Dr. Emilio Ferrara, the dental surgeon, will be given the Kent Medal for Public Service Thursday evening when the Kent Area Chamber of Commerce holds its annual dinner meeting at the Rusty Nail banquet center.
The award, the Kent business community’s highest honor, is bestowed for service to the community. Some years no one has been selected for the honor so it is not automatically an annual occurrence, Anne Moneypenney, Kent Area Chamber of Commerce president said Friday.
“In Dr. Ferrara,” she said, “we have chosen a person of the highest caliber. We couldn’t have made a better selection.”
Having practiced in the Kent area for 44 years, Dr. Ferrara recently retired. In addition to a busy surgical practice, he has served on numerous boards including the Kent Board of Education, where he served for 32 years, and Kent State University, where he is currently a trustee.
In addition to Dr. Ferrara, the Chamber will honor Jack Crews, director of the Kent Regional Business Alliance with its Small Business Person of the Year Award. Crews in that capacity has helped pave the way for numerous smaller businesses and start-up companies that have grown, some of them becoming major employers. Alpha Micron, whose 40 employees occupy approximately 30,000 square feet of space in their building at the corner of S.R. 261 and 59 is the latest example.
The Chamber is also giving four IMMY Awards for businesses that have grown or improved their facilities. The four are Go2Go Taxi, Kent Displays, Looking Glass Learning Center, and Phoenix Properties/Acorn Alley. The city of Kent will also present development awards.
The annual dinner meeting is open to the public and reservations can be made by calling the Chamber office at 330-673-9855 or emailing pgriggs@kentbiz.com. Cost is $30 per person. A reception and silent auction begin at 6 PM with dinner promptly at 7 PM.