SYCAMORE CHAMBER BUSINESS AWARDS
The Sycamore Chamber invites you to nominate an exceptional Chamber Member businesses to receive one of five awards given by the Chamber at the Sycamore Chamber Annual Meeting held in January annually. To nominate a local business please fill out the 2023 Outstanding Business Awards Nomination Form and return it to the Chamber by January 5, 2024.
Outstanding Business of the Year
Criteria:
- The business must be a member of the Sycamore Chamber of Commerce and have over 20 employees.
- The business must have been in operation in the Sycamore area for at least five years.
- The business must continually demonstrate integrity and ethics in business dealings.
- The business must have positively influenced the economic vitality of the Sycamore community.
- The business must have historically demonstrated outstanding contributions to the Sycamore Community.
- The business must contribute significantly to the Chambers vision of making Sycamore a premier place to work and live by being the voice of businesses, providing leadership and enhancing partnerships.
Past Recipients: 2005 – Castle Bank 2006 – Ideal Industries 2007 – The Suter Company
2008 – Sycamore School District 2009 – Browns County Market 2010 – YMCA
2011 – American Midwest Bank 2012 – Driv-Lok, Inc. 2013 – NB&T 2014 – KishHealth System
2015 – AutoMeter Products 2016 – Hy-Vee 2017 – Opportunity House
2018 – DeKalb Sycamore Chevrolet 2019 – Family Service Agency 2020/2021 – Upstaging Inc.
2022 – Resource Bank
Spirit of Small Business Award
Criteria:
- The business must be a member of the Sycamore Chamber of Commerce and have 20 or less employees.
- The business must have been in operation in the Sycamore area for at least three years.
- The business must continually demonstrate integrity and ethics in business dealings.
- The business must have historically demonstrated outstanding contributions to the Sycamore Community.
- The business must contribute significantly to the Chambers vision of making Sycamore a premier place to work and live by being the voice of businesses, providing leadership and enhancing partnerships.
Past Recipients: 2007 – Kar-Fre Flowers 2008 – B95 2009 – Banner Up Signs 2010 – Sweet Earth
2011 – Sycamore Theater 2012 – DeKalb County Farm Bureau 2013 – Barnaby Printing
2014 – Blumen Gardens 2015 – Pay-It-Forward House 2016 – Culvers 2017 – Taxco Restaurant
2018 – Tom & Jerry’s of Sycamore and Catering by Diann 2019 – PJ’s Courthouse Tavern
2020/2021 – OLT Marketing 2022 – Manny Pena American Family Insurance
Community Diamond Award
Criteria:
- The business/organization/municipality/non-profit must have made significant improvement(s) to their business, business location, or to the Sycamore Community as a whole. (New property development and improvement, new/or additional landscaping, interior remodeling, exterior or structural improvements, or development of new structures or building that improve the area it resides in or Sycamore in general, etc.).
- This improvement must have shown commitment to the entire Sycamore Community.
- The improvement must have been completed or in the process of completing within the past five years.
- The business must have been a Sycamore Chamber Member for at least three years.
Past Recipients: 2004 – The City of Sycamore 2005 – Blumen Gardens 2007 – Upstaging
2008 – Auto Meter 2009 – Kishwaukee Community Hospital 2010 – Stomp
2011 – Chapel in the Pines/Amber Pines 2012 – Jane Fargo Hotel and Mitchel Lounge
2013 – DeKalb Sycamore Chevrolet 2014 – Sycamore Public Library 2015 – DCCF
2016 – Resource Bank 2017 – Illinois Community Credit Union
2018 – Sycamore Forest Preserve and DeKalb County 2019 – Sycamore Park District
2020/2021 – Communities By Grainger 2022 – Sycamore State Theatre
THE PROCESS
- An Awards Committee (consisting of Board Members, Chamber Members, and Chamber Staff) will solicit nominations from the Membership
- The committee will review and prepare a slate of nominees for final approval by the Chamber’s Executive Committee at least one month prior to Annual Meeting – March 7, 2024
- Nominees will not be made public
- Nominations may be submitted at any time prior to designated deadline – set annually
- Recipients will be recognized at the Chamber’s Annual Meeting – March 7, 2024
- If the committee feels there is not a clear recipient the award will not be given out that year