Nominations are now open for the 2021 Downtown Bellefonte Inc. Awards! Award recipients will be honored during our Annual Meeting event in late January (date to be determined). Scroll down to fill out the form to make a nomination.
Awards & Criteria
Volunteer of the Year Award: The Downtown Bellefonte, Inc. Volunteer of the Year Award is an annual award recognizing an individual or group for their exceptional volunteer service to the organization. The award shall be given following consideration of the number of donated hours, specific initiative, or other quantifiable reason for recognition. This award is open to committee members or volunteers for the organization; it is not open to members of the Board of Directors. The award recipient must be a dues-paying member.
Business of the Year Award: The Downtown Bellefonte, Inc. Business of the Year Award is an annual award recognizing a business within the Main Street boundary for an exemplary year. The award will acknowledge a specific reason or initiative relating to the business itself and/or their impact on the Bellefonte Community. This award is open to any dues-paying business member of the organization; it is not open to members of the Board of Directors, but is open to business owners that may serve on a committee.
#LoveBFT Award: The Downtown Bellefonte, Inc. #LoveBFT Award is an annual award recognizing an individual or group for their impact as community champions. The award should acknowledge a
specific initiative in which the individual or group was an integral part in that bettered the Bellefonte Community. This award is open to any community member or entity, with preference given to those within the Main Street boundary.
Renaissance Award: The Downtown Bellefonte, Inc. Renaissance Award recognizes an individual or group for their efforts to help revitalize Bellefonte with creativity and dedication within the Main Street boundary. This award should acknowledge a project that aided in the revival, renewed interest in, or revitalization of Bellefonte in one or more of the following ways: historic preservation, economic development, innovation, art, or culture. This award is open to any dues-paying member of Downtown Bellefonte, Inc. including a committee member or Director.
Award for Resilience: This award recognizes a local business that stood out in the face of tremendous challenges presented by the coronavirus pandemic. Through creativity, innovation and the ability to quickly and successfully pivot, the Award for Resiliency recipient successfully maintained operations during this unprecedented time of uncertainty, while also stepping up to serve the needs of the greater community. This award is open to any Bellefonte business, with preference given to those within the Main Street boundary.
Procedure:
- Nominations will be made available for members of the public to submit via Google Forms December 20, 2021 through January 7, 2022. Each nomination will require nominee information, as well as a description of how the nominee embodies the spirit of the award. Individuals and entities are allowed to self-nominate. Nominations will be publicized widely among the general public, Board members, Committee members, and dues-paying members.
- An Awards Committee will be developed by the Board President and Organization Committee Chair and will be comprised of five people: a member of the Board of Directors, a member of a Committee, a Neighborhood Supporter (individual dues-paying member), a Business Member, and another member of the Bellefonte community. The Awards Committee shall review all submitted nominations. Members of the Awards Committee will not be eligible for any awards for service in 2020. This Committee will review nominations in November 2020 and recommend winners for each category to the Board of Directors in advance of the January board meeting.
- Board of Directors will vote to confirm or contest the recommended award winners by anonymous ballot at its regular January meeting.
- Award recipients are announced at the DBI Annual Meeting in January. Winners will receive a commendation as part of the awards presentation, as well as a token such as a plaque or certificate.