The Hoboken Chamber of Commerce has introduced a new event that seeks to honor the city’s most ambitious members of the business community. The awards dinner and reception will include local celebrity meet-and-greets, networking opportunities, and more.
The organization will begin accepting nominations for the “Hoboken Business Awards Dinner” next month; nominations are open to both chamber members and non-members.
Categories for the awards are: Business of the Year; Community Service of the Year; Women in Business of the Year; Financial Institution of the Year; Realtor of the Year; Restaurant of the Year; New Business of the Year.
A separate category, “Uniquely Hoboken,” will award an applicant that accentuates Hoboken and publicly promotes the city regionally.
“Our hope is that [the awards dinner] is going to get exposure for some of the businesses that really stand out in the community.” – Gregory Dell’Aquila
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“Our hope is that [the awards dinner] is going to get exposure for some of the businesses that really stand out in the community,” said Dell’Aquila.
The event will be held at the Hoboken Elks Lodge at 1005 Washington St. Thursday, Nov. 15 at a time to be announced.
“The Hoboken Business Awards will be a lot of fun,” said Chamber President Mike Novak. “It’s going to add value to the innovative practices held here and reward those that have done well from sales, leadership, and customer satisfaction.”
Eligibility, categorizations
Dell’Aquila said that interested parties can either self-nominate or nominate other businesses or members of the business community. From there, a chamber “Committee” will narrow down the applications in to a pool of finalists, who will ultimately face a decision from the Chamber Board as a whole.
According to Dell’Aquila, however, some categories will undergo a different process. Dell’Aquila said that categories such as “Realtor of the Year” will ultimately be decided upon by the applicant’s peers.
Each category, according to Dell’Aquila, has its own requirements for eligibility, including a minimum sales revenue, number of employees, and amount of active years in business.
New leadership has positive outlook
Dell’Aquila said that the Hoboken Chamber of Commerce has seen a recent revitalization in the past couple of years due to new leadership.
“It was kind of stagnant for the better part of the last 10 years,” said Dell’Aquila. “About two years ago, a couple of people active in the community got involved and started revitalizing it. Now the membership has grown, [and] we’re trying to produce more and more events that give a value to the businesses.”
Dell’Aquila cited the creation of “councils,” or committees, as a successful initiation undertaken by the Chamber. The councils include a Women in Business Council, Economic Development Council, and an Urban Planning and Sustainability Council.
“It’s been successful event after successful event,” said Dell’Aquila, adding that seminars, mixers, educational series, and more have seen an influx of interested members of the city’s business community.
Dell’Aquila said that if a business earns an award, that business could make the award public through Facebook or by placing the sign in a store window. “[The awards allow us] to get some notoriety and publicity for local businesses.”
Interested event sponsors can contact the Chamber directly at hobchamber@aol.com. To request an interview with Novak or DellAquila, call (201) 222-1100 or email hobchamber@aol.com. For more information on the Hoboken Chamber of Commerce and its events, visit www.hobokenchamber.com.
Stephen LaMarca may be reached at slamarca@hudsonreporter.com.