THE GREENVILLE CHAMBER CELEBRATES 123 YEARS AND ANNOUNCES 2011 AWARD WINNERS
Marco Cavazzoni, Vice President and General Manager of Final Assembly and Delivery for Boeing South Carolina
864-239-3729 / mmann@greenvillechamber.org
(GREENVILLE, SC) The Greenville Chamber held its 123rd Annual Meeting, presented by TD Bank, on Thursday, February 16, 2012, at TD Convention Center. The event featured business speaker Marco Cavazzoni, Vice President and General Manager of Final Assembly and Delivery for Boeing South Carolina. See bio below.
South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley also spoke and presented proclamations to past Chairs of the Greenville Chamber’s Board of Directors. (See past chairs list and proclamation attached.)
Also addressing attendees were Chamber President and CEO Ben Haskew and 2011 Greenville Chamber Board Chair Sam Konduros, who passed the Chairman’s gavel to 2012 Chairman, CEO of Greenville Hospital System University Medical Center Mike Riordan.
The meeting also featured the presentation of the following annual awards:
The Special Chairman’s Award, sponsored by Blue Cross/Blue Shield of South Carolina, was presented to Judge Merl Code for his significant contributions to the leadership of our community. More information about Merl Code below.
The 2011 Small Business of the Year Award, sponsored by Dixon Hughes Goodman LLP, was presented to Rescom Construction. This is the 35th year in which the Chamber has recognized the spirit of entrepreneurship by presenting the Small Business of the Year Award. (More information about Rescom Construction below.)
The Minority Business of the Year Award, sponsored by Bank of America, is presented to a local independently- and minority-owned company that has been in business for a minimum of three years. The 2011 award was presented to Caring Helpers, and accepted by founder and owner, Eric W. Sullivan. (More information about Caring Helpers below.)
The Young Professional of the Year Award, sponsored by BB&T, is designed to recognize an
individual between the ages of 22 and 39 for his or her involvement in the community. The 2011
award was presented to the City of Greenville’s Downtown Manager Mary Douglas Hirsch. (More information about Mary Douglas Hirsch below.)
Greenville Chamber Ambassadors serve as liaisons to our membership by conducting personal visits with members to discuss their business needs and participation in Chamber activities. Sally Leonard with CourierNet was recognized with the Ambassador of the Year Award for the vital link she plays in the Chamber’s critical retention efforts. (More information about Sally Leonard below.)
The Arts Leadership Award was created to recognize exemplary leadership in promoting and advocating the arts on behalf of the Greenville community. The award is presented to an artist, philanthropist, arts executive, volunteer or corporation each year. The 2011 award, sponsored by The Peace Center for the Performing Arts, was presented to The Peace Family. (More information about The Peace Family below.)
The ATHENA Leadership Award® honors individuals who assist women in reaching their full leadership potential; demonstrate excellence, creativity and initiative in their business or profession; and, provide valuable service by devoting time and energy to improve the quality of life for others in the community. The 2011 ATHENA Award, sponsored by CertusBank, was presented to Dr. Virginia Uldrick. (More information about Virginia Uldrick below.)
The Max Heller Neighborhood Improvement Award is given annually to an organization that has shown exemplary efforts toward neighborhood improvement and empowerment. The award is named in honor of former Greenville mayor Max Heller, who spearheaded numerous efforts over the years to improve the quality of life for all citizens of Greenville County. The 2011 award, sponsored by Smith Moore Leatherwood, was presented to the Nicholtown Neighborhood Association. (See more information about the Nicholtown Neighborhood Association below.)
The annual Chairman’s Award, sponsored by Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C., recognized a team of outstanding individuals this year for their hard work and dedication to the Chamber’s NEXT economic development initiative. The 2011 Chairman’s Award was presented to NEXT Advisory Council leaders Dr. Chris Przirembel, Strategic Planning Chair; Tim Reed, Facilities Chair; and Co-Chairmen of ACCELERATE!, Craig Brown and Toby Stansell.
The Buck Mickel Leadership Award, sponsored by AT&T, is given to an individual who has had a dramatic impact on the community by playing a leadership role in solving critical community issues, strengthening the community or providing visionary leadership to a major community development project. The 2011 Buck Mickel Leadership Award recognized and honored the memory of C. Dan Joyner. (More information about C. Dan Joyner below.)
