view 2024 event photos and winners here!

HONORING OUR OUTSTANDING MEMBERS
Monday, June 16, 2025 11:00 AM - 1:30 PM @Boise Centre WEST

​The Boise Metro Chamber has a long-standing tradition of recognizing our members’ excellence. Each year, we honor our outstanding Chamber business and nonprofit members with awards which are featured at our annual Small Business of the Year and Chamber Excellence Awards  luncheon. ​Prior to the award ceremony, there is a tradeshow featuring award finalists and sponsors.

AWARD CATEGORIES

We invite you to nominate local businesses in the following categories:

CHAMBER EXCELLENCE AWARDS

• (NEW CATEGORY) Community Engagement Excellence Award:  A chamber member company that demonstrates outstanding commitment to making a positive impact on its local community. This award celebrates a company who volunteers time and resources to support the community through non-profit engagement.
• Financial Industry Excellence Award: A Chamber member company whose institution lends financial support and delivers exceptional customer service to facilitate the growth of Idaho businesses
• ​Food & Agriculture Industry Excellence Award​: A Chamber member company who has made significant contributions in supporting or enhancing Idaho’s food and agriculture industry as a grower, producer, processor, distributor, grocer, retailer, restaurant, brewery, winery, or other.
• Healthcare Industry Excellence Award: A Chamber member company who has made significant contributions in the delivery, administration, and support of the health care industry.
• Nonprofit Excellence Award: A Chamber member nonprofit organization who has showcased the most innovative examples of how to “do well and do good” in contributing to the social and economic well-being of the Boise community.​
• The Jim Moore Lifetime Legacy Award For Excellence ​in Travel & Hospitality Award: A Chamber member company who has made significant contributions in enhancing Idaho’s travel and hospitality industry through recreational opportunities, transportation, lodging options, tourism, or other means.

SMALL BUSINESS AWARDS

• (NEW SIZE) Small Business of The Year Award - ​10 Employees or less: A Chamber member company that is locally owned and privately held, that excels in delivering outstanding products or services, fostering a positive work culture, and making a significant impact in its industry and community with fewer than 10 full-time   employees. 
• (NEW SIZE) Small Business of The Year Award - ​11 to 50 Employees:​ A chamber member company that is locally owned and privately held, that excels in delivering outstanding products or services, fostering a positive work culture, and making a significant impact in its industry and community, with 11 to 50 full-time employees. 

Chamber Hall of Fame & Government Advocate of the Year Awards: 

The Boise Metro Chamber takes great pride in honoring individuals, whose dedication and leadership have significantly enriched our community. The Government Advocate of the Year and the Chamber Hall of Fame award winners are determined annually by the Boise Metro Chamber's CEO and President along with our Board of Directors.

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PAST SMALL BUSINESS AWARD WINNERS

2024 award winners & photos

2023 AWARD WINNERS

2022 AWARD WINNERS

2021 AWARD WINNERS

2020 AWARD WINNERS

CHAMBER MEMBER HALL OF FAME WINNERS

RECOGNIZED COMMUNITY LEADERS IN THE BOISE METRO AREA

During the Boise Metro Chambers Small Business and Chamber Excellence Awards luncheon, we recognize a community leader for sustained, positive contributions to the betterment of the Chamber and a vibrant economy by supporting its mission to advocate for economic well-being, regional development, and quality of life in the Boise Metro area. The winner is selected for the award by the Chamber’s board of directors. 

Each Hall of Fame honoree is inducted into the Boise Metro Chamber Hall of Fame and featured on a wall in the Chamber's headquarters in Downtown Boise. They also receive an elegant award to showcase at their place of business, notification to the press, and are featured in our monthly Metro Connection newsletter and website.

ODETTE BOLANO - 2024 INDUCTEE
Odette Bolano is the Boise Metro Chamber's 12th recipient of the Hall of Fame Award. She demonstrats exceptional leadership, particularly evident during the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. We honor her commitment and contributions to the Chamber as well as her participation in various civic boards, and many deserving accolades.

view 2024 Hall of Fame press release

KENT ORAM - 2023 INDUCTEE
Kent Oram, was the 2023 Chamber Hall of Fame Inductee. 
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“Kent has not only been a supportive member of the Boise Metro Chamber Board of Directors, but he built his institution into one of the largest in Idaho and one of the most philanthropic enterprises in the state,” said Bill Connors. “He joins an elite group of people who have made our organization and our state more resilient than ever.”

CHARLENE MAHER- 2022 INDUCTEE
Charlene Maher was the 2022 Chamber Hall of Fame Inductee. 

“Inducting a member of our community into the Chamber Hall of Fame is the highest honor we can bestow as an organization,” said Bill Connors, President and CEO of the Boise Metro Chamber. “We recognized our inaugural honoree back in 2013. This year, Charlene Maher will take her place on our Wall of Fame as the 10th recipient. I believe the entire Treasure Valley community will agree with me when I say that there is no one more deserving of this honor.”

