Thursday, April 12th the Monmouth Area Chamber of Commerce held its 99th Annual Dinner at the Warren County History Museum. Held every spring, the dinner is an opportunity for the Monmouth Chamber to share the year’s accomplishments with the community and to recognize members in appreciation of their service. The guest speaker for last night’s event was Carl Weitzel. Weitzel is a retired Lieutenant Colonel with the Illinois State Police – a 27 year veteran. A portion of the night was dedicated to awards to chamber member businesses. This year’s recipient of the Large Business of the Year was the Warren County YMCA, and was accepted by YMCA Executive Director and CEO Sam Brooks. The Large Business of the Year 2017 went to Smithfield Foods. The 2018 Small Business of the Year award went to Brian and Jason Robbins with Robbins Resource Management. The 2017 Small Business of the Year winner was The Pizza Place and owners Mark and Julie Richardson. The chamber also awarded the 2018 Citizen of the Year award to Carol McCrery with the Strom Center. The award was presented by last year’s Citizen of the Year award winner Sean Cavanaugh.
