Stars Come Out For UTBCC Awards Dinner

The theme for the 2015 Upper Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce awards banquet was the Oscars, and it was a fitting motif considering the number of local stars that were in attendance.

Politicians like Oldsmar Mayor Doug Bevis and former U.S. Congressman Mike Bilirakis, business leaders such as incoming chamber chairman David Frank and city officials such as Oldsmar City Manager Bruce Haddock and clerk Ann Nixon, among others, were all on hand for the red carpet & black tie gala, which was held on Tuesday night at the Tampa Bay Downs racetrack.

Prior to being announced as the incoming chairman, Frank spoke with Oldsmar Connect and expressed his thoughts on the position as well as the state of the UTBCC.

“We’re taking a three-pronged approach as to what we want to do with the chamber this year,” Frank, who as incoming president got to pick the theme of the event, said.

“Our priorities are to engage, embrace and endorse,” he explained. “We want to get the chamber board engaged with the community, we want to embrace new technologies in order to spread the word about what we are doing, and we plan to endorse brining nonprofit organizations into the fold.”

Frank added that he believes that after a few down years following the recession, the chamber is now heading in the right direction.

“The chamber is in good shape,” he said.

“The recession in 2008 made it tough to get new members and retain old ones, but last year some changes we implemented started to kick in, and in 2015 we hope to continue that success.”

After dinner was served to the more than 100 people in attendance, awards were handed out to a number of business and community leaders.

Mayor Bevis received the Oldsmar Cup award and former mayor and councilmember Jerry Beverland was presented with a lifetime achievement honor, while four graduating seniors from area high schools were given scholarships as well as trophies in honor of their academic accomplishments.

Decked out in a tuxedo jacket with tails over a pair of denim jeans, an outfit that he said was “fitting for an event at a racetrack”, Mayor Bevis spoke about the significance of the evening.

“It’s always great to acknowledge the leaders in the community, and to make it fun, and the chamber always does a great job of that,” he said.

“And I love the theme,” he added. “I tried to tell them I was Charlton Heston, but they didn’t believe me!”