Ingersoll Honours Best in Business, Citizenship

Thursday, 25 October 2012 11:26

It was a night for Ingersoll to honour its own. The 22nd Annual Ingersoll Business Awards of Excellence were handed out last night. There was a common theme amongst all of the winners of the Business and Industry categories: they wouldn't be holding their plaques without the hard work and dedication of their staff and their families. Winner of Business of the Year was Ingersoll Pharmasave. Co-Owners Rob Parsons, and Dom Ricciuto (pictured right) accepted the award, saying, "It's an honour, it's humbling. It's nice to have the Pharmasave name on it, but I think like Rob mentioned in our speech, it's a team effort in our store and we gotta give a lot of the credit to our staff." This year's Industry of the Year winner was Ontario Refrigeration Services, Owned by Roger Kropf, who dedicated the award to his management team. "You have your troops all backing you and supporting you, and it was an honour for me to win it and our staff who have made it all worthwhile." Winner of Business/Industry Person of the year was CAMI Plant Manger Les Bogar. "I attribute it all to the people that I work with. And the cast of thousands that I said earlier that support me in what I do everyday. I can't thank them enough for their contributions." Ingersoll's Youth Citizen of the Year went to Taurie March, an award winning Special Olympian. She couldn't be in attendance because she was undergoing hip surgery. President of Ingersoll's Kiwanis Club, Bill Martin, fought back tears in saying Taurie will be recognized fittingly in the future. But the night's biggest honour, Ingersoll Citizen of the Year, was reserved for lifelong resident, real estate agent and tireless community volunteer, Wayne Campbell (in photo right). "It's wonderful. Really, there are so many people who are deserving of an award like this. I'm just so pleased that I was chosen to be the recipient." After a standing ovation, Campbell told the crowd a touching story of his battle with lung cancer in the late 90's, which he ultimately won. Following that, Campbell was asked to head up Ingersoll's Relay for Life. He says it's one of his, and the towns great achievements, in raising over $1.1-Million in 10-years. Campbell then fought back tears as he delivered a message to his business peers in the room. "We're business people in our town, we make our living in our town, and we owe it to our town to give back to it."