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From left: Mayor Barney Seney; Karen Osbrey and Gary Osbrey, owners of WINY Radio; Mary Ann Chinatti, Economic Development director. Linda Lemmon photo.

WINY wins Business of Year award
By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
PUTNAM — Putnam’s first ever Business of the Year was a rousing success, full of community support.
The winner was WINY Radio and owners Karen Osbrey and Gary Osbrey accepted the award during the kick off of the Small Business Saturday festivities Nov. 30. This will be an annual event and the names of the winners will be placed on a large plaque in the Putnam Municipal Complex.
Economic Development Director Mary Ann Chinatti said she had started the award when she worked in Plainfield and was surprised to see, when she arrived here that Putnam did not have one. With such a vibrant, active business community, there was no Business of the Year award. “We need to fix this,” she said.
The call for nominations went out in August and 37 came in. More surprise. In Plainfield she received only five. Thirty-seven in Putnam. “I was tickled pink with 37.”
The winner was chosen by the Economic Development Commission members in October. 
There were many criteria including how long the nominee was in business. But the most important criteria the nominees were judged on was how the business contributed to the community.

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