Champions of Commerce 2021 Winners

The 2021 Champions of Commerce awards were given at the Gala on February 25, 2022. Award descriptions, finalists and winners are shown below, you may view the slideshow video or read more about the winners as you scroll down this page.

WINNER: Gravity Coffee
Established in 2016 and with a hashtag “TO STAY GROUNDED,” Gravity Coffee has elevated the drive-thru coffee industry to new heights. With 19 locations open now and 24 more to come including expansions to Arizona, Texas, and Nevada. This Pacific Northwest based company has fueled our caffeinated communities with their outstanding service, speed and friendly culture. They believe it’s not about doing one thing right, it’s about doing a thousand things right! They are great community builders and their revolutionary brand has FUTURE FRANCHISOR WRITTEN ALL OVER IT!

WINNER: The Old Cannery
38 years in the making-- the original owner of the Old Cannery Tony Grout once said: "If you make it fun for them, they will want to come back! We might be a furniture store, but the Old Cannery is surrounded by FUN!” With employees that have been there for decades, the attraction of working in an environment with a seven mile train track overhead, a fudge factory in the middle of their store and a family forward culture, their employees feel like they are part of something unique and special. They host several holiday events and are generous sponsors of community organizations. Their employees feel they are part of the family and with dozens of beds, dining room tables and sofas---the Old Cannery is sure to feel like home!

WINNER: Fitness Quest
Build it and they will come! The Fitness Quest brand has positioned themselves well as the go-to premier fitness and world-class wrestling facility. They have three locations offering specialized services for women, MMA contenders and for all that embark on their fitness journey. The Swartz family has garnered several accolades on a national scale and do a great job sharing those stories with our community. It was a brilliant move to feature a clip from last year’s Celebrate Resilience awards in their television commercial—a marketing strategy that has paid off well and elevated their brand. You know about them because they care and show up in our community. You also know about them because they do a magnificent job marketing themselves!

WINNER: Luke Korum, Bill Korum’s Puyallup Nissan
A former Government Affairs Committee Chair, current Legislative Committee Chair, co-host to dozens of Chamber Candidate podcasts and interviews, multiple hosted candidate and legislative update events including the first official visit of newly elected Congresswoman Marilyn Strickland to Puyallup and the first to volunteer to help coordinate legislative hill climb days, Luke Korum shows up, speaks up and wants to see our city rise up to create a business-friendly climate for our region.

WINNER: Robert Kaelin
When you run a non-profit called Generous Influencers with a mission to elevate our community, you host the Puyallup Night Market that creates opportunities for people to share a piece of themselves with the community, and you and your wife own a coffee shop that is one of THE GO-TO meeting spots for many—it would be tough to argue that you are not deserving of this accolade. As a community builder nobody flexes their muscles quite like you do for the greater good of the community!

WINNER: Top Down Brewing Co. & Shiloh Estate Cellars (tie)
Offering a unique gravity-fed brewing system that beer literally flows from the top down has made Top Down Brewing Co. one the most unique breweries in the nation. This captured the attention of KING5’s Evening and other regional media outlets. Chad Cray and Greg Burd’s passion and devotion to their beer and community are unwavering and is a driving force behind what they do! Wine on the Westside? Not something you ordinarily hear about, but Greg, through a WSU school project in the early 2000’s, conducted a research project to produce high quality wine varietals in this region. His success has resulted in unique, bold and balanced red wines grown and bottled in Sumner. This Dynamic Duo’s innovations have made them Newsworthy!

WINNER: Sound Family Medicine – Senior Clinic
Sound Family Medicine’s revolutionary senior clinic is a new kind of concierge healthcare for eligible seniors. This model of care allows providers the freedom to offer the right level of attention through longer appointment times to address multiple conditions. With the concierge-style care experience, their seniors have a dedicated care team who discuss their needs every day that streamline their services to maximize wellness. Offering state-of-the-art exam rooms, an onsite pharmacy and lab, and more this one stop senior healthcare shop provides an essential service in a convenient and innovative way to one of our most growing populations in our community.

WINNER: Crockett’s Public House
Shaun Brobak’s Crockett’s Public House, named after a Puyallup Pioneer Hugh Crockett, has become a must-visit scene in Puyallup. Featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives and with dozens of other feature stories and accolades, their unique brand, quality ingredients, signature dishes and outstanding staff, Crockett’s Public House opens their doors to you and when you enter you know you are experiencing something special. The Fair, the Farmers’ Market, and our food have solidly placed Puyallup on the maps and Crockett’s Public House holds a key spot on that legend!

WINNER: Care Net of Puget Sound
Being the land of generous people comes with a long list of generous givers and doers in our community. This list could be miles long and certainly not one agency is more deserving than the other on any given day or year. However, we have followed the journey and celebrated the opening of Care Net of Puget Sound’s Puyallup location this past year, and honored Ben Edwards, their Director of Development, with Ambassador of the Month for his outstanding partnership. When it comes to compassionate care for both women and men for the major life events of child birth or loss, CareNet provides resources, recovery services, mentoring, medical services, baby supplies, relationship education, and referrals all at no cost. Truly outstanding!

WINNER: Cockrell Hard Ciders
Cockrell Hard Ciders was a dream of brothers Richard and John Cockrell, crafters for over 30 years who have won many state and national awards for their cider. The Cockrell Farm became their retirement hobby when they purchased a 7.5 acre farm established in 1854, part of a land grant to Willis Boatman, the first land grant in Puyallup Valley. The farm provides a peaceful setting for visitors while hosting local food trucks and music for all to enjoy and the eclectic ROOST tasting room is eye candy while you sip. The sophisticated range of flavors crafting ciders offers provides the brothers with the experimentation and creativity they crave.

