(New photos added 10:12 am. Above, the Chamber says more than 125 attended)
With the sun making a cameo appearance outside the waterfront windows, the banquet level of Salty’s on Alki hosted an energetic gathering this morning – the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce‘s annual awards breakfast. Salty’s also happened to be the winner of “Business of the Year”:

(Cindy Smith and Bonnie David from Salty’s)
Greg Whittaker of Mountain to Sound Outfitters accepted “Emerging Business,” a new award category:

(Mountain to Sound Outfitters crew, with owner Greg Whittaker back row, left)
The West Seattle Farmers’ Market was the nonprofit honoree; and Rick Jump of the White Center Food Bank drew a standing ovation as he received the “Westsider of the Year” award:

Jump spoke briefly, and emotionally, saying he sees “the face of hunger” daily, and that’s what keeps him going:

The chamber has much to celebrate, noted board chair Dave Montoure of West 5 as he opened the event – new membership, he said, is up 200 percent.

Keynote speaker for the morning was Jordan Royer, a maritime-industry executive who ran for City Council two years ago and had harsh words for Mayor Mike McGinn without ever saying his name – criticizing what he sees as a “stupid strategy to force gridlock as transportation policy,” alleging a deliberate effort to force people out of cars, which Royer contended will be around for a long time to come – just not using fossil fuels. (Added above, video of all but the first couple lines of his speech.) He also urged the WS Chamber to lead the way in advocacy; and he expressed economic optimism. His father, former mayor Charles Royer, was at the event, as well as King County Executive Dow Constantine, County Councilmember Joe McDermott, and City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen:

(From left, Rasmussen, Constantine, Harbor Properties‘ Denny Onslow, Charles Royer, McDermott)
More to come.