By Dan Domsic
Of 700 Fishers Chamber of Commerce business members, only five can win a Pillar Award annually.
On Jan. 16, the chamber announced its 11th Annual Pillar Awards winners in five different categories: Business of the Year, Employee of the Year, Entrepreneurial Spirit, Small Business of the Year and Lifetime Achievement.
Owners of the Business of the Year winner, Taylor’s Bakery, feel validated by the award.
“Our business is 100 years old, so it makes us feel like we’re doing something right,” Matt Allen of Taylor’s Bakery said. The bakery’s Fisher’s location at 8395 E. 116th St. opened in 2003.
Steve and Walter Sharp of Sharp Printing were the recipients of the Lifetime Achievement Award, which is only given to a business that is one of the remaining 51 charter members of the chamber, Dan Canan, Fishers Chamber of Commerce president, said.
“It (Fishers) has just been a great place to live,” Sharp said. “We believe in giving back to the community. I think we’ve kind of done that, and the chamber’s recognized us for that.”
Courtney Lloyd of Star Financial’s 96th Street location won Employee of the Year. Tom Wagenhauser accepted the Entrepreneurial Spirit Award for Indy IT Professionals, and Shaun Curran and Curran Architecture won Small Business of the Year.
The awards were given out after a four-month-long process, according to Carol Doehrman, Fishers Chamber of Commerce vice president of operations.
Businesses are allotted two months to make nominations, which are then followed up by a two-month-long selection process.
Doerhman said there were approximately 23 businesses nominated this year for the awards.
A chamber committee selects the business that receives the Lifetime Achievement Award. The committee narrows down each other category to three nominees. Each nominee then fills out a “test” or application worth 100 points, and from there, a winner is selected by top score.
Canan said the process was tedious, but it ensured consistency.