Black River Falls Chamber of Commerce Virtual Annual Meeting

Friday, March 5th, 2021 -- 9:03 AM

-Two Black River Falls area businesses and a non-profit organization will be honored with awards during the Black River Area Chamber of Commerce Virtual Annual Meeting on Monday, March 22nd.

Merrillan Café will receive the 2020 Business of the Year Award (less than 20 employees), Serene Clean will receive the 2020 Emerging Business of the Year Award (open in our area 5 years or less) and Jackson County Trail Riders will receive the 2020 Service Organization Award.

The winners were chosen by the Chamber Ambassadors group and the Chamber Annual Awards Committee after a review of the nominations.  Merrillan Café, the Business of the Year (less than 20 employees), has been owned by Kathleen Sullivan for 28 years.

The café takes pride in serving homemade food. They provide outstanding customer service and they go above and beyond for their customers by checking in on them if they haven’t seen them in a while, they take meals to people who are unable to get out of their homes on holidays, they walk them to their cars when needed, and they send cards or flowers if they are sick.

Customers love the staff, the hometown atmosphere of the café and the delicious food. The Merrillan Café donates door prizes and makes other contributions to many area fundraisers regularly.

Owner Kathleen also makes and donates chili to the Merrillan Lions Club for their Ice Fishing Contest and the café also sponsors the event. The Merrillan Café is also one of the top senior meal sites in Jackson County. Other nominees for the Business of the Year Award (less than 20 employees) were Falls Florist and WWIS Radio.

Serene Clean, the Emerging Business of the Year, was started in April of 2019. Owner, Stephanie Zabel, intended to start the business as a “side gig” for herself but it took off so quickly that in less than 2 years, they now have 17 employees and two locations, the newest in Sparta.

They provide residential, commercial, rental property and move in/move out cleanings. Serene Clean exceeds customer expectations by providing the highest quality cleaning possible.

Serene Clean is committed to serving the community, most notable through a monthly employee charity choice initiative. Each month, an employee chooses a charity for the business to contribute to.

They also participate in Cleaning for a Reason, an initiative where they pledge to donate at least two free cleanings a month to families who have someone going through chemotherapy. Other nominees for Emerging Business of the Year were Riverside Nutrition and The Broom Closet.

Jackson County Trail Riders, the Service Organization of the Year, was established in 1990. The Jackson County Trail Riders club mission is to support and expand the Jackson County trail system for ATV and Off Road Motorcycle Riders. Members of the Jackson County Trail Riders come from all over Wisconsin, as well as Illinois, Iowa and Minnesota.

They maintain the 28 miles of single-track motorcycle trails on property owned by Jackson County in the Crawford Hills ATV Motorcycle Park east of Black River Falls. In 2020, membership grew from 32 to 90 paid members.

The club held nine trail workdays in 2020 with 32 volunteers putting in an incredible 514 hours clearing brush and making other improvements to the three single-track trails.

With many people looking for outdoor activities close-to-home due to COVID-19 and the club’ss work on the single-track trails, usage in 2020 set records. The Jackson County Forestry & Parks Department had one of their best years for motorcycle sticker sales.

The Jackson County Trail Riders help to provide a recreational experience to bring visitors to the Black River area. The other nominee for Service Organization of the Year was the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Greater Chippewa Valley – Lunda Center.

The Chamber’s Virtual Annual Meeting starts at 7:00 p.m. Members can register to attend by calling the Chamber office at 715-284-4658 or online at www.blackrivercountry.net under the Chamber tab.

Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.