Remington Sweeney, left, and Amy Feldman were the 2020 Young Professional Leadership Award recipients at Wednesday’s Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Commerce Young Professionals Awards, held at the Garden Drive In in Hunlock Creek.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
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The Times Leader Media Group’s Mike McGinley proudly holds the NEPA Influencer of the Year Award at Wednesday’s Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Commerce Young Professionals Awards at the Garden Drive In in Hunlock Creek.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Commerce COO and VP Lindsay Griffin, left, hands flowers and awards to Remington Sweeney, center, and Amy Feldman on receiving the 2020 Young Professional Leadership Award.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Presenters Zubeen Saeed, Building Blocks Learning Center president and CEO, left, and Mary Ewrine, Erwine Home Health and Hospice president, present Jonathan Kadjeski with the 2020 Young Professional Educator of the Year Award.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
WBRE co-host Chris Bohinski garnered the 2020 Young Professional Inspiration Award during the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Commerce Young Professionals Awards Wednesday at the Garden Drive-In.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
HUNLOCK CREEK — Not even a global pandemic could put a halt to the Young Professionals Awards, but it did make things look a little bit different.
Instead of crowding into an indoor event space, a Luzerne County who’s-who gathered at the Garden Drive In on Wednesday night to watch the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Commerce and Coal Creative team up to present a dozen awards to what the group described as some of the area’s “rising stars.”
And if you take the fact that applause had to be swapped out for blaring car horns, the event certainly felt like one of the most, well, normal things to happen in our area this year.
Lindsay Griffin, chief operating officer and vice president of the Chamber, began the evening by remarking on just how many people came out to support the “area’s best and brightest,” as she put it.
“We are incredibly happy with the turn-out, all of the amazing nominees we got tonight … I want a big round of applause tonight,” she said to blaring car horns.
One of the night’s biggest winners was Chris Bohinski, co-host of WBRE’s PA Live, who won the 2020 Young Professional Inspiration Award — something which came as a total surprise to him.
During his acceptance speech — the only one of the night — Bohinski said he was shocked to win.
“I would say that the reason I won this award … I think you can boil it down to treating everyone with basic human kindness,” Bohinski said. “I think it’s something we should all do, and something we all can do.”
The Times Leader Media Group, media sponsor of the night, had one of its own win an award, with Mike McGinley, major accounts executive and digital manager, winning the Influencer of the Year award.
A complete list of winners appears as follows:
• Educator of the Year — Jonathan Kadjeski, Equus Workforce Solutions at the PA CareerLink Luzerne County at Wilkes-Barre
• Entrepreneur of the Year — Ashlee Martinelli, Every Little Thing LLC and The Grand Bank
• Cultural Ambassador of the Year — Samuel O’Connell, Coal Creative
• Intern of the Year — Desiree Scott, PCC Aerostructures
• Influencer of the Year — Mike McGinley, Times Leader Media Group
• Small Business Owner of the Year — Tyler Rice, AxelRad Screen Printing
• STEAM Professional of the Year — Danny Lykens and Mike Grobinski, Krypton Design
• Voluntary Leader of the Year — Harlan Tabron Jr., Mt. Zion Baptist Church
• Young Professional Development Award Winner — Community Bank
• Young Professional Counsel Award Leadership Recipients — Amy Feldman and Remington Sweeney
• Young Professional Inspiration Award — Chris Bohinski, WBRE.
Reach Patrick Kernan at 570-991-6386 or on Twitter @PatKernan