The ice cream and chocolate maker just completed four major projects: opened a new candy factory in Cincinnati, rebranded the company, renovated its Oakley and applied for the USA Fairtrade Cocoa certification. Young and his daughter, Aglamesis Vice President Kristi Weissman, were planning to enjoy the fruits of the 2023 labors.
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
Young told the hundreds that attended the Greater Chamber of Commerce annual meeting on Friday everything changed when an email from Hamilton popped into his inbox. The message: “We have a storefront with an ice cream parlor available.”
Young and his daughter paid a visit to Hamilton, spent two months researching, and Young said to the business crowd at Champion Conference Center at Spooky Nook, he “spent six weeks trying to talk my way out of it because I was exhausted after 2023.”
But the excuses ran out. Hamiltonians convinced Young and his daughter to open a new shop at 304 Main St. Whether it was serendipity or fate, Young said the decision to open the first new Aglamesis storefront in more than five decades felt right.
“The city of Hamilton and Aglamesis share some commonalities,” he said. “We have had a recent renaissance. You all have had a recent renaissance. We both share the same principles of staying with our core values. You know what makes this community wonderful, and you shared that with us and made it compelling to be a part of this.”
While some things won’t change — like making Aglamesis ice cream in small batches and with ingredients a fifth grader can read — some change “is inevitable.”
“Make the changes necessary while keeping your core values,” he said, but at the root of decisions is “all about people.” “It is for Aglamesis Bros., and I believe Hamilton is all about the people. That is what makes this work.”
Small business of year
Kirsten Spicer‘s company was named small business of the year.
Spicer is the owner of the catering service Two Women in a Kitchen. She said if it wasn’t for people, both those who work for her (many for as long as 20 or more years) and most of the hundreds at the Champion Conference Center at Spooky Nook Friday night, she wouldn’t be where she is today: standing before them as the 2024 Small Business of the Year.
“I’m incredibly humble and grateful,” Spicer said. “This would not have been possible without the incredible, amazing support from so many people in the community.”
She said her clients have shared both the best and worst moments with her ”and that creates a whole different bond.”
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
Similar to the experience of the Aglamesis Bros., Spicer said, “When I first came to this area, the acceptance and the support that I received from thousand different collaborations with a lot of different community members helped build a lot of the confidence in our company. I think that’s very vital.”
Citizen of year
David Stark is also not native to Hamilton, but has been just as accepted in his decade-plus in the City of Sculpture. That Nashville transplant came to the city with his sister, Sara Vallindingham.
But 10 years later, he was honored Friday with the 2024 Citizen of the Year for being a champion of the city, most notably being a loud and disruptive voice in combating the Miami Conservancy District’s 7th reassessment on property tax bills.
While he acknowledged his role in getting the Miami Conservancy District’s decision to pause its 7th reassessment on property taxes that would have seen tax hikes on some properties increase three to five time, and some cases 10 and 50 times, Stark said to the crowd that “it was y’all” that helped spread the message, standing shoulder to shoulder on Stark’s soapbox highlighting the inequity of the 7th assessment.
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
“I may have come up with a t-shirt and a slogan, but it was y’all that kept Hamilton afloat,” said Stark, who said he’s still fighting to further change the MCD’s assessment policies to be more in line with other conservancy districts in the state.
“It’s y’all who’s going to keep our revitalization stronger and higher than ever before. I’m honored to have played a part in that conversation with y’all.”
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
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