Business Person Of The Year

2024 Business Person of the Year - Elena Bernardi

The “Business Person of the Year” is an individual who is recognized as having set a standard of accomplishment in both business and the community.  Nominations are from the Chamber’s business members who have made a significant impact on the role of business in the community.  The nominee must be a member of the Chamber for at least 18 months.  They must be an active member who is always willing to go above and beyond and be a leader that motivates others.  They must have a level of community participation by contributing resources in the form of time, talent, or money to our community via projects, clubs, churches, and not-for-profit organizations.

Each year the Chamber Board of Directors receives several nominees for this honor, and the number of nominations is a testament to the commitment our Chamber members have to our community.

This year’s honoree, in addition to being a participating member of the Webster Chamber of Commerce and the Webster Community, is a wife, mother, business owner, and volunteer.  Since she moved her business to Webster 20 plus years ago, she has been very involved in many aspects of Webster.  Beyond the Webster Chamber, she is an advisory board member at Canandaigua National Bank, is the Treasurer for the Webster Economic Development Alliance, and is the current President of the Webster Village Business Improvement District.

The Webster Chamber of Commerce’s 2024 Business Person of the Year is Elena Bernardi from Bernardi & Company, CPAs.

Elena and her firm, Bernardi & Company CPAs’ primary focus is making each of their clients feel important.  Her firm provides a friendly environment where clients can relax and know the folks at the firm will do all they can to ensure their accounting and tax needs are taken are of in a professional manner.

As part of her duties as President of the BID, Elena is responsible for bringing exposure to Village businesses and helping local business owners and residents.  As they are a small group of volunteers, Elena plans and runs events like the recent shredding event at Village Hall, the Beer Garden, Family Game Nights, Winter Wonderland, Easter Egg Hunt, movies and Concerts in the Park, the Jazz Festival, and the Trick or Treat Trail.

In 2023, she created the Health and Wellness Fair to help highlight other businesses that don’t get regular exposure and provided a wonderful resource for the public.  As part of the Fair, Elena created three public classes which focused on financial wellness.  The classes were free of charge and covered cash flow, budgeting, managing debt, savings, and investing.

Elena has volunteered time to assist a local public charity that was struggling to garner public support and funding and is a voting member of the Webster Economic Development Alliance.  Thie Alliance was instrumental in bringing FairLife to Webster.  She has been working with the Village to use the grant monies to conduct a study of best and possible uses for several areas in Webster.

Elena is working on a committee for a NY Forward grant which will possibly bring over $4,000,000 to the Village.  Thanks, in part, to her hard work, Webster is a finalist for this grant!

We have a plaque for her today that is inscribed with these words: “Business Person of the Year presented by the Webster Chamber of Commerce to Elena Bernardi in recognition of your outstanding contributions to the Webster Chamber of Commerce and your commitment to the community – 2024”.

In addition to the plaque, the Webster Chamber contributes to a charitable organization selected by Elena in her honor.

Congratulations to Elena Bernardi, the Webster Chamber’s 2024 Business Person of the Year!