Grace Leong - DAILY HERALD | Posted: Thursday, October 25, 2007 11:00 pm
Les and Linda Campbell named Outstanding Citizens of the Year
Les Campbell and his wife, Linda, were pleasantly surprised when they discovered they were to receive the Arthur V. Watkins Outstanding Citizens award for 2007. But their joy turned to pride when they found one of Les' former students, Tom Macdonald, was also honored as Businessman of the Year at the Provo-Orem Chamber of Commerce's annual Watkins business and public service awards ceremony on Thursday evening.
"He really does deserve that award," said Les Campbell of Macdonald, who was his former seminary student at Orem High School. "When he came into the position as CEO for Canyon Park Technology, their office occupancy went from 50 percent to more than 90 percent. Now isn't that business savvyfi I've also been on the Commission for Economic Development board with him, and he has a very bright mind and a quick delightful sense of humor. Maybe that's what got him into trouble with me."
Campbell, who has taught more than 5,000 students in his teaching career of more than 40 years at Orem schools including Mountainview High, Orem High and Orem Junior, recalled he once threw Macdonald out of his seminary class for misbehavior.
"He was 14 years old then. We laugh about it now," Campbell said. Les retired from the LDS Church Education System in 2005 and currently serves at the Mt. Timpanogos Temple, the Missionary Training Center and as a religious instructor at the Seville Retirement Center.
Campbell, who is currently completing his second term on the Orem City Council, and his wife, Linda, who serves as house manager for the SCERA Center for the Arts, were among those who actively supported passing the CARE tax or Cultural Arts and Recreation Enrichment tax in Orem, so more funding will be available for cultural arts and recreation. He is a member of the International Wood Collectors' Society and an avid wood collector and carver.
"We feel that cultural arts is critical to the development of the inner soul. Often, the arts aren't at the forefront like sports, and I love them both," Linda said.
She has 12 years of service on the Alpine School District Board of Education. She was key club advisor at Independence High School and also taught at the American Heritage School in Pleasant Grove. She has served on local and state boards, commissions and in various women's organizations.
The public service awards are named for Sen. Arthur V. Watkins and honor local business owners and community leaders. Watkins, who was elected a district judge in 1928, served as U.S. senator for Utah for 12 years. He was instrumental in securing funding for the Central Utah Project, which brought water to the Wasatch Front. He was a Utah County resident for much of his life and played a key role in establishing the SCERA Center.
• XANGO LLC, a Lehi nutritional supplement maker, has received many awards for its robust revenue growth including the MountainWest Capital Network's 2007 Utah 100 awards, which it received earlier this week for being one of several companies to show the most promise for future success. Established in 2002, the company was founded by Aaron Garrity, Gary Hollister, Joe Morton, Gordon Morton, Bryan Davis and Kent Wood and claims to be the first company to market a mangosteen beverage, XanGo Juice.
XanGo also supports numerous philanthropic causes worldwide. The company is partnering with Operation Kids, a public charity that supports a diverse group of children's charities, to help improve education, safety, health, and the wellbeing of children worldwide.
• CHARLOTTE "CHAR" GARN, chief operating officer of Shade Clothing, stepped down last month but remains heavily involved in the apparel company, assisting with marketing, the Personal Shopper program, and other projects. Garn, a BYU graduate in community health, became a business partner in 2004, and helped expand the company's product line and market reach. She was a sounding board to Chelsea Rippy, Shade's founder and CEO, providing feedback on designs.
• THOMAS W. MACDONALD is president and CEO, and a member of the Board of Directors of Canyon Park Technology Center in Orem. He is a partner in several real estate projects and has more than 15 years of experience including holding senior management and CFO positions. He also has six years of management consulting experience and six years of public accounting experience.
Macdonald previously served as vice president of worldwide marketing for Enrich International, now known as Unicity, a natural food supplement maker in Orem. He was instrumental in opening new international markets for Enrich. Prior to working with Enrich, he served as vice president of international operations for Dynix.
He was responsible for organizing, developing and managing Dynix's worldwide network of distributors, subsidiaries, and employees. Macdonald led the operations of 15 offices and 250 employees throughout the world. During his leadership, international sales almost doubled through the installation of over 250 systems in 34 countries. Before becoming a vice president at Dynix, Macdonald served as president of Retro Link Associates, a wholly owned subsidiary of Dynix. He has also served as vice president and CFO of the Eyring Corp., a technology-based research and development company, and as an audit manager for Grant Thornton.
• CYNTHIA GAMBILL, along with her husband, Tyler, opened Remedez HairSpa with 12 workers in 2002. Today, Remedez has around 40 employees and experiences a revenue growth rate of about 35 percent annually. Remedez was awarded The Best of State Award for four straight years; and the national Salon 200 Award. It was also named Fastest Growing Salon and Day Spa Award in the nation for the last two years.
At the age of nineteen, Cynthia moved to America from Argentina, Buenos Aires. While attending the University of Utah, she supported herself working at BNA Consulting Engineers and was later promoted to general manager. She had also served as director of marketing for the western division of Musco Sport Lighting, a permanent sports lighting maker. In addition to serving on the Breast Cancer Society, Provo-Orem Chamber of Commerce, and United Way, Cynthia is also the co-chair of the Women in Philanthropy of Utah County.
Home Based Business of the Year
• COPPER EXCLUSIVE LLC-- The Orem-based metal crafting was founded by Erno Ovari, a Gyula, Hungary native with 22 years of copper crafting experience in Europe. Ovari and his wife, Christina, married last December and have combined their talents and experience to create Copper Exclusive. Christina has 15 years of business management experience specializing in marketing and public relations.
• THE MENDING SHED -- Craig Palmer, founder of the Orem-based appliance repair and parts company, has been a fixer of things all his life. The son of a mechanic, he acquired the talent as a child growing up in southeast Idaho. As a result, Palmer and his wife, Ellen, opened The Mending Shed as newlyweds in June 1971 with an initial investment of about $500.
In the beginning, they fixed lamps, small appliances, power tools, vacuums, and even embalming pumps and portable toilets. Later they began providing warranty services for manufacturers including Black & Decker, Sunbeam, Presto and Hamilton Beach. While customers still bring in broken microwaves, vacuums, and power tools to be repaired, the majority of Mending Shed's business is now derived from retail sales on Internet sites including Yahoo, eBay, Amazon, and through their showroom.
Business Education Partnership Award
• WILLIAM A. SEDERBURG, the sixth president of Utah Valley State College, was born and raised in the Midwest. Sederburg, who served for many years in the state legislature in Michigan, had also served as president of Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Mich. before coming to Utah. He received a Bachelor of Science degree from Mankato State University and a Masters and Doctorate in Political Science from Michigan State University.
As president of UVSC, he has been instrumental in developing many educational partnerships including a partnership with the Utah Academy of Sciences, strengthening the K-16 partnership, and growing distance education and concurrent enrollment in high schools and business apprenticeship programs. Federal, state and school programs for under-represented populations have been emphasized, and the UVSC student internship program has grown significantly. His leadership has fostered many positive initiatives at UVSC, most recently the approval of the change of status to Utah Valley University.
Lifetime Community Service Award
• DELANCE W. SQUIRE, founder of Squire Co., served 41 years as a certified public accountant. He had also served as president of the Southern Chapter of CPAs and as vice president of the Utah Association of CPAs. He also taught accounting for three years at BYU and spent the last 10 years of his career as the executive director of the Community Economic Development of Orem.
Squire, who is active in community service, had also been a recipient of the Arthur Watkins' Outstanding Citizen of the Year award. He served as Orem's mayor for four years from 1982 through 1985. He served as president of the Provo-Orem Chamber of Commerce and the Orem Kiwanis Club. He has been chairman of the board of Orem Community Hospital and Timpanogos Regional Hospital and was a board member of the Mountain View Hospital in Payson. He was on the UVSC Board of Trustees and served as its chairman for two years. He also served as the chairman of the Board of the board of the former Utah Valley Economic Development Association.
Outstanding Chamber Service Award
• DELYNN RODEBACK, a customer and community manager for Rocky Mountain Power in central and eastern Utah, had held various positions in distribution operations, transmission, right of way, real estate and customer service in his 22 years with the company. In 1993 Delynn also received a PacifiCorp Spirit of Excellence Award.
Also active in community service, Rodeback was committee chair of the Utah Valley Parade of Homes, president-elect of the Vernal Chamber of Commerce and Rotary, membership council chair of the Provo-Orem Chamber of Commerce, and a member of SCERA's board of directors.
Environmental Quality Award
• DON A. CHRISTIANSEN, general manager of the Central Utah Water Conservancy District since May 1985,was the driving force for the passage of the Central Utah Project Completion Act of 1992. Under his leadership, the water conservancy district planned the Diamond Fork System, which was completed in 2004; the Uinta Basin Replacement Project; and the Utah Lake System which received federal approval in 2004 and is currently in the design stage.
Numerous water conservation projects have been completed under the Section 207 program of the Central Utah Project Completion Act, and the program continues to implement new projects each year.
He was instrumental in helping former Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt create the Utah Water Development Coalition, and was key to the preparation of the pre-payment legislation to allow Congress to approve the water conservancy district's pre-payment plan, which saved millions of dollars in interest payments.
Christiansen also served as chairman on each of the boards of organizations such as the Utah Water Users Association, Intermountain Section of the American Water Works Association, Colorado River Water Users Association and the Western Urban Water Coalition.
Business Beautification Award
• OREM FAMILY DENTAL -- James Call, founder of the Orem dental clinic, was born and raised in Afton, Wyo. He became interested in a dental career after serving an LDS mission in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he noticed many people couldn't afford dental care. He attended dental school at the Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland, Ore. He later moved to Utah and began to practice dentistry. After his first office at 241 E. 800 South in Orem was torn down, he bought a 1958 red brick home at 675 E. 800 South and later converted it into a dental office.