Local Entrepreneurs, Nonprofit Leaders Honored at Four Corners Summit
Business owners Beverly and Tara Taylor of Artifacts 302 and San Juan Medical Foundation executive director Audra Winters were honored at the Four Corners Professional Women’s Summit, an event drawing roughly 450 attendees that highlighted local entrepreneurship, nonprofit impact and youth development. The recognition underscores downtown revitalization efforts, community health fundraising, and workforce investments through scholarships that brought at least 50 local students to the summit.
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Several hundred community members, business leaders and students gathered this week for the Four Corners Professional Women’s Summit, where officials and organizers spotlighted local efforts to strengthen Main Street and support patient services across San Juan County. The Farmington Chamber Foundation used the gathering of about 450 attendees to present its Business Women of the Year award to Beverly and Tara Taylor of Artifacts 302 and to name Audra Winters, executive director of the San Juan Medical Foundation, Nonprofit Professional of the Year.
The Taylors were honored for their role in downtown revitalization and arts entrepreneurship. Artifacts 302 has been emphasized as a local example of how retail, cultural programming and small-scale arts enterprises can increase foot traffic and contribute to a denser, more economically resilient downtown. Such revitalization efforts can have multiplier effects on nearby restaurants, service providers and property values by concentrating consumer activity in the commercial core.
Winters was recognized for her leadership of the San Juan Medical Foundation, which conducts local fundraising and patient-support work. The foundation’s activities are a critical part of the county’s health-care ecosystem, bolstering access to services and helping fund programs that otherwise may be constrained by limited public budgets. Nonprofit fundraising and patient advocacy frequently fill gaps in rural health infrastructure, and the award spotlights the ongoing reliance on locally driven philanthropy for community health outcomes.
The summit also had an explicit focus on youth and workforce development: organizers provided scholarships that enabled at least 50 local students to attend. Bringing students into professional events exposes them to career pathways, networking opportunities and entrepreneurship models, which can help retain local talent and support long-term economic stability. The presence of students alongside established professionals signals an investment in building a future workforce equipped for small-business growth, healthcare management and the creative economy.
Keynote presentations from leaders at Movement Rx and Exit Velocity framed the conversation around professional development, leadership and business strategy. For a county navigating the challenges of post-pandemic economic shifts, energy-sector fluctuations and efforts to diversify its economic base, gatherings like the summit serve as both recognition and capacity-building. They connect small-business entrepreneurs, nonprofit leaders and the next generation of workers in a shared agenda: strengthening downtown commerce, sustaining essential social services and expanding local opportunities.
By honoring local actors whose work touches commerce, culture and care, the Four Corners summit reinforced the interdependence of small business vitality and nonprofit support in San Juan County’s economic future.
