ANNUAL EVENTS
Chamber Honors Locals Recipients Receive Awards at 116th Annual Gala by Mike Wilt
The Bartlesville Chamber of Commerce held its 116th Annual Awards and Gala on August 20 and seven very deserving recipients were honored. Patriot Auto Group was named Business of the Year. Owner Tatton Manning officially launched Patriot in March of 2014. Since then, Patriot has added five more locations to now include two in Bartlesville, two in Ardmore, and one in both Chandler and McAlester. Locally, Patriot has supported Freedom Fest, Christmas in the Ville, a wide variety of extracurricular activities for students of all ages, and meals during Thanksgiving and Christmas. Since 2017, Patriot has given away a new car to the Student of the Year during Bartlesville’s Night of Scholars event. Winning the Small Business of the Year award was bMonthly Magazine. Current owner Brian Engel and managers Christy and Keith McPhail took over in April of 2017. Since then, printed copies have increased from 3,500 to 12,000 with subscriptions in 14 states. Readership is estimated to be 20,000 with 2,000 online readers. The number of contracted contributors has grown from six to 18, and pages have increased from 36 to 84 this past August. Phillips 66 was bestowed the Frank Phillips Award, which began in 1999 as a way to honor an individual or company for outstanding contributions to Bartlesville’s economic and community development efforts. Phillips 66 currently has approximately 1,800 Bartlesvillebased employees. In addition to the obvious economic contributions, local employees last year volunteered over 22,000 hours at local non-profits. Other activities annually include the Bartlesville Science Fair, Bartlesville Energy Days, and Operation: Clean House. Many employees serve on boards for the Chamber, United Way, Jane Phillips Medical Center, the Frank Phillips Foundation, Bartlesville Public Schools, and countless other organizations.
In addition to generously providing funding for a wide variety of non-profits, Phillips 66 has financially supported STEM education and, this, year provided funds and equipment as part of COVID-19 relief efforts. The Jim Gillie Outstanding Citizen Award went to Doug Quinn. Some sixteen years ago, Quinn and a handful of like-minded people worked tirelessly to make The Journey Home a reality. It is the state’s only hospice house outside of the two metro areas. Quinn has also volunteered his time at Elder Care, Comforting Hands Hospice, and Cornerstone Hospice, and he has helped raise funds for the local SPCA’s new facility. Bartlesville City Manager Mike Bailey received the Tom Shoemake Leadership Award. Bailey began working for the City of Bartlesville in 2005. In 2015, he was instrumental in leading a rather thankless effort to moderately increase the city’s sales tax in order to maintain vital city services. He later worked to ensure passage of a General Obligation Bond Issue election and successful contract negotiations with police and fire. After he stepped into his present role in 2018, he worked to secure a water supply contract, which was signed this past August. And he definitely has faced some tough decisions in 2020. The Jake Bartles Award went to Brennen Bissinger of The Journey Home for her tireless involvement as a Chamber Advocate. Bissinger was lauded for connecting with members, being a champion of the Chamber, and inviting others to Chamber events. The Young Professionals named Katie Boatright as this year’s recipient of the Rising Star Award, which is given to an active member of the organization who exhibits outstanding leadership skills through integrity and professionalism. In addition to unveiling the seven award winners, the Chamber also recognized graduates of Leadership Bartlesville Class XIX. OCTOBER 2020 | bmonthly
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