County business leaders honored

It was another night of fancy drink, fine dining and recognition Thursday as businesses, nonprofits, community organizations and more gathered for the Clinton-Sampson Chamber of Commerce’s 77th Annual Banquet.

Playing cards, dice and poker chips were sprawled out all over the Sampson Agri-Expo Center to fit this year’s casino theme. The atmosphere definitely matched that feel as there were more than 350 attendee registrations this year and 100-plus members and businesses represented at the event.

After an hour or so of mingling, cocktails and a catered dinner compliments of Ezzell’s Catering, the awards presentation, the highlight of the evening, kicked off. Different members of the Chamber came forward one after another to give the welcome, recognized guests and the shared the Chamber’s mission and vision.

“We appreciate all of you for being here,” said Chamber Executive Director Matt Stone. “We’ve got several business and organizations here tonight and it’s because of you and our sponsors that we’re hosting this event. You each deserve to be recognized for what you do for the community, so again, we thank you all for coming.”

The invocation was provided by Graves Memorial Presbyterian’s new pastor Rev. Katie Rives. The 77th celebration also brought back last year’s special guest to emcee the award presentation — former WRAL-TV meteorologist legend Greg Fishel.

The award winners of the 77th Clinton-Sampson Chamber of Commerce banquet were:

Tickled Pink — Entrepreneurial Success

The Rink — New Business of the Year

‘Night To Shine’ — Community Impact

Sampson Community College — Economic Impact

Star Communications — Innovation & Advancement

Sampson Arts Council — Nonprofit of the Year

Nicole Rackley — Outstanding Support Staff (Dental Office Of Brittany W. Ackerman, DDS, PA)

HN Carr, Inc. — Business Excellence

Jeremy Edgerton — Member of the Year

Gary Mac Herring — Business Leader of the Year (Mary Mack’s, Inc.)

“All right, my job is done for the night but I just want to end on a personal note,” Fishel said after the presentation. “It’s been a little over five years now since I departed from WRAL, honestly, I thought that by this time that everybody would have forgotten about me, at least to some degree. I’m just constantly amazed at the warmth of everybody that I continue to bump into in this community and I just want to let you know that doesn’t go unnoticed — I appreciate your time.”

Stone stepped back to the podium after those heartfelt words to introduce the event’s keynote speaker. This years honor went to a former Sampsonian who now represents North Carolina as General Counsel and President of the NC Chamber Legal Institute — Ray Starling.

“It’s good be back home, a place where I learned tonight that we’ve started businesses that make snowcones and the skating rink I used to skate at is back to life,” Starling said. “I will say though being keynote speaker tonight is a hard task.”

”When Greg started, I was hoping it’d be like old times and he’d come on at 6:20 and go off at 6:45,” he said, the room erupting in laughter. “And, continuing with this tradition, given its spirit, tonight’s theme is casino night so I will say Matt took a real gamble on the speaker.”

Starling continued his lighthearted banter with a few jokes mimicking comedian Jeff Foxworthy’s famous “You Might Be A Redneck If…” but with a spin saying, “You Might Be from Sampson County If…” his remarks hearkening back to cruising downtown around the courthouse and to the old Hardee’s or getting college decorated Santa’s from Matthews’ Drug.

He’d then segue into his speech for the evening, which delved into where North Carolina stood as a state and the positives of how it’s growing, his focus being on the value of hard work.

“An article recently caught my eye by National Public Radio which painted work, particularly by young folks in agriculture, as gruesome and depressing,” he said. “They claimed that was newsworthy, but I grew up on a tobacco farm and I could have told you that work in agriculture can be gruesome and depressing.”

“That said, when I got older and I started to understand the value of waking up and the need to go somewhere and laying down with the satisfaction of having done a good days work, along with having done hard things with other people in conditions that were anything but comfortable,” he said. “This is why my parents would often say when we grumbled about our work on the farm, that ‘son it builds character’ — and they were exactly right.”

Starling went on to show and speak on a few studies that showed North Carolina’s upward growth, and numbers that showed how overwhelmingly positive North Carolinians view their work conditions. He also spoke to accolades the state has garnered over the past couple year,s such as twice being named best state in the country to do business and the steady increase in the number of citizens moving to the state.

“The proof is in the pudding,” he said. “People want to be Sampsonians, they want to be North Carolinians, and thanks to you in this room in particular, and some of your elected leaders — each are a vital part of how we got here.”

“At the end of the day, it’s the business community that makes it work,” he added. “All of these entities you are recognizing and recognized are important. They are how Sampson County, and our state, will continue to grow. Your role in this is critical. I ask you leverage your Chamber voice also to command and leverage your place in the best state in the country to do business.” ‘