Current print subscribers can create a free account by clicking here
Otherwise, follow the link below to join.
To Our Valued Readers –
Visitors to our website will be limited to five stories per month unless they opt to subscribe. The five stories do not include our exclusive content written by our journalists.
For $6.99, less than 20 cents a day, digital subscribers will receive unlimited access to YourValley.net, including exclusive content from our newsroom and access to our Daily Independent e-edition.
Our commitment to balanced, fair reporting and local coverage provides insight and perspective not found anywhere else.
Your financial commitment will help to preserve the kind of honest journalism produced by our reporters and editors. We trust you agree that independent journalism is an essential component of our democracy. Please click here to subscribe.
Here are some photos from the Chandler Chamber of Commerce's 37th annual Community Awards banquet, held May 30 at Wild Horse Pass Casino.
See the list of winners below. A longer recap of the event can be found here.
Micro Business of the Year: Kahuna Investments.
Small Business of the Year: Von Hanson’s Meats.
Medium Business of the Year: Pedal Haus Brewery.
Large Business of the Year: Edwards Vacuum.
Chamber Cup: San Tan Ford.
Chamber Cup (Mayor Kevin Hartke’s choice): The Cvjanovich family.
Community Cup: d’Vine Gourmet.
Community Ambassador of the Year: Naomi Nilson.
James R. Snedigar Public Safety Award: Capt. Jason Whitney, Chandler Fire Department.
CUSD School Administrators of the Year: Dr. Wendy Nance, Associate Superintendent of Human Resources and Community Services: ; Basha High School Principal Marques Reischl.
CUSD Support Staff of the Year: Ron Spoon, custodian.
CUSD Educator of the Year: Angelica Abbey, sixth-grade teacher, Frye Elementary School.
Red Apple Award: Erika Chien, Mandarin Chinese teacher, BASIS Chandler.
Chandler Chamber Community Foundation scholarships: Chandler-Gilbert Community College students Samantha Berry, Alexis Encarnacion and Celeste Garcia.
Chandler Unified School District Associate Superintendent Dr. Wendy Nance tells emcee David Specht about her father’s role in her becoming an educator after she was named CUSD Administrator of the Year during the Chandler Chamber of Commerce’s Community Awards May 30 banquet event.
Chandler Chamber of Commerce Director Terri Kimble expresses mock shock at emcee David Specht going off-script during the Chamber’s Community …
A large group thanks the audience and smiles for photos at the end of the Chamber’s Community Awards annual banquet May 30 at Wild Horse Pass Casino.
Erika Chien answers a half-serious question from Chandler Chamber of Commerce’s Community Awards emcee David Specht during a May 30 banquet event. Chien, who teaches Mandarin Chinese at BASIS Chandler, received this year’s Chamber Red Apple award as the city’s outstanding educator.
Chandler Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors Chair Robert Sinkule speaks during the Chamber’s Community Awards annual banquet May 30 at Wild …
Ron Spoon, a Chandler Unified School District custodian, second from left, claims his CUSD Support Services Staff of the Year plaque from Superintendent Frank Narducci at the Chandler Chamber of Commerce’s May 30 community awards. On the left is Chamber board chair Robert Sinkule.
We’d like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments on this topic. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org. Email Jason W. Brooks at jbrooks@iniusa.org.
Jason W. Brooks Associate Editor
Jason W. Brooks is a News editor for the Daily Independent and the Chandler Independent.
He covers the Chandler area for both yourvalley.net and the monthly print edition while writing for and assisting in the production of the Daily Independent.
Brooks is a well-traveled journalist who has documented life in small American communities in nearly all U.S. time zones.
Born in Washington, D.C. and raised there and in suburban Los Angeles, he has covered community news in California, New Mexico, Arkansas, Iowa, Nebraska and northern Arizona.
By 
