Whatcom chamber honors Hillaire, Becker at ceremony

The Bellingham/Whatcom Chamber of Commerce reached out beyond the business community this year in honoring people at its annual awards ceremony.

Darrell Hillaire was named man of the year and Mary Kay Becker woman of the year at the 11th annual awards dinner, held Thursday evening, Dec. 3, at the Silver Reef Hotel Casino Spa. This year’s awards honored businesses and individuals for their contributions to the county.

Hillaire has served on the Lummi Indian Business Council for more than 15 years and was the founder of the Lummi Youth Academy. He also has written and produced films, stage events and written books. His documentary “The Earth is Alive” is expected to be shared at the United Nations Climate Change summit in Paris.

Mary Kay Becker currently serves as a judge on the Washington State Court of Appeals. A Bellingham resident since 1969, Becker served four terms in the Washington state legislature from 1975-1983 and was also a member of the Whatcom County Council. According to the news release, much of her legislative work has focused on social services, agriculture and environmental affairs.

Anyone in the county is eligible for the man and woman of the year awards, which are more of a lifetime achievement honor, said Shelli Jones of the chamber. She said the committee, which includes public officials and business people, tends to look for people who have had a great impact on the overall community.

The chamber also handed out other business and individual awards. The large business of the year award went to BioLife Plasma Services, which recently completed a new facility in Bellingham and has had more than 89,000 donations so far in 2015. The company collects plasma that is processed into life-saving products.

The small business of the year went to Radley Muller Photography. Muller is a board member for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Whatcom County and regularly donates his photography work to the chamber.

A new award is CEO of the year, which went to Mike Hammes of RAM Construction. Hammes is known for his philanthropy and creating a stable workforce, according to the news release.

Leena Kirschman was named the Millie Deford chamber ambassador of the year, Emily Rose Mowrey won the young professional of the year and the Northwest Washington Fair Association won the tourism partner of the year.

This story was originally published December 4, 2015 at 10:09 AM with the headline "Whatcom chamber honors Hillaire, Becker at ceremony."