Vail Valley Partnership’s Success Awards honor best businesses, nonprofit groups

For more than two decades, the Vail Valley Partnership has honored the best of the local business community with the annual Success Awards.

The annual shindig hosted by the valley’s chamber of commerce used to be a dress-up affair, particularly before the COVID-19 pandemic, with a fancy luncheon or dinner. But since the pandemic, the event has been more casual.

Lauren Mendez, the Partnership’s director of membership, said the switch to a more casual format made the event more accessible and allows more people from each business to attend. Those people can network with folks from other businesses and create more connections, she said.

While the event is scheduled more along the lines of a happy hour — “So people can go home and have dinner,” Mendez said — there should be plenty of good food at the event. This year’s catering at the EagleVail Pavilion comes courtesy of The Full Belly, well known for its barbecue.

While most of the awards will be a surprise, a couple of the awards have already been presented. The Partnership team has already selected former Eagle County Commissioner Kathy Chandler-Henry as this year’s winner of the Chairman’s Award.

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Mendez said Chandler-Henry was honored for her work on the Eagle County Board of Commissioners, and on behalf of the business community.

Chris Baddick is this year’s Member of the Year. Baddick owns the Dollar and Thrifty rental car franchises at the Eagle County Regional Airport, as well as Cooley Mesa Detailing, which services all the rental cars and gets them ready for their next users.

Mendez said Baddick was an “easy choice” for this year’s Member of the Year honor.

“He understands the ‘why’ of what we do,” Mendez said.

There’s another new award this year: Innovation in the Public Sector. That award will be given to the public agency — either a special district or town — that has had the greatest impact on life in the Vail Valley.

Vail Valley Partnership Board member Melina Valsecia is also the executive director of the Eagle Valley Community Foundation, which last year won the organization’s award for nonprofit of the year.

Valsecia said she’ll be happy to pass this year’s award to this year’s winner. The award honors “people with a lot of passion to improve the community,” Valsecia said. “We need more of us.”

The awards, Valsecia added, “Are a testament to the Vail Valley Partnership mission” to celebrate both businesses and nonprofit groups that bring passion and excellence to their work in the valley.

This year’s finalists were selected from 172 applications across 10 award categories. The finalists are:

Best place to work

• Active Energies Solar
• Eagle County Paramedic Services
• Hygge Life

Business of the Year

• Eagle County Regional Airport
• Old Growth Tree Service
• RA Nelson

Small Business of the Year

• Minturn Whisky Co.
• The Belden Witch
• Two Arrows Coffee

Nonprofit of the Year

• Bright Future Foundation
• Mountain Youth
• Vail Valley Cares

Small Nonprofit of the Year

• Gore Range Gravity Alliance
• Little Bird Creative Community
• Mountain Pride

Community Impact Award — Organization

• Core Transit
• Mountain Recreation
• Vail Valley Charitable Fund

Community Impact Award — Individual

• Ethan Moore
• Orlando Ortiz
• Tanya Allen

Young Professional of the Year

• Dayana Herr
• Julio Garcia Jimenez
• Laura Hartman

Excellence in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

• Eagle County School District
• The Cycle Effect
• Vail Valley Charitable Fund

Innovation in the Public Sector

• Core Transit
• Eagle County Paramedic Services
• Town of Minturn