Jack Haessly Jr. accepts the Gabe Zide Citizen of the Year Award, left, during the Marietta Area Chamber of Commerce 109th Annual Dinner while the 2023 winner of the award, Colleen Cook, right, looks on. (Photo by Michelle Dillon)

MARIETTA — Business leaders, county and local officials and others gathered in Marietta on Monday to show their support for the Marietta Area Chamber of Commerce and honor local community members.

MACC held its 109th Annual Dinner at the Dyson Baudo Recreation Center. During the event, a dinner catered by Parkhurst Dining was enjoyed by guests. The food was served by members of the Warren High School softball team.

A presentation of colors was made by the Washington County Sheriff’s Office Honor Guard. Marietta College senior Victoria Humphrey sang the national anthem. The invocation was given by Faith Baptist Church Pastor Rick Eaton.

“We have appreciated all of your support of the chamber throughout the past year,” MACC President & CEO Kelsy Eaton told attendees. “We had a really great year in 2023.”

Eaton said MACC had a total of 68 different events ranging from ribbon cutting to networking during 2023. MACC was able to maintain a membership retention rate in 2023 of 96%.

Bruce Zimmer thanks everyone, right, while his wife Sherry Zimmer, left, watches as he accepts the Washington County Council of Cooperatives Agricultural Award at the Marietta Area Chamber of Commerce 109th Annual Dinner. (Photo by Michelle Dillon)

During the annual dinner the keynote speaker was retired NBC broadcaster Kerry Sanders. Sanders shared stories from his career and talked about the importance of supporting the media.

MACC Board of Directors Chair Tina Adams thanked all the state, county and city officials who attended the event and for their service to the community. She also thanked community chamber members for all their help in making MACC successful for the last 109 years and making the community a great place to do business.

The evening ended with awards. Adams said that each year MACC gathered at the annual dinner to recognize individuals that display the best of the community.

“These individuals honored tonight share common traits,” Adams said. “They believe in hard work, perseverance, giving back to their community and they also believe we can shape our own future.”

The first award, the Washington County Council of Cooperatives Agricultural Award, was presented by Washington County Commissioner Kevin Ritter to Bruce Zimmer.

Stephen Keiser, right, thanks everyone as he accepts the Marietta Area Chamber of Commerce Business Leader of the Year Award as his wife Anglea Keiser, left, watches during the MACC 109th Annual Dinner. (Photo by Michelle Dillon)

According to Ritter, Zimmer was born and raised on a large family dairy farm and graduated from Marietta High School. He received a bachelor’s degree in agriculture from The Ohio State University (OSU) in 1987. As a youth, Zimmer was active in 4-H and the Future Farmers of America (FFA) and showed dairy cattle. Zimmer received a master’s degree in agricultural education in 1988 at OSU. He worked as the Monroe County 4-H Youth extension educator from 1989-2016 and since 2016 he has been the OSU Extension Washington County 4-H youth development extension educator. In 2023 Zimmer received the 4-H Meritorious Service Award.

“In his personal and professional life he exhibits many of the qualities found in our local farmers,” Ritter said about Zimmer. “He has a strong work ethic, excellent time management skills and a passion for hard work.”

The next award presented was the Gabe Zide Citizen of the Year Award. The award “recognizes an individual whose philanthropic efforts on behalf of the community stand out,” Adams said. It was presented by the 2023 recipient of the award, Colleen Cook, to Jack Haessly Jr.

According to Cook, Haessly is not a native of the Mid-Ohio Valley, but he moved here with his family after living in three states over 12 years. Haessly graduated from the Ohio Army National Guard Officers Candidate School as a second lieutenant in 1958. After being in the National Guard, he resigned and joined his family’s business and for more than 70 years he has expanded it into six divisions that ship products throughout the country and around the world.

Haessly served 15 years on the Memorial Health System board of directors and three years as chair of the Memorial Health Foundation. He has been a member of the Southeastern Ohio Port Authority for 10 years and has been on the MACC board of directors for six years. Haessly is one of the founding members of the Little Muskingum Watershed Association, a member of the Frontier Local Economic Development Association and president of the Friends of Joseph Barkers Jr. House.

“I cannot think of a time when (Haessly) has been asked to help with a project where he has said no,” Cook said.

The final award presented was the MACC Business Leader of the Year Award. It was presented by the 2023 winner Evan Wetz to Stephen Keiser.

According to Wetz, Keiser was born in England on a U.S. Air Force base and grew up in Missouri. He received a bachelor’s degree in business administration and accounting from the University of Missouri-St. Louis. After graduating he worked as an accountant at Sigma Chemical Company. He left Sigma in 1981 and took a job as a corporate supervisor for Forma Scientific.

During his career Keiser has worked at various companies, including IEC Centrifuge and Thermo Fisher Scientific. He moved back to Marietta in 2003 from living in places like Boston and Pittsburgh. He joined Christy & Associates Inc. in 2005 and also managed local hotels During the COVID pandemic Keiser focused his efforts on helping Caron Products & Services Inc. provide equipment for pharmaceutical companies to make vaccines. Keiser has served on the Southeastern Ohio Port Authority and the board of directors for Washington State College of Ohio. Since 2019 he has been a member of the Memorial Health System board of directors.

Wetz said that Keiser considers health care “to be the most important work we can do to benefit our community.”

Michelle Dillon can be reached at mdillon@newsandsentinel.com