Chamber Honors Cobblestone Rose, Kyocera Unimerco and Jim and Marcia Duncan at Thursday Banquet

The Saline Area Chamber of Commerce will present awards to two successful local businesses and honor a longtime business that is calling it a career at Thursday evening's Business Enterprise Awards gala dinner at Stonebridge Golf Club.

The dinner begins at 5:30 p.m.

This year the chamber is honoring Business Enterprise Award winners and Kyocera Unimerco. The chamber is also honoring Jim and Marcia Duncan, original founders and owners of The Calico Cat, for their professional lifetime achievements.

Each year for the last fifteen years the Saline Area Chamber of Commerce has had the pleasure of presenting the Business Enterprise Awards to two exceptional area businesses. These awards are universally recognized as being the most prestigious honor a business can receive in the greater Saline area market.

"I think it's the most important award we do," said Larry Osterling, Director of the Saline Area Chamber of Commerce. "These awards are going to local businesses who've proved that they can make it in this current environment."

The chamber’s mission with the Business Enterprise Awards is to recognize established, successful firms that have exhibited exemplary business practices and have an excellent reputation for service to the community. Community participation and peer recognition are also important components of the Business Enterprise Awards. Honorees are selected by the Saline Area Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, with nominations taken from the entire Saline area community.

This year the award in the 21-or-more employees category goes to Kyocera Unimerco, located at 6620 State Rd. in Saline. The award recipient in the smaller category of 20-or-fewer employees is The Cobblestone Rose, located at 101 S. Ann Arbor St., Suite 111, in Saline.

Past Business Enterprise Award recipients include Hartman Insurance Agency, Liebherr Saline, Spotted Dog Winery, LaFontaine Chrysler Dodge Jeep, Pineapple House, Phoenix Contractors Inc., Bemis Farms Preschool, JAC Products Inc., American Aqua Inc., Evangelical Home-Saline & Brecon Village, Carol’s Hallmark, Briarwood Ford, Pack & Mail Plus, Bridgewater Lumber Company, Quickprint Inc., Bank of Washtenaw, Rhoades Doehrer & Associates PLLC, Mac’s Acadian Seafood Shack, Aero Corporation, Visteon Corporation, Garry Deo O.D., The Saline Reporter, K & F Electric Company, Tom Mac's Photography, Saline Community Hospital, Saline Picture Frame Company, McNaughton & Gunn, Benny's Bakery, Busch's ValuLand, Saline Flowerland, and R&B Machine Tool Company.

The Chamber extends its hearty congratulations to Kyocera Unimerco and The Cobblestone Rose on their outstanding achievement. Recognition will also be given this year to Jim and Marcia Duncan, original founders and owners of The Calico Cat, for their professional lifetime achievements. The public is invited to join us for the gala awards dinner to honor these businesses and individuals on Thursday, Oct. 20 at , 1825 Clubhouse Dr. in Ann Arbor.  The event is sponsored by KeyBank. For reservations and further details on the 2011 Business Enterprise Awards, visit www.salinechamber.org or contact the Saline Area Chamber of Commerce at 734-429-4494.