Carlsbad Chamber Celebrates 90 Years at Annual Business Awards Dinner

Celebrating its tradition of excellence and leadership, the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce, whose founding precedes the incorporation of the City of Carlsbad by more than 30 years, chose “Our Place in Time” as the theme of the 90th anniversary celebration and Annual Business Awards Dinner.

To mark the milestone anniversary, the pool of finalists for this year’s business awards was made up of past annual awards winners. The winners this year received special “of the decade” awards.

During the event, the chamber presented awards in the following categories:

• Businessperson of the Decade – Greg Lucier, chairman and chief executive officer of Life Technologies Corp.

• Entrepreneur of the Decade – Christine Davis, Coolest Shoes in California

• Small Business of the Decade (1-15 employees) – Isaac’s Catering.

• Medium Business of the Decade (16-99 employees) – Marrs Maddocks & Associates     

   Insurance Services and the Museum of Making Music (tie)

• Large Business of the Decade (100 or more employees) – LEGOLAND California.

In addition, the Chamber gave Longevity Awards to the following long-standing Chamber members: Ofie Escobedo and Connie Trejo (Lola's 7-Up Mexican Market & Deli); Jim Smith (Jim Smith Realty); John Haedrich (TipTop Meats/European Deli); Ted Vallas (California Pacific Airlines).

“This field of finalists was an all-star roster of the Chamber’s most celebrated and successful businesses,” said Ted Owen, president and CEO of the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce.  “Their contributions to Carlsbad are tremendous, and they’re the current-day equivalent of our early Chamber members, those who put Carlsbad on the map. They continue that tradition of leadership and excellence.”

The chamber also presented the American Spirit Award to five Purple Heart recipients from the U.S. Marine Corps for demonstrating superior leadership in battle, selfless courage, sacrifice and commitment to the Marines and to the United States of America. The recipients were: Cpl. Amber L. Fifer, Sgt. Anthony Arriaga, Sgt. Gary D. Brewer, Sgt. Tanner Lindley  and Staff Sgt. Mark Zambon. 

The chamber also presented awards to SDG&E and Wells Fargo for their support of Boots in Business, the chamber’s military mentoring initiative with U.S. Marine Cops Base Camp Pendleton.

The event was presented by NRG Energy, Inc. The other sponsors included Caruso Affiliated, Datron World Communications, Grand Pacific Resorts, La Costa Resort and Spa, L&L Companies, LEGOLAND California, Life Technologies Corp., SDG&E, Tip Top Meats, Tri-City Medical Center, Westfield Plaza Camino Real and Wells Fargo.

–Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce