![\"2011_Award](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.flovalleynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/2011_Award-NCI-_Recipients3-470x265.jpg?resize=470%2C265\" "\\"2011_Award")
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NCI Award Recipients at Annual Breakfast Meeting<\/strong> (left to right-front row) Kim Bakker, SSM Health Care-St. Louis (past Chairperson of the Board of Directors for NCI), Mike Lonero, Ferguson Special Business Dist., Robert Lowery, Florissant, Jack Agnew, Dellwood, Marty Rudloff, Bellefontaine Neighbors, Bonnie Barczykowski, Curves, Vickie C. Wade, BJK People\u2019s Health Center, (back row left to right), Chief William Karabas, Florissant Police Dept., Chris Krehmeyer, Beyond Housing, Bob Cerame, Paul Cerame Ford, Lincoln, Kia, Doug Brewer and Vickie Horst with SSM Rehabilitation Hospital, Carolyne Simpson, St. Johns Bank & Trust, Jeff Spiegel, Ferguson-Florissant School District, Diana Weidinger, Greater North County Chamber of Commerce, Gina Walsh accepting on behalf of Senator Timothy Green, Chief Carl Wolf, Hazelwood Police Dept. Kent Miller Photography<\/strong><\/p>\n (Special to the Independent News) <\/strong><\/p>\n <\/strong>As part of the organization\u2019s 34th Annual Breakfast, North County Incorporated (NCI) recognized several area leaders for making a significant impact in North County.\u00a0 More than 550 business, civic, and community leaders gathered to honor this year\u2019s award recipients.<\/p>\n Kim Bakker,<\/strong> Network Director of Community Affairs for SSM Health Care, was recognized for her service as NCI\u2019s 2010 Chairwoman of the Board.\u00a0 NCI\u2019s 2011 Chairwoman of the Board, Patty Gould, School\/Business Partnership Director for Pattonville School District praised Bakker for her years of service and for helping strengthen the organization during such economically challenging times.\u00a0 Gould commended Bakker on the example she set for others as a community leader and volunteer.<\/p>\n Diana Weidinger<\/strong> received the prestigious Elmer Belsha Leadership Award.\u00a0 This award is presented annually to an individual who has made a long-term commitment to NCI and the North County region, and has had a positive impact on the community and\/or public body that they serve.\u00a0 After 25 years of service, Weidinger retired this past winter as President of the Greater North County Chamber of Commerce (GNCC).\u00a0 Under her leadership, the Chamber fostered a positive business climate, provided members with networking opportunities, and a connection between business and the public<\/p>\n NCI\u2019s Business Development Awards were presented to Mike Lonero, Paul Cerame Auto Group and SSM Rehabilitation Hospital.\u00a0 Business Development Awards are given to those whose efforts positively affect the economic development and business climate of the North County region.<\/p>\n Mike Lonero<\/strong> is the president of the Ferguson Special Business District (FSBD) and he owns and operates CORK Wine Bar and Vincenzo\u2019s Restaurant in Ferguson.\u00a0 As an active member of the FSBD for the past nine years, he has assisted with fundraising for a new waterfall, been involved with the installation of 15 decorative art bike racks and community development events designed to promote the central business district. Lonero sponsors many other community events and he was involved with establishing the successful summer concert series at the Plaza at 501.<\/p>\n Paul Cerame Auto Group<\/strong> was established in 1976.\u00a0 It is a long-standing family owned and operated business in North County with a reputation for excellent customer service.\u00a0 The Cerame family was born and raised in North County.\u00a0 They opened their first Lincoln-Mercury dealership in 1981 and in 1997 added a Ford dealership.\u00a0 Late in 2010 they added a new Kia dealership.\u00a0 Over the past couple of years they have invested nearly a million dollars in a new showroom and new additions to their facilities to ensure that they are running the most customer friendly and efficient business possible.\u00a0 Cerame had been honored 13 times with the Ford President\u2019s Award based on sales and customer satisfaction achievements.<\/p>\n The SSM Rehabilitation Hospital<\/strong> partnership between SSM Health Center-St. Louis and Select Medical Corporation was created to build the new SSM Rehabilitation Hospital located on the campus of SSM DePaul Health Center in Bridgeton.\u00a0 When this new asset to our community opens later this year, it will provide comprehensive inpatient medical rehabilitation care to patients with stroke, brain injury, spinal cord injury, amputation and neurological and orthopedic conditions.