A building materials supplier, the president of an energy company and executive director of an animal shelter have received awards presented by the Grand Junction Area Chamber of Commerce honoring their community service.

Whitewater Building Materials was selected Business of the Year. Quint Shear, president of Shear Inc., was named Citizen of the Year. Anna Stout, executive director of the Roice-Hurst Humane Society, was recognized as Young Professional of the Year.

The chamber presented the awards during its annual banquet.

Whitewater Building Materials, a business that’s been operated by four generations of the Gardner family, has provided concrete, sand and gravel in the Grand Valley since 1948.

In addition, Whitewater Building Materials has supported a variety of nonprofit organizations, including 4-H, Boy Scouts, Community Food Bank, Girl Scouts, Grand Valley Catholic Outreach, Habitat for Humanity, Hilltop Community Resources, HopeWest, Marillac Clinic, Partners, Roice-Hurst, Saint Mary’s Hospital and Salvation Army.

Shear works as president of a family company involved in oil and natural gas exploration and land services and owns oil and gas investments throughout the Rocky Mountains states as well as California, Kansas and North Dakota.

Before joining Shear Inc., Shear worked more than 25 years in the banking industry, including positions as vice president of Bank of the West in the Grand Junction market, senior vice president and chief financial officer of Western Rockies Federal Credit Union and president of Joint District 50 Federal Credit Union.

Shear serves on the boards of the Colorado and Western Colorado Oil and Gas Association, Colorado Mesa University Foundation, Grand Junction Economic Partnership, Mesa County Federal Mineral Lease District and Western Slope Snowmobile Association. He also volunteers as a member of the Mesa County Search and Rescue Snowmobile Team and senior partner and mentor with Mesa County Partners.

Stout joined Roice-Hurst in 2015. She brought to the position experience in operating nonprofit organizations and businesses. At age 19, she launched the Foundation for Cultural Exchange promoting exchanges and a sister city relationship between Western Colorado and El Espino, El Salvador. She also operated Transfinem Language and Cultural Services, working as a certified Spanish translator and court and medical interpreter.

At Roice-Hurst, Stout has overseen efforts to grow the endowment of the organization from $50,000 to almost $800,000.

In 2018, she received the Health Links Director’s Award for leadership in implementing an integrated approach to promoting workplace health and safety. Roice-Hurst was among five finalists for the Champion of Innovation Award. A program of the Colorado School of Public Health, Health Links collaborates with employers across the state to promote workplace health and safety.

Stout has served on the boards of CASA of Mesa County, Riverside Education Center, Western Colorado Latino Chamber of Commerce and World Affairs Council as well as the KAFM community radio advisory board.