Chamber Introduces New Nonprofit Award At Annual Ceremony
April 29, 2022
The Harrisonburg-Rockingham Chamber of Commerce holds its first in-person awards banquet since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic at Brix and Columns Vineyards in McGaheysville on Thursday.
For Peirce MacGill, winning the Diversity Leadership Award at the annual Harrisonburg-Rockingham Chamber of Commerce ceremony is not about him, but his team.
The assistant director of economic development for the city of Harrisonburg said the award represents hard work by many shareholders in developing the B-Cubed Program, or Black and Brown Owned Business Growth Program, through the chamber.
“It really is a recognition of all the people I work with,” MacGill said. “It means that we’re being a successful operation.”
Many of the other winners sung the same tune at Thursday’s event, which highlighted individuals and businesses in the community and celebrated their accomplishments. Put on by the local chamber, a supportive network for businesses in the city and county, the award ceremony took place at Brix and Columns Vineyards in McGaheysville.
“This is to celebrate members of the community and find people who have done things throughout the year. To make sure that they get recognized,” said Christopher Quinn, president and CEO of the chamber. “That’s what the chamber’s supposed to do. We’re supposed to let you know the businesses that are out there.”
The event featured numerous awards, including Businessperson of the Year, Entrepreneur of the Year, Diversity Leadership Award, Community Champion and Farm Family Stewardship.
This year, the chamber granted a new award for the first time — the Nonprofit of the Year award. The award went to Sabrina Dorman-Andrew, co-founder and executive director of New Creation, a shop that raises funds for global and local sex trafficking awareness and response.
“We haven’t even been around 10 years, so it’s amazing to see the community supporting the work that we do,” Dorman-Andrew said. “The other side is to know about all the amazing things that happen in our community. To be honored in a place like Harrisonburg is pretty amazing.”
The Community Champion Award was granted to Betsy Hay, who retired in February from her role as vice president of wellness and community-based services at Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community.
“I’m just very humbled to be recognized in this way,” Hay said. “There are so many exceptional champions in this community. This is a room full of them tonight and to be chosen for the award was very humbling.”
The Business Person of the Year Award went to Maria Paz Esguerra and Rollin Johnson, co-principals of Kensington Strickland Group LLC, which offers business consulting to nonprofits, according to its website.
“I think that’s the most exciting part,” Johnson said. “Getting to be a part of their journey.”
Esguerra has over 10 years of experience working in higher education, and her professional interests include organizational development, according to her LinkedIn page. She serves on the board of United Way of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County and is president of the Making Space.
“The work that we do is rooted in community,” Esguerra said. “There’s a lot of spaces where nonprofits find themselves at. It’s really neat to be a part of that conversation.”
The Farm Family Stewardship Award, which recognize sustainable efforts in local agriculture, went to husband and wife Tim and Kathleen Wolfe and their three children, of Wolfe Pack Farm in Rockingham County. As a family, they’ve invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in sustainable agriculture initiatives. Some changes have been big, like installing solar, and others are more subtle, like keeping cattle away from streams to prevent erosion.
“It’s live with the future in mind,” Kathleen Wolfe said.
Entrepreneur of the Year went to Steven Faught, owner of Shenandoah Automotive Service Center. Faught holds an annual sock donation for the RMH Foundation to provide clean pairs of socks to children who check into pediatrics at Sentara RMH Medical Center. In 2021, Faught delivered over 2,500 pairs to the hospital, along with other events throughout the year.
“My wife is a bigger piece of that than I am,” Faught said. “It means we have a good team. My name’s on the piece of paper, but the team that did the work.”
