Tickets on sale for Chamber of Commerce Annual Meeting, Civitas Awards

Tickets are on sale for the Beaufort Regional Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Meeting and Civitas Awards celebration, in which business leaders will be recognized for their accomplishments this year.
Tickets for the June 29 event at Dataw Island Clubhouse are on sale now at an early bird price of $50 for chamber members and $65 for nonmembers. To purchase tickets or for more information, contact Renee Faucher at 843-525-8537 or renee@beaufortsc.org.
During the meeting, 34 nominees and 11 recipients — businesses and individuals — will be recognized. Judges include Kevin Cuppia, Modern Jewelers; John Perrill, CBC National Bank; Mike McFee, Hometown Realty and Beaufort City Council; Jeff Evans, Lowcountry Weekly; Bill Bootle, individual; Frankie Denmark, Hargray Communications; Jeff Kidd, The Beaufort Gazette; and Sallie Stone, Beaufort Memorial Hospital and The Blood Alliance. Categories and nominees include:
• Regional Economic Impact: City of Beaufort, Mitchell Brothers Inc., Technical College of the Lowcountry
• Excellence in Free Enterprise: Greenbug, The Island News
• Community Stewardship: Beaufort Memorial Foundation, Robinson Grant, The Greenery
• Outstanding Nonprofit: Alzheimer’s Family Services, Beaufort Art Association, Beaufort County Historical Society, HELP of Beaufort, Wardle Family YMCA
• Outstanding Leadership Beaufort Alumni: Terry Bennett, Jack Cunningham, Charlotte Gonzalez
• Tourism Leadership: Beaufort Water Festival, Ron Tucker of the Beaufort Film Society
• Outstanding Employee: Josh Castillio, Plums restaurant; Androula Weiland, Main Street Beaufort, USA
• (Retired) Military Citizenship Award: Garry Parks, Bill Severns, Jack Snider
• Lowcountry Young Professional: Will Achurch, Wells Fargo; Julie Good, Beaufort Historic Foundation; Joel Iacopelli, Capstone Financial Partners; Stephen Murray, Kazoobies Inc.; Charlie Nolette, Berry Island
• Junior Enlisted Service Member of the Year: selected by staff at Marine Air Corps Station Beaufort, Beaufort Naval Hospital and Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island
• Noncommissioned Office of the Year: selected by staff at Marine Air Corps Station Beaufort, Beaufort Naval Hospital and Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island

The highest honor, the Lifetime of Leadership award, will go to one of the following nominees:
• Robert DeLoach, a Beaufort native with six decades of engineering experience between jobs at Parris Island and BES Inc., where “ he has completed countless projects, introduced groundbreaking technologies in the field of engineering and mentored five generations of young engineers for the past 36 years,” according to a news release. His volunteer work includes Beaufort Academy board of directors, Lady’s Island Business Professionals Association board of directors, South Carolina Social Services board of directors, and district commissioner for the Boy Scouts of America.
• Bernie Kole, who moved to Beaufort 20 years ago and owns real estate development and residential building company Kole Construction. Kole is a past chairman of the Chamber of Commerce’s board of directors and had a role in the Military Enhancement Committee’s 2005 defense against the Pentagon’s Base Realignment and Closure process, according to the news release. He is a trustee for the Beaufort County Public Library and is president of the Child Abuse Prevention Association. He helped build CAPA’s Citizens Opposed to Domestic Abuse shelter and office building and the CAPA’s Closet retail store on Ribaut Road.
• Larry Mark, a Beaufort native and owner of Furniture Warehouse Design Gallery, which he founded at age 20 in a converted garage and now has a 60,000-square-foot showroom, according to the news release. He has been chairman of the Beaufort Area Transportation Commission, co-chairman of the Beaufort County school system’s Air Quality Task Force, chairman of the University of South Carolina’s Division of the Small Business Development Centers and a Beaufort Planning Board member. The annual Furniture Warehouse Design Gallery Coat Drive has collected and distributed more than 40,000 coats to Beaufort County residents in need.