Therapy; Mary Ketelsen, Mister Bee Potato Chips; Deanna Shuler, Memorial Health System; and Bill Wilkinson, Mid-Ohio Valley Employment.

"COVID has been a great challenge for us," Ketelsen said of challenges with keeping staff and employees. "Because employees want to work from home, we've had to increase employee earnings for competitive wages, and it's been tough."

"We have Wellness Wednesdays for our employees, like a pizza day," said Wilkinson about positive fun to be had within the job environment. "We also give them flexibility, since day one we have no employee turnover."

"You have to be empowering on a positive level," Hargus said on tips for making the job environment more positive for employees. "You've gotta make employee surveys that have questions that you might not want the answers to, but you have to receive those surveys and take their answers and actually make positive changes for them. That way they know that you're listening to their comments and concerns."

"Mental health is so important in the medical field because the job is so emotionally taxing, but it's also rewarding," said Shuler on how to make the environment positive and attract employees. "We give them tools and resources, not just for mental health but also financial wellness."

Awards were given out that included the Small Business of the Year, Spirit of the Chamber, Businessperson of the Year, Spirit of the Community, Business of the Year, Ambassador of the Year, Nonprofit of the Year, and Belpre Citizen of the Year.

Among the winners were Helmick for the Spirit of the Chamber award, Trademark Solutions for the Small Business of the Year award, First Settlement Physical Therapy for Business of the Year, Janet Gilbert for Citizen of the Year, and Karen Waller for the Key to the City.

The evening closed with remarks from Belpre Mayor Mike Lorentz, who received a special award earlier in the evening.

"Our city is changing with new businesses and investors, I'm very proud of what we have accomplished and the heart of our city is this chamber," Lorentz said. "I am blessed to have been your mayor for 16 years. Thank you from the bottom of my heart."

Gretchen Dowler can be reached at gdowler@newsandsentinel.com