\u00a0 This $23 million investment will bring an additional 250 employees to the DePaul campus and provide an optimal environment in which to support healing and recovery.<\/p>\n Community Development Awards were presented to Beyond Housing, Carolyne Simpson, Chief William Karabas and Chief Carl Wolf.\u00a0 These awards are presented to those whose efforts go beyond their normal duties, benefiting youth, residents, and\/or civic organizations in North County.<\/p>\n Beyond Housing<\/strong> provides support and services that assist low-income families as a means to strengthen neighborhoods.\u00a0 The organization produced observable successes in Pagedale and over ten years ago began developing a strategic plan to expand its programs and services throughout the Normandy School District.\u00a0 Beyond Housing has built or rehabbed over 115 homes in the City of Pagedale, opened a family support center that provides youth and senior programs.<\/p>\n Carolyne Simpson<\/strong> is the Business Development Officer with St. John\u2019s Bank & Trust where she has been a loyal employee for the past 39 years. Simpson is the volunteer every organization dreams of having involved with them; she is genuinely dedicated to supporting and creating a better community.<\/p>\n Police Chief William Karabas<\/strong> of Florissant has worked tirelessly for more than a decade to secure the approval of a unified radio and data communications system so that all public and safety agencies could communicate with each other in an emergency.\u00a0 He was appointed by Gov. Holden to serve on the Missouri Advisory for 911 Service in 2002 and was elected the Chairman of the St. Louis Community Emergency Communications Commission in 2003. He spent hundreds of hours explaining the need for a unified system and worked to secure the necessary support to implement this critical infrastructure improvement in the St. Louis region.<\/p>\n Police Chief Carl Wolf<\/strong> has been with the Hazelwood Police Department since 1985.\u00a0 He was recently honored with the 2010 Corrigan-Wiesman Partnership Award from the St. Louis County Juvenile Justice Association for his role in developing the Hazelwood Youth Leadership Academy along with several community partners and the Hazelwood School District.\u00a0 This academy is a 12-week program designed to help at risk youth.\u00a0\u00a0 Wolf was named the Missouri Police Chief of the Year in 1994 and received the Missouri Police Chiefs Association\u2019s Distinguished Service Award for 2000.\u00a0 He is on the Board for the Major Case Squad..<\/p>\n Public Service Awards were presented to Jack Agnew, former Mayor of the City of Dellwood; Senator Tim Green, State of Missouri; Robert G. Lowery, former Mayor of the City of Florissant; Marty Rudloff, former Mayor of the City of Bellefontaine Neighbors; Jeff Spiegel, Superintendent of the Ferguson-Florissant School District.\u00a0 Public Service Awards are given to individuals elected, appointed, or employed by a public body whose long-time service has had a positive impact on the community and\/or public body they serve.<\/p>\n John \u201cJack\u201d Agnew<\/strong> has served the City of Dellwood since 1969, first as City Collector, then as an Alderman from 1984-1995.\u00a0 In 1995 he was elected Mayor and has served the residents of Dellwood until his retirement this year.\u00a0 As Mayor he saw the implementation of an on-going, aggressive street improvement project and 12+ acres of commercial redevelopment at the intersection at Chambers and W. Florissant Rd., where there is now a new grocery store, pharmacy and gas station.<\/p>\n Senator Timothy Green<\/strong> has served the citizens of North County for the past 22 years as a state representative from 1989-2002, and has been the state senator for District 13 since 2004.\u00a0 Green dedicated his service to protecting working families and the most vulnerable of our citizens.\u00a0 His accomplishments include securing funding to keep the Bellefontaine Habilitation Center openGreen is a member of IBEW Local #1, the Greater North County Chamber of Commerce,<\/p>\n Robert G. Lowery, Sr.<\/strong> has a long career in public service, serving the people of Florissant for more than 50 years, first as a police officer, then as police chief and until his retirement in April as the city\u2019s mayor for the past 10 years.\u00a0 Under his leadership, Florissant has seen a spurt of economic development with the addition of hundreds of new businesses, and the major redevelopment of Cross Keys Shopping Center.