The Chamber of Commerce and Visit Cook County hosted their annual gala with more than 200 people attending. The event was held at Grand Portage Lodge & Casino who served awesome food and offered great reduced prices on rooms for those who wanted to stay the night following the festivities. Here are the happy award winners from L-R: Sue Prom, Mike Prom, Scott Harrison, Nancy Burns, Bruce Block, Sarah Hallberg, Ann Jorgenson, Gary Jorgenson. The award bowls are ceramic bowls made by Hannah Palma. Photo courtesy of Jim Boyd
Grand Portage Lodge and Casino was the location for the 2018 annual fall gala celebration hosted by the Cook County Chamber of Commerce and Visit Cook County.
The event was held Tuesday, October 23.
This celebration of community and economic development culminated in a ceremony that honored much deserving people and businesses that had been nominated by their peers.
Business of the year:
Java Moose, for serving year-round as the essential gathering place in Grand Marais, where everyone is greeted as a friend, where the coffee is always good and the soup is always on, where life’s joys and sorrows are treated with the care and respect they deserve. Life in Grand Marais would be so much poorer without Becca and Ann, Sarah and Gary and their coffee shop.
Community business leader of the year:
Nancy Burns and Scott Harrison, in recognition of their decades of devotion to the Cook County community in a multitude of manners both large and small, on the occasion of their sale of Lutsen Resort and transition to a new life. Few in memory have given more selflessly of themselves and their talents to the betterment of Cook County and its people.
Entrepreneur of the year—tie:
1) Sue and Mike Prom, RitaLee and Bruce Walters for Voyageur Brewing for investing hearts, souls and bank accounts in establishing a brewery in Grand Marais that instantly became an important element of our community. The continually expanding universe of places down the shore and beyond where Voyageur Brewing Co. beverages are enjoyed is testimony to their business acumen. Just as powerful is their quite explicit use of the brewery to strengthen and celebrate both Cook County and its people.
2) Bruce Block for Village North low-income housing project. For his risk-filled, valiant effort to convert the former Gopher Cabins into Village North—a safe, clean, attractive place to live for Cook County families and individuals with few resources. In this effort, Bruce is most definitely on the side of the angels. He would be the first to admit he has had lots of help, but the heart behind the project is his.
Leave a Reply