Chamber presents awards to Tri-City business women at conference

The Tri-City Regional Chamber of Commerce presented the Athena Leadership and Athena Young Professional awards at the recent Tri-Cities Women in Business Conference.

Emily Volland of Kadlec Regional Medical Center presented the 2016 Athena Leadership Award to Shirley Simmons, owner of Country Gentleman Restaurant and Catering. Simmons has been part of the Tri-Cities community for more than 20 years and is a leader in the hospitality and catering industry.

Volland also presented the 2016 Athena Young Professional Award to Ana Ruiz-Peralta of New York Life. Ruiz-Peralta is a founding board member of Consejo Latino — which spreads the word about Tri-Cities school districts’ needs for levy dollars in the Hispanic community — and serves as vice chair of the Washington State Commission on Hispanic Affairs.

This story was originally published March 5, 2016 at 10:15 PM with the headline "Chamber presents awards to Tri-City business women at conference."