2024 Small Business Person of the Year

 

 

Stephanie Krummenacker
Owner, MediaBrush Marketing

The Small Business Person of the Year shows evidence of growth in the number of employees; the business must have a minimum of 5 full-time employees and growth in sales with an emphasis of the past 3-5 years. They must show innovation of their products or services and contribute to their community.

MediaBrush Marketing is a full-service marketing and advertising agency that opened in Binghamton in 2019 with Stephanie as the only employee and working out of her home. She has experienced tremendous growth since then.

They now occupy beautiful office space in the Kilmer Building and her team has grown to eight full-time employees, one part-time employee; four part-time interns and, starting this Fall, a student from BOCES will be working with them!

When Stephanie was working at a radio station in Arkansas, one of her mentors always started the brainstorming sessions with the phrase “Paint me a Picture, tell me a Story” and to this day, this is the company’s mantra as they serve their clients.

She started with a client base of just a few in Broome and Tioga Counties and now has more than forty active clients across the United States. Their year-to-year revenue growth has seen tremendous percentage increases each and every year, 1000% from 2019-2020 alone!

Though MediaBrush Marketing takes a lot of time to run, Stephanie loves the arts and, since moving to Binghamton, has become involved with the active arts scene here. She served on the Board of the Tri-Cities Opera; for the past three years, she has served on the Boards of both the Broome County Arts council and the Friends of the Forum. She has also Co-Chaired the United Cultural Fund and currently serves as the Membership and Board Development Chair for that Fund.

Robin Alpaugh got to know Stephanie when they worked together on the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory fundraiser for the Forum. He says,” I quickly found out how talented and creative she was…the event was a spectacular success!”

Former Broome County Arts Council Director Nancy Barno-Reynolds said: “Stephanie has excelled at creating a small business which serves so many in this community.”

 

 

2024 Entrepreneur of the Year

 

 

Tanya Williams
Owner, Caribbean Patty World

The Entrepreneur of the Year exemplifies leadership and entrepreneurial skills. They show a willingness to take risks and demonstrate exceptional vision that contributes to business success. This person exhibits personal drive, focus, innovation and business acumen.

Tanya is originally from Queens, where she ventured into entrepreneurship while attending nursing school. In 1987, she opened her first business, A Touch of Class Hair Salon in Queens and then expanded her business acumen to Binghamton when she moved here in the early 1990’s.

Her entrepreneurial portfolio includes upwards of ten businesses, ranging from beauty services and supplies to food and beverage. She has prioritized diversity in employment with over sixty people on her payroll throughout all her enterprises.

Miracle’s Beauty Salon and Paradise Hair World are cornerstones in Binghamton and Endicott, providing their clientele with a diverse range of beauty products.

At Tanya’s restaurant, Caribbean Patty World, she has been cooking tasty Caribbean-inspired recipes for over twenty years! Her restaurant has won “Best in Broome-People’s Choice” two years in a row at the Black Excellence Awards!

Caribbean Bar and Grill provides the same great food via their catering services.

Tanya embodies the spirit of generous community service. Each year during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, her businesses conduct food giveaways, provide meals, and distribute gift bags. Her contributions extend to aiding Narcotics Anonymous and assisting community members re-entering the workforce.

This July, Tanya will celebrate thirty-one years of serving the Binghamton community!

At the recent NAACP Freedom Fund Awards, Tanya received the Entrepreneurial Excellence Award!

 

2024 Distinguished Chamber Volunteer of the Year

 

 

Kelly Grace

Firm Liaison, Certified Payroll Specialist Davidson Fox & Company, LLP

The Volunteer of the Year Award recognizes the dedication of one of our many Chamber volunteers. The Chamber is fortunate to have so many dedicated volunteers who deserve recognition. Without them, we would not be able to accomplish our mission.

It is hard to think of someone who is a more enthusiastic cheerleader for the Chamber than Kelly.

Kelly has served as a member of the Chamber’s Ambassadors, a group of dedicated volunteers who are, in actuality, an extension of the Chamber Staff. She never says “no” when asked to help, whether it is a monthly luncheon, setting up for the Chamber Job Fairs, taking photos at the Job Fairs, or simply being  so much fun at an event that she keeps us all laughing!

At the annual Chamber Clambake, the Ambassadors donate basket raffle items; in 2023, their baskets raised $1400 that was then donated to Volunteers of America-Kelly was right there encouraging attendees to buy those tickets! Davidson Fox is a Sponsor of the Chamber’s Annual Golf Classic; Kelly is always there, all day, helping wherever she is needed on the course; she accepts any task willingly and with a positive attitude. We just can’t help smiling when Kelly is around!

 

 

 

2024 Civic Leader of the Year

 

 

Amy Howard, MSW
Executive Director, ACHIEVE

 

The Civic Leader of the Year shows evidence of having had a long-term beneficial impact on the community. They demonstrate civic engagement by using a combination of knowledge, skills, values and motivation to make a difference in our communities.

Amy Howard has worked in the non-profit sector for more than thirty years, beginning her career at the Children’s Home as a Direct Support Professional. In 2005 she began working at Broome-Tioga ARC as the Vice President of Development. Under her leadership, she undertook the mission to change the agency’s name to one that would better reflect the strengths of people supported and the agency’s mission as a whole and, in 2007, the new name, ACHIEVE, was unveiled! And in the seventeen years since, ACHIEVE has lived up to its name with the mission of advocating for an enhanced quality of life through skill advancements, inclusions, integration and independence of persons with intellectual developmental disabilities through services provided in Broome, Chenango and Tioga counties.

Today, ACHIEVE operates as a thirty-two-million-dollar company that offers high-quality supports and services to more than two thousand individuals throughout those three counties.

Amy became CEO in 2018 and relocated ACHIEVE’s headquarters to the Vestal Parkway, it’s “forever home”.

In 2022, she was named Senate District 52’s woman of Distinction for her strong history of leadership and service to the community.

In March of 2023, she was identified by WBNG-TV as “Change-Maker” in the Southern Tier for her thirty-year career of making a difference in the lives of others.

This year, ACHIEVE is completing a nearly five-million-dollar transformation of a former workshop in Chenango County.

Amy serves on numerous Boards and Committees for UHS and serves on Congressman Molinaro’s Think DIFFERENTLY Advisory Board.

Peter Newman, Regional President of M&T Bank, has this to say: “M&T Bank has been a major sponsor of ACHIEVE in great part because of Amy’s leadership. She runs an efficient and effective organization.”

And John Carrigg, President and CEO of United Health Services says “Amy exemplifies the spirit of Civic Leadership by her advocacy for the individuals that her organization serves.”

 

Thank you to all of our annual dinner sponsors including: Visions Federal Credit Union; Sam A. Lupo & Sons, Inc.; SVN Innovative Commercial Advisors; Empire Access; Rapid Deployable Systems; Security Mutual Life Insurance; Excellus; TechMD; and Tri-City Hearing!