DR. BERT GLANDON - 2021 INDUCTEE
​Dr. Bert Glandon, College of Western Idaho, was the 2021 Chamber Hall of Fame Inductee.
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“President Glandon is a national icon in higher education, and College of Western Idaho became a national success story under Bert’s leadership. The Boise Metro Chamber was a vocal champion for the creation of CWI, and Bert and his team delivered for the entire valley with amazing results. His passion for student success, career and technical education, and his service to the valley’s growing business needs, certainly makes Dr. Glandon a worthy inductee to our hall of fame, our Chamber’s highest individual honor,” said Bill Connors, President and CEO of the Boise Metro Chamber.

RAY STARK - 2020 INDUCTEE
Ray Stark, was the 2020 Chamber Hall of fame award recipient.

“For thirty years Ray Stark has been the heart and soul of the Boise Metro Chamber,” said Bill Connors, President and CEO of the Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce. “His institutional knowledge of all things Idaho is unsurpassed in this state. I’m grateful to have had the honor of working alongside one of the most decent and beloved figures in Boise’s history. His tenure had made us all successful, and I hope the entire community can come show their appreciate to one of the most humble, yet successful ‘community advocates’ in the nation.”

CANDI ALLPHIN - 2019 INDUCTEE
Candy Allphin, former US Bank VP, was the 2019 Chamber Hall of Fame award recipient.

​She is a retired Senior Vice President of U.S. Bank. She spent 38 years in the banking industry in leadership roles. She was a member of the Western Idaho Regional Leadership Team and Management Committee. She also served for many years as a member of the local U.S. Bancorp Foundation team. Her volunteer leadership roles in the community are extensive as past chair of many organizations, including the Boise Metro Chamber, the Idaho Banker’s Association, the Boise State Foundation, the Idaho Shakespeare Festival, the Junior League of Boise, the Idaho Botanical Garden, and the Boise State Alumni Association.

DAVE TERRELL - 2018 INDUCTEE
​Dave Terrell was the 2018 Chamber Hall of fame award recipient.

Dave Terrell is the former Regional President at Washington Trust Bank. With over 30 years in the banking industry, including 18 years with Washington Trust, his responsibilities include bank development and representation in the marketplace. David is an active community member participating in various civic, community and non-profit organizations.

DR. ROBERT KUSTRA - 2017  INDUCTEE
Dr. Robert Kustra, President of Boise State University, was the 2017 Chamber Hall of Fame award recipient.

“No one has done more to shatter old images of Boise than Bob Kustra,” said Bill Connors, President & CEO of the Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce. “That Boise State University has risen to international prominence in academics, athletics, research and innovation from its past role as a small junior college is just one of Bob’s remarkable makeover projects. For the Chamber, Bob’s commitment to integrating the business community and our urban landscape into the university’s DNA is equally impressive. Dr. Kustra’s dream of making Boise State a major metropolitan research university of distinction has come to fruition and has transformed a sleepy, western capitol city into a rising urban star of the American West.”

DENNIS JOHNSON - 2016 INDUCTEE​
Dennis Johnson was the 2016 Chamber Hall of Fame award recipient. 
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“When people talk about ‘pillars of our community’, Dennis Johnson’s name will always be in that discussion,” said Bill Connors, President & CEO of the Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce. “Dennis has grown a successful Idaho company into a national leader in their industry. He has made significant investments in the Boise Valley, helping to make us one of the most enviable communities in America. In addition to these tremendous community-building efforts, Dennis and Kathy Johnson are two of the most gracious and generous people I have ever met.”    

SKIP OPPENHEIMER - 2015 INDUCTEE
Skip Oppenheimer, chairman and CEO of Oppenheimer Companies, Inc., president of Oppenheimer Development Corporation and chairman of several affiliated corporations, was the 2015 Chamber Hall of Fame award recipient. 
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“Business leaders like Skip are examples to us all. He not only runs a great Idaho company, but he assumes critical positions of volunteer leadership to promote Boise’s regional excellence in education, health care, ethics, and smart development. In other words, Skip is the kind of business leader that every city needs," said Bill Connors, the president and CEO of the Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce that year.

NANCY VANNORSDEL - 2014 INDUCTEE
​Nancy Vannorsdel, retired president & CEO of the Boise Metro Chamber, was the 2014 Chamber Hall of Fame award recipient. During her tenure, the Chamber successfully lobbied for many important business issues, raised $5 million to rebuild the Economic Development Division and, along with her team, defined a process of public-private collaboration and partnership which continues to serve the growth and attractiveness of the Treasure Valley for citizens and industry alike.
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DOUG ARMSTRONG - 2013 INDUCTEE
In 2013, Doug Armstrong, KTVB President and General Manager, was the first Chamber Hall of Fame award recipient in 2013.

"Doug Armstrong is a leader among leaders. He has spent many years working quietly, behind the scenes on behalf of many community organizations, and so we are excited to shine the spotlight on his significant contributions to the Chamber and to our community as a whole," said Bill Connors.