HELENA — At the Power Block Building on Thursday morning, the Helena Area Chamber of Commerce gathered friends and co-workers to surprise the 2022 Boss of the Year winner Kelly Cresswell of Reach Higher Montana. And she didn't expect a thing.
The celebration for the 2022 Boss of the Year Award was once again planned out to the letter. The Helena Chamber of Commerce gathered everyone together 15 minutes before the celebration at the lobby of the Power Block Building to prepare for the surprise award ceremony.
They told Cresswell to arrive for a small meeting at 10:30 a.m., but that meeting was anything but that.
"Oh I thought I was going to a smaller conference room to do a short interview about a project we had going on upstairs today that's what I thought I was doing," said Cresswell.
Cresswell has served as executive director at Reach Higher Montana since 2016. The nonprofit works side-by-side with parents and students to reach their academic dreams, and her hard work didn't go unnoticed.
The room was prepared by her friends and co-workers with balloons treats and of course the award.
"I'm on cloud nine! I m so happy and so honored and totally surprised by this. I just can t thank my team enough and the chamber enough. This is a great honor and I just feel fabulous," said Cresswell.
Being on the chamber of commerce before, Cresswell is not new to these surprise awards.
"I just would like to thank the chamber, having served on the chamber board for a number of years, I've been a part of surprising other great bosses in Helena," said Cresswell, "and to be a part of that crowd is tremendous."