The Awards

This award recognizes a MADE Chamber Ambassador who demonstrates exceptional engagement, service, and commitment to the Chamber and its members. The recipient embodies the welcoming and connecting spirit of the Ambassador program and consistently helps members build relationships and become more engaged in the MADE community. Nominations for this award are submitted and voted on by current members of the chamber's Ambassador Committee.​​​​

This award recognizes an individual, business, organization, or community partner whose leadership, creativity, advocacy, volunteerism, investment, or action has meaningfully helped advance the Mason Mile and bring the Make the Mile vision to life. As an initiative-based award, the Make the Mile Brick is open to Chamber members and non-members. Nominees must demonstrate a meaningful contribution to the Mason Mile or Make the Mile initiative.​​

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This award recognizes an individual whose leadership, influence, and community impact are gaining momentum. The recipient is someone who is stepping forward, creating connections, taking on greater leadership, and becoming an increasingly visible positive force within the MADE community. It recognizes trajectory. There is no age requirement or expectation that a nominee be at the beginning of their career.

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This award recognizes a MADE Chamber member or individual who puts service into action, creating meaningful positive impact and helping make the Mason-Deerfield community stronger. The award recognizes that doing good can take many forms—from volunteerism and charitable service to inclusion, sustainability, generosity, community partnerships, and businesses intentionally using their people and resources to make a difference. Members nominated for this award must hold current membership in the Mason Deerfield Chamber.​​​​​​​​​​​​

This award recognizes an individual, business, organization, educator, employer, or community partner helping connect people to education, skills, careers, and opportunities that strengthen the future of our workforce. The award celebrates leadership that creates stronger pathways between education, training, skilled trades, employers, and meaningful career opportunities, including work connected to broader MADE workforce and MADE Hub initiatives. As an initiative-based award, it is open to Chamber members and non-members.

This award recognizes a Connections MADE Happy Hour host who goes above and beyond to create an engaging and memorable experience for the MADE community. The award celebrates outstanding hospitality, creativity, energy, and the ability to create an environment where relationships and connections thrive. Only those who attend a 2026 Happy Hour event will be eligible to vote.​

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This award recognizes a man whose outstanding leadership, character, professional accomplishment, service, and example have made a meaningful impact on his organization and the broader MADE community. The recipient demonstrates leadership that strengthens organizations, develops relationships, serves others, and inspires the people around him. Persons nominated for this award must hold current membership in the Mason Deerfield Chamber.​​​

This award recognizes a woman whose outstanding leadership, professional accomplishment, service, influence, and example have made a meaningful impact on her organization and the broader MADE community. The recipient inspires and strengthens others through the way she leads, serves, mentors, connects, and contributes. Persons nominated for this award must hold current membership in the Mason Deerfield Chamber.​​​​

This award recognizes a MADE Chamber member business or organization that demonstrates excellence in business while making a meaningful contribution to the community it calls home. It celebrates organizations that exemplify strong leadership, innovation, growth, investment, exceptional experiences, community engagement, and a commitment to excellence. Businesses nominated for this award must hold current membership in the Mason Deerfield Chamber.

This award gives the MADE community an opportunity to recognize one standout finalist from across the GEMS of Excellence Awards. The winner of each category's public vote is given a 10% increase to their overall member vote total. Additionally, the business or individual with the overall highest vote total is award the People's Choice Award on the night of the event. 

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Esprit de Corps is  “a French expression meaning literally "Spirit of Corps" or "Spirit of Body" in the English language. It denotes a strong shared team spirit, mutual solidarity and fellowship, sense of duty, and devotion to a cause among the members of a group. Esprit de Corps is tied very closely with the French Foreign Legion and other military units worldwide. In the United States Marine Corps, it is a phrase that sits alongside the core values Honor, Courage, and Commitment as a living, breathing, entity that is not only the fighting spirit but the pride for the unit, service branch and country, and the devotion and loyalty to the other members of the unit that the men and women fight and serve with. The Board Chair selects an individual that has exhibited these traits on behalf of the Chamber in the current year.