The Rowan Chamber of Commerce 99th Annual Gala Awards was an evening filled with food and fun for everyone in attendance, but for five individuals, a pleasant surprise was the finest accoutrement.

Vincia Miller was recognized as the Young Professional of the Year, Stowe Law Firm, PLLC as the Minority Business of the Year, and Godley’s Garden Center & Nursery as Chamber Champion Small Business of the Year at the Rowan Convention Center event on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Donna Groce of Trinity Oaks received the Paul E. Fisher Volunteer of the Year Award and Greg Alcorn of ApSeed and Global Contact Services was honored with the Duke Energy Citizenship and Service Award.

None of the award recipients knew they would be recognized during the award ceremony and each described hearing their name as a surprise.

Young Professional of the Year

Miller is a 2005 graduate of Livingstone College and an employee of the Novant Health Foundation. She spent the last stretch of her career as a philanthropy coordinator, where she did fundraising work as well as board governance and many types of administrative tasks.

“I have been in fundraising for over 10 years,” Miller said. “So I believe in providing any type of resources and services to nonprofit organizations.”

She previously worked as the alumni affairs director at her alma mater, a role that also involved plenty of fundraising.

On Monday, Miller will take on a new position in talent acquisition that will put her working with the future generation of up-and-coming medical professionals.

“I will oversee Rowan Bridges to Healthcare, which is one of the foundation’s initiatives,” Miller said.

Made possible through philanthropic support through Novant Health Foundation, Bridges to Healthcare provides high school students in Forsyth, Mecklenburg and Rowan counties with real-world experience and mentorship through clinical and nonclinical rotations in a variety of healthcare service areas, including radiology, rehabilitation, respiratory services and human resources. Students can also receive educational assistance for healthcare-related coursework at any community college in North Carolina.

Miller indicated that in that role she will challenge people to think beyond just what they see and to continue to further their education.

When she’s not working, Miller enjoys spending time with her daughter Madison, a fourth grader at Salisbury Academy. She also likes yoga and shopping local to support different organizations in the Rowan County community. A talented pianist, Miller is a member of the Zeta Phi Beta sorority, a lifelong membership commitment.

On Thursday, when they called her name, she did not expect it, but she was prepared, thanks to her grandmother’s advice.

“You always have something prepared to say,” Miller said.

Miller takes care of her grandmother and when she got home after the awards, she proudly told her that the advice came in handy.

Chamber Champion Small Business of the Year

On Friday, Bill Godley of Godley’s Garden Center & Nursery said with a laugh that when they called his name at the awards, “his bald head was sweating.”

“What in the world,” he said. “Definitely a pleasant surprise. I was just hanging out to be a part of the regular chamber of commerce.”

The Rowan County business started in 1989 and now has over 20 employees. Godley consistently gives back to the community and has been involved in the chamber, United Way, Rowan Helping Ministries, Habitat for Humanity and Catawba College.

“One of the main things is to tithe,” Godley said of his commitment to community service. “That is an important word in my vocabulary. You think about it and the first thing is to tithe back to the church, but the tithe to the community is really important too.

“Without the community there is no support, but you don’t give back to get back.”

Godley indicated that opportunities to extend a helping hand are frequent.

“We chose to do what we can and do as much as we can,” he said. “There is so much positive need in our community that needs help. I think it is important for us to do what we can do. It does not have to be a boatload of money.”

Godley, who is originally from New Jersey, attended Catawba College in the ’70s. He started working part time for another iconic purveyor of gardening supplies, Rufty’s Garden Shop, where he learned a lifelong lesson, “you got to kill them with love.”

“I have kept that in our business, to be sure that we treat all of our customers with love and respect,” he said.

When he finally went into business for himself, it was only about two weeks before Hurricane Hugo hit the area and decimated numerous buildings and businesses.

He was worried that when he got to the store it might be gone along with his business ambitions, but there it stood. He’s been in business ever since. He does credit his wife Peggy for helping them through those lean early years.

It was appropriate that Peggy was there to embrace Godley as he was recognized by his peers on Thursday.

Duke Energy Citizenship and Service Award

The year’s most prestigious award went to Alcorn, an entrepreneur, local business executive, author and dedicated advocate for education through his work with the nonprofit organization ApSeed.

Alcorn has lived in Salisbury since he was eight. He attended UNC Charlotte and Wake Forest before finding a perfect fit at Catawba College.

To be given an award that has been bestowed upon such recent names as Mark Wineka, David Whisenant and Pete Teague was nothing short of an honor for Alcorn.

“When I consider them to be pillars of the community and be solid decade after decade, to be included in that is a pretty nice score card,” he said.

He credits success of his company, Global Contact Services, for allowing the philanthropic arm of his body of work to thrive.