About The Award Winners
Judge Merl Code
The recipient of the Special Chairman’s Award was recognized for his leadership in our community and state, and among many organizations. He is an attorney who came from humble beginnings with a focus on education. He has been the “first” at many things. He was the first African American to chair the United Way and Greenville Chamber and the first to serve as a City of Greenville Municipal Court Judge. He has served as the Chamber’s Annual Meeting emcee for more than a decade, providing interesting programs, notable speakers and always the ‘quip’ that it is always 70 degrees somewhere in Greenville, South Carolina.
Rescom Construction
The Small Business of the Year selection committee recognizes Rescom Construction as the embodiment of an entrepreneurial endeavor that has given back to the community. Through the commitment of both Tim Justice and Joe McLaughlin to developing a strong and educated workforce, Rescom Construction has created both a caring and productive team. Their involvement in the Chamber since before business inception proves how symbiotic the chamber can be with a business and how they rely on one another for success.
In business for 23 years, Joe and Tim recognize and thank the Greenville Business Community and specifically the Commercial Real Estate Professionals; it is their phenomenal successes that have enabled Rescom to serve them and sustain itself for this time period. Joe and Tim offer their sincere appreciation to the Rescom Team – employees, subcontractors and vendors; saying, “you ARE what makes us and YOU are the Very Best!”
Caring Helpers
The 2011 Minority Business of the Year is a well-established and respected company in the home healthcare field and takes pride in serving people in the Upstate.
After a serious car accident of his own, Mr. Eric W. Sullivan, founder of Caring Helpers LLC, realized on a personal level the increasing need for home health care. As a result, Mr. Sullivan founded Caring Helpers LLC, a non-medical, in-home health care agency, which today employs 35 highly qualified caregivers.
Serving many individuals and organizations in the Greenville, Spartanburg, Anderson and Clemson communities, Caring Helpers also has contracts with the Department of Disability Special Needs Board, Veterans' Association, Alzheimer's Association and Community Long Term Care.
Mary Douglas Hirsch
Our 2011 Young Professional of the Year received her undergraduate degree from Presbyterian College and earned her Masters of Urban Planning from Clemson University.
She played a key role in the city’s efforts to secure a developer for 100 West Broad Street, the “Bookends II” property – a major goal for the city. In a collaborative effort with the Chamber and Greenville Area Development Corporation, she led the restructuring of the Downtown Office Recruitment Initiative, resulting in 212,000 square feet of new office space and 680 new employees.
She is an active member of the Greenville community serving on the board of Greenville Forward, involved with the Greenville Urban Land Institute Young Leaders, and program chairman for the ULI Young Leaders Group. She is actively involved with the Greenville Chamber, including several Leadership Development programs – serving as a key presenter for Opportunity Greenville and Youth Leadership Greenville, and participation in PULSE, promoting leadership development and social enrichment for young professionals. She works closely with the NEXT initiative, encouraging young hi-tech entrepreneurs to locate in Greenville, as well as being an active member of the Junior League.
Sally Leonard
Sally is a regional sales consultant for CourierNet, a fully-integrated delivery service company, providing same-day local pickup and delivery services, as well as scheduled routing. She plays the vital role of Ambassador for the Greenville Chamber’s retention efforts.
The Peace Family
The revitalization of Downtown Greenville, which has had immense economic impact within the community, is traceable to a public – private sector partnership. This has been true in communities around our nation, but in Greenville we can still put faces to the story. None of this city’s contributing partners have been more recognizable than members of the Peace family.
Joining with the city over 20 years ago, the Peace family helped launch the Peace Center. It could not have been built without their financial and spirited support. Betty Stall was in fact the community’s fundraising leader, helping to amass $42 million in the original campaign. This not only built the Center, but it preserved buildings of historical distinction, which was the family’s steadfast commitment.
Over time the entire Peace family participated with gifts. To date they have contributed more than $22 million, including support for the Peace Center renovations that are underway at this time. Contributing members of the family have included Dorothy Peace, Francis MacIlwinen and the Graham Foundation, Genevieve Sakas-Manly, Betty Stall, Laura DuPont, Suzanne Hudson, Mary Sterling, Dorothy Ramsaur, and Robert and Sandy DeLapp.
