Post Falls Chamber Names Dee Sasse Citizen, Sysco Business of Year

Nearly 600 community members, volunteers, business leaders and nonprofit representatives turned out for the Post Falls Chamber of Commerce’s annual Recognition Reception the week of Feb. 25, a night meant to spotlight civic service, charitable work and volunteerism across Kootenai County.

A photo from the awards shows Justin Phillips accepting the Business of the Year award for Sysco Food Services from Chamber President and CEO Christina Petit and Mark Woodworth, and published copy from the event identifies Dee Sasse — a U.S. Coast Guard veteran and Idaho American Legion Department Commander — as Citizen of the Year. Those images and captions provide a clear visual record of at least part of the ceremony.

The Chamber’s own communications, authored by Christina Petit, list a broader slate of honorees that differs from the published photo narrative. Petit’s column names Rick Rasmussen as Citizen of the Year and HMH Engineering as Business of the Year, and it also recognizes Safe Start with the Spirit of Post Falls Award, Jordan Cisco as Volunteer of the Year, Kerri Thoreson with the Heritage Award and New York Pizza Department as Small Business of the Year. Petit wrote, “The Post Falls Chamber of Commerce recently gathered for our annual Recognition Reception to honor remarkable individuals and businesses who have made a profound impact in Post Falls. It was uplifting to witness the strength, generosity, and dedication in our community.”

The discrepancy between the visual record showing Justin Phillips and Sysco Food Services and the Chamber-authored winners list naming HMH Engineering and Rick Rasmussen means two public accounts of the same event present different winners for top honors. The event’s purpose and scale are undisputed: the reception celebrated local civic engagement across multiple sectors and drew a large crowd, estimated at nearly 600 attendees.

Several awardees highlighted at the reception point to concrete public-health and social-equity work in Post Falls. Safe Start was honored for improving child safety through no-cost car seat checks, car seat distribution and education — programs that reduce injury risk among infants and toddlers and increase safety access for lower-income families. The Heritage Award to Kerri Thoreson recognizes more than four decades of volunteer service across Kootenai County, and New York Pizza Department was cited for sustained support of first responders, veterans and youth organizations.

The Chamber also publicized upcoming workforce outreach tied to its education-focused season: a Reverse Job Fair scheduled for March 26 from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. at the Real Life Ministries Post Falls campus. The evening’s mixed record of winners underscores the central role local institutions and businesses play in community safety, youth support and veteran services, even as published accounts of who received top honors differ.