Alicia Barton will deliver the keynote address at the Somerville Chamber of Commerce 69th Annual Dinner & Powderhouse Awards on November 5th. Alicia is the Chief of Operations for the Global Utility group at SunEdison, the largest renewable energy development company in the world. She is the former CEO and Executive Director of the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center — one of the nation’s leading clean energy agencies, responsible for helping spur record growth in Massachusetts’ clean energy sector, which is now a $10 Billion industry with nearly 100,000 workers.  

Barbara Rubel, Tufts University’s Director of the Office of Community Relations, will receive the Chamber’s John W. Fitzgerald Lifetime Achievement Award. Barbara has represented Tufts to Somerville for more than forty years. She has served on the boards of many Somerville youth, senior, and cultural organizations.      

Joining Rubel as 2015 Powderhouse Award recipients will be: Alicia Barton, Distinguished Service (Community); Paula Vancini, Vancini Accounting, Distinguished Service (Chamber); Center of the Arts at the Armory, Non-Profit of the Year; Loci Controls, Green Business of the Year; Aeronaut Brewing Company, Business Neighbor of the Year; La Brasa, Excellence in Dining & Nightlife; Office of Strategic Planning & Community Development, Excellence in Public Service; Voxcel8, Small Business of the Year; and Partners HealthCare, Excellence in Economic Development​

The Chamber is Somerville’s premier business organization. Led by a diverse and dynamic Board of Directors, it takes on issues that affect the local economy and advocates for business and community development. It has been deeply involved with the redevelopment of Assembly Square, the Green Line extension project, and planning and zoning issues in and around the Innerbelt, McGrath, Union Square, Boynton Yards and Somerville Avenue. The Chamber’s Dining & Nightlife Group has been instrumental in the development of Somerville’s metropolitan appeal. Throughout the year, the Chamber produces outstanding business community networking events such as Business After Hours, Innovation Tours, and the Taste of Somerville.  

The dinner is the foremost annual gathering of local business, civic, and community leaders. It will be held Thursday, November 5th at the Holiday Inn, 30 Washington Street. The Chamber is pleased to have Bunker Hill Community College as a major sponsor, along with East Cambridge Savings Bank which will be sponsoring the opening reception. Additional sponsorships are available.

The reception will begin at 6:30 p.m., followed by dinner at 7:30 p.m.. Tickets are $100 per person for Chamber Members, or $800 per table of eight guests. Non-member tickets are $150 per person, or $1200 for a table of eight guests. Reservations are being accepted on the Chamber website http://www.somervillechamber.org or by contacting Joanne Haley 617-776-4100, joanne@somervillechamber.org