Chamber honors its ‘Executive of the Year’
Annual dinner, awards celebration was in-person this year
EAST MARLBOROUGH » The Chester County Chamber of Business and Industry recently held its 2021 annual dinner— presenting awards for Executive of the Year, as well as Citizen of the Year.
This year’s Executive of the Year award was presented to Michael Duncan, president and CEO of Chester County Hospital, during the Nov. 4 event held at Longwood Gardens. The annual chamber dinner celebrates the accomplishments of the chamber over the past year and looks ahead to the future.
“We were so happy to host a major in-person event at the beautiful Longwood Gardens,” Dave Hackett, chamber board chairman, said in a statement. “It was a testament to the strength and resilience of the Chester County business community.”
Each year, the Chester County Chamber of Business and Industry honors a senior executive of a company who has demonstrated “great business and civic leadership” in the community. In making the announcement earlier this year, the chamber said it chose Duncan for his career and leadership during the pandemic.
Prior to joining Chester County Hospital, Duncan served as CEO and executive director of ColumbiaDoctors, a 1,200-physician faculty practice plan at Columbia University in New York City. Before joining Columbia, Duncan was the
CEO of Temple University Physicians and vice dean for clinical operations at Temple University School of Medicine in Philadelphia.
When he learned of his selection, Duncan said he was motivated by the “strength and endurance displayed by every hospital employee.”
“Despite the uncertainty COVID delivered, our hospital family stood tall in the face of fear; collaborated in ways one could never imagine and delivered safe, compassionate care to our community when needed most,” he said in a statement.
An estimated 340 people
attended the 2021 Annual Awards Celebration, according to Todd Kowalski, chamber director. He added that the chamber has hosted a few in-person events with more than 20 attendees in the last year, “mostly when outside options were available.” The chamber’s larger events have been virtual throughout the pandemic.
“This was certainly the first event anywhere near this capacity,” Kowalski said. He added that the chamber will be planning in-person events moving forward, “with accommodations for spacing and incorporating
outside areas whenever possible.”
During the event, the chamber also recognized two Citizens of the Year for 2021 — Dave Magrogan, CEO of Harvest Restaurant Holdings and the Dave Magrogan Group; and Bob Rafetto, former co-owner of Dilworthtown Inn, Blue Pear Bistro, and the Inn Keeper’s Kitchen.
“It was an honor to recognize Bob and Dave’s tremendous efforts to assist the hospitality industry through the pandemic as well as Michael Duncan’s leadership,” Hackett said of the event.