VIENNA — Representatives from several Vienna businesses made their way to Checo’s Mexican Restaurant on Jan. 13 for the 2022 Vienna Chamber of Commerce (VCOC) Awards Luncheon.

Chamber President Lisa Garro began by welcoming everyone and thanking them for attending. She shared some of the work VCOC is doing to revitalize Vienna through events such as Christmas Around the Square and Trunk or Treat, which she said were big successes.

Garro announced that the Welcome Center is now open in Vienna. She also said VCOC would soon run a “Whose Door is It?” contest for local people to match entrances to businesses for a prize.

Chamber Secretary Kelly Barnhart talked about the work the group is doing with the nonprofit Missouri Main Street Connection to revitalize Vienna, including a Community Empowerment Grant they received.

Garro said they had also received a tourism grant to promote “shop, stay and play” in Vienna.

During the lunch, Kelly Barnhart showed a tourism video ad promoting Vienna and its local businesses. She said Google would target the ad to internet users within a two-hour drive of the city. Both the tourism commercial and a video showing the results of a recent community survey are on the Vienna Chamber of Commerce YouTube page.

The chamber also passed out Vienna tourism brochures.

After the recap of recent VCOC activity, chamber officers began to announce award nominees and winners.

First up was the New Horizon Award. The award recognizes a VCOC business and its owners for their motivation and inspiration to find their niche in the community, their ability to evolve as the business develops and their accomplishments with the services they provide and their personal dedication to the community through things such as volunteering and donations. To qualify for the New Horizon Award, a business must have opened within the last five years.

The nominees for the award were Four C’s Edge, The Market and Show-Me Land Surveying. The Market won the award.

The second award was the Pioneer Award. It recognizes a VCOC business and its owners for their noteworthy accomplishments, long-standing contributions to the community, ethical approach to business and significant community service efforts. To qualify for the Pioneer Award, a business must operate for at least 10 years.

The nominees for the award were The Flower Basket, G&W Foods, Victorian Place of Vienna and Wansing Small Engine. Wansing Small Engine won the award.

The final award presented at the banquet was the Heart of Vienna Award. It recognizes an individual who has shown exceptional devotion and love for the community. The winner makes Vienna a better place to live and work.

The nominees were Colleen Barnhart, Kacie James and Jimmy Logan. Barnhart won the award.