Nearly 8K votes were cast by the community to decide Superhero Businesses

NEWS RELEASE: Andrea Brady, Executive Director, Milford-Miami Twp. (Edited for publication)

MILFORD, OH (March 25, 2022) – The Milford Miami Township Chamber of Commerce re-imagined their annual Business Awards into: Who are the Heroes Around Milford-Miami Township? – the WHAMM! Awards! The community cast 7,779 votes to determine the Superhero Businesses for the year.   

The past two years were definitely supervillains – but thankfully, many superhero businesses in the Milford-Miami Township region have stepped up to answer the call, keeping our area vital and flourishing for all who live, work, and own a business here. 

The WHAMM Awards recognizes and celebrates these businesses for their outstanding service to the community. This brand-new approach adds community-nominated-and-voted Business (12) and Community (52) awards to the Chamber’s traditional Pillar and Outstanding Service Awards. The Award Gala will be held on Thursday, April 7, from 4-6:30 pm, at the Little Miami Brewing Event Center located at 310 Mill St, Milford.

Chamber Board President Ron Swogger made the comparison to a comic book hero fighting villains.

“It really felt like we were in a comic book, fighting supervillains with new surprises around every corner,” said Swogger. “Every time we turned around during COVID, there was another challenge, another pivot our businesses had to make. Businesses were fighting for their lives, and we wanted to recognize how hard that was for everyone.”

Swogger also recognized the contribution of involvement and support by the community to help businesses win the COVID war. 

“People were becoming more involved with their local businesses, working to support them and ensure they were still here when COVID was slayed,” Swogger added. “We wanted to tap into that excitement and get the community involved in recognizing our local business heroes by adding the community-based awards.”

Andrea Brady is Executive Director of Milford Miami Twp. Chamber of Commerce (Provided)

The community-based awards were nominated by the community in February. Voting then opened on the semi-finalists on March 8 and closed on March 22. A total of almost 7,800 votes were cast for around 175 businesses in the 64 categories. Winners of the Business Awards and the traditional Chamber Awards will be announced at the WHAMM! Awards Gala presented by RedSun Realtors on Thursday, April 7, 4-6:30 pm, at the Little Miami Brewing Event Center in Milford. Winners of the Community Awards were announced Thursday, March 24. (More to follow on the announced winners.) They will  be celebrated at the event April 7. 

The Gala itself has also been re-imagined to meet event preferences following COVID. Because people are now looking for something more fun and less formal, the event will be late afternoon from 4-6:30 pm, instead of over dinnertime, allowing attendees to be home with their families for the evening. Instead of a formal dinner, heavy appetizers from some of our community’s finest restaurants will be featured, so people can enjoy some of the great tastes of our area. There will even be a “special drink” developed just for the WHAMM! Gala!

The event will be focused on networking, celebrating the winners and the local community. The superhero theme will be evident throughout the gala event.

Here is the event’s schedule: 

  • Networking 4-5 pm;
  • Awards Ceremony 5-5:30 pm;
  • Networking 5:30-6:30 pm.
  • Tickets are $35 for individuals, or tables of 8 or 10 (which include 2 drinks per person) for $400 or $500.
  • Tickets are available through the Milford Miami Township Chamber website, or directly at https://cincy.live/events/whamm-awards-4-7-2022.