Dr. Virginia Uldrick
An alumnus of Greenville High School and Furman University, our 2011 ATHENA Award winner has forever changed the landscape for arts in our state. Virginia Uldrick’s visionary leadership is solely responsible for the founding of the Greenville County School District’s Fine Arts Center, the summer Governor’s School for the Arts, and the year round South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities. Now serving as the President Emeritus of the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities, she continues to take the school to the highest levels of excellence. Her leadership, devotion and dedication to her lifelong work personifies the ATHENA award.
Uldrick has influenced and mentored countless individuals and provided opportunities to them that have changed their lives. She continues to serve as a mentor to career women in our community by serving as a role model. The fruits of her lifelong labor will benefit our community, our state our nation and our world for generations to come.
Nicholtown Neighborhood Association
The 2011 recipient of the Max Heller Neighborhood Improvement Award has made great strides in creating an improved lifestyle for residents of the Nicholtown Community. Under the leadership of Yvonne Reeder, the Nicholtown Community has achieved many accomplishments with the cooperation of its residents, and collaborations with churches and area businesses.
The association adopted a theme “Together We Grow” - the centerpiece of that notion is the community garden that grows as the results of many hands. They’ve had over 88 residents come out to till the garden, resuliting in the growth of 57 varieties of vegetables, and providing food for 200 families.
At the Nicholtown Recreation Center, community members can use a computer room to take classes on healthy living or controlling diabetes or take part in an exercise class. The center also
has a bike share program and plans to host a bike club beginning later this year. As part of
ongoing rehabilitation of the area, a walkway of personalized bricks is underway and a sculpture, designed by local students in collaboration with the architecture department at Clemson University, has been installed at a small park that will start hosting concerts this summer.
Dr. Chris Przirembel, NEXT Strategic Planning Chair; Tim Reed, NEXT Facilities Chair; and the Co-chairmen of ACCELERATE! – Craig Brown and Toby Stansell
The Chamber honored a “team” of people for their contributions over the past year with the Chairman’s Award. These leaders of the NEXT Advisory Council have developed a strategic plan for the Chamber’s NEXT economic development initiative.
C. Dan Joyner
On January 8th we lost a true community leader. He was an astute businessman, a leader of most of our community’s organizations, and many would say he was Greenville’s number one Cheerleader.
C. Dan Joyner built a hugely successful real estate business and always found time to give back to the community. He was a past chairman of the Greenville Chamber, the Community Foundation of Greenville and the Greenville Hospital System’s Board of Directors. His volunteer service also included the United Way, the Peace Center and Furman University’s Board of Trustees. His leadership was recognized by his peers in the state and national real estate associations and by Governor David Beasley with the Order of the Palmetto in 1998. Family members accepted the award in his honor.
About Marco Cavazzoni
Marco Cavazzoni was named vice president and general manager of Final Assembly and Delivery, Boeing South Carolina, in November 2009. In this role, Cavazzoni is responsible for implementing the new 787 final assembly and delivery operations for Boeing Commercial Airplanes at the site in North Charleston.
Cavazzoni previously served as vice president of Technical Services for the Commercial Aviation Services, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. In that role, he managed a broad range of global products and services, including freighter conversions, airplane upgrades, fleet management, aviation infrastructure, Boeing Shanghai and aviation information services such as e-enabling for new and retrofit aircraft.
Previously, Cavazzoni served as vice president of Freighter Conversions for Commercial Aviation Services, where he was responsible for strategy and execution of all conversion programs for commercial airplanes.Before that assignment, Cavazzoni was director of the 747-400 Boeing Converted Freighter (BCF) program, where he led the global design, development, certification and delivery of the first 747-400BCF.
Cavazzoni also led the Lean transformation of the Interiors Responsibility Center within Boeing Commercial Airplanes. After joining the company as a member of the Leadership Development Program, Cavazzoni focused on employee engagement and Lean principles for operational positions while serving in a variety of management positions within the C-17 program.
