By COLE SINANIAN
news@queensledger.com
Hundreds gathered at Flushing Meadows Corona Park on December 3rd to honor Queens’ best and brightest business leaders for the Queens Chamber of Commerce’s annual Queens Business Persons of the Year Awards Dinner.
Governor Kathy Hochul addressed the crowd, as did Queens Borough President Donovan Richards Jr., both praising the seven leaders honored for their service to the borough and their commitment to the betterment of the community. The leaders honored at the ceremony are Cheryl McKissack Daniel, Larry Zogby, Bob and Maureen Shoule, Dr. Helen Arteaga, Kenneth Koenig, and Richard Grebinger.
“I’m thrilled that the Queens Chamber of Commerce is honoring an outstanding group of local leaders who have contributed so much to our borough’s prosperity and vitality,” Richards said. “They have truly gone above and beyond in showing their commitment to the betterment of our community.”
“Bringing people together to honor leaders like Cheryl, Larry, Bob and Maureen, Dr. Arteaga, Kenneth, and Richard is one of the best parts of what we do,” said Tom Grech, President and CEO of the Queens Chamber of Commerce.
Dr. Helen Arteaga Landaverde — CEO, NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst
When she took the helm of the NYC Health + Hospitals Elmhurst branch in 2021, Dr. Helen Arteaga made headlines as the first Latina to lead the hospital, which is a Level 1 Trauma Center. Since she took over, the hospital has grown into one of the nation’s best, with US News and World Report naming it as the area’s “best regional hospital. She’s brought tens of millions in public funding to the facility, notably securing $27.5 million in state money for a new women’s pavilion and a pediatric intensive care unit. She holds degrees from New York University, Columbia University, and in 2025 was honored in City and State New York’s Queens Power 100 list.
Cheryl McKissack Daniel — President and CEO of McKissack & McKissack
As leader of the country’s oldest minority and woman-owned design and construction firm, Cheryl McKissack Daniel’s story is one of family, triumph over hardship, and Black excellence in America. Her book, “The Black Family Who built America,” traces her family’s 230-year legacy from enslavement all the way to the design of some of the city’s most iconic buildings, including the New Terminal One at JFK International Airport, the LaGuardia Airport’s Central Terminal Building Redevelopment, the Coney Island Hospital Campus Renovation, and Columbia University’s Manhattanville expansion, among others. McKissack and her family’s work is a testament to the often overlooked but nevertheless essential contribution of Black families’ to America’s built environment.
Bob and Maureen Shoule
As the team behind the Jamaica Customs Brokerage and Freight Forwarding company, J.W. Hampton Jr & Co., the Shoules helm a 160-year-old company that’s adapted quickly to serving importers and exporters in the ever-changing landscape of international trade. With their sons, Bobby and Michael, Bob and Maureen Shoule form the heart of a multi-generational company that’s earned a reputation for efficiency, integrity, and reliability.
