Hoover Chamber hands out annual awards

Published 2:29 pm Monday, January 30, 2017

HOOVER – New officers and directors for the Hoover Area Chamber of Commerce were installed during a luncheon on Thursday, Jan. 19.

The luncheon was held at Hyatt Regency Birmingham – The Wynfrey Hotel and sponsored by First Commercial Bank.

John Mount, pastor at The Church at Ross Bridge, gave the invocation before the President’s Awards were announced.

Award winners included Benji Sawyer of Sawyer Solutions, Ambassador of the Fourth Quarter; Lynn Ray of Business Telephones, Ambassador of the Year; Ira Levine of Levine & Associates, Board Member of the Year; and Andy Graffeo of Graffeo Financial Services, Member of the Year.

Ray has been active in the Chamber since 2007 and served on the Chamber Ambassador Committee since 2013. She was also Ambassador of the Year last year.

Levine’s company has been a Chamber member for more than 25 years, and he has been active throughout that time. Levine has served on the Chamber Board of Directors a total of almost 10 years and attended almost 94 percent of the networking events the Chamber has had over the last 20 years.

Graffeo’s company has been a Chamber member since 2008, and Graffeo has been involved with the Chamber’s Golf Committee.

After the awards were presented, the Chamber’s new officers and board of directors were installed.

New officers include: Jerome Morgan Jr. of Oncort Professional Services, president; Joel Smith of Hendrick Hoover Auto Mall, first vice president; Terry Turner of Gentle, Turner and Sexton, second vice president; Chris Schmidt of Daniel Corporation, immediate past president; Megan Randolph of Warren Averett CPAs and Advisors, treasurer; Kathleen Spencer of Spencer Consulting Group, secretary; April DeLuca of Magic City Law, legal counsel; Joe Thomas of Capstone Financial Group, board of trustees chairman; and Lori Salter-Schommer of Mayor Frank Brocato’s office, city of Hoover liaison.

The board of directors includes Jason Cobb of America’s First Federal Credit Union Steve Preston of Brookwood Medical Center, Terry Shea of Wrapsody, Paul Dangel of Hyatt Regency Birmingham – The Wynfrey Hotel, Levine, Tynette Lynch of Aldridge Gardens, Paul Huckeba of CB&S Bank, Jeff McDowell of McDowell Security Systems and Ray.

Hoover City Council President Pro Tem John Greene served as the installation officer.

“They share a vision for the continued growth and success of the Hoover area business community,” Greene said about the new officers and board members.