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Chamber of Commerce announces Durango Rocks Awards finalists

Ceremony to be postponed until spring because of COVID-19
Jack Llewellyn has hosted many Durango Chamber of Commerce Durango Rocks Awards celebrations. He said in a news release issued Wednesday that the chamber is determined to host an in-person ceremony this spring where both 2021 and 2020 award recipients will be honored. (Durango Herald file)

The Durango Chamber of Commerce announced the finalists Wednesday for its 2021 Durango Rocks Awards, for which the ceremony has been postponed until spring because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The rescheduled date for the in-person ceremony is planned to be released soon, according to a news release provided by Kim Oyler, with the Chamber of Commerce.

Chamber Executive Director Jack Llewellyn said in the release that rescheduling the awards show was a challenging decision to make, and while the chamber wants to hold an awards ceremony that’s meaningful to everyone involved, it also cares about the health and well-being of the community.

“For these reasons, we decided to postpone our January event to later this spring so we can celebrate in-person,” he said.

The awards recipients of 2020 will also be recognized at the in-person event this spring because they didn’t have that opportunity last year, he said.

Durango Rocks Awards finalists

The finalists span four categories, Business of the Year; Small Business of the Year; Nonprofit of the Year; and Spirit of Durango Award:

  • Finalists for the Business of the Year: Animas Surgical, Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad and Kroegers Ace Hardware.
  • Finalists for the Small Business of the Year: Hampton Inn, Mountain Auto Care and Southwest Eye Consultants.
  • Finalists for the Nonprofit of the Year: Botanic Gardens, Business Improvement District and Professional Women’s Network.
  • Finalists for the Spirit of Durango Award: Dietz Market, Durango Montessori School and Tomsic Physical Therapy.

Additional awards will be presented at the in-person event in the categories of Citizen of the Year; Ed Morlan Entrepreneur of the Year; Leadership La Plata Barbara Conrad Award; Bill Mashaw Volunteer of the Year; Morley Ballantine Award; Young Professional of the Year; and Diplomat of the Year.

The Durango Chamber of Commerce decided to delay its in-person awards event in April 2021 and opted for a virtual awards ceremony instead. The virtual event, which was streamed live, attracted more than 300 viewers.

The event opened with a performance by Stillwater Music, a presentation from the organizers of Snowdown and a Faux News segment with Mike Smedley, according to the chamber’s news release.

“Durango Rocks Awards ceremony allows the community to come together, celebrate leadership and achievement, and creates a sense of unity,” Llewellyn said in the release. “We are determined to do this in 2022, just at an appropriate time when we can all gather to celebrate.”

cburney@durangoherald.com



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