The East Bay Chamber will hold its Annual Awards Dinner and Election of 2018 Officers on Date: October 17, 2018 Place: Ramada Banquet & Conference Center 213 Taunton Ave, Seekonk, MA 02771 Time: 5:30 Social Hour | 6:30 Dinner Cost: $50 per person Please support and celebrate our award winners: Business of the Year; Jimmy Stuarts' Floor Covering & Cleaning Citizen of the Year; Joe & Angela Sousa Emerging Leader; Juliana Olmstead, owner at Rhode Island Hot Yoga Chamber Member of the Year; Stephanie Borden, owner at One & Done Concierge Services Sponsored by: Platinum Sponsors: Bank Newport, Navigant Credit Union Gold Sponsors: Hope & Main, Jimmy Stuart's Floor Covering & Cleaning Silver Sponsors: C. Brito Construction Company, Farmer & First, PC, CPA's, John Andrade Insurance Agency, Wood's Heating Service Bronze Sponsors: A.N. Nunes Agency, Automated Business Solution, George C. Lima Funeral Home, Michelle Hughes, CPA, Pilgrim Title, Ramada Banquet & Conference Center, RE/MAX River's Edge Real Estate, RWU, Gabelli School of Business, Saint Elizabeth Manor, East Bay, Slepkow, Slepkow & Associates
Reservations are $50 per person and must be made by Oct. 6th Meal Choices: Chicken Marsala or New England Baked Scrod
Business of the Year; Jimmy Stuart’s Floor Covering & Cleaning Jimmy Stuarts is the story of the American Dream. He is an example of when you work hard and follow the rules that success will come.
Jimmy worked in sales upon leaving college and shortly after he had the urge to start his own business. His mother still remembers when he went to her at just 26 years old and told her he wanted to open a carpet cleaning business. She thought "has he lost his mind?" Jimmy Stuart Carpet & Upholstery Cleaners started out with Jim and Sheri working out of their home. Jimmy worked morning, noon and night to build his business. It wasn't until April 1990 that Jim and Sheri Stuart bought their first cleaning van and officially formed Jimmy Stuart Carpet & Upholstery Cleaners, Inc. One van quickly became two vans and the work became more than Jimmy could handle so he hired his first employee. He made the big step of moving the business out of the house and opened a showroom and workspace on Metacom Avenue in Bristol. They expanded their service from just carpet cleaning to also providing water restoration services, floor covering sales and installation, tile/grout and leather cleaning, and hardwood cleaning. In 2007 they built a brand new building in Warren which houses a beautiful new flooring showroom, a warehouse for the cleaning trucks and the in plant area rug cleaning center. As the services grew so did the staff. Jim and Sheri now employ over 10 full time employees providing them with health insurance, 401k, vacation and more. Their natural understanding for customer service, motivation and optimism gave this new company a great head start. In each aspect of the business Jimmy Stuart's strives for excellence. They not only provide customers with new flooring but are the experts in maintaining them.
Everyone at Jimmy Stuart's give their best because Jimmy Stuart's is about developing a long term relationship with his team and with their customers.
As seen in their TV ads they are "The Real Flooring Stars of Rhode Island”
Jimmy Stuart Carpet & Upholstery Cleaners, Inc. is truly deserving and long overdue for this honor.
Citizen of the Year; Joe & Angela Sousa Eleven years ago Joe and Angela trained and became certified to be foster parents. At that time they already had 3 biological children of their own but knew that they still had enough love to share with children in need. As of today more than 70 children have come to stay in their loving home. They open their home and arms to these children many times in the middle of the night. These children sometimes arrive in just a diaper and t-shirt and only God knows the trauma they have experienced. With the help of their 3 older children Angela and Joe jump into action to provide a loving clean safe home with lots of healthy food. Angela keeps careful records for the children’s biological or adoptive parents so they are aware of medical , dental and school progress.
