Three of the East Bay’s most successful entrepreneurs were honored Thursday night when the East Bay Chamber of Commerce held its annual Awards Dinner at the Ramada Banquet and Conference Center in Seekonk.

Lisa Raiola and Waterman Brown, the husband and wife team from Bristol who founded the Hope & Main kitchen incubator in Warren, were named Citizens of the Year. And Beth Carter, owned of Beth Carter Enteprises of Warren, was named the 2016 Chamber Member of the Year.

Ms. Raiola and Mr. Brown, who started working on the Hope & Main project in 2009 and saw it open in late 2014, have had a good year as their non-profit has flourished.

Hope & Main “has met and doubled, even tripled my expectations of what I thought we could do in a few years, never mind 20 months,” Ms. Raiola said.

“One in every three food businesses opened in Rhode Island in the past year was started in Hope & Main. We’re very excited about what we’ve been able to accomplish.”

Hope & Main’s kitchens are available to anyone with a dream and a recipe. Its services are available at low rates, and since it opened more than 100 small startup businesses — and a few big ones — have come through its doors.

In her business, Ms. Carter works with executives on business and career coaching, gives workshops and presentations on business efficiency and motivation and consults in other areas of business. In effect, she writes, she serves as a “thought partner” for executives and middle managers of small and Fortune 500 companies, business owners, and those who want to have more fulfilling careers.

Since joining the chamber two years ago, Ms. Carter has joined the Board of Directors and also chairs the Public Relations Committee. She oversees the member spotlight stories and the chairman’s message, as well as being a standout leader in the Chamber’s women’s group, WEBOND.

Changing of the guard

The annual dinner also serves as an installation for the new board of directors. Bette Walpole, the Chamber Membership Director, will serve as the new board chairperson for a two-year term. Lou Victorino, owner of East Bay Manufacturing, will serve as chair-elect. Other new board members include Joe Hozempa of Round Two, Luca Carnevale of Hope & Main and Jessica Pflaumer, the Economic Development Coordinator for the Town of Bristol. Mark DeVine of DeVine and Associates will assume the role of secretary/treasurer, relieving Joe Farmer.