HUTTO — The annual Hutto Chamber of Commerce awards gala Saturday night saw the city’s leaders and biggest promoters moving and grooving and getting recognized for their achievements.
About 250 business members and community decision-makers attended the 2025 Glam Disco Gala — Studio 54 Edition, which took place Feb. 1 at Kalahari Resorts & Convention Center in Round Rock.
“The Chamber’s purpose is to connect small and large businesses and people, and events like this are created so they can make the most of those connections,” said Shaiza Chaudhry, Chamber spokeswoman. “Through these awards, we recognize the impact these businesses and individuals are making to the community.”
Peter Gordon, Hutto’s mayor pro tem, was named Citizen of the Year.
He also serves on the board for the agency that won Nonprofit of the Year.
“Serving others has been a part of my life since my teenage years. I received advice from a mentor when I was 18 to look for ways to be a strength to my community, and I took that to heart,” Gordon said.
The City Council member added, “I find great joy in serving and helping others and making a difference in my community. I have found that my love, understanding and compassion for others increases as I serve those around me. Hutto is a part of me, and giving back is a natural outgrowth of the love I have for our community.”
Terrence Owens, a health care professional and a trustee on the Hutto Independent School District board, was named the Lifetime Achievement award recipient.
Like Gordon, Owens has a long history of serving the city and its residents.
“It’s been a humbling experience. I do the work not to get recognized, I do the work because I care,” Owens said. “(At the gala), the business community recognized me for the value and service I am intentionally providing our community.”
For Owens, serving on the board of the Sandbox at Madeline’s Place in 2014 was the beginning of a journey that included fully immersing himself in Hutto’s civic and community needs.
Since then, he said he has taken every opportunity to learn more about the city and its residents.
“I am all things Hutto. I do everything I can to promote our community in a way that makes people want to come here,” Owens said. “I cannot serve the community if I do not know the community. I am constantly meeting people in their space to hear their stories. I do those things so I can understand and have empathy with the people I have to serve.”
