Chamber of Commerce members helped a few of their colleagues
celebrate a milestone Wednesday night at the annual Business of the Year and
Business Person of the Year award dinner at Legends Golf Club.

Chamber members nominate businesses and business leaders for the
awards. The Chamber also awarded a President’s Award, determined by the
outgoing president.

Business of the Year

Home Accents Etc., started in 1999 by Mary Viereck, earned the
Business of the Year award. The shop at 16151 Main
Ave. sells gifts, clothing items and gourmet
foods.

Viereck joined the Chamber of Commerce in 2003 and was a board
member for three years.

She has participated in or sponsored ice golf, Business After
Hours, Ladies Night Out, the senior luncheon, golf tournaments, the Lakefront
Days business expo and wine tasting as well as vendor tables, Fall Community
Fest, the Scott County Economic Coalition Conference, Strolling Saturday and
Downtown Dazzle.

“Mary was the first person to come to the Chamber and say,
‘Let’s do a downtown winter/holiday theme’ in 2002,” said Chamber Executive
Director Sandi Fleck. The result was Downtown Dazzle, which just celebrated its
sixth year.

Viereck was a member of the inaugural committee for Ladies Night
Out, another successful event that draws attention to downtown businesses.

Home Accents has eight part-time employees, most of whom are
high-school students. Viereck said she tries to find new and unusual items for
a wide range of age groups and for both men and women. “We carry Prior
Lake things, like clothing, pottery
and signs,” she added.

Viereck said she was “shocked” when she learned about the award.
“It was the furthest thing from my mind,” she said.

Other Business of the Year award nominees included Crofut Family
Winery, Edelweiss Bakery, LifeForce Family Chiropractic, NOREX Inc., Prior Lake
State Agency, Viking Liquor and Village Market.

Business Person

of the Year

Cheryl Wilfond of Flowers Naturally received the Business Person
of the Year award for her work over the last 12 years.

The flower shop opened in 1996 and joined the Chamber of
Commerce in 1999. The store started out in the former Priordale Mall and moved
to its current location at 16244 Main Ave.
in 2000, when the Prior Lake Library moved into its building near City Hall.

The shop has flourished in the downtown area, Wilfond said.

Flowers Naturally employs three people in addition to Wilfond.
The shop’s personal touch makes the difference when it comes to satisfying
customers, Wilfond explained.

“We do custom orders. We really make them very specific to the
person – it may be a birthday [bouquet] where we put a fishing rod in, or a wedding
where we incorporate the silk flowers from the parents’ wedding,” she said.

Wilfond has assisted the Chamber in creating many downtown
events, including Ladies Night Out and Downtown Dazzle. She has been involved
in every Ladies Night Out and Downtown Dazzle event and was one of the
“visionaries” for one of the Chamber’s newest events, Strolling Saturday, Fleck
said.

She also has helped with the senior luncheon and Fall Community
Fest.

“Cheryl has been a great ambassador for our downtown
businesses,” said Fleck. “What most people don’t know is Cheryl sat on all the
downtown Chamber event committees and did a lot of the behind-the-scenes
activities, and it was unrecognized by most people and participants.”

Other business person of the year award nominees included Don
Crofut, Ron Haberkorn, Lynn Johnson, Patty Kankovsky, Dr. Wade A. Lofton, John
Parrish, Don Sinnwell and Joe Tousignant.

President’s Award

The Chamber’s President’s Award, determined by the current
president, went to city of Prior Lake
employees.

Recipients included Kelly Meyer, Al Friedges, Greg Skluzacek,
Police Chief Bill O’Rourke and Lt. Randy Hofstad.

Lori Carlson can be
reached at (952) 345-6378 or editor@plamerican.com.