The Mount Vernon- Lee Chamber of Commerce recognized its members with awards last Thursday evening at Mount Vernon Country Club.
Virginia Commerce Bank’s new branch on Sherwood Hall Lane won the award for Large Business of the Year. Linda Martin, vice president and branch manager, attended the dinner with several members of the organization, including Peter Converse, Keshaun R. Clark-Heflin, Deborah Richter, Lashay Rumph, Shante A. Taylor and Kerry Donley.
“On behalf of Virginia Commerce Bank, I would like to thank the Mount Vernon-Lee Chamber members, and the Board of Directors, for this distinguished award,” Martin said. “We are truly committed to the communities in which we serve, and we appreciate your support."
Virginia Commerce Bank is a full-service community bank and wholly-owned subsidiary of Virginia Commerce Bancorp, Inc. It opened its first branch in Clarendon in 1988. Today, it has 17 branches, two mortgage loan offices, an investment services department and over a billion dollars in assets.
Regent Company, LLC was recognized as the Small Business of the Year. Accepting the award was Kahan Singh Dhillon, Jr., president and CEO of Regent LLC, who was there with other members of his family: Ganga Singh, Nihal Dhillon and Gurpal Kaur.
“A balanced approach to business and community development has been the foundation from which our firm was founded,” said Dhillon. “My family and I on behalf of Regent Company, LLC are both humbled and honored to have Regent chosen as top Small Business of the Year. There are a number of firms at the Mount Vernon-Lee Chamber of Commerce which represents one of the most populated and most rapidly growing area's in the county that were equally qualified to receive this award and so it is with great gratitude that I thank our Chamber membership and our Community for acknowledging the accomplishments of our firm.”
Jim Dunn was acknowledged as the Chamber Citizen of the Year. Dunn works on charitable events for the Knights of Columbus, including the weekly Bingo games. He coordinates the Meals on Wheels volunteers and serves on the Chambers’ Board of Directors and the Legislative Committee.
The New Business of the Year designation was made to The Cleaning Authority. This new company, purchased by Sonja Caison, provides local jobs and services for the community.
“I really appreciate Mount Vernon-Lee Chamber of Commerce recognizing my effort and the effort of my staff. We work very hard to meet our customers' needs and I am happy to see the business doing so well,” Caison said.
The Business Stars Awards also gives businesses a chance to participate in the Table Top Expo. Members display information about their business and get a chance to talk to other members what they are doing. Participating in this year’s Table Top Expo were: McEnearney Realtors; Virginia Commerce Bank; N.Y. Life; Mount Vernon Rotary Club; Vinyl Lite Windows; MacKinnon, Inc.; Slender Lady; Elizabeth Stone Gallery; Anthony Scovazzo from AJS Consulting Engineers; Fort Belvoir Credit Union; and Redmon, Peyton & Braswell.