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MACC awards honor quartet of businessesApr 14, 2013 (The Dominion Post - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Each year, the Morgantown Area Chamber of Commerce (MACC) acknowledges the efforts and contributions of local businesses ranging in size from smaller operations and nonprofits, to large organizations. Size aside, all the businesses honored with a MACC award share a commitment to bettering the Morgantown community through business and civic responsibility. This year, Catalyst Associates, John Howard Motors, The Dominion Post and Pace Enterprises Inc. received Business of the Year awards. To determine award recipients, the MACC assesses the involvement local companies have with the chamber and the business community, said Chairman Craig Walker. "We look at how our local businesses work with us and their clients to better the Morgantown communit y, " he said. The 2013 Small Business of the Year is Catalyst Associates, a management consulting and executive coaching firm that helps its clients reach their business and personal goals, according to the company's website. Founder and Chief Catalyst Ed DeCosta started the company in 2003. "Ed DeCosta has been very involved with the chamber, and Catalyst has a local and regional reputation for providing exemplary professional coaching," Walker said. "But it also has an international reputation; they interface with many companies, Fortune 500 companies all across the U.S." "Such recognition is truly an honor and I am deeply humbled to be recognized by the chamber," DeCosta said. For the first time since the company was incorporated in 1983, John Howard Motors is being honored with the Medium Business of the Year Award. Randy Buzzo, dealer principal of John Howard Motors, said he and his staff were "surprised and humbled" to hear they were selected. "When you get an award like this from your peers it's kind of like saying, 'All the hard work you've done paid off,' " Buzzo said. John Howard Motors is one of the oldest dealerships in the area. When asked what he thought drew the chamber's attention to his company, Buzzo said it was their success record as one of the biggest and best Subaru dealers in the U.S. "We 've always built a reputation of being one of the biggest and the best," Buzzo said. John Howard Motors is an avid supporter of many local charities and organizations, Walker said. "Whether it's with the chamber or helping Mon General or any number of other organizations, John Howard Motors always steps up to do what is needed," he said. Another first this year is the addition of Nonprofit of the Year award, given to Pace Enterprises, a company that helps adults with disabilities find local employment. "Every year, there were a number of nonprofits competing against businesses, but we realized that nonprofits are a unique group of entities that serve our community as well," Walker said. "We are very proud to be recognized by the Morgantown chamber for our contribution to the communit y, " said Bob Pirner, director of development Pace Enterprises. Since 1972, Pace Enterprises has created jobs for 170 adults with disabilities in the area and has provided services to about 230 people, Pirner said. The Dominion Post was named Large Business of the Year. "We selected The Dominion Post for a broad array of reasons," Walker said. "They are always very involved throughout the community, but particularly this year we took notice of the Goodwill City initiative that aimed to reverse the negative image that was out there of our town and state," he said. "We just felt that it was something we needed to do to set an example, and change the image of Morgantown from that of a fan unfriendly place to a fan friendly place," said The Dominion Post publisher David Raese, about Goodwill City. "We just got the ball rolling and it has really taken off. We are very proud to receive this award." ___ (c)2013 The Dominion Post (Morgantown, W.Va.) Visit The Dominion Post (Morgantown, W.Va.) at www.dominionpost.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |