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Troy University Women’s Basketball Coach Chanda Rigby used the word “we” at practice Tuesday more than ever before.

She was motivated by the challenge from Dr. Kevin Elko, keynote speaker at the Pike County Chamber of Commerce 2021 Annual Banquet on Monday, to “connect better.”

Elko, nationally renowned sports psychologist and professional motivational speaker,

said for better businesses, for better communities, for better us, “we need to be more connected.”

“Each of us needs others,” he said. “Each of us needs all of us. We need to see each other as ‘somebody,’ as a person. If we can do that, then we can connect.”

Rigby said she realized that, to be more connected, to be better connected, as a coach and as a team, one word, “we” is a powerful connector.

“I’ll be using ‘we’ much more beginning tomorrow at practice,” she said following the keynote address.

Willie Wright, Chamber board member, agreed that the strength of any group, business or otherwise, is through its connections.

“The better we are connected, the better we are as individuals, as businesses and as communities,” Wright said.

Dana Sanders, Pike County Chamber of Commerce president, said, too, that connection equals excellence as evidenced by the business community of Pike County.  Each year, the Chamber recognizes excellence with the rewarding of the Pike County Businesses of the Year awards.

Pike County Chamber of Commerce members are invited to make nominations for the prestigious awards. The award recipients are then selected by the Chamber’s executive committee.

Sanders said Pike County has been blessed with a diverse industrial base and a positive business climate. And businesses throughout the county are connected in a way that is beneficial for all.

“The Businesses of the Year 2021 have earned the recognition and are very deserving of being recognized before the chamber membership,” Sanders said.

The awards for excellence in the year 2021 are: Excellence in Customer Service: Premier Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram; Excellence in Philanthropy through Nonprofit: Common Ground Troy; Excellence in Hospitality, Leisure and Retail Services, Victorian Spa; Excellence in Health and Human Services, Pike Internal Medicine; Excellence in Manufacturing, Industrial & Logistic Service, Kimber Manufacturing: Excellence in Commercial and Professional Business Service, PLS Group; Top Minority Business Enterprise, 2 Brothers Frozen Treats; Top Emerging Business, Heritage 1843; and Business of the Year, Bama in a Box.

In presenting the awards, Melissa Sanders, Chamber board secretary/treasurer congratulated the Business of the Year winners for a year of excellence and all Chamber members for their contributions to the continuing growth of Pike County.