Today their biological children are 27, 24 and 20 years old and over the years they adopted 3 of their foster girls who are now 12, 10 and 7. These 3 beautiful girls were 1, 5 months and 3 days old when they first came to Angela and Joe’s home . They will also be officially adopting 1 more sweet little girl this coming August giving them a total of 7 children. While adopting they have continued to take in foster children whenever the need arises. Presently they are fostering sisters that are 3 and 5 yrs old and have been living with the Sousa family for the past 15 months. Hard to believe but just yesterday they took in a 5 day old baby boy. Although so many of these children come without warning and such sad stories Joe , Angela and all of their children are able to quickly welcome the children into their home and provide lots of love and support.
What truly makes this family outstanding is that one year ago on July 11, 2017 , Joe was diagnosed with colon and liver cancer. With the help of their older children and extended family life at the Sousa home goes on. The children continue to come and the family continues to put the little ones needs first . Throughout the past year Joe has undergone chemo therapy and surgery and hopes and prays for a favorable outcome . We all keep this loving , giving family in our prayers .
Emerging Leader; Julianna Olmstead, owner at Rhode Island Hot Yoga Juliana opened “East Bay Bikram Yoga” in August 2014 in Bristol and expanded the business to Providence in June 2017. Both her businesses have proven very successful. She is proud to say she that her business is 100% independently owned and operated (not affiliated with any franchise!)
“I took my first Bikram yoga class in 2004, during a summer break from college. I had practiced ballet since I was little and had dabbled in many different yoga styles but I had never experienced anything like Bikram yoga! As a bendy ballerina, I was usually bored in yoga, but Bikram was a real challenge and I loved it! I had never felt such powerful results from a “beginner’ yoga class. At the time, I was working on an engineering degree at MIT and (for some reason) trying to maintain a dance career on the side, so I did not have a whole lot of spare time. I was a very sporadic yoga student for my first several years – I’d sneak in a few classes when I had a week off, and then disappear for months. When I finally graduated, quit ballet, and made yoga a priority, I saw a huge difference in my life. I got stronger and more flexible, which I appreciated, but I also felt much calmer and happier. I had always been a very type-A, competitive person – which does help when you’re running a business! – but yoga has taught me how to relax and find peace with myself. In 2010, midway through graduate school, I realized that I would never be happy as an engineer working in a lab. I wrapped up my degree, went to Bikram Yoga Teacher Training, and never looked back. I taught full-time at studios all over the country before making a home in Rhode Island. I opened our Bristol studio as “East Bay Bikram Yoga” in August 2014, and I am thrilled to expand the business to Providence in June 2017 so that we can reach even more people.”
Chamber Member of the Year; Stephanie Borden, owner at One & Done Concierge Services After working for more than 25 years as a Vice President and service professional in the banking field, Stephanie understands firsthand the stress and burden of being a busy professional living within the confines of a 24 hour day.
She started One & Done because she knows how hard it is to juggle the responsibilities of working full time, raising a family, caring for aging parents and being the spouse of a small business owner.
Stephanie spent her professional career providing clients personalized attention and world class service. Now she provides personal concierge services to clients throughout Southeastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island so they have more free time, and the peace of mind knowing their important tasks are being taken care of by a trusted partner.
By focusing on the details, Stephanie is committed to building strong, productive relationships and enjoys delighting clients with an exceptional service experience.
“One & Done is the solution for any busy person looking to find more time to do the things they love, improve their quality of life, and find personal and professional success.”
"From when I first met Stephanie I remember thinking, this women really has her act together. She asked all the right questions, did her due diligence on her new venture and put one foot in front of the other, moving forward. She joined the chamber, she become involved. Stephanie stepped up to the plate big time this past year. As part of the community relations committee she has worked hand and hand with Danielle taking on helping out at such projects as the Bank Orientation at RWU. She was asked to help with the planning and implementing of our first Women’s empowerment conference is working diligently as a part of the committee to make this event a success. And what would we have ever done without her help planning the Restaurant Challenge/ Wine Tasting & Silent Auction. Whatever task Steph was asked to do, we never had to worry about it being done. She had suggestions to help take the burden off of others and kept the planning running smoothly. What I respect most about Stephanie is that she understands the mission of the Chamber and is taking advantage of all the opportunities we provide to our members."