Each year, the Moab Chamber of Commerce honors one local business as the Business of the Year and one person as Citizen of the Year. Typically, the awards are presented during the chamber’s annual banquet; that event was canceled this year due to COVID. Instead, the chamber honored the winners in a press release announcing that Grand Rental Center won Business of the year and Charley Every won Citizen of the Year for 2020.
“The Moab Chamber of Commerce is proud to award the 2020 Business of the Year to Grand Rental Center for the exemplary service that shows us all how to bring business and community together,” it said, adding that Grand Rental Center has been a chamber member serving the local community as a full-service construction equipment rental store since 1995.
The press release quoted Kevin E. Clyde, the president of Grand Rental Center.
“The focus of Grand Rental Center is on building relationships with our customers,” he said. “When a customer needs something, we help them find it, we help them bring it in, and we help them use it properly.”
The chamber said Grand Rental Center staff have demonstrated that commitment to building relationships through consistent customer and community service.
“Their business values reflect the same type of family values you would want exemplified and demonstrated in any close-knit community,” the chamber said, noting that “many have been the recipients of their generosity,” from local church youth groups to many nonprofits including the Moab Charter School, Moab Valley Multicultural Center, Underdog Animal Rescue and Rehab and WabiSabi, as well as Moab Regional Hospital.
“Grand Rental Center is like having a family on your side who is always there and never expects anything in return,” said Deb Winters, a staff member of WabiSabi. “Whether it be fence repairs, snow removal, monetary donations, equipment use or transportation, Grand Rental Center finds a way to show up when you need them most!”
The chamber said the business’s family values are also evident in the relationship Clyde has with his staff. When he learned of the award, Clyde was quick to give credit and praise to others, including Merrill L. Brady, who managed Grand Rental Center for its first 10 years, assistant manager Ambrose Toney and his son Wyatt who works at Grand Rental Center in the summers, and the parts store manager Mont E. Chappell.
“Thank you for the award from the Moab Chamber of Commerce! We are grateful for Chamber support over many years,” Clyde said.
The chamber’s Citizen of the Year was born and raised in Moab, and the chamber said he has “dedicated his life to helping Moab grow and prosper in many, and sometimes quiet, ways.”
“Charley is a ‘builder’ in every sense of the word,” the chamber said, recounting that Every worked in the construction of Red Cliffs Lodge several decades ago and has been “an integral piece” of the business ever since, and has built “everything from custom cabinets to houses.”
The chamber said Every is known for “his hard work ethic and attention to detail in all respects” as well as “a myriad of other talents and quiet accomplishments that are admirable to those lucky enough to see them.”
Red Cliffs Lodge owner Colin Fryer said, “This award is well deserved. Charley has been an exemplary man to work beside through the years. There isn’t enough good I could say about Charley.”
The chamber said Charley is also “a builder of people,” quoting Every’s wife, Wendy, as saying, “He greets everyone with a big, beautiful smile and makes them feel like they’ve been friends for years.”
The chamber also praised Every for his charitable works.
“Not only has he given selflessly to countless individuals, businesses, nonprofits, schools, and charities in this town anonymously, he also routinely gives of the things that many value most: his acceptance, his friendship and his time,” the chamber said.
“We are proud to have an amazing community filled with citizens that give of themselves to others, just like Charley Every,” said the chamber. “Thank you, and congratulations on being selected as the Moab Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year 2020!”
Grand Rental Center, Charley Every win honors
