2023 Ambassador of the Year – Lenny Frazzitta
Lenny Frazzitta is someone that you’re going to want to get to know. While Lenny is a bit newer to the GCACC scene he has already made an indelible and valuable mark on the Chamber and the community. Lenny is the VP of Regional Business Banking Relationship Manager for Huntington Bank. He moved to Grove City a number of years ago after having lived in several places along the East Coast. What brought him here, you might ask; Beulah Park horse racing! Lenny spent more than 13 years as a jockey, racing and winning in Ohio, Kentucky, and throughout the racing circuit. Lenny quickly fell in love with all things Grove City and when injuries took him out of racing, it was a quick decision to stay in Grove City Lenny has one daughter, the love of his life, and spends much of his free time playing hockey and not to lose his connection to horseracing, he still owns several racehorses.
When Lenny joined the Chamber, he immediately connected with the staff to find out how he could get involved. Lenny joined the Ambassador team, the Benefits Committee, and the Marketing Committee, and this year we are excited to welcome Lenny to our Board. Lenny is passionate about helping people and in particular, he loves working with new businesses and is a master at connecting people.
As an Ambassador, Lenny does exactly what he’s good at – he makes connections. He connects people and businesses with the Chamber and with each other, and through those connections, he provides solutions.
Thank you, Lenny, for sharing your gifts, talents, and time with the Chamber, and congrats on earning Ambassador of the Year!
2023 Spirit of the Chamber - Izzy Benjamin
The Chamber is honored to present our ‘Spirit of the Chamber’ Award to Izzy Benjamin. Many of you will know Izzy from Heartland Bank where she works as a Universal Banker, or from her previous place of employment, WesBanco. You might recognize her as a volunteer at the Farmers’ Market, Arts in the Alley, the Gardens at Gantz, the Chamber Foundation, Mid-Ohio Food Collective, and at events all around town. Izzy also works as a part-time event coordinator for ‘Storybook Assistance’. There certainly isn’t much downtime for this young lady – if she isn’t working, volunteering or serving somewhere in the community, she is dabbling at painting or following her passion of reading.
The criteria for the Spirit of the Chamber Award is: ‘The person who best exemplifies the mission and values of the Grove City Area Chamber of Commerce’. It certainly didn’t take long for Izzy’s name to rise to the top of our candidate list; Izzy is truly the representation of that definition. Izzy tells us that when she was in high school, she was known as the ‘nice’ one, the one who always had an ear to listen and a caring, compassionate heart that would bring comfort. Not much has changed since elementary school. Izzy describes herself as ‘pretty goofy’, but also a person who genuinely loves and cares about people. She attributes her kind character and giving personality to her parents and her family who she tells us ‘Modeled those attributes every day.’
Izzy will tell you that she doesn’t do anything because she has to, she does the things that she does because she wants to. Izzy wants to see the GCACC Young Professionals Program grow, to continue to serve the community by volunteering and offering herself to those who have a need.
I have had the pleasure of working with Izzy for many years and I know without a shadow of a doubt what her superpower is – it’s building, nurturing, and growing relationships. And as a representative for the GCACC isn’t that the perfect match? We certainly think that it is – thank you Izzy for being you and for sharing yourself with the Chamber and with our community.
The Heartland Bank ‘Heart of the Chamber’ award was established in 2016 to honor and recognize a Chamber member business that exemplifies the mission and values of the GCACC. This year’s winner now sits alongside past winners who have brought undeniable value to the community, the Chamber, and to those with whom they work each day. Please join me in congratulating our 2023 Heartland Bank Heart of the Chamber Award winner, Creative Mobile Interiors. Welcome to this prestigious family of businesses.
Grove City can comfortably boast that we are home to some of Central Ohio’s most amazing businesses. Some large, some small, some highly recognizable, some less well known, but all contribute to the amazing community of Grove City. One of our superstar businesses just happens to be the Chamber’s 2023 Heart of the Chamber Award winner, Creative Mobile Interiors (CMI). Specializing in unique vehicle interiors, you may have seen their projects featured at local parades and car shows, or at their facility right off I-71.
CMI was started by Owen Connaughton in 1999. Working in the custom vehicle conversion industry for many years, Owen stepped out on his own to start a business based on his spoken mission: ‘To never sacrifice quality and operate with the highest levels of professionalism, integrity, and passion for our work which allows us to exceed our client’s expectations and sets the standard in our industry.’ If that driving standard doesn’t reflect the mission and value of the GCACC, I’m not sure what does.
