Sandy Keith Downtown Impact Award

   Nominations for the Sandy Keith Downtown Impact Award are open until 11:59 p.m. July 31, 2023. Fill out the online form or download one here.

In downtown Rochester, we are fortunate to have so many people, organizations, businesses, and initiatives dedicated to making downtown a better place to live, work, lead, invest, eat, sleep, play, heal, learn, grow, and more.

The late A.M. “Sandy” Keith was one of those people. Sandy was the driving force behind the genesis of the Rochester Downtown Alliance (RDA) back in the early 2000s. To honor Sandy’s work and encourage more people to explore ways to make an impact on downtown, the RDA created the “Sandy Keith Downtown Impact Award.”

This award is presented to a person or group whose efforts have made or are making a substantial impact on the downtown community. The goal is to recognize those who continue to demonstrate passion for urban growth and community development and encourage others to do the same.

The inaugural “Sandy Keith Downtown Impact” Award was given to Sandy himself in 2017.

Past Sandy Keith Downtown Impact Award Recipients

   2021: Shawn and Michelle Fagan of Fagan Studios
   2020: Terry Spaeth and the late Gus Chafoulias
   2018: Cafe Steam and Ardell Brede
   2017: Sandy Keith