Chamber honors best of the community

DAYTON–The Chamber of Commerce held its Annual Awards last week, recognizing local individuals and companies for their positive influence on Our Fair City and Columbia County.

The Chamber of Commerce's Youth Citizen of the Year recipient, Madison Richardson, received high praise from many people including friends, teachers and family. Praise included statements such as "dedicated and driven", a "lovely soul", "a pleasure to be around", "being there for others", "an inspiration". One of her classmates described her as "hardworking, caring, kind, and confident. She has played many roles in this community which included a lot of leadership. She was a teammate, a friend, and a classmate. You can always count on her to get the job done and help whoever is in need." She graduated from D.H.S. last June and is attending Whitworth University, Spokane.

Citizen of the Year Chuck Reeves, D.V.M, is a long standing and beloved community member. He is known for his tireless dedication to many, his kind heartedness, work ethic, leadership, his mentoring and problem solving. You'll find this man at most community events including the Easter Egg Hunt, Dayton Days Parade, Turkey Bingo, food distribution and other community and Kiwanis Club events and always with a smile on his face and a kind word. All of those wonderful things aside, this man is also known for flipping burgers and his musical talents. And although retired, ask him a question about an animal and he's ready with an answer.

As a coda to Dr. Reeves's honor as Citizen of the Year, the Business of the Year award for 2024 is the Dayton Veterinary Clinic. The Clinic is known for having a great staff, loving, kind and dedicated, tirelessly serving our community and our fur babies for years. They are an immense asset to our community, providing 24/7 care for our livestock, pets, strays and youth 4-H and FFA project animals. Drs. Chuck and Kennie Reeves go above and beyond business hours to assist our community. This business owner is described as a "strong example and role model for young women and anyone with a passion for animals."

All Saints Thrift Store is the Non-Profit of the Year for providing a service to those in the Dayton community who are seeking clothing and household supplies but are not able to afford buying new. They also provide the opportunity for local citizens to recycle usable clothing and supplies rather than just disposing of them. The profits from the operation of the store are also contributed to the local non-profit, Project Timothy and other charities that provide emergency assistance to individuals and families within our community, those in need. Their staff is always helpful and willing to assist.

Community nominators pointed to Van Ausdle Tire as Start-Up of the Year, making a name for themselves as honest, salt-of-the-earth people with a passion for customer service who are always willing to go the extra mile. "This new business has been a valuable addition to our community. They have provided jobs, cleaned up an eyesore building and are active in sponsoring youth and Dayton School activities," said one nominator. This young couple is an inspiration to many. Their dedication to community, family and friends is what is making their business such a success. They support one another and their employees. They continually strive to give back to the community and treat their customers as family. They will search for the best deal, fix a flat for free and never complain. An always, with a smile on their faces.

David Ocampo with Columbia County Public Transportation is the Employee of the Year. Nominators said Ocampo "Leads by example, transparent, works tirelessly for his staff and community, strives to bring out the best qualities in his employees, encouraging, compassionate, always available, treats everyone with respect." Ocampo goes above and beyond to make sure that what needs to be done, gets done and does not shy away from rolling up his sleeves and jumping in with his "work family". His leadership has changed the entire atmosphere at CCPT so that his employees look forward to going to work each and every day. One of his nominations stated Ocampo is "a person of strong, honest and unstoppable character."

Recipient of the President's Achievement Award is Shane McGuire, CEO of Columbia County Public Hospital District. The award was presented by Chamber President Bette Lou Crothers for the first time.

Crothers selected McGuire because she felt he needed to be recognized for his prior, ongoing and future achievements.

McGuire became the CEO of the Hospital District in late 2015. Since that time, he has overseen the $5-million-dollar remodel and renovation of the original hospital footprint, including the addition of the current physical therapy department. He guided the system through the Covid crisis which provided many challenges, both internally and externally.

During and after the Covid years, he responded to directives that came with federal assistance, to enhance our health system capability to respond to public emergency medical issues. This resulted in additional upgrades within our acute care facility and the emergency power generation capabilities.

During his tenure the District services have increased their availability through a functioning transportation system available to clients with special needs.

Additionally, though it was a hard decision, Booker rest home was transformed into the Rivers Walk Assisted Living facility to provide a broader spectrum of availability to community citizens. A specialized dental clinic, and most recently, a child-care facility has added services in our community, that can be directly linked to better health results.

One of McGuire's biggest challenges, which is still being dealt with, was the mandatory switchover to the Electronic Health Records System. Though the changeover became threatening to the system, foresight of recognizing there could be "bumps" in the transition, allowed the District to continue uninterrupted service.

McGuire has built a firm foundation with state health agencies and legislators to improve delivery of care to our citizens. Some of the District programs, including the Palliative Care Program, have become models for future health care delivery in other areas.

He has continually worked at improving working conditions and communication within the Columbia County Health System. His most current approach is Adaptive Management, a system of collaborating with key leaders in the organization and empowering them to achieve goals in challenging situations.

And going on concurrently, during all of the CEO responsibilities of managing a functioning hospital district, McGuire has earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Health Information Management; and a Masters of Health Administration from the University of Washington.

Shane has been a busy man over the last 9 years, but when he receives this recognition, he will state that the dedicated workers in our District are who made it possible.