Citizen of the Year
Recognizing + celebrating the heroes among us.
For 50 years, the Auburn Business Association has recognized extraordinary individuals who have contributed their time and abilities to our community. In 1974, the ABA began a tradition of honoring an outstanding person in the community for business and community service.
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The purpose of this award is to recognize a person who lives or works in Auburn who has made a local, state or national impact and thus enriched our community. This may have been accomplished through a lifetime of service or by a single deed, the benefit of which will continue to be felt and recognized years later.
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Originally called “Man of the Year,” it evolved into “Citizen of the Year” when a woman received it in 1981. Residency in Auburn is not required, only that the person has business and/or service activities in Auburn.
2025 Citizen of the Year: Phillip L. Crowell, Jr.
The ABA's annual Citizen of the Year event was held on May 28th at the Auburn Senior Community Center. We presented our 51st annual "Auburn Citizen of the Year" award to someone incredibly deserving: Auburn City Manager, Phillip L. Crowell, Jr.!!
Phil was warmly celebrated by local, state and national elected officials and their representatives, local community and business leaders, retired Auburn City Manager Peter Crichton (our emcee for the evening), and a room FULL of dear friends, family members, colleagues, and city staff!
Please join us in congratulating Auburn native, proud Veteran, much-loved husband, father, friend, brother, son and mentor, respected community leader, and current Auburn City Manager...Phil Crowell, the Auburn Business Association's 2025 Citizen of the Year!
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L to R: ABA President Nicole Lajoie Caron, Phil & Jen Crowell
Previous recipients...
1974 Clarence Cole
1975 Malcom Philbrook, Jr.
1976 Earl B. Austin
1977 Gerard Rousseau
1978 Ralph Hodgkins
1979 Al Savignano
1980 Harry Nason
1981 Lee Young
1982 Pennell Woodard
1983 Ernest Cobb
1984 Barbara Ring
1985 Gerald LaPlante
1986 Richard Kendall
1987 R. Peter Whitmore
1988 Jane P. Norris
1989 Eugene Keene
1990 Thomas N. Hackett
1991 Stephen B. Austin
1992 William Rogers
1993 Harold Lucas
1994 Toni Ramsey
1995 Ralph Tuttle
1996 Rachel Desgrosseilliers
1997 Peter Frewen
1998 Toby Tiner, Jr.
1999 Tom Platz
2000 Jim Bouchles
2001 Chip Morrison
2002 Barbara Trafton
2003 John Emerson
2004 Rebecca Swanson Conrad
2005 Donna Steckino
2006 Rob Lebel
2007 Sharon Millett
2008 Dick Gleason
2009 Tom Poulin
2010 Peter Garcia
2011 Jim Wellehan
2012 Gary Hemenway
2013 Olympia Snowe
2014 Dan Campbell
2015 Greg Whitney
2016 Rachel Morin
2017 Kenneth Blais
2018 Allyson Casares
2019 Peter Murphy
2022 Daniel A. Cote
2023 Gerald "Scott" Whalen
2024 Robert "Bob" Brainerd