IF YOU GO
WHAT: 2013 Small Business Person of the Year Luncheon
WHEN: 11:30 a.m. June 25
WHERE: Courtyard by Marriott Hamilton, 1 Riverfront Plaza, Hamilton
FEATURES: Keynote speaker Lynne Ruhl, founder and CEO of Perfect 10 Corporate Cultures, who spent more than 18 years training, mentoring and coaching the athletes and staff of Cincinnati Gymnastics Academy in relationship and quality-of-life skills. Ruhl worked on mental training with some of the finest athletes in gymnastics, including 1996 Olympic Gold Medalists Amanda Borden and Jaycie Phelps and three-time World Champion and 1992 Olympian Kim Zmeskal.
Also features presentation of Small Business Person of the Year to Mindy Muller and Hamilton Heritage Award for Outstanding Community Involvement to Dave Lippert.
COST: $25 per chamber member, $35 per non-member.
CONTACT: 513-844-1500 or nancy@hamilton-ohio.com
A Hamilton company president who has involved himself in a wide array of community-related endeavors is being recognized next week for those efforts.
Dave Lippert, of Hamilton Caster & Mfg. Co., will receive the Hamilton Heritage Award for Outstanding Community Involvement during the Greater Hamilton Chamber of Commerce’s 2013 Small Business Person of the Year Luncheon.
Lippert was chosen for the honor by a committee of past recipients of the award, including Mary Pat Essman, former director of Lane Libraries, who served with Lippert on the Hamilton City Schools Business Advisory Council and the chamber of commerce’s board.
Essman, a 2010 Heritage Award recipient, said Lippert is dedicated and “does a lot of wonderful things” but quietly, and without any fanfare.
“I think it’s wonderful that he is getting some recognition for it because he has done so much … and he doesn’t even live in the community, but his business is here and he believes in what Hamilton is doing,” Essman said.
Lippert’s involvement in past and current leadership roles in the community include chair of the United Way Campaign (Butler County), president of the Greater Hamilton Safety Council and continuing board member and executive committee member, as well as board member and officer positions in the Greater Hamilton Chamber of Commerce and Executive Committee member.
He’s also served as board member of the Fitton Center for Creative and Performing Arts, classroom business consultant for Junior Achievement and chair of the chamber’s Government Affairs Committee, as well as the Hamilton Community Foundation scholarship selection committee, chair of Hamilton City Schools Business Advisory Council, Miami University Engineering Advisory board and an elder for an area church leadership team.
Kenny Craig, president and CEO of the Greater Hamilton Chamber of Commerce, said Lippert has spent years giving back to various organizations in the community.
“My experience has been that every one of these volunteer organizations he’s been involved in, he gives 100 percent and he does everything with excellence,” Craig said. “He’s not just somebody there who’s on a committee. He contributes and really leads.”
Lippert said receiving the award was a surprise based on his knowledge of the dedication of some of the award’s past recipients.
“Some of these people have spent what I feel like is countless hours … so I guess I’m kind of amazed because I don’t feel like I’ve been as engaged as some of the past recipients, maybe all of them, but I guess we all see this stuff differently,” he said.
Lippert said his father, Bob Lippert, who preceded him as president of Hamilton Caster, set a good example when it came to significant community involvement.
“He was pretty involved in a lot of community things, so it’s a kind of a handed-down, in-the-DNA sort of thing that says, ‘You know, we’re a business in this community, we’re going to be more involved than having a business in this community,’” Lippert said. “It matters what goes on and how it goes on, and we ought to have a role in making things better and being engaged.”
The 2009 Heritage Award recipient and Community Design Alliance owner Mike Dingeldein said Lippert “absolutely is the first one to get involved when something needs to be done.”
“Whenever he hears about something that needs to be fixed, instead of complaining about it needing to be fixed, he asks how do we get involved to fix it,” Dingeldein said. “He’s one of those people who just takes charge and says, let’s figure this out and let’s do something.”
The 2004 Heritage Award recipient and GBR Group LLC owner Mary Reimer served with Lippert on multiple boards and councils and said he is “unbelievably dedicated.”
“He has been involved in many ways in our community,” Reimer said. “So many ways in so many years. He is so committed to Hamilton and is so willing to give of his time and encourage others in his business organization to give their time, too.”
Craig points to Lippert’s leadership with the Hamilton City Schools Business Advisory Council as a primary example of his dedication.
“Dave runs a manufacturing company … but still considers it a responsibility to give back and help develop the next generation of workers,” Craig said.
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