IE Business Daily Business news for the Inland Empire.
For the second time in five years, the Corona Chamber of Commerce has been nominated for a Spirit of the Entrepreneur Award, the annual prize given out by the Inland Empire Center for Entrepreneurship at Cal State San Bernardino.
The Corona chamber is one of four Inland organizations nominated in the Social Entrepreneur category, which recognizes businesses and other entities that give back something to the community in the form of community service, said Mike Stull, director of the center for entrepreneurship and a professor of entrepreneurship at the university.
“We look for that in every category, but we really emphasize it in this one,” said Stull, who started the Spirit awards in 2003. “The competition should be about more than making money.”
In the case of the chamber, its nonprofit Corona Chamber Foundation has worked with the Corona Regional Medical Center and Riverside University Health System to assist local victims of abuse, raised money for Inland children in need, through the Angel Tree program at the Corona-Norco Unified School District and supported local families dealing with children who have cancer.
“We have some members who were nominated this year, so we’re very excited about this year’s competition,” said Robert Spiegel, the chamber’s president and chief executive officer. “Any time the chamber gets some accolades it’s a good thing.”
The five other categories are General Entrepreneur, Healthcare Entrepreneur, Manufacturing Entrepreneur, Service-Based Entrepreneur and Small/Emerging Enterprise.
Other nominees in Social Entrepreneur category are:
- Gardenworksforkids in Yucaipa;
- Rancho Mirage Chamber of Commerce;
- The Heart Matters Foster Family Agency, Grand Terrace.
This year’s black tie awards ceremony will be held Nov. 10 at the Fox Performing Arts Center, 3801 Mission Inn Ave., Riverside.
A Best-of-the-Best Award is also given out, and Cal State San Bernardino business students will deliver 90-second pitches for businesses that are judged by the audience.
All six categories, and the Best-of-the-Best winner, are judged by former Spirit of the Entrepreneur winners.
For more information visit https://spiritawardsie.com/ or call (909) 329-4515.
