Our Awards

Civic & County Honor
20th Anniversary Official Commendation
Presented by the Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners (March 2, 2022)

Hillsborough County Recognizes 20 Years of Local Journalism

On March 2, 2022, the Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners officially commended the Osprey Observer Community Newspapers for two decades of service, celebrating the paper’s dedication to reporting positive, informative hyper-local news throughout eastern and southern Hillsborough County.

Commissioner Stacy White presented the official commendation during the commission meeting, recognizing Publisher Marie Gilmore, her family, and staff members in attendance. Commissioner White noted that what began as a home-based, four-page newsletter had grown into a community fixture delivering more than 200 pages across five monthly editions to over 70,000 mailboxes.

“The Osprey Observer is really a centerpiece for eastern and southern Hillsborough County. It’s a free newspaper that’s in your mailbox each month… As I look through my keepsakes and things I have in boxes at home, I have so many cutouts from the Osprey Observer, especially watching my kids grow up and so many of the special events they’ve been involved in—from scouting to school awards. We are very appreciative of what you bring to the table for our community.”
— Commissioner Stacy White, Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners

The official resolution recognized the publication’s mission of community betterment and celebrated its widespread acclaim, noting its previous Small Business of the Year honors from the Greater Brandon, Greater Riverview, Greater Tampa, and Valrico FishHawk Chambers of Commerce.

“We are 100% supported by small businesses in the community who make the choice to advertise with the Osprey Observer so we can get delivered into mailboxes for free. We love covering good news—businesses opening, certifications, local kids winning awards, becoming Eagle Scouts, and going on to national television. These are the things we love to celebrate in southeast Hillsborough County, where we all live and raise our families.”
— Marie Gilmore, Accepting the Commendation

Community Honor
Small Business of the Year Award (6–15 Employees)
Presented by The Greater Brandon Chamber of Commerce

Observer Thanks Community For Award

It was the who’s who of Brandon’s Business Community gathering in anticipation of announcing The Greater Brandon Chamber of Commerce (BCOM) winners of the 2007 Small Business of the Year award.

This event has been going on for 27 years and President and CEO of BCOM Tammy Bracewell says, “Each year I am amazed at the quality of businesses that continue to come forward and be recognized in our community.” Bracewell explains, “These annual awards identify small area businesses that demonstrate leadership, positive growth, development, creativity, integrity, as well as a commitment to community service.”

The nominees go through a very detailed application process Bracewell says, including outsourced judges reviewing applications, interviewing the candidates, and visiting the finalist’s place of business.

In the category of businesses with 6–15 employees, Osprey Observer Newspapers walked away with the honor, and Publisher Marie Gilmore had tears in her eyes as she, Associate Editor Kate Quesada, and Office Manager Michelle Colesanti accepted the award.

“This recognition is not only for the newspaper, but for all our dedicated readers and advertisers because they are the ones that support us each and every day.”
— Marie Gilmore, Publisher

Gilmore started the newspaper as a one-page newsletter in FishHawk 6 years ago and it has grown to four editions with a circulation of more than 80,000 copies, along with a website and the launch of MyOspreyTV. Quesada says, “I couldn’t be prouder of our staff that has always gone the extra mile to make this newspaper a success.”

Colesanti has been with Gilmore since the beginning and says, “Marie has an energy to make things happen; to put forth an idea and we have a great team to put it into action. The Osprey Observer doesn’t just print community events, we as a team get involved in them, whether it is cleaning the highways or participating in fundraisers.”