Bank wins Irwin Award; others honored at Chamber event

LACONIA — Meredith Village Savings Bank was named the 2020 winner of the annual Irwin Award, presented Thursday during the annual meeting of the Lakes Region Chamber of Commerce.

It marked the first time a bank has won the award since 2004, when the Laconia Savings Bank was honored. The Irwin Award typically goes to a Lakes Region individual or family, as Bill Irwin, a grandson of the award’s namesake, noted in making the presentation.

More than 200 people attended the noontime event hosted by The Margate Resort.

Meredith Village Savings “has been serving the people, businesses, nonprofits, and municipalities of the Lakes Region for over 150 years. Each year they make significant contributions through tax credits, contributions, donations, and volunteering,” Irwin said before presenting the award to Rick Wyman, the bank’s president.

“It’s quite a surprise,” Wyman said afterward. “It’s an honor to receive an award named for Jim Irwin.”

The Irwin Award is presented in recognition of characteristics of pioneering attitude, community leadership, and a spirit of progress in community service for which Jim Irwin Sr. was known.

The Chamber also used the occasion to present Inspiration Awards to 17 businesses and organizations which had invested in new construction, renovations, and sustainable projects.

The winners were:

• Melcher & Prescott Insurance, for the exterior and interior renovations of its main office in downtown Laconia.

• Blue Heron School at Squam Lakes Natural Science Center, a nature-based Montessori early learning center.

• New Hampshire Motor Speedway, for its new flat track — a quarter-mile dirt track.

• ClearChoiceMD Urgent Care, for its new facility in Tilton.

• Vulgar Brewing Co., a new business in downtown Franklin.

• Madeira USA, for its new facility in the Lakes Business Park.

• Twin Barns Brewing Co., for the $1 million-plus renovation project on its Meredith location.

• New Hampshire Veterans Home, for its $1.65 million kitchen renovation project.

• Lakes Region Community Developers, for its new office facility on Court Street in Laconia.

• LRGHealthcare, for its new 9,000-square-foot emergency department.

• Buell Block Properties, for its purchase and rehabilitation of an historic building in Franklin Falls.

• ConvenientMD Urgent Care, for its new facility on Route 3 in Belmont.

• Independence Financial Advisors, its new home in downtown Franklin which underwent $500,000 in renovations.

• Best Western Plus Landmark Inn, for its $2 million-plus renovation project, and its impact on the area’s revitalization and tourism economy.

Also during the meeting, Chris Dickinson of Norway Bank was elected chairman of the Chamber’s Board of Directors, succeeding outgoing Board President Ted Fodero. Others officers elected were: Lori Contraros, of T-Bones-Cactus Jack’s, first vice chair; Marc McNamara, of The Enablement Group, second vice chair; Penny Raby, of Malone, Dirubbo & Co., treasurer; and Darcy Peary, of LRGHealthcare, secretary.

Sarah Laliberte, of Mainspire, was elected to a first term on the Board of Directors.