2024 Small Business & Tourism Week Celebration

Congratulations to our 2024 award winners!

• Business Person of the Year: Curt Enesdvadt
• Legacy Award: Mark Jacobs
• Entrepreneur of the Year: Faisal Farah
• Ambassador of the Year: John Hamilton
• Volunteer of the Year: Megan Driscoll

Read more about our winners.

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Help us celebrate Small Business & Tourism Week! We will recognize the businesses and Chamber Members that make a difference in our community. Also hear from two insightful speakers: Steve Grove, CEO and Publisher of Star Tribune, and Michael Hernandez, Industry Relations, Metro Region for Explore Minnesota Tourism. After the program, stay for social hour to celebrate award recipients. 

Awards presentations will include:

• Burnsville Chamber Volunteer of the Year
• Burnsville Chamber Ambassador of the Year
• Experience Burnsville Hospitality Hero
• Burnsville Chamber Entrepreneur of the Year
• Burnsville Chamber Legacy Award
• Burnsville Chamber Business Person of the Year.

About Steve Grove
Steve Grove is the newly appointed CEO and Publisher of Star Tribune. Previously, he was Gov. Tim Walz’s commissioner of employment and economic development, where he led the administration’s efforts to grow and protect the Minnesota economy and its workers through a dynamic and challenging four years in state history. Prior to that, Grove spent 12 years as an executive at Alphabet’s Google and most recently was the founding director of the Google News Lab, which was developed to help media companies and startups drive innovation in the news industry.


About Michael Hernandez
Michael Hernandez is one of four Explore Minnesota industry relations coordinators, doing outreach to chambers, tourism boards and convention and visitors bureaus across the state. As the regional coordinator for the metro, Michael provides tourism industry support to the 9-county Twin Cities area. He provides industry partners with a broad array of tourism marketing support as well as general representation of Explore Minnesota in public and industry-facing settings.