The Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce highlighted the 2023-2024 year and presented its Annual Business Awards at the 116th Annual Meeting & Gala on May 16 at the Chattahoochee Country Club in Gainesville. The program and awards were presented by Chamber Chairman Brett Fowler, Turner Wood & Smith Insurance, Chairman-Elect Glennis Barnes, Georgia Power, and Kit Dunlap, Chamber President and CEO.
2023-24 Annual Business Awards:
Small Businesses of the Year
El Carreton/Gainesville Seafood (Angel Retana)
Sweet Magnolias (Dharma & Paresh Patel)
Family Businesses of the Year
Inn-Between Deli (Anderson Dunlap)
Syfan Logistics (Jim, Gloria, Greg & Steve Syfan)
Community Service Award
Jeff Payne, Capstone Property Group
Distinguished Citizen Award
Brian Rochester, Rochester | DCCM
WG Mealor | Chairman’s Choice Award
Kit Dunlap
Brett Fowler, partner and executive vice president of employee benefits at Turner Wood & Smith Insurance, took over as Chairman of the Board on July 1, 2023. Brett served as Chamber Vice Chair of Membership Development for several terms, serves on the Gainesville Redevelopment Authority, and co-chaired the HALLmark 2020-25 initiative. He is a graduate of Leadership Hall County and the Leadership Georgia Class of 2022. Brett has served on many civic and nonprofit boards and committees including the Gainesville Jaycees (past president), United Way of Hall County (past campaign chair) and the Georgia Mountain Food Bank (past chair). Brett has been honored with many awards of distinction including Georgia Trend magazine’s 40 Under 40, the Gus Whalen Young Philanthropist Award, and Gainesville Jaycees Young Man of the Year.
Greater Hall Chamber Chairman-Elect Glennis Barnes, Georgia Power, officially takes over as Chairman of the Board on July 1, 2024. A native of Jackson, Mississippi, Barnes joined Mississippi Power Company in 1991 as a marketing specialist. Throughout the years, he took on roles of increasing responsibility at the company. In 2001, Glennis came to Georgia Power’s Northeast Region as a Client Manager in Sales and Marketing. In 2003, he joined the Governmental Affairs team as a Legislative Affairs Coordinator representing Georgia Power at the Georgia General Assembly for 14 years. Glennis currently serves as the Gainesville Area Manager for Georgia Power with responsibility for Hall, Dawson, Lumpkin, Barrow, and Jackson counties. He is a graduate of Leadership Gulf Coast, the Georgia Institute of Technology’s Economic Development Course, Leadership Hall County and the Georgia Academy for Economic Development. Glennis is a member of the University of North Georgia Board of Trustees, Junior Achievement Board, the Northeast Georgia Health System Board, the Gainesville-Hall Development Authority and the Gainesville-Hall County Land Bank Authority. His greatest joys are developing, mentoring, and coaching young men about life and their responsibilities to mankind.
Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce 2024-2025 Officers:
Chairman
Glennis Barnes, Georgia Power
Chairman-Elect
Vice Chair, Economic Development
Tim McDonald, Lanier Technical College
Treasurer
Phil Bonelli, Roundtable Advisors
President & CEO
Kit Dunlap
Community Development Vice Chair
Tammy Caudell, Carroll Daniel Construction
Education Vice Chairs
Andi Farmer, Milton Martin Honda
Lila Westmoreland, Habitat for Humanity
Government Affairs Vice Chair
David Lee, Jackson EMC
Marketing Vice Chair
Missy Burgess, Lanier Islands
South Hall Council Vice Chair
Alex Wayne, Wayne Capitol
VISION 2030 Vice Chairs
Tate O’Rouke, Jackson EMC
Juli Hayes, City of Gainesville
Anna Hester, Executive Director
HALLmark Co-Chairs
Denise Deal, The Sassafras Group
Casey Ryals, Hall County Farm Bureau Insurance
Melissa Tymchuck, Northeast Georgia Health System
Philip Wilheit Jr., Wilheit Packaging
Membership Vice Chairs
Beth Downs, Northeast Georgia Health System
John Simpson, Lakeview Academy
Senior Advisor
Brian Rochester, Rochester | DCCM
Immediate Past Chair
Brett Fowler, Turner Wood & Smith Insurance