2018 Quad Cities Chamber Award Winners

Congratulations to Arconic (Economic Development Project of the Year), TapOnIt (Business of the Year), Scott Lohman (Volunteer of the Year) and our local media (Q2030 Award) for the well deserved recognition at the 2018 Quad Cities Chamber Annual Meeting.

Watch the awards ceremony portion of the program below:

[00:34] 2017-2018 Quad Cities Economic Development Project of the Year award: Arconic

[02:00] Q2030 Award: Local Media

[05:57] Volunteer of the Year: Scott Lohman

[07:14] Business of the Year: TapOnIt

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K45vUUwf8z8

The Economic Development Project of the Year award was presented to Arconic for the $162.5 million expansion that recently took place in the Quad Cities.

For two years Arconic, Chamber staff, and regional partners at the city and county level worked to bring this plant expansion to the Quad Cities. It was a competitive project with other Arconic / Alcoa plant locations, and our community was able to bring together state and local resources, as well as showcase our existing workforce and supply chain, to bring this deal and its related $162.5 million investment to the Quad Cities.

The annual Q2030 award was presented to eleven Quad Cities media outlets for their collaborative work in supporting the Quad Cities Big Table which took place in April 2018: WHBF, KWQC, WQAD, KLJB, OnMedia, Hola America, Quad-City Times, Dispatch Argus, WQPT, WVIK and Townsquare Media   

Every year at the Chamber’s Annual Meeting we present a Q2030 award to recognize people, businesses and organizations that demonstrate the collaborative spirit that is advancing Q2030. This year the Quad Cities Chamber and many community partners, through Q2030, organized the Quad Cities Big Table.

Over 5,000 people from throughout the region got together in small groups to talk about how they, as citizens, could create a more dynamic Quad Cities. Perhaps just as important, we truly became a more connected community as new relationships were forged.

This year’s Q2030 award goes to our local media, who came together to support the Big Table initiative and ensured that the broader community was informed and invited to participate. It’s highly unusual that competing media in the same market would come together and sponsor the same cause the way our local media did. These media partners display of collaboration for the greater good is unprecedented and central to the success that was the Quad Cities Big Table.

The Business of the Year Award was presented to local tech firm TapOnIt, most notably for its significant growth and expansion over the past 24 months.

The Chamber received a great mix of applications representing businesses big and small, established and new. Our Business of the Year is just 3 years old and has fewer than 20 employees, yet in the past 24 months they’ve experienced 400% percent growth and has expanded into 16 markets.

The Quad Cities Chamber also recognized Scott Lohman, Lohman Companies as Volunteer of the Year, noting that Lohman has been an active volunteer supporting our military community and the Rock Island Arsenal for the past 15 years.

We all know that the Rock Island Arsenal is a crucial part of our economy, with a $1 billion impact on the economy. Securing the Rock Island Arsenal in the region is a priority of the Chamber. This year’s Volunteer of the Year is Scott Lohman.

Scott has been actively engaged with the Rock Island Arsenal and military community for the past 15 years. Scott serves as the Chair of the Military Affairs Council, Quad Cities Defense Alliance, is active with the local Association of the United States Army Chapter, and for years has given countless hours to support Rock Island Arsenal related events from changes of command, to meetings, ribbon cuttings and more. In the world of military advocates and stakeholders, it is rare that someone with no prior connection to the military would be so invested in the work of supporting the Arsenal, and he does it purely for the significant community impact.

Congratulations again to our award winners and thank you for the positive impact you have made on our region.