2020 Western Wayne Business Leadership Banquet cancelled

Western Wayne County’s premier annual gathering of business and political leaders is the latest casualty of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The 2020 Western Wayne Business Leadership Banquet scheduled for Oct. 6 has been cancelled. Organizers said it is impossible to plan the event with the current government and best-practice limitations for indoor gatherings. Consumers Energy CEO Patti Poppe was scheduled to be the event’s featured speaker.

The annual event designed to promote collaboration among leaders was created in 2013 and has attracted some 400 people in recent years. Organizers said next year’s event has been scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2021. It will be held at The Henry, Autograph Collection Hotel in Dearborn.

The Livonia Chamber of Commerce partners with neighboring chambers and the Conference of Western Wayne to stage the annual event. The Conference of Western Wayne is a non-partisan, non-profit support organization for 18 cities and townships across western Wayne County, which serve some 700,000 residents.

“We are like so many other event organizers this year in that we are disappointed to have to cancel our program this year,” said Dan West, president of the Livonia Chamber. “Once we get through the challenges of this current environment, we plan to have another energizing and informative banquet next year.”

Leading sponsors of the annual event in recent years included Bank of America, Beaumont Health, OHM Advisors, Fausone Bohn LLP, Plante Moran, Ritter GIS, and Masco Corp. Radio station WWJ-AM (950 AM) has broadcast from the event over the past two years.