Bartlesville Radio: The area’s best source for news, weather and sports!

Bartlesville Regional Chamber of Commerce's 117th Annual Awards & Gala took place at the Hilton Garden Inn on Thursday evening, with Arvest Bank being awarded with the Business of the Year award.

Local Arvest Bank President Kim Adams (pictured below) joined her merry band of colleagues on the stage to accept the honor. Adams thanked a long list of people, including the customers they serve. She said they'll continue to strive to meet your financial needs and introduce new products in technology so that Arvest can continue to be your preferred financial provider.

Adams said she is proud to work for a company that strived to serve businesses and consumers during the trying times experienced during the coronavirus pandemic. She said they're also happy to use Arvest Foundation Funds to support many non-profits right here where they live and work.

Adams said Arvest Bartlesville has some of the best employees that they have in the entire company.

Small Business of the Year went to Peak Physical Therapy. Founders Merlin and Pamela Johnson (pictured below) accepted the award. The independent-owned small business was established in 2010.

Jon Beckloff was the recipient of the Tom Shoemake Award. Beckloff is the Executive Director of Bartlesville Child Nutrition where he and his team worked long hours during the pandemic and February's historic winter storm to feed thousands of Bartlesville Public School children. He is also the Executive Director of the newly founded Project Tribute Foundation, a non-profit organization with a mission to enhance the lifesaving capabilities of first responders in our communities. 

Beckloff (pictured left) took the stage and mentioned that the Bartlesville Child Nutrition has served 1.2-million meals to Bartlesville students since the pandemic began in March 2020. He thanked his team for weathering all of the terrible things the Oklahoma brought before them over the course of a year.

Meanwhile, Project Tribute Foundation has been hard at working trying to get tourniquets into the hands of every first responder in the area. If you would like to learn more about Project Tribute Foundation or make a donation, you can visit their website, projecttribute.com.

Receiving the Ernie McAnaw Award was Dr. Tamara Hill of Hill Dermatology. The McAnaw Award is given to a woman who has supported the advancement and leadership of women. It is also given to a woman that has a proven track record as a leader in her industry and community.

The Frank Phillips Award was given to Woolaroc CEO Bob Fraser (pictured below). The presentation of the Frank Phillips Award honors an individual or company for their outstanding contributions of time, energy and talents to Bartlesville's economic and community development efforts. Fraser said he's loved every minute of his time at Woolaroc, the Frank Phillips Home and in the community. He said there are 35 people that work at Woolaroc and Frank Phillips Home that are also very deserving of the audience applause, but he was very grateful to receive the award.

The Jim Gillie Outstanding Citizen Award went to Vanessa Drummond. Drummond is a strong advocate of the Bartlesville Public Schools system, as she has worked in parent support groups, served as a school board member, and played instrumental roles in school board campaigns. 

Drummond (pictured right) is also a founding member of Public Education Advocates for Kids (PEAK) and a past chairwoman of the Bartlesville Public Schools Foundation. She currently serves as the Vice Chair for Bartlesville Education Promise (BEP) and was a founding member when she served as Secretary. BEP was founded five years ago to address programming that would help students move towards graduation. With Drummond's support, BEP has grown from a $50,000 non-profit to an organization that just surpassed donations of $750,000 to the Bartlesville Public Schools system. They were also just named the Most Outstanding School Support Organization in the State of Oklahoma by the Oklahoma Center for Non-Profits.

Lastly, Drummond serves on the Executive Committee for the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence, which awards the Oklahoma Academic All-Stars. She even helped create Miles for Mammograms.

The Jake Bartlesville Award was given to Quinn Schipper. Nicole McKinney was given the Rising Star Award. McKinney is also the incoming Young Professionals of Bartlesville President.

Also during the 117th Awards & Gala, incoming Chamber Board President Trevor Dorsey gave his remarks following outgoing Board President Dennis Halpin's remarks over video. From there, the Leadership Bartlesville Class of XXX (30) graduated.

ARVEST BANK - BUSINESS OF THE YEAR

PEAK PHYSICAL THERAPY - SMALL BUSINESS OF THE YEAR

BOB FRASER - FRANK PHILLIPS AWARD

DR. TAMARA HILL - ERNIE MCANAW AWARD

NICOLE MCKINNEY - RISING STAR AWARD