News

Chamber honors business and community leaders

Chip Gould received the G. Cantrell Award from Chamber of Commerce Chair Dan Poeta.

By Lightning Reports, Published: June 30, 2021

The Henderson County Chamber of Commerce recognized a business owner who has led industrial recruitment for a dozen years and a founding leader of the campaign for the Ecusta Trail with its top awards Tuesday night during its 98th annual awards program.

The G. Ray Cantrell Award, the Chamber’s most prestigious award, is presented to an individual for a lifetime of service to the Chamber and to Henderson County. This year’s recipient was Chip Gould.
A graduate of Hendersonville High School, Gould served for six years in the U.S. Air Force. He has served with the Daniel Boone Council of the Boy Scouts of America, Henderson County Parks & Recreation, Fire & Rescue Advisory Board, Hendersonville Planning Board, Hendersonville Country Club (former chair), Henderson County Chamber (former chair), Partnership for Economic Development (former chair), East Flat Rock Community Development Committee (former chair) and Asheville Savings Bank. He currently serves on the Blue Ridge Community College Education Foundation Board, Economic Investment Fund of Henderson County, BRCC Board of Trustees, Pardee Hospital Board of Trustees and First Bank Corp. Board of Directors.
As chair of the Partnership for Economic Development, he was instrumental in numerous large and small manufacturing recruitment efforts – including Sierra Nevada Brewing Company and GF Linamar. During his service on the BRCC Board and Foundation the college has secured more than $80 million in capital improvement funding – providing much needed renovation and modernization, as well as new facilities for the college.
The Duke Energy Citizenship Award, which recognizes a deserving individual whose work and accomplishments have greatly benefitted the community, honored Chris Burns.
A native of Henderson County, he was born at Pardee Hospital and his dad was the golf course superintendent at the Hendersonville Country Club until they moved to Charlotte. After graduating from UNC at Chapel Hill in 1991, he returned to Hendersonville to continue his career with First Citizens Bank where he stayed for 14 years. In 2004, Burns and his wife, Marybeth, started Summit Marketing Group, a full-service advertising and marketing agency that now has nine employees.
He has served as president of the board of directors Camplify, Blue Ridge Community Health Services, Pardee Hospital Foundation, Hendersonville Rotary Club and the Hendersonville Country Club, and chair of Scout Troop 601 and the Hendersonville Rotary Club Charitable Corp.
Over the past 13 years, Burns has helped found and lead the effort to build the Ecusta Trail.

“Chris Burns has been the driving force behind the creation of the Ecusta Trail,” former state Rep. Chuck McGrady said. “For over a decade, he’s stayed on task bringing his unique set of skills to this transformative project. He is a problem-solver. At various points during the past decade, it would have been easy to give up because of some large impediments to acquiring the rail line, but he never gave up.”

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