When the Connaughton and CMI families lost Owen to a sudden illness in 2013, the loss was deep and palpable – but greater, was the desire to honor Owen and his legacy by pushing through. And that’s exactly what they did. Owen’s wife Stacey took over as CEO and appointed Chief Engineer, Josh Gifford, as the new President. Together, they and every employee at CMI, including Owen’s son, Nick Connaughton who serves as CMI’s controller, rededicated themselves to CMI’s mission and grew even stronger.
The talented designers, engineers, and craftsman who work on the conversions and customizations have an average tenure of 14 years, with several being with the company 20 years or more. Building on Owen’s vision, Stacey, Josh and Nick maintained a culture of pride, compassion, community involvement, charitable giving and fun. Designing and building highly customized conversions for businesses-large and small, non-profits, adventurers, families, and celebrities - including restoring Johnny Cash’s tour bus, which is on display at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame - CMI loves the challenges and excitement that come with each unique project.
CMI was acquired by Airstream last year, but the work continues – holding to Owens’ standards of service, quality and integrity. Something must be working; CMI has been featured the Travel Channel’s ‘Extreme RVs’, and DIY Network’s ‘Man Caves’ – just to name a few - and they are looking forward to potential expansion as a result of the acquisition.
Nick Connaughton has been on the Chamber Board and the Executive Committee for several years and holds the position of Chair of Finance.
Thank you CMI for your contribution to our community and our Chamber of Commerce, you are a beacon of light in our community, and we are honored to present the 2023 GCACC Heartland Bank Heart of the Chamber Award to you.
Best Place to Work – Large Category (over 50 employees)
One of our newer award categories, Best Place to Work, (Large and Small categories) will be given to the business receiving the most votes in their category from the public. For the second year in a row, the winner in the Best Place to Work – Large Employer category is… Tosoh!
The Tosoh philosophy is quite simple yet impactful – the people matter most. Tosoh has created undeniable value through its focused efforts to blend traits and values effectively and successfully from both American and Japanese cultures. Through this effort, they have created a blended work culture and environment that values people above everything else.
Each employee is recognized and treated as an essential piece of Tosoh’s vision, knowing how their jobs fit into working toward organizational goals. Through onboarding, training and access to cutting-edge manufacturing technology and state-of-the-art laboratories, Tosoh is a workplace that employees want to join, but most importantly, stay.
The leadership team at Tosoh knows that each employee is a valuable brand ambassador, and they live by this great motto: “We don’t ask our people to promote us, we treat our employees right and trust that they will give their honest opinion.’’
Congratulations to our dear friends at Tosoh, we’re proud of you and happy for you!
Best Place to Work – Small Category (under 50 employees)
In a community of countless businesses, large and small, with thousands of employees working each day, childcare – available, safe, affordable, high quality, excellent, childcare is a critical and vital component to the success of those businesses and our community. The Grove City Area Chamber of Commerce is very proud to announce the winner of our 2023 Best Place to Work – Small Category (under 50 employees), is Stepping Stone Child Care. Congratulations to owners and sisters, Ghaida Aqel and to their staff, team, and families.
This small business with big vision and an even bigger heart opens its doors each day to over 65 children ages 6 weeks to 5 years old. Each member of this dedicated staff is CPR Certified, First Aid Certified, and has passed multiple background checks. While Stepping Stone is designed as more of a daycare than a traditional school, every child, from the youngest baby to the oldest, is taught by an expert teacher who must follow a detailed, specialized, structured curriculum created and designed for their age group.
Ghaida, educated in HR and Business Management, and her sister impart the vision to their staff of 15 teachers, a facility assistant, a cook, floaters, and other part-time team members and continue to encourage and support them. In late 2020 and early 2021, they began to search for a facility, but it seemed that every door was closed to them – too big, too small, not zoned for childcare, too expensive, and on and on. When the location on Stringtown Road opened, they jumped on it, and with a few more twists and turns, the rest is history.
This family loves Grove City and they love what they do. Ghaida says that as she looks back, everything seems very clear – things work together, and everything happens for a reason. This very successful sister team is self-taught and continues to embrace the idea that if you want something and you work hard, follow your dreams, and be patient, it will happen for you. Isn’t that a life motto that we would all love our children to follow?
When asked why they think they won this very special award, Ghaida said ‘We take care of our team, good pay and benefits, a safe, clean place to work and we treat them like family. Same thing for all the children and their families – we are all family. We get together outside of work, have regular pot luck’s, and we laugh, cry, and encourage each other.
The vision for the future is pretty clear; continue to maintain our reputation for excellence, grow the business by word of mouth, fill the daycare to compliance capacity, don’t take too many things too personally, and possibly consider additional locations. If you want it summed up, this female-owned and all-female staff will tell you that it’s ‘All about love and Girl Power all the way’!
