Chamber presents annual awards
Four organizations, individuals honored
EAST WHITELAND >> Nearly 300 people turned out for the Greater West Chester Chamber of Commerce’s annual banquet Feb. 7, honoring four area organizations and individuals for their service during 2018.
“While working with the selection committee, we realized how many people and organizations work hard every day to make West Chester such a great place to live, work and prosper,” Mark Yoder, president and CEO or the Greater West Chester Chamber of Commerce said at the dinner. “These organizations and individuals all exemplify what it means to positively affect your community.”
Recognized were: E. Kahn Development Corp., 2018 Business of the Year; Matthew Holliday, 2018 Citizen of the Year; Chester County Night School, 2018 Community Service Award; and Molly Camp, 2018 James O’Neill Jr. Junior Citizen of the Year.
Reservations for the event, held at the Desmond Hotel, came in until the last minute, according to Jeff Zajac, marketing and communications manager for the chamber.
“People were eager to come and celebrate our award recipients,” he said.
Christopher Fiorentino, president of West Chester University, presented the Business of the Year award to Eli Kahn, founder and president of E. Kahn Development Corp.
Fiorentino was Kahn’s academic adviser when Kahn was an undergraduate student at West Chester University in the 1980s and a budding entrepreneur even then.
“One day he came into my office, I assumed it was for some
college advising. No – he wanted to lease me a car. He has been that kind of entrepreneur as long as I can remember,” Fiorentino said in his award presentation.
Fiorentino reflected on his own involvement through the years on county committees that talked about focusing development “in the old boroughs and not just spread out all over the county.”
“Eli Kahn has done that over the years. He has changed the face of a number of the old boroughs in Chester County,” he said.
Among the projects E. Kahn Development Corp. is known for are Devon Yard; the Chestnut Square apartments in West Chester; the
121 N. Walnut West Chester office building and the Mosteller Building project on Gay Street in West Chester.
“We are a small company that loves to fly under the radar screen. We pride ourselves in high quality projects and we pride ourselves as standing behind what we do. I am very proud of that part of our company,” Kahn said. He added that his team of five is made up of “rock stars.”
“You can call us an allstar basketball team or you can call us a rock group. Together we do a lot of work,” he said. “One thing we pride ourselves on is making ourselves feel like we have 100 people working with us.”
Matthew Holliday received the chamber’s 2018 Citizen of the Year award, presented by incoming 2019 Greater West Chester chamber
Board President Mark Sammarone, executive vice president of Arthur Hall Insurance.
Holliday serves as the Prothonotary of Chester County, a position he has held since 2016. He also works with 14 area non-profit organizations in Chester County.
“Matt goes all in when he volunteers and he gets others to follow him with his cause. That is a very special trait, and he is truly a leader of men,” Sammarone said.
Holliday said he is often asked how he can serve on so many nonprofit boards.
“How could I not? How could I not serve any nonprofit that asks for my help, knowing the need and pain in our community that these organizations are fixing and healing every single day,” he said. “I don’t tell them that I have the personal experience
from a rather difficult childhood of knowing what many of our less fortunate neighbors are going through.”
In accepting his award, Holliday urged the audience to go out of their way to be kind, compassionate and courteous to the people around them — as often as possible.
“That is the difference maker that so many of you provided in my life,” he added.
“Offer internships or shadowing opportunities to young people in your offices. Be generous with your encouragement of others. Who knows? These little actions of graciousness may lead to someone standing on this stage 15 years from now,” Holliday concluded.
When Chester County Night School was founded in 1955, the catalog had 15
classes – in topics ranging from bookkeeping, homemaking sewing and typing. More than six decades later, the school serves an estimated 6,000 students each year.
Chester County Night School received the Greater West Chester Chamber of Commerce’s 2018 Community Service Award Feb. 7.
In accepting the award, Jolene Borgese, president of the Board of Directors for the Chester County Night School said the school, “is in its golden years – we’re 63 years old and strong.”
Borgese added that the school has developed entrepreneurs that have gone on to start their own businesses. No longer just for adults, Chester County Night School offers lifelong learning opportunities for ages “9 to 91.”
“Lifelong learners have been proven to sharpen the mind, strengthen the body and build valuable social connections,” Borgese added.
Molly Camp, a senior at Henderson High School received the chamber’s 2018 James E. O’Neill Jr. Junior Citizen of the Year Award, presented by John Cunningham, of Lamb McErlane PC.
“Each year this award is given to a high school senior from the West Chester area who has voluntarily given their time and effort to better serve our community while demonstrating academic excellence,” he said.
The award for Camp, who plans to attend Penn State in the fall, includes a $2,000 monetary award.