Cavazzoni brought diverse experience to Boeing from his time with Bombardier Inc., CAE Inc. and ASTECH Inc., where he worked in a variety of management positions in engineering design, change management, logistics engineering, aircraft maintenance optimization and international sales and marketing.
Having lived and studied in four countries before relocating to the United States, Cavazzoni is able to communicate effectively with people from diverse backgrounds and cultures in four languages. A former world-ranked swimmer, he competed internationally as a member of Canada’s national swim team – further increasing his exposure to diverse cultures.
Cavazzoni holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Toronto, a master’s degree in aerospace engineering from Concordia University and a doctorate in organizational leadership from Pepperdine University.
List of Past Chairs as of February 2012 (*Deceased)
A.A. Bristow, 1901-1906*
F.F. Capers, 1907-1909*
H.T. Haynsworth, 1910-1911*
Alester Furman, 1912*
J.E. Sirrine, 1913-1914*
D.W. Ebaugh, 1915*
C.S. Webb, 1916*
Arthur Mills, 1917*
W.S. Griffin, 1918*
W.C. Cleveland, 1919*
John Arrington, 1920*
F.W. Symmes, 1921*
John Russell, 1922*
Holmes B. Springs, 1923*
W.P. Conyers, 1924*
T.M. Norris, 1925*
W.E. Beattie, 1926*
A.F. McKissick, 1927*
J.A. Piper, 1928*
G.F. Norris, 1929*
F.G. Hamblen, 1930-1933*
Roger C. Peace, 1934*
A.C. Mann, 1935-1937*
C.O. Milford, 1938*
Heyward Mahon, 1939-1941*
V.M. Manning, 1942*
J.P. Williamson, 1943-1944*
R.W. Arrington, 1945*
W.W. Pate, 1946-1947*
P.D. Meadors, 1948*
E.E. Scott, 1949
J. Larry Jameson, 1950*
Eugene Bryant, 1951*
Vardry Ramseur, 1952*
Kelly Sisk, 1953*
Stokes King, 1954*
William Adams, 1954*
Sam Roane, 1955*
Fletcher Mann, 1956*
Paul Guthrie, 1957*
Sapp Funderburk, 1958*
Grady Hipp, 1959-1960*
Leon Campbell, 1961*
Preston Marchant, 1962*
William Orders, 1963
James Henderson, 1964*
James R. Mann, 1965*
Edmund Ramsaur, 1966*
Yancey Gilkerson, 1967*
Leonard Todd, 1968*
Howard Lamar, 1969*
Thomason Roe, 1970*
Charles Gibson, 1971*
Wilson Wearn, 1972*
T.J. Mims, 1973*
Frank Halter, 1974
William Page, 1975
William Merritt, 1976
John P. Mann, 1977*
William Carpenter, 1978
James Shoemaker, 1979
Fred Walker, 1980
Robert Yeargin, 1981
C. Dan Joyner, 1982*
N. Barton Tuck, 1983
Lee Cory, 1984
Hayne Hipp, 1985
Richard Few, 1986
Max Heller, 1987*
Douglas A. Smith, 1988
C.C. Hutto, Jr., 1989*
Currie Spivey, Jr., 1990*
John P. Kincaid, 1991
James Cockman, 1992*
Arnold Burrell, 1993
Roy Abercrombie, 1994
Pat Haskell Robinson, 1995
Lewis Smoak, 1996
Charles Eldridge, 1997
Champ Covington, 1998
Merl Code, 1999
George Fletcher, 2000
Robert Hughes, Jr., 2001
Anne Ellefson, 2002
George Acker, 2003
Jim Terry, 2004
Stewart Spinks, 2005
Steve Brandt, 2006
Howard Daniel, 2007
Jane Sosebee, 2008
Tim Justice, 2009
Michael J. Hayes, 2010
Sam Konduros, 2011
About the Greenville Chamber
The Greenville Chamber is the largest business organization in the Upstate. The Chamber's vision is to build one of the premier business communities in the world by: leading through collaboration, building community prosperity, being the voice of business and enhancing quality of life. For more information about the Greenville Chamber, call 864-242-1050, or visit www.greenvillechamber.org.
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Released: on February 17, 2012