More than 30 businesses were recognised as Chamber Champions for their overall contributions to the activities of the Chamber of Commerce in 2018 at an appreciation ceremony at the Wharf Restaurant last week.

Those 34 members who qualified as Chamber Champions sponsored numerous initiatives such as the annual Golden Apple Awards for Excellence in Teaching, Business Excellence Awards, the Golf Classic and contributed funds and thousands of volunteer hours to the Earth Day Roadside Clean-up.

They also sponsored the Careers Education and Training Expo, Economic Forum, supported Chamber awards for high school achievers, participated in information and advocacy meetings such as the Legislative Luncheons.

Their owners and management invested in their staff by enrolling them in seminars and workshops at the Chamber’s Professional Development and Training Centre, Mentoring Cayman and Leadership Cayman programmes. These members also sponsored promotions on the Chamber’s website, monthly eblasts, and the 2019 Chamber desktop calendar which is distributed to more than 2,500 desktops each year.

Those in the top category of Chamber Advocate are those who invested numerous staff-hours, and contributed more than $10,000 in kind or in sponsorship over the past year. The eight top companies are Cayman National Corporation, Cayman Turtle Centre, DART, Deloitte, EisnerAmper, Kirk Freeport Ltd., Michael Armand Hammer and Hammer Foundation and Yello Media Group.

Chamber CEO Wil Pineau announced the awards, which were presented by outgoing President Paul Byles and Acting Chief Officer Tamara Ebanks – on behalf of the Hon. Joseph Hew, Minister for Commerce, Planning & Infrastructure.

“The Chamber comprises more than 650 corporate and associate members. These companies and organisations range in size from sole proprietors and budding entrepreneurs to well established family businesses. Together they create economic prosperity and jobs that lead to economic growth and opportunities for our residents,” said Chamber CEO Wil Pineau, CCE. “These businesses contribute millions of dollars and thousands of volunteer hours to support community, Chamber and civic activities that improve the quality of life for us all. The Chamber’s Council and Staff wish to specifically acknowledge and thank the more than 100-member businesses that have invested in the development of their staff, the community and the programmes offered by the Chamber of Commerce in 2018.”

Six members were presented with awards as Chamber Advisors (having invested between $7,500 and $9,999 last year): Caribbean Alliance Insurance Company Ltd., Caribbean Utilities Company Ltd., Cox Lumber, Kensington Management Group Ltd., RBC Royal Bank (Cayman) Ltd. and Walkers.

The next group, Chamber Stewards, contributed $5,000 to $7,499 during 2018: Appleby (Cayman) Ltd., British Caymanian Insurance, Broadhurst LLC, Burger King/Burger Holdings, Butterfield Bank (Cayman) Ltd., Cayman First Insurance Company, Cayman Islands National Insurance Company (CINICO), Davenport Development Ltd., Greenlight RE, Island Heritage Insurance Company, Kirk Office, KPMG, Maples and Calder, Mourant Ozannes, Picture This Studios, Provenance Properties Cayman Islands, Saxon Insurance, Strategic Risk Solutions and Water Authority Cayman.

An additional 87 businesses and organisations contributed from $1,000 to $4,999 during 2018.  They are listed in the Year in Review report which can be downloaded athttps://issuu.com/caymanchamber/docs/2018_year_in_review__november_2018_