At its annual meeting held last Wednesday, Jan. 9, the Sebago Lakes Region Chamber of Commerce announced new officers and award winners for 2013.

Tom Bartell, Windham’s economic development director, was awarded the Business Person of the Year at the event held at Gilbert’s Chowderhouse in North Windham. Julie Arsenault of the Portland Press Herald was chosen Volunteer of the Year, and Ron Eby of Windham Automotive received the Community Service Leadership award.

The organization also announced new officers for the coming year. The organization’s newly hired executive director, Aimee Senatore, welcomed four new directors to the board: Bob Cyr of DIRFY Generators, Allen Faraday of Windham Weaponry, Beth Humphrey of the Gray Economic Development Council and Ed Powell of People’s United Bank.

Executive officers elected to serve for 2013 include: incoming President Dan Hancock of Gorham Savings Bank, First Vice President Julie Arsenault, Second Vice President Al Brown of Buck’s Naked BBQ, Secretary Lee Ann Sanborn of Key Bank, Treasurer Mary Sawyer of Gowen, Sawyer & Co., Clerk Larry Sawyer of Sawyer, Sawyer & Minott, and Past-President Cheryle Nielsen-Pesce of Bonney Staffing.

Each year, the chamber, which represents the businesses in the 10 towns surrounding Sebago Lake, honors those who make a difference in their community.

Tom Bartell

Bartell received Business Person of the Year for his work on behalf of area businesses in his position with the town of Windham. The award usually goes to a business owner, but because of the town’s cooperation with the business community during recent years, the honor went to a town employee who is actively involved with programs that are aimed at spurring economic development.

“As director of economic development, Tom Bartell has done so much in the past year to strengthen the business community, and I don’t think there is a bigger advocate for businesses in our region,” said Senatore. “He cares a great deal about the success of the region, and has invested a lot of time and energy into helping all of us who do business in the area through a challenging economic environment.”

Senatore said Bartell has been a champion for the chamber’s buy-local campaign since it began two years ago. She also praises his work to help secure and work with The Retail Coach, a company hired by the Town Council to complete a detailed study of the area’s retail industry.

“Not only is Tom using this information to bring new businesses to the area, he also facilitated meetings with local developers, real estate brokers, and retailers to show them how to use the data to help them generate new business,” Senatore said.

Bartell was “surprised and honored” with the accolade.

“I think it really is a recognition of what the town has been doing over the last few years, and not just my efforts but the efforts of the Town Council, Planning and Code [Enforcement] regarding the business environment,” Bartell said. “There’re a lot of things that have happened over the last few years and I just happen to be the connection to the chamber. So I see it more as a community effort and that’s the way I accepted it.”

Julie Arsenault

Arsenault, who is an advertising sales consultant at the Portland Press Herald, was recognized as the 2013 Volunteer of the Year. Arsenault joined the chamber’s board three years ago, and “during that period of time she has made an impact on the majority of our committees,” Senatore said.

Senatore said Arsenault helped launch the chamber’s buy-local campaign and helped to reinvent Season’s Greetings Saturday.

“As a member of the Retail Committee, she created and implemented a digital marketing series where Julie and the Press Herald shared their expertise in website development, search engine optimization, and social media with local businesses,” Senatore said.

Senatore said Arsenault is also a representative for monster.com, and a member of the Human Resource Association of Southern Maine and Central Maine Human Resources Association.

“Her background in this area has been instrumental in organizing our Annual Job Fair, which has been a huge success,” Senatore said.

Arsenault also donates her time as the greeter at monthly Business Breaks and she has volunteered her time to help with the live and silent auction, golf tournament, Coin Challenge and Oktoberfest.

“All of this says a lot about what Julie has accomplished, but it does not tell you how she has received these results, and that would be through her unbelievably positive attitude and high-energy approach to everything that she takes on,” Senatore said.

Arsenault said she was “truly honored” to receive the award and that by volunteering she’s able to help build the business climate in the area, especially in a down economy. She also said her fellow chamber members make volunteering easy.

“Being involved with so many events and committees has also allowed me to learn a lot about some of my fellow chamber members that makes volunteering all the more fun. The passion and wit that they all bring makes work seem like play,” Arsenault said.

Ron Eby

Eby was chosen to receive the chamber’s 2013 Community Service Leadership Award for his dedication to area nonprofit causes such as Camp Sunshine and the Windham Food Pantry.

“Ron Eby is a fixture in our community. He founded Windham Automotive in September of 1991 and joined our chamber shortly after,” Senatore said. “He has been the organizer of Summerfest and has generously supported the community in many ways over the years. From food drives, toy drives and school functions to his support of Camp Sunshine, raising awareness and fundraising, Ron works tirelessly to help his community where there is a need.”

Eby has had a busy year, Senatore said, as he was honored with a “6 Who Care” award from WCSH Channel 6, which honors volunteers in the greater Portland community. He also was one of four finalists of the national Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award, sponsored by the Nascar Foundation. Gov. Paul LePage honored Eby with “Ron Eby Day” on Oct. 12 in attempt to raise Eby’s chances of winning the $100,000 top prize in the Nascar competition. Eby ended up enjoying an all-expenses-paid trip to Las Vegas to accept the $25,000 donation from Nascar to Camp Sunshine.

After a year of many honors, Eby was elated with the chamber’s award.

“I think it’s a very, very meaningful award because it comes from the business community in which I operate in, and it comes from the community in which I live in,” Eby said. “And certainly it was the icing on the cake for a year that was just filled with so many incredible different things. And we’ve been able to open so many doors and do so many positive things. So this is kind of an exclamation point that kind of makes you step back and go, wow.”

 Receiveing awards at the Sebago Lakes Region Chamber of Commerce’s annual awards banquet last week were, from left, Ron Eby, Julie Arsenault and Tom Bartell.