WARNER ROBINS, Ga. — 13 local "rockstars" left Thursday morning's Robins Regional Chamber Annual Meeting and Awards event with some new hardware.
Robins Regional Chamber held their Annual Meeting and Awards Ceremony Thursday at Southside Baptist Church.
"It's a great production. It's a large production and I can tell they've been successful for a lot of years," Roy Fountain said.
The chamber honored 13 unsung heroes at local businesses, including: Mini Dixie Donuts, Graphic Guys, and more. They even gave 13WMAZ's Roy Fountain his own Rockstars Award!
"It's very rewarding. I am behind the scenes. I hate being in front of a camera, but it's all for the community, to keep people informed. Teamwork is what it is all about. I couldn't do what I do without all of the support from the very top, general managers, anchors, all of the reporters, everyone who keeps our community informed," Fountain said.
Fountain works behind the scenes here as our broadcast engineer. He helps fix tripods, cameras, light kits, cables, and much more.
"I just do what I do and I am grateful where I have a job where I get to play with multimillion dollar toys," Fountain said.
April Bragg says the chamber used to present one Employee of the Year award. Now, they are "rockstars."
"There were so many deserving people in this community that never have a spotlight on them, but they are the ones who know your order when you pull up at the restaurant, they recognize your car when you show up at the dry cleaners. They are your friends. They are the people who take care of you in business and we wanted a way to honor them because we know the impact they have on our experience as consumers, but on the businesses they serve," Bragg said.
"It's pretty exciting. I was completely shocked," Aaron Cowles said.
Cowles, who is with First Response Services, also received a star.
"I feel pretty special," Cowles said.
"I am very grateful for April, Aura Lee, Tiffany, and Ashley all in their office. Whenever I come down to work with them, everything goes very smoothly. It's all for the community and everything I do is to keep people informed and to help our community," Fountain said.
The chamber also honored nine others for separate awards.
Robins recognizes dozens of folks in the community
Bragg says Robins Regional Chamber represents over 800 businesses and 30,000 employees.
More than 375 people showed up to their annual event. This was the second year Southside Baptist Church hosted the event in the morning allowing more coworkers to gather and celebrate as one.
"It feels amazing. Every day, I am humbled and blessed to be able to do this work, representing our business community, helping to shine a spotlight on them, and today is so special. Every year at this annual meeting and awards, we are able to not only shine a light on our businesses, but the people who make them great, whether they're Robins Regional Rockstars, the amazing business owners who had a vision for something new for our area and have seen that come to fruition, and longtime businesses who have new and exciting things coming on that we get to celebrate. That's what it's all about," Bragg said.
Here is a full list of all 2022 Robins Regional Chamber award recipients:
- Charlie L Jones Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient, Chariman Tommy Stalnaker
- Chamber Champion, Bruce Hullett
- Robins Leads Award, Curtis George with Orleans on Carroll
- Community Impact Award, Amy Dean with the The Butcher Shop
- Outstanding Citizen, Christine Watson with Synovus
- Sherill Stratford Government Service Award, Fred Wilson with the Houston County Board of Education
- Rising Star, Emerging Business, Brittanie Brown with 44th & Madison
- Rising Star, Emerging Business, Chandani Patel with Glow Facial Bar
- Charles K & Barbara Shaheen Small Biz of the Year, Robby Glore with Combined Employees Credit Union
- Business of the Year, Cathy Reece with Props Steak & Seafood
- Industry of the Year, Larry Rose with Perdue Farms, Perry Cook Plant
- Rock Star, Aaron Cowles with First Response Services
- Rock Star, Stan Gann with National Bank Products
- Rock Star, Jackie Neal with Houston Healthcare
- Rock Star, Blake Higgs with Rigby's Entertainment Complex
- Rock Star, Victoria Salter with Apexx
- Rock Star, April Williams with My Grandma's Empanadas
- Rock Star, Heather Manning with Mini Dixie Donuts
- Rock Star, Megan Burns with Between Friends Coffee
- Rock Star, Jasmine Crockett with Medicine Stop
- Rock Star, Maleah Tuck with Nothing Bundt Cakes
- Rock Star, Christa Phelps with Graphic Guys
- Rock Star, Gloria Thaxton with Kroger
- Rock Star, Roy Fountain with 13WMAZ-TV