Labor Of Love Nets Ponitz Award

HOLLAND — Leading what she called a “labor of love,” the formation and operation of a regional leadership academy during 2003 earned Kathleen Ponitz recognition from the Holland Area Chamber of Commerce.

Ponitz, the volunteer executive director for Leadership West Michigan, received the 2003 Louis Hallacy II Distinguished Service Award last week during the Holland Area Chamber’s monthly Early Bird Breakfast.

A Holland-area resident and senior vice president at the Grand Rapids architectural and engineering firm Progressive AE, Ponitz served on the executive committee that formed Leadership West Michigan and then volunteered to lead the organization during the inaugural year. She was responsible for overseeing every aspect of the program, which ended its first year in December with 26 graduates in the inaugural class.

“I’m a little bit humbled to receive an award for something I had such a blast doing,” Ponitz said in accepting the award.

“It was a labor of love,” she said. “We really are on the path of setting a regional mindset. I loved every minute of it.”

Past Winners  Past recipients of the Holland  Area Chamber of Commerce’s  annual Louis Hallacy II  Distinguished Service Award  are:  2002: David Myers  2001: Judith A. Zylman  2000: Rob Zaagman  1999: Jim Brooks  1998: Emilie Wierda  1997: Ken Peirce and Grace   Piersma  1996: Robert De Young  1995: Marjorie Hoeksema  1994: Tom Carey  1993: Calvin Langejans  1992: Jim De Graaf  1991: Donald Stoltz  1990: Cora Visscher  1989: Jack Marquis  1988: Deanna DePree 1987: Jerrald Redeker  1986: Dale Van Lente  1985: Edgar Prince  1984: Harvey Buter  1983: Gordon Van Wylen

An offshoot of the West Michigan Strategic Alliance, a consortium of business and community leaders that promotes regionalism, Leadership West Michigan provides leadership training for business and community leaders who have graduated from local leadership academies organized by chambers of commerce in Holland, Muskegon and Grand Rapids.

Leadership West Michigan is designed to foster greater regional collaboration in the Grand Rapids-Muskegon-Holland area.

Ponitz “has done more for the greater Holland community in the last 12 months than anyone else,” said Holland attorney Nathan Bock, who nominated her for the award.

The Louis Hallacy II Distinguished Service Award, renamed two years ago in honor of the Holland Area Chamber’s long-time former president, was started in 1983 to recognize individuals “whose endeavors and contributions have provided cultural, economic and social betterment for the greater Holland area.”