2023 BUSINESS OF THE YEAR – TOSOH
Located on Gantz Road, Tosoh is a humble business that quietly and generously supports multiple nonprofits, local businesses and the Grove City community. As a Japanese-owned company, Tosoh has created undeniable value through its focused efforts to blend traits and values effectively and successfully from both American and Japanese cultures. Through this effort, they have created a blended work culture and environment that values people above everything else.
Tosoh’s local roots go back to 1988 when they occupied their first Grove City location next to City Hall. With rapid growth and anticipated additional growth, Tosoh moved to its current location on Gantz Road in 1991. Expansion after expansion has brought them to the size they are today, with about 350 employees and a massive and well-respected footprint in the manufacturing technology space. With Intel and Samsung as two of Tosoh’s biggest customers since the 1980’s, they are looking forward to more growth in the coming years.
When the Tosoh leadership team was asked why they thought Tosoh was voted as Business of the Year, the answer was quick and unanimous – the people. Above all else, the employees are the most essential piece of the big picture at Tosoh. Their employees know the end goal at Tosoh, and how they fit into the path to get them there.
A substantial percentage of Tosoh’s workforce is from Grove City. When Tosoh employees have great work experience, they talk about that experience with people in their circles and the word about Tosoh being a great place to work spreads organically. Leadership at Tosoh truly values employees, taking the time to get to know them and their families. Most importantly, Tosoh values its employees’ input and takes them very seriously, supporting them and their teams greatly.
In addition to a healthy work culture, Tosoh’s substantial benefits help attract and maintain great talent. Some of the benefits of working for Tosoh are tuition reimbursement, stability and access to cutting-edge manufacturing technology and state-of-the-art laboratories. These benefits blended with a culture of family, safety, stability, respect and support makes Tosoh a place where employees want to come, and most importantly, stay.
In addition to growing its employees, Tosoh hopes to grow its already superior intern program by reaching students from the community who are in college, high school or local trade schools that are looking to learn about manufacturing. Tosoh will be a strong partner in the GCACC’s Manufacturing Day this year.
Tosoh would like to give a big thanks to the Grove City Area Chamber of Commerce, the City of Grove City, Grove City Council, Grove City Division of Police, Jackson Township Fire Department, the Turkey Wattle and Arts in the Alley for providing opportunities for employees and the company to serve and give.
In closing, Tosoh America President Jan Top and Tosoh SMD President Joe Buckfeller said, “If you were to ask us, “If we had a magic wand that would allow us to pick Tosoh up and place it anywhere in the world, where would we put it?’ Our answer would be that we would not move it. Tosoh loves Grove City and is happy to be here and stay here.”
Congratulations to our 2023 Business of the Year, Tosoh.
In this world, we can divide people into two groups - the ‘Givers’ and the ‘Takers’. While we will find ourselves in each of those categories during different times in our lives, those who stand faithfully in the ‘Giver’ line make the world a much better place. Today we celebrate someone who has enriched and blessed countless lives by a direct or indirect encounter with our favorite ‘Giver’ and the 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award Winner – MARILYN REINER.
Marilyn will be quick to let you know, along with her trademark wink and smile, that while she’s worked for the Chamber for a very long time – she’s not as old as the Chamber building. She has worked in multiple capacities; part-time administrative assistant, office coordinator, bookkeeper, AP, AR, receptionist, member services, newsletter creator, restroom cleaner, gardener, snow shoveler, and master problem solver - just to name a few!
Most of us know Marilyn through her work as Events Manager for the GCACC. She has attended and managed nearly every Farmers’ Market for the past 20 years – that’s around 360 Saturdays – arriving at 6:30 am and never leaving before 1 pm. While Arts in the Alley lasts just one weekend per year, the hours devoted to preparing for the event, the Parade, the Shows, the vendors, concessions, and entertainment are nearly immeasurable; spending the night in the Chamber office in preparation for the Community Parade has become a cherished annual tradition.
Whether working for the Chamber, serving as a charter Lioness with the GC Lions Club, playing the organ at her church, or serving as the GCACC staff liaison to the Chamber Foundation, the WE:LEAD Program, or leading the SW Community Leadership Class, Marilyn always displays character, integrity, drive, and dedication, to Grove City and the GCACC. Her sense of humor and infectious laugh brighten the lives of all who know her.
Please take the time to congratulate Marilyn on this very special and very well-earned award. Her passion, love, and loyalty put her firmly in that ‘Givers’ space, reserved for those who love and encourage others.
Marilyn; you have led us, taught us, and modeled character and integrity to us. You have, and will continue to serve the Chamber and Grove City and no one is more deserving to receive our Lifetime Achievement Award than you. We love you!
Thank you to our Sponsors for our 2024 Annual Meeting
Chamber Partner Presenting Sponsor
Supporting Sponsor
Friend of the Chamber
Awards Sponsor
