GvilleTX could not confirm from a primary source that the Denison Chamber of Commerce is taking nominations for its GLOWI women's leadership awards. The newsroom also could not verify that this year's ceremony is set for Nov. 18 at Tanglewood Resort in Pottsboro. Cooke County residents who want to nominate someone can ask the Denison chamber directly for the deadline and eligibility rules.
The chamber's website returned no readable content when the newsroom checked. Tanglewood's meetings page gives the resort's address as 290 Tanglewood Circle in Pottsboro. That page does not confirm a GLOWI booking.
Public records do establish two earlier ceremonies. The Denison Development Alliance's 2024 year-end report calls that year's GLOWI event the first. The report also says two alliance employees gave their time to help guests. Minutes from the Nov. 20, 2025, meeting of Denison's Main Street Advisory Board say GLOWI was held the day before. That puts the second ceremony on Nov. 19, 2025. An event this fall would be the third.
One 2025 honoree appears in the public record. Emily Agans's professional profile states that Agans works for the City of Denison and received GLOWI's 2025 Young Woman of Influence recognition.
The Denison chamber's link to women's honors is older than GLOWI. Austin College's biography of Melissa Woodall says Woodall received an ATHENA Award in connection with the chamber in 1998.
The awards come from across the county line. The Texoma Council of Governments' membership directory places the Denison chamber in neighboring Grayson County and the Gainesville chamber in Cooke County.
An earlier regional program reached into Cooke County. Austin College began presenting annual ATHENA Leadership and Young Professional Leadership awards in 2014. The college said the program recognized women who lived and worked in Grayson, Fannin or Cooke counties. According to the college, the Sherman chamber had given ATHENA awards before a gap of several years. Austin College postponed its 2020 program indefinitely because of COVID-19 precautions.
Denton's chamber honors women through its business awards. Its Small Business Awards include a Woman-Owned Business of the Year category, and community members may submit nominations. Brite Smiles by Heather won the 2026 award. The Denton chamber says nominations for 2027 will open in February of that year.
Nationally, the number of women-owned businesses with paid employees grew by nearly 20% between 2017 and 2023, according to the Census Bureau. Women owned 22.9% of U.S. employer businesses in 2023, the bureau reported.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
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