A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
Cloquet superintendent Michael Cary and school board member Ted Lammi listen in at the Cloquet Area Chamber of Commerce banquet Tuesday night. The school district was named the chamber's large business of the year for 2021.
Doug Loon, president of the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, spoke at Tuesday's chamber event.
The Cloquet Area Chamber of Commerce held its 68th Annual Meeting and Banquet Tuesday night, an event delayed more than once by the pandemic. But it looked like they got a full house for the evening for dinner, quiz night activities focused on local knowledge emceed by Ted Schick and speaker Doug Loon, president of the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce.
The highlight of the evening were the annual awards.
B&B Market won the small business award, the third time John and Kim Lind have won and an especially deserving selection not only because of their hard work, but also because of the Food Train that the B&B owners ran throughout the worst days of the pandemic. Lind thanked community members for their support, recalling how donations fueled the free food giveaway, which sometimes saw as many of 120 cars lined up down Big Lake Road. John also announced the sale of their business. "It's been a great run," he said. "We'll still be around throughout the transition for at least a year, Kim maybe not so long, maybe a month. We're not going away."
The Cloquet school district was selected as the recipient of the large business award.
"We're very proud of how the district worked diligently to take care of our youth and protect our community," said Chamber board member Judd Selland.
Cloquet superintendent Michael Cary said he was surprised to learn of the award, because he doesn't think of the school district as a business. But then he thought about the amazing job the hundreds of teachers and staff and all the other employees did during a year that brought many "unprecedented" challenges because of the pandemic.
"The support of this community is overwhelming," Cary said. "It's a whole lot easier to do the job we need to do when we know that we have the support of the community and the support of the board. It's not lost on us."
The Chamber volunteer of the year was Jeannie Kermeen, a chamber board member and the strong volunteer for many chamber events and other organizations throughout the community.
Kermeen kept it simple. "I'm honored," she said.
