Jan. 20—The bond between BJ and Elsa Brown has created a marriage that's lasted almost four decades. It's created a business empire, with two highly successful companies. And it's created a legacy of helping those in need that goes beyond Somerset's borders, to the entire world.

And on Thursday night, it resulted in the highest honor the Somerset-Pulaski County Chamber of Commerce had to give.

The 2023 Somerset-Pulaski County Chamber of Commerce Dinner and Awards Banquet brought out the local business community's best and brightest to The Center for Rural Development. Chamber Executive Director Bobby Clue reflected on the organization's accomplishments over the past year, and Shawn Daugherty was introduced as the 2023 Chamber Board president, taking over from Tiffany Finley.

"Oftentimes, when I'm asked in the community, 'Hey, why should I be involved with the Chamber?' I have my standard answer, 'It's all about relationships,'" said Daugherty. "Our Chamber facilitates and cultivates relationships. Those relationships are what build our businesses; those relationships are ultimately the backbone in making our businesses strong. Every time one of our businesses achieves greatly, it opens the door for other businesses to have the same, similar, or greater success."

The Distinguished Community Service Award honors outstanding individuals who have dedicated a lifetime of service to our community, serving as an inspiration both in their profession and in their efforts to make the region a better place to live, work and play.

But instead of choosing one person, as is typically the case, this year the award was given to BJ and Elsa Brown together. A Eubank area native, BJ Brown formed the company Gatormade, manufactures open-air freight and equipment hauling trailers. The first Gatormade trailer was built 26 years ago. Today, they manufacture 13,000 trailers annually.

BJ and Elsa met in 1986, while doing business with each other, and were married a year later. Elsa, a native of Guatemala, created a business by buying autoclaves at auction and re-selling them. In 1986, her company began manufacturing them as well. Today, Elsa has built Bondtech into a $25 million dollar company.

Elsa has also created the Somerset Foundation, which helps provide food and other resources to those in need, not just here but around the globe, touching lives in places like Guatemala, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, and even Romania, Israel, and Iraq.

Helping to feed people locally during the height of COVID-19, the Somerset Foundation gave food weekly to some 250 to 300 families. Internationally, the Somerset Foundation assisted with medical needs, education, and feeding the hungry.

The Somerset Foundation is also a cause close to BJ's heart, and one of numerous charitable endeavors he's been involved in, from giving out Dairy Queen blizzards to high school seniors and Baxter's coffee to first responders, supporting God's Food Pantry and local FFA Chapters, to establishing welding scholarships to students at Somerset Community College.

"It is truly heartwarming, and an unexpected recognition," said Elsa Brown in accepting the award Thursday night. "... However, we could not have done anything without our family, our friends, our church family (at) Outreach for Jesus, the Somerset Foundation that is part of our heart, our loyal employees, all of our friends and associates, all of you — I thank you for being next to us whenever we did anything for the community.

"We love Somerset, and we have seen it grow since I came here, and BJ has been here all of his life," she added. "We recognize that there is need, and we realize that God put us here for a purpose. We realize that we need to do something ... and I encourage you to do the same, to be active, to be the extended hand of God to our community."

The Distinguished Community Service Award was one of the "big four" awards on the night, as Clue called them. Another was the Entrepreneurial Success Story Award, which went to Dr. Brent Cherry for the formation of MedPark West, which is home to over 200,000 square feet of developed space, 25 businesses and over 300 employees.

The Woman in Business Award went to Megan Damron, Business Banking Leader for the Kentucky/Ohio Region for Truist Financial Corporation. She's also a past Chamber of Commerce President and Somerset Rotary Club President, and the area coordinator for Wreaths Across America, among many other distinctions.

The other "big four" award, the Excellence in Education Award was give to Carrie Altmaier, who has led the Parents As Teachers program as a full-time parent educator since 1999, and was the director of the St. Patrick Preschool in Somerset for over 30 years until retiring in 2021, helping it become the first early childhood program in the county to receive a four-star rating, the highest measure at that time.

Other awards given included:

—2022 Chamber of Commerce Rising Star — Cory Ikerd, local developer

—2022 Chamber of Commerce Ambassador of the Year — Reci Shook, Director of Sales at the Somerset Courtyard by Marriott

—Business of the Year (1-5 Employees) — Advance Care Pharmacy

—Business of the Year (6-10 Employees) — The UPS Store

—Business of the Year (11-20 Employees) — Burnett Farms

—Business of the Year (21-50 Employees) — Chick-fil-A Somerset

—Business of the Year (51-100 Employees) — Alton Blakley Family of Dealerships

—Business of the Year (101-200 Employees) — Performance Food Group

—Business of the Year (201-500 Employees) — Walmart

—Business of the Year (501-1,000+ Employees) — Pulaski County Board of Education

—New Business of the Year — Cumberland Furniture Outlet

—Nonprofit Business of the Year — United Way of South Central Kentucky

—Civic Club of the Year — Kiwanis Club of Somerset

—Community Event of the Year — Lake Cumberland Air Show

Clue spoke about how local businesses and organizations "gave their time, their resources and their passion to meet the needs of those around them," many with "dwindling resources and increasing costs."

"To each of you, I say thank you," said Clue. "Through it all, the Chamber has worked to be your partner in supplying you with the business development services to keep your operation moving forward and upward."