Chamber honors community members who set themselves apart

HAMLET — The best and brightest of Richmond County’s business community came out Tuesday night for the Chamber of Commerce’s 2022 Annual Meeting & Awards dinner.

In addition to introducing Kristi King as the new president and CEO of the Chamber and Brian Baucom as the incoming chair of the Board of Directors Executive Committee — for those in the room who hadn’t met them yet — the Chamber recognized three individuals who have made significant contributions to the county in their various capacities.

First up was Elizabeth Rizzo who King presented with the Volunteer of the Year Award. Rizzo is the program coordinator for the Richmond County Partnership for Children, is an ambassador for the Chamber, is the chair of the Richmond Young Professionals and is currently involved in Leadership Richmond, among other committees.

King said that when she first came to the position and asked who the “workers” are for the Chamber, meaning the people that could be relied on to get the job done, Rizzo was everyone’s answer but King still had not met her. She said that when she went to her first Business After 5 event and saw someone greeting all the guests, checking to make sure everyone was taken care of with food and drinks, and King knew it had to be Rizzo.

“I was starting to meet with people and I heard the same name over and over and over again, I thought, ‘I really need to meet this person, if this person is all this,’” King said. “Not only is the Chamber lucky to have her, but so is the community.”

Sheriff Mark Gulledge presented the first Sheriff James Clemmons Distinguished Leader Award, given in honor of the late sheriff who passed away in August 2021, to former president of FirstHealth of the Carolinas’ southern region and administrator of FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital-Richmond, John Jackson.

Gulledge honored his former boss in his remarks, calling Clemmons a “man of distinction who made many sacrifices for the people of our community” and a strong supporter of the Chamber’s mission to encourage relationships within the business community to strengthen the county. He said that Jackson shares some of the same leadership qualities as Clemmons, with a commitment to the healthcare industry that has been “second to none.”

As he prepared to list Jackson’s various awards he’s earned throughout the years, including receiving the Order of the Long Leaf Pine from Governor Roy Cooper upon his retirement from FirstHealth in February after 23 years with the company, Gulledge warned, “There were so many [awards] that I felt like if read them all we would be reading his obituary.”

The abridged list of Jackson’s awards Gulledge read included FirstHealth being named in the top 100 hospitals for 2016, 2017 and 2021, the Leapfrog Top Rural Hospital Award 2018, the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Award for 2019 and 2021, in 2001 and 2005 he received the Governor’s Award for Volunteerism for the Growing Readers Program, and in 2017 he was named the Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year.

“This individual is a distinguished leader and has left his legacy and thumbprints on the healthcare profession and community,” Gulledge said of Jackson.

“Just even being mentioned in the same [breath] as Sheriff Clem is really an honor, I mean what a great man,” Jackson said. “We all miss him, we all really miss him … I love Richmond County. Richmond County has been too good for me, I could never give back as much as I’ve gotten from this community.”

Finally, Baucom presented the Richmond County Chamber of Commerce Award of Excellence to the late Billy Weeks, who passed away in February after nearly years as the Rockingham Dragway’s “rock”, running things behind the scenes at the most consistent large-scale event venue in the county.

Accepting the award on Weeks’s behalf was Dragway Owner Steve Earwood, who said that Weeks “did everything” at the Dragway. Earwood said that Week’s tireless work handling the details that bogged him down for the first 21 years of Earwood’s time with the Dragway freed him up to pursue national events.

“Billy was the most dedicated employee I’ve ever had, I’ve been in this business a long time — I’ve been doing this since the mid-1800s,” Earwood said. “I drive myself very hard and I expect comparable performance from my employees. In the 9 years that Billy worked for me, under my direction — and demanding, if you will — he never once said an unkind word, he never once copped an attitude, he just got the job done. I was confident that the gates would be open early in the morning and that they’d be locked that night. Billy was totally dedicated to our business.”