“I was on the state board of education,” Alcorn said. “During that time, it became very apparent that high school graduation rates were important to N.C. and everybody. We decided that we wanted to do something about that.

“I have a little bit of a technology background. We walked it all the way back and said let’s do something that might have a generational impact. Lets start in Pre-K, because if you are good at kindergarten you will be good at first grade, but if you get behind it’s hard to catch up … The best investment of our time is to invest in the next generation to help them be as successful as possible and its starts at 2, 3, 4, years old.

Thus, ApSeed was born.

“We have learned letters, numbers, shapes and colors are the pillars for learning how to read,” Alcorn said.

Over the years, they have honored that commitment to pre-K learning by distributing tens of thousands of custom made tablet devices to help foster early-age learning.

Alcorn is proud that he has been able to combine business principles with civic passion.

“It’s rewarding to use my vocation and my advocation,” he said.

Sitting with Alcorn on Thursday were many of the people to whom he attributes the continued success of his business and outreach including his own wife Missie, Bryan and Meredith Overcash, Julie Hlavacek, Erick and Katie Lipscomb and Julie Morrow.

Paul E. Fisher Volunteer of the Year

Trinity Oaks Learning for Life Director Donna Groce was recognized for her volunteerism. Groce is a Leadership Rowan graduate, has served as a Total Resource team captain, Dragon Boat team captain, ambassador chair and chamber board member.

“Groce’s willingness to step into leadership roles whenever needed and her unwavering commitment to this community have made her a standout volunteer,” the chamber said in a release.

Upon hearing her name called, Groce like the others acknowledged that she was a little surprised.

“There are so many great volunteers with the chamber,” she said. “It could have been a host of many.”

Groce is thankful for her role at Trinity Oaks which she said affords the chance to be a part of various enrichment opportunities.

“I am afforded the luxury through Trinity Oaks to be able to serve as needed at the Rowan Chamber,” Groce said.

She was hired to develop the Learning for Life program and to enhance the amenities at Trinity Oaks.

“I work with our mostly active retirees,” she said. “I bring in guest speakers and plan travel. We dive deeper when we go to a museum and get a docent … My retirees love to get that extra attention at museums and they all have a common love of learning the arts and sciences.”

Groce’s current role is the product of a lifetime of activity and civic participation.

“I tell everybody that everything I have done up to this point in my life led me to be in this position,” she said. “I have some broad experience. I studied mass communication and public relations … I was fortunate to raise two boys. I was a volunteer through Scouts and the church.”

Groce also worked at Childress Vineyards where she gained valuable management experience and the school system as a volunteer coordinator.

“Between that and Cub Scout leader, it gave me all the leadership skills I need to run this program,” she said.

Minority Business of the Year

Stowe Law Firm, PLLC, was awarded Minority Business of the Year. The firm was founded in 2017 with one employee and has since grown to five employees and operates in downtown Salisbury under the leadership of its managing attorney, Ryan Stowe.

Stowe is a first-generation Rowan County attorney who earned his bachelor’s degree and law degree from North Carolina Central University. He was born and raised in Salisbury.

“My whole family is here,” Stowe said on Thursday after the ceremony.

Being able to do what he loves in his hometown is rewarding for Stowe.

“It’s one of the greatest joys,” Stowe said. “People who are from small towns often think they need to go somewhere bigger to be successful and that is absolutely not true. It’s great to be able to help out my friends, family and people I went to church with and grew up with. I love it here and could not pick a better place to practice.”

Stowe did not always think he would be an attorney.

“When I was in high school, I initially wanted to go into politics and I figured I should go to law school in order to do that,” he said. “When I got to law school, I actually interned on Capitol Hill and decided I should be a lawyer instead of politics.”

He interned for the late Michigan congressman, John Conyers.

“It was great,” he said of the internship. “I learned about all the behind-the-scenes work that congressional staffers do in order to make their congressmen successful.”

Stowe explained that daily research and preparation has translated to his day-to-day as an attorney where he defends everything from speeding tickets to serious crimes.

His favorite thing to do when he is not working is reading to his 2-year-old daughter. He must have been thinking about his daughter’s future when he kept his acceptance speech short.

“I kept thinking, I should keep this brief,” Stowe said with a laugh. “The more I talk, the more opportunities come for people to think I don’t know what I am talking about or embarrass myself or family.”

Stowe’s parting words of wisdom were to learn to think as critically as possible.

The evening also featured the ceremonial passing of the gavel, marking the transition of leadership from 2024 Chair of the Board Terry Osborne (Rowan-Kannapolis ABC Board) to 2025 Chair of the Board Steve Fisher (F&M Bank).

Katie Garner served as the evening’s emcee. The gala also included a special invocation from Fisher in memoriam to Karen Alexander, former mayor of Salisbury and Melissa Robbins of Rowan County United Way, who died unexpectedly earlier this week.