SMYRNA — Owners Karen and Woody Gill of Royal Treatments and Smyrna Cards and Gifts said they were shocked when they won the award for Outstanding Business for the Town of Smyrna during the 2016 Downtown Delaware Revitalize! Conference and Awards.

“It was unexpected,” Mrs. Gill said. "It’s an honor to be included in a group of wonderful people to make downtowns in Delaware a better place.

“Each town has its own personality and we’re very involved with Smyrna and so for them to recognize us is an amazing feeling.”

The Excellence in Downtown Revitalization Awards celebrated the successes in business districts statewide.

More than 50 nominations were submitted for competitive categories and awards of recognition to acknowledge individuals and organizations that best embody Downtown Delaware’s mission of providing the state’s historic downtowns, communities and small business with tools to revitalize their commercial districts, increase entrepreneurism and innovation, and enhance the quality of place.

The event was hosted by the Delaware Economic Development Office on March 16.

In a press release it said that both Mr. and Mrs. Gill consistently provided outstanding products and customer service to the community, and continue to partner with Downtown Delaware as mentors on the new Rural Business Mentoring Program.

“We feel very proud,” Mr. Gill said. “We don’t know who nominated us, or how we were selected. I just remember being in a town hall meeting and the city manager told us that we were going to get an award.

“I didn’t know what he was talking about. But once I did some research and we went to the event and accepted the award it was a great feeling.”

Mrs. Gill is an active board member with the Smyrna Downtown Renaissance Association, which is charged with enhancing downtown Smyrna.

“The purpose of the board is to make Smyrna a place where people would want to come and visit,” Mr. Gill said.

“It’s a wonderful feeling to see more traffic coming here. We have a number of new restaurants and it’s a great feeling that new businesses have been opening up here.”

The Town of Smyrna won four other awards as well.

The “Outstanding Downtown Community Partner for the Town of Smyrna” award was granted to long-time Smyrna resident and President of i3a Engineering & Construction Management Ed Ide, for his work restoring the former Smyrna Theater, which is now the Painted Stave Distillery.

Mr. Ide is an active member of the town’s Economic Development Committee and routinely works with the town and committed tenants to bring life to downtown Smyrna.

Town Manager Dave Hugg was recognized with the “Excellence in Town Management” award for his 14 years of service in the position.

Rick Ferrell, Smyrna’s Economic Development consultant, was granted a specially created award, “Core Consulting Team Member” for his work in Smyrna and for providing economic development strategy assistance to more than 20 Delaware communities.

Dover redevelopment

Gregory V. Moore, project engineer of the Becker Morgan Group won “Outstanding Downtown Community Partner for the City of Dover”.

Mr. Moore has been an integral to Dover’s downtown redevelopment, as he’s been president of the Downtown Dover Partnership since 2010.

The Becker Morgan Group have served on Main Street Committees, prepared architectural plans for North Street improvements, Loockerman Way Plaza and the renovation of the property that now houses Delaware E-ZPass.

“I rather the recognition go to the projects instead of one particular person,” Mr. Moore said. “I appreciate the recognition, but I appreciate the growth of the Downtown areas.

“Our philosophy is to give back to the community. Our office is downtown for that purpose. We want to enjoy the atmosphere and watch its growth.”

Downstate winners

Craig Aleman, Outstanding Downtown Business Owner of the Year, Seaford

Keila Montalvo and Albert Sierra, owners of Petite Sweets,Outstanding Downtown Business Owners of the Year, Milford

Brian Shannon, Laurel Redevelopment Corp., Outstanding Downtown Business Owner of the Year, Laurel

Heidi Lowe, owner of Heidi Lowe Gallery, Outstanding Downtown Business Owner, Rehoboth Beach

Karen and Woody Gill, owners of Royal Treatments and Smyrna Cards and Gifts, Outstanding Downtown Business Owners, Smyrna

David Perlmutter, Faith Diamond, Warren Diamond, Outstanding Downtown Community Partner, Seaford

Gregory V. Moore, P.E. and Becker Morgan Group, Outstanding Downtown Community Partner, Dover

City of Milford Parks & Recreation Department, Outstanding Downtown Community Partner, Milford

Georgetown Arts & Flowers, Outstanding Downtown Community Partner, Georgetown

“Team Laurel” — Ed Lewandowski, Jules Bruck and Lee Ann Walling, Outstanding Downtown Community Partner, Laurel

Ed Ide, Outstanding Downtown Community Partner, Smynra

Tammy Kearney, Outstanding Downtown Volunteer, Seaford

Dan Marabello, Outstanding Downtown Volunteer, Milford

Competitive Awards

Best Historic Preservation Project: Activity 6 South State Street, Cameron Llewellyn, contractor

Outstanding Volunteer Program: DMI volunteer coordinator position, Downtown Milford Inc.

Best Retail Event, Holiday Stroll 2015, Downtown Milford Inc.

Best Image Activity, Cooperative Television Advertising Campaign, Downtown Milford Inc.

Town Manager with Extraordinary Commitment to Revitalization of the Downtown Commercial Core: Gene Dvornick, Georgetown

Town Manager with Extraordinary Commitment to Revitalization of the Downtown Commercial Core: Dave Hugg, Smyrna