The 2024 Hemet/San Jacinto Valley Chamber of Commerce Annual Installation and Awards Gala was held Friday, July 12 at the Soboba Casino Resort Event Center. A crowd of nearly 300 guests were treated to an elegant night and delicious food.
Cyndi Lemke, who has served as Executive Director for six years, welcomed everyone and let each nominee know how important they are to the community ahead of the announcement of the top winners in each of the 10 categories. Kevin Saunders, HSJVC’s Business Development Representative, served as a co-emcee for the event alongside Lemke.
Nonprofit of the Year was awarded to the Soboba Foundation. Other nominees were EXCEED, Hemet Rotary Club, Historic Hemet Theatre, Soroptimist International of San Jacinto/Hemet and Valley Community Pantry.
Soboba Foundation President Dondi Silvas said, “Thank you, it’s an honor to receive this award.” Sponsorship and Higher Education Coordinator Andrew Vallejos also gave thanks for the recognition. “This is a huge, amazing gift that we have gotten from the community,” he said. “What’s so great about this is the community votes for it and the community sees all that this Tribe and the Foundation does. It has really been great to be part of it from the beginning so thank you all very much.”
The Hemet Beautification of the Year honor went to Rocking K Ranch. Other nominees were City of Hemet, Destinations Smokehouse, Essential Blasting Inc., J&H Automotive Inc. and Mega Bites Pizza.
San Jacinto Beautification of the Year nominees were the City of San Jacinto, San Jacinto Unified School District and Soboba Springs Mobile Estates with SJUSD taking the top honor.
Entrepreneur of the Year was awarded to Carlos Michel of Colt Boots & Western Wear. He was competing with Caleb Wilson of Rapid Wraps, Corey Wilson of Rapid Tires & Automotive, Ed Bush of Memorial Funeral Services and Laura Masters with Masters Medicare.
The award for New Member of the Year went to Airtopia Adventure Park, who were up against Essential Blasting Inc., LegalShield Independent Associate, Michael William Salon, Neighborhood Link, Seniors Helping Seniors Inland Empire and Valle Vista Home Center.
Raising Cane’s was named Restaurant of the Year. Other nominees were J&M Family Restaurant, Los Mareados, Polly’s Pies and Stadium Pizza.
The Male Business Leader of the Year was awarded to Richard Perry of VIP Autos. His competition was Augustin Corona from LCA Metals, Carlos Michel of Colt Boots & Western Wear, Craig Shultz with Valley-Wide Recreation & Park District, Dan Cortese from the Rotary Club of Hemet and Vince Record with the San Jacinto Unified School District.
Sonia Ramos of the Boxing for Christ nonprofit was named Female Business Leader of the Year. Competing with her were Clarisa Sanchez of Farmers Insurance, Cynthia Rodriguez with Cynthia’s Sweet Treats and Phebe Pang of Alternative Twist Radio.
The Small Business of the Year was the largest category with 10 nominees and Grocery Outlet #100 took home the award. Also nominated were Active Sound, Colt Boots & Western Wear, J&H Automotive Inc., Memorial Funeral Services, Michael William Salon, Rapid Tire & Automotive, Rapid Wraps, Valle Vista Home Center and Vogler Feigen Realty.
Nominees for Large Business of the Year were Altura Credit Union, Gosch Auto Dealerships, PNC Bank, Soboba Casino Resort and The Village Retirement Community. The winner was Soboba Casino Resort and Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians Chairman Isaiah Vivanco accepted the award.
“What an honor,” he said after a huge round of applause from the audience. “We couldn’t be happier to accept this award on behalf of the Tribe and on behalf of our team members here at Soboba. They do great work providing this great meal here tonight and just with everything they bring everyday and we appreciate that. We are just honored to be part of the economic engine that drives this valley. We have great leaders at the Hemet and San Jacinto City Council levels that are doing good things – bringing more homes and more business opportunities to the valley. And it takes you guys as well as us to work together to keep this valley going.”
Vivanco said he was proud to say that the Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians employs approximately 1,500 people with 70 percent of those coming from the valley. “We want to continue to be a big partner in this valley and help the growth and help you all succeed as one,” he said. “Thank you again for this recognition and this honor; we really appreciate it.”
Prior to the awards and the formal installation of incoming Chairwoman Patricia Scott and the 2024-2025 Board of Directors by Chairman Vivanco, Lemke took a moment to thank outgoing HSJVC Chairman Frank Barrickman from McCrometer Inc. of Hemet.
“Please accept my sincere thanks and admiration for a year well served,” Lemke said. “Your contributions have left an indelible mark on the Chamber and will continue to inspire us in the years to come. I wish you continued success in all your future endeavors and am so thankful you will be advising the Board for another year. Once again, thank you for the support you have given to me, the team, your peers on the Board and the Chamber of Commerce.”
Scott’s first official duty was to share the HSJVC mission which is “to attract, develop, promote and retain local businesses through communication, networking, training and program development; and to influence public policy and advocate legislative issues that promote local business and job growth. She said the chamber welcomed 85 new members in the past year.
“We are working on a new game plan this year to ramp up engagement,” she said. “Over the next 30 days we will be creating a new external vision and map that provides the opportunity for all individuals in the team to go beyond where they’ve gone before with our upcoming Strategic Planning.”
For more information, https://hemetsanjacintochamber.com.
Photos courtesy of StylePhotography by Alex Tapia.
