The Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce today announced that Charles Rotgin, Jr., has been selected as its 2007 Small Business Person of the Year.

The Chamber presented the award to Mr. Rotgin at the sold-out Chamber’s Annual Spring Business Luncheon – underwritten by BBT & Ntelos – held at Farmington Country Club in Charlottesville.

Mr. Rotgin, a native of West Virginia, is an Albemarle County resident and 1966 graduate of the University of Virginia. He is the Founder, President and CEO of Great Eastern Management Company, a Charlottesville-based real estate development, construction and management firm. Among the firm’s properties are: Pantops Shopping Center, Seminole Square, and most recently, the North Pointe community in development in northern Albemarle County. Mr. Rotgin also is a principal partner in the Ivy Capital Corporation and several other corporations and partnerships.

"Chuck Rotgin is all about business – and the important business of building and sustainingthis community we’re all fortunate to call home," said Cathy Smith Train, President of the United Way – Thomas Jefferson Area, 2006 Chairwoman of the Chamber Board, who serves as Chair of the 2007 Chamber Recognition Awards Committee. "While we all know and do business in many of Chuck’s properties, too few people know about his ‘other side’ – the side that pays close attention to making sure that the civic and business fabric of this community is strong and sustaining the quality of life we cherish. Our Chamber is honored to recognize Chuck among our community’s leading business people and citizens.”

Ms. Train and Mary Loose DeViney, Vice President of Tuel Jewelers, who serves as 2007 Chairman of the Chamber Board, presented the Award on behalf of the Chamber to Mr. Rotgin.

Mr. Rotgin is active in number civic, business and charitable endeavors. He is a board member of the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation, a member of the Board and Executive Committee of the Thomas Jefferson Partnership for Economic Development, a member of the board of the Free Enterprise Forum, a member of the board of the Fund for Public Education of Charlottesville-Albemarle, an Advisory Board Member of Habitat for Humanity, an Advisory Board member of the Blue Ridge Chapter National Multiple Sclerosis Society, and is the two-time Co-Chair of the Annual MS Dinner of Champions.

Mr. Rotgin has served on the board of, and is a generous contributor to, Martha Jefferson Hospital. He also is a member of the US Coast Guard Reserves. He also is a member of the Citizens Committee of City County Cooperation (“5Cs”) and numerous appointed Albemarle County and City of Charlottesville committees and commissions, including the Albemarle County Fiscal Impact Advisory Committee and the City of Charlottesville’s Hillsdale Drive Extension Steering Committee. He also has held board positions with numerous other businesses, civic and community organizations, including National Optronics, Inc., Mary Baldwin College, Albemarle Bank and Trust, and the Blue Ridge Home Builder’s Association.

Prior to founding Great Eastern in 1971, Mr. Rotgin worked in insurance sales with an emphasis on mortgage loan programs with Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States (1967-1969) and was honored as a member of the Million Dollar Round Table. He later served as vice president of AMVEST Corporation (1969-1971).

Mr. Rotgin is married to the former Whitley Vogler of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and the couple has two adult daughters.

In addition to Ms. Train serving as Chair of the 2007 Chamber Awards Committee and Ms. DeViney, other members of the committee are: Kenneth Boyd, David Brown, Gary Henry, Timothy Hulbert, Christopher Lee, Ivo Romenesko, Robert Stroh and Bryan Thomas.

More than 300 business and community leaders attended the event, which also featured a keynote address by former Governor Gerald Baliles, who outlined the enhanced direction of The Miller Center and the continuing challenge of our nation’s education system. The Chamber also recognized its Leadership Charlottesville graduating class of 2007 and announced the recipients of the Charlottesville Community Scholarships.

The Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce is dedicated to representing private enterprise, promoting business and enhancing the quality of life in the greater Charlottesville communities. Founded in 1913, today the Chamber has 1,200 member businesses and civic organizations. Chamber members employ more than 45,000 men and women in the Charlottesville region, representing an estimated total payroll of more than $1.3 billion a year.