WINNER: Elements
Owners Robert & Jackie Kaelin opened Elements in April 2019 with a mission to bring people together, create unique experiences that delight their customers and bring them back. Their clean and modern space evokes a sense of wellness and their welcoming environment makes it easy to strike up meaningful dialogue with a colleague, share a sweet with your child, take a ZOOM meeting, or reminisce with an old friend over coffee. Elements is an enticing and inspiring office out of the office, with plenty of fresh and delicious food and beverages to sustain you through your workday. Stop by and experience true hospitality as you’re treated like family.

WINNER: Wane & Flitch
Working with local trees that are always salvaged and never poached, Wane & Flitch creates furniture pieces that are unique, stunning, and timeless offering a consumer experience that is exploratory, educational, and inspirational. Their clients have the chance to learn about each tree’s origin, life, and reasons it was felled, highlighting the personality of each piece. Once milled and vacuum kiln dried, each slab is ready to be used for your custom live edge wood project. Working with reclaimed trees protects our valuable resources in a beautiful, inspiring way. Way to go, Wane & Flitch!

WINNER: Lawrence Garrett
Lawrence is considered a modern-day cultural savant, known by many for his knack of decoding cultural behaviors that either support or undermine values and performance. The Eight-Twenty-Eight Group focuses on leadership and inclusion in the greater Pierce County area. His talents, temperament and tenure as a leadership trainer, performance coach and equity and inclusion practitioner provide a unique combination of results, relationship and emotional quotient enhancement. Lawrence takes pride in his ability to assess, design and shift culture for maximum impact. A colleague and friend said it best about Lawrence, “He knows how to ‘change the weather’ in any environment he’s in.”

WINNER: MultiCare Good Samaritan Hospital
Our business community is not only surviving, we are thriving! But that would not be without the agencies that have provided the critical services necessary to conduct the very life we may have taken for granted prior to the pandemic. These first responders, frontline healthcare workers, schools and public safety agencies made the future we are living now possible and without them many of us may not have been here today—so for this Champion of Resilience Award I would like to acknowledge the ongoing heroism of MultiCare Good Samaritan Hospital and all of their workers. From the top down, tough decisions had to be made. Providing critical care in an unknown environment tested these individuals on a daily basis. What they have seen and endured and the compassion they brought to many of the Covid victims is unparallel. Their resilience has paved the way for many to be able to return to some type of normalcy and to continue with business as usual. Thank you MultiCare Samaritan Hospital for being a true pillar in our community and for your incredible resilience!

WINNER: Veterans Security Operations
Our finalists in this category are all worthy, but we are honoring Veterans Security Operations with this year’s Chamber Champion of Commerce Award. A high-end security company based in Puyallup, VSO provides an extremely high-level security service that differs from most security in the market. Before launching, VSO was simply looking for a way to give back to veterans and give them employment opportunities that honor their service and allow them to utilize their extensive skill set. VSO founders landed on the security industry because they found that most security companies do the bare minimum. Call it fortuitous timing, but with social unrest on the forefront, the services they provide have been essential and life-changing for some. One automotive dealer that experienced theft on an all too regular basis hired VSO for nightly patrol on their car lot and six months later has experienced zero crime. Lifting veterans is only one facet of who they are, however. They are engaged and present in our community, and contribute to organizations like the Chamber to promote the economic vitality, safety and connectivity of our community. They were a key sponsor at our Mingle & Jingle Public Officials Holiday Reception, donated umbrella escort services at our Women in Business Reception, and security for our 4th of July celebration. We appreciate their support and promotion of the Chamber and our members. This formula for success is paying off, as VSO founder Luke Guthrie has recently landed the financial support of Shark Tank’s Mark Cuban to expand VSO in Texas. Real gentlemen they are--- safety, support and community-building make them a STAR!

WINNER: Kathy Horton
In December 2018, newly hired Chamber CEO Tara Doyle-Enneking attended her first Wake Up and remembers being greeted by Kathy Horton’s smiling and welcoming face. It was just the beginning! Kathy brings her bubbly personality and warm smile to every Chamber event. She enthusiastically volunteers for nearly every Chamber committee, jumping in and helping when needed. If that weren’t enough, she’s great at bringing new members in the door. She has become instrumental in onboarding new members, conducting Blue Reviews, and making sure our events run smoothly. We are grateful for the care, kindness, and creativity Kathy brings to her role as an ambassador and ambassador leader. Thank you Kathy Horton, our well-deserved Ambassador of the Year!

WINNERS: Mike Hurter & Steve Hurter
This year’s John Porter Memorial is being awarded to Mike and Steve Hurter. As many of you know, the Hurter twins are with us in spirit, as they both passed away in January, just days apart from one another. Mike and Steve were a force greater than life with HUGE HEARTS and jovial and giving spirits. They were involved with The Downtown Rotary Club, USO NW, Backpack Kids, St. Francis House, and did a great deal of fundraising for kids organization for diaper drives. They have served their community for over 20 years, and that was a big part of who they were. They held two big, well-attended fundraisers almost every year for seven years and raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for our charities. They even raised enough money to buy the USO NW a van to serve our military communities. They were well loved and respected and were two of the most loving and generous men who have walked this earth. Steve is survived by his wife Debbie, and Mike is survived by his wife Terrie Bethel (one of our Chamber Ambassadors) and his two sons Joshua and Jacob. Our hearts and love go out to these great souls and their families.