Community leaders to be honored at DCRCOC Gala

Reservations are now being accepted for the Dutchess County Regional Chamber of Commerce’s 2019 Gala, themed “The Sky’s The Limit.” The Gala will take place on Saturday, February 2 at The Grandview in Poughkeepsie.
 
Attendees of the Gala will walk in the clouds, be mesmerized by shooting stars, beams of light, and lunar décor while feasting on a heavenly dinner menu of delicacies. Guests will dance the night away to entertainment from Cloud NYne, and will have the opportunity to win an array of prizes.
 
At the Gala, the Community Service award, given to an individual who selflessly gives of their time and talent to improve the community in which we live, work, and thrive, will be presented to Tom Weddell, who recently retired from RBT CPAs.
Tom has made a career at boosting the financial expertise and accountability of nonprofits. He spearheaded several successful nonprofit fundraising campaigns, including reshaping the Leadership Dutchess educational program, the Orange County United Way's Woman's Leadership Fund and the Orange Open Golf Outing. He was also instrumental in joint marketing initiatives with United Way of Dutchess & Ulster Counties, established a succession plan for subsequent campaign chairs, and guided a needs assessment and evaluation process within the County's Emergency Services.
 
 
The Community Spirit Award, given to an individual who visibly embraces the community in order to make it a better place to live and work, will be presented to Linda G. Campbell, Director of Marketing and Employment Services at The Arc of Dutchess.
 
Linda is driven by her passion for people, which has guided her to be a fierce advocate engaging the community in collaborative efforts to cultivate employment, educational, and volunteer opportunities for the people The Arc supports.  Linda is very active and involved on The Arc’s Events Committee for Partners at Work, Evening of Discovery, and Celebration of Stars, and is a member of The Arc’s Outreach Committee.
 
The Visionary Award is awarded to a business with a strong vision of the future and which embraces the community in order to make it a better place to live and work. Honorees Jim and Gina Sullivan have been renovating and restoring some of the most blighted buildings in the City of Poughkeepsie since 2009.
40 Cannon Street is their largest and most rewarding project to date.  Over the past two years, this building was transformed and restored into a state-of-the-art mixed-use space with the hiring of over 60 people from the City of Poughkeepsie.  The Sullivans consider themselves the luckiest landlords, as their tenants are what they call some of the nicest, most generous, and community minded people.   
 
The Next Generation awards are conferred upon businesses that have survived the test of time and been passed successfully from generation to generation. LCS Facility Group is a family owned business founded in 2001 by Joe and Maria Lepore, parents of Daniel, Joseph and Domenico. Beginning with nothing more than a dream and an old-world work ethic, the Lepore family have made LCS into a dynamic, fast-growing full-service commercial cleaning, facility management, landscape and construction business employing over 400 employees in New York, California and Texas.
 
Another Next Generation award goes to NeJame Pools, the newest force behind the oldest family-owned swimming pool business based in the Hudson Valley. The husband-wife team of Steven O’Brien and Britney NeJame-O’Brien, have continued tradition through their third generation business, and hope to one day have their twin boys carry forward the family business.                
        
More information about the Gala, including ticketing information, is available at dcrcoc.org/gala or call 845.454.1700 x 1000.