River Falls Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Bureau Executive Director Russ Korpela (left) presented UW-River Falls Interim Chancellor Connie Foster with the Large Business of the Year Award in a virtual awards event Thursday. 

UW-River Falls named Large Business of the Year

March 12, 2021 – The River Falls Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Bureau shined a much-appreciated light on the University of Wisconsin-River Falls last night in recognizing the institution as its Large Business of the Year.

The annual awards event is an opportunity for the Chamber to recognize businesses and individuals who make a difference in the community. Guided by this year’s theme, The Future is Bright, Chamber members were encouraged to focus their nominations on those that went above and beyond to support the community in trying times of the past year. 

“The challenges of 2020 certainly impacted UWRF in ways we couldn’t have imagined,” said Interim Chancellor Connie Foster. “The pandemic did allow us to reaffirm our role of service to the community and we acknowledge that our success is the result of a collective commitment from our local partners on the Chamber and throughout the City of River Falls. I am incredibly proud of UW-River Falls and our positive partnership with this wonderful community.”

During the pandemic, the university not only implemented proactive health and safety measures on campus but added community testing operations to help limit the spread of the virus. Additionally, UW-River Falls helped raise community awareness by as part of the collective “Let’s Do Our Part” communications campaign.

Meanwhile, UW-River Falls continued to serve its students, whether in person, online or hybrid, fulfilling its educational mission in innovative ways. The university also remained committed to supporting the local business talent pipeline with virtual programs like Career Treks and career fairs which saw record numbers of participation from students eager to look towards their future beyond the pandemic.

Finalists in the various award categories were featured in short videos shown during the virtual event, demonstrating the impact they’ve had in the community over the past year.

The video presentation will be available to view on the Chamber website beginning March 18.