As it appeared in the Dallas Post
By Marcella Kester – For Dallas Post
DALLAS — Nicole Farber had much to be thankful for Tuesday as she stood in front of a packed room at Apple Tree Terrance at Newberry Estates.
The CEO of the Dallas-based digital marketing firm ENX2 was one of nine honorees at the fifth annual Back Mountain Chamber Awards event, and one of the evening’s keynote speakers.
Formed in 2012, the chamber has a mission to promote economic growth, improve the community it serves and cultivate balance for the best quality of life experience for residents and businesses alike.
This year, chamber president Cynthia Post Mitchell said the group of 180 members is striving to reach out to businesses across the area to ask one simple question.
“Our big push this year is how can we serve you? How can we make it better?” she declared, adding the chamber plans to feature one area business per week.
As for the awards, Mitchell said ballots were sent out to Back Mountain residents to both nominate, and later vote, for groups in nine different categories.
Categories included Business of the Year, Volunteer of the Year, New and Emerging Business, Customer Service, Young Professional, Community Involvement, Non-Profit, Pride of Place and Entrepreneur.
One winner was declared for each with the exception of Young Professionals, which had two honorees.
“We actually had the same amount of votes for both of them, so we gave it to both of them,” Mitchell said.
Farber was one of the two winners in the category.
After working at a job which she truly loved for years, Farber said she suddenly got the urge to push hard on the brakes and shift lanes into the unknown. So in 2013, she left her job and began her own business venture: ENX2.
Since opening the digital marketing business, Farber has steadily grown in every way, bringing on 15 employees to help high-ranking national and international clients create website and social media campaigns for some of the most talked-about topics, such as the #MeToo movement and the opioid epidemic.
“We’re this company right here in Dallas, PA, and we’re making waves. We’re going down in the history books,” she said. “Everything behind what we do has a distinct purpose. No matter what, at the end of the day, it’s about helping people.”
Farber was both thankful and honored to not only receive the award, but to have a kind team of people behind her — and mentors to look up to. One of those mentors included Entrepreneur of the Year and Pepperjam founder Kristopher Jones.
Also a keynote speaker of the evening, Jones reflected on his last 20 years and the high standards he’d set for himself to be successful.
“In our personal and professional lives, we all have the same ability to set high standards and expectations of what we’re capable of accomplishing and achieving,” he said.
Jones also noted how the area has blossomed into a hub of entrepreneurship over the past few years, citing numerous young professionals — such as Farber — whom he believes will be instrumental in local growth for the next generation.
“They’re the future Rusty Flack and Sandy Insalaco among others that really have helped define Northeast Pennsylvania as a place where you can conduct business and be successful,” Jones said. “They’re the examples that any of us can be as successful as we want to become.”
