The Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce has selected Eddie Giles, founder and President of Professional Movers, Inc. to receive the 2015Chamber Small Business Person Award at the Chamber’s 2015 Spring Luncheon at the DoubleTree Hotel Charlottesville, Wednesday, April 29th at 11:30 AM. More than 200 business and civic leaders are expected to be present. Dr. Robert Templin, President Emeritus of Northern Virginia Community College, a leading advocate for career technical education is the featured speaker at the luncheon.
A native of Nelson County, Eddie Giles has worked in the moving business for more than two decades. In February 1999, Mr. Giles founded his own full-service moving business, Professional Movers, Inc. Located in Albemarle County, Professional Movers has five employees. Mr. Giles is the firm’s President & CEO.
“Eddie Giles is the definitive business person,” stated Dr. Frank Friedman, President of Piedmont Virginia Community College, Immediate Past Chairman (2014) of the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and Chairman of the 2015 Chamber Awards Recognition Committees. “Eddie is the personification of hard work, business persistence and dedication to his profession, his employees, his family & friends and his community.”
Mr. Giles and his wife Kathy, a cancer survivor, are Albemarle County residents. They are active members of the Albemarle Baptist Church, Mr. Giles serving as a church trustee. Mr. Giles is supportive of many area non-profit organizations, often providing moving services at no charge for organizations such as the Alzheimer’s Association, Computer For Kids, the Chamber of Commerce, CASPCA, local senior organizations and others. Mr. Giles has also volunteered his service to the University of Virginia Medical Center, courageously dressing up for “Bras For A Cause.”
Mr. Giles is an active member of the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce, having served for two terms on the Chamber Board of Directors, including three years’ service a Vice Chairman for Member Services. He also served on the Commonwealth of Virginia US29 Project Delivery Advisory Panel. He resigned from that panel citing his continued opposition to the US29 / Rio Road Grade Separated Interchange Project.
The annual Chamber Small Business Person Award was established in 1985 to recognize an outstanding Small Business Person in our Greater Charlottesville communities. The Chamber Small Business Person Award recipient is a Small Business Person from a Chamber member enterprise within the Greater Charlottesville area that is an active owner or co-owner of the business which has 50 or fewer employees; is a member in good standing of the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce; has been in business for three years or longer; and, has made a significant contribution to the success of the business and our Greater Charlottesville communities.
The Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce is dedicated to representing private enterprise, promoting business and enhancing the quality of life in the greater Charlottesville communities. Founded in 1913, today the Chamber’s more than 1,100 member and affiliate member enterprises employ more than 45,000 men and women in the Charlottesville region, representing an estimated total payroll of more than $1.75 billion a year.