\u00a0 The city has benefitted\u00a0 from a major streetscaping project along Lindbergh Boulevard, the addition of the Behlmann\/ Zykan Nature Lodge\u00a0 in Sunset Park, and other city-wide improvements.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lowery has served on the NCI Board of Directors since 1997 and was on the Executive Board from 2001-2005.\u00a0 He has been recognized by dozens of organizations for his service, receiving more than two hundred awards for excellence in the field of law enforcement, being named \u201cMan of the Year\u201d by the Old Jamestown<\/p>\n Marty Rudloff <\/strong>has given of his time and efforts to\u00a0 Bellefontaine Neighbors for the past three decades.\u00a0 He started his public service on the Youth Commission in 1980 and was elected Alderman in 1981.\u00a0 In 1991, he was elected Mayor.\u00a0 Under his leadership the city was the first to respond to the state program to help cities during the Flood of 1993, started the Family Festival, and hosted the Vietnam Veterans Moving Wall.\u00a0 Several new businesses came to Bellefontaine Neighbors, including a White Castle and the busiest QuickTrip in the region.\u00a0 He helped start a senior transportation service was started, recreation facilities updated and added, and a 5.5 million dollar bond issue was passed for street repairs.<\/p>\n Jeffrey R. Spiegel<\/strong> has served the children of this community for the past 35 years.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Spiegel is an educational leader who has dedicated his career to maximizing opportunities for children to reach their full potential.\u00a0 Spiegel has spent his career in the Ferguson-Florissant School District (FFSD), beginning as a mathematics teacher and since 2004 has served as the district\u2019s Superintendent.<\/p>\n Special Recognition Awards were presented to Bonnie Barczykowski, business owner of Curves, and Vickie C. Wade, Vice-President of Clinical Services for Betty Jean Kerr People\u2019s Health Centers.\u00a0 Special Recognition Awards are presented to outstanding individuals who through their business and volunteer services exemplify leadership and service to the North County community, are dedicated to helping others, and improving the business environment and\/or lives of those they serve.<\/p>\n Bonnie Barczykowski<\/strong>, owner of four Curves fitness facilities in the North County area and six total facilities region-wide, had a dream that went beyond the doors for her business.\u00a0 She wanted to help fight the growing obesity problem, encourage people to take charge of their lives and become healthier.<\/p>\n Vickie C. Wade<\/strong> is the vice-president of Clinical Services of the Betty Jean Kerr People\u2019s Health Centers, St. Louis County\u2019s largest federally qualified health center provider of pediatric services. Wade started working for People\u2019s Health Center in 1984 as a part-time LPN and now plays an instrumental role in their leadership team, she is committed to providing quality care to North County residents.<\/p>\n NCI\u2019s 34th Annual Breakfast presenting sponsors were:\u00a0 HDR Engineering, Inc. and SSM DePaul Health Center.\u00a0 The corporate plus sponsors for this event were: Lindenwood University; ManorCare Health Services and Walmart Stores, Inc.\u00a0 Corporate sponsors for this event were: Bommarito of Hazelwood, Nissan Honda, Volkswagen and Ford; Commerce Bank; Favazza & Associates, LLC; IESI Solid Waste Services, Johnny Londoff Chevrolet, Inc.; North County Suburban Journals, Paul Cerame Ford-Lincoln-Kia; St. Louis Community College at Florissant Valley, St. Louis County, St. Louis County Economic Council, U.S. Bank<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" NCI Award Recipients at Annual Breakfast Meeting (left to right-front row) Kim Bakker, SSM Health Care-St. Louis (past Chairperson of the Board of Directors for NCI), Mike Lonero, Ferguson Special Business Dist., Robert Lowery, Florissant, Jack Agnew, Dellwood, Marty Rudloff, Bellefontaine Neighbors, Bonnie Barczykowski, Curves, Vickie C. Wade, BJK People\u2019s Health Center, (back row left […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"","ocean_second_sidebar":"","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"","ocean_custom_header_template":"","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"on","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[36,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5754","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-florissant-business-news","category-florissant","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n