ChoiceOne Bank received two award nominations from the businesses and others in the community the Bank serves at the West Michigan Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Award Gala. Business Development, Community Outreach Officer Carmen Villahermosa de Cox was nominated for the Hispanic Businessperson of the Year and Chief Operating Officer Adom Greenland was nominated for the Building Bridges Award.
The West Michigan Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (WMHCC) presented these awards at their 2018 Annual Awards Gala on March 21. For over 10 years, the WMHCC has recognized the hard work and accomplishments of its members and the Hispanic community by offering these six separate achievement awards:
- Hispanic Business of the Year
- Hispanic Businessperson of the Year
- Most Promising Hispanic Business
- Young Professional of the Year
- Building Bridges Award
- Non-Profit Champion Award
“We are extremely honored to be recognized by the West Michigan Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and continue to support them in their mission,” said Greenland. “We are proud of the work and dedication that our entire bank team does in our communities and the passion Carmen has for serving the Hispanic families and businesses in West Michigan.”
The nomination for the Building Bridges Award focused on ChoiceOne’s efforts for broadening access to mainstream financial services for underserved communities by helping unbanked and Spanish speaking consumers. In 2017, in recognition of the program, the Independent Community Bankers of America® presented ChoiceOne Bank a National Community Bank Service Award, which celebrates the outstanding and innovative volunteer efforts of the nation’s community banks.
The nomination for Hispanic Business Person of the Year focused on Villahermosa de Cox’s support of community organizations and advocating for Hispanic Businesses in West Michigan. Villahermosa de Cox is currently on the board of March of Dimes West Michigan and was recently named to the Board of Kent County Habitat for Humanity. She also volunteered over 600 hours over the past year and has an important impact on ChoiceOne’s support of Hispanic Businesses in West Michigan.
“It takes a team of hard-working bankers to make these awards and nominations possible,” said Greenland. “People like Carmen, and others like Vice President, Client Development Bonnie Koehn and Vice President, Regional Manager and CRA Officer Patricia Brown and our entire Retail Banking team exemplify what it means to be a community bank. We were honored to receive this recognition.”