"I am very honored," said Froess, who had no idea he had been nominated. Usually the Chamber will let nominees know of their nomination, but this year the Chamber declined to leak any information. "The Chamber probably didn't tell me because they knew if they told me, I would say no. There are plenty of qualified people to win this," Froess said.

According to Kristin Davis, executive director of the Saratoga Chamber, the criteria for selecting the business of the year is based on the owner being a member of the Chamber and a person who displays "excellence in their profession and provides a valuable service to the community. They must also have initiative and creativity," Davis said.

"Ray's strengths are not only his professionalism but his service to the business community in general," Davis said. "He doesn't do things to promote himself—it is not about being the direct beneficiary. He just says it's 'the right thing to do.' He does remarkable work."

The Chamber announced Froess' win in December. An honorary dinner is planned for Feb. 8 at the Toll House Hotel in Los Gatos, where Froess will be recognized with a plaque and several proclamations from state officials.

Froess has been a resident of Saratoga since 1971, but he did not work with the Chamber until 1990, when he retired from IBM after 25 years as an advisory engineer.

Froess said that when he retired IBM required him to sign a "non-compete" contract, which prevented him from doing any more work in engineering. That is when he discovered marketing. After studying with Los Angeles­based marketing guru Jay Abraham, Froess was soon on his own, setting up shop in his home.

Since 1990, Froess has kept the business going at a steady pace, although he has recently been focusing more on community involvement and supporting the Chamber.

"The deciding factor in our choice was that Ray has done so much for the Chamber," Davis said, pointing out his extensive involvement with Celebrate Saratoga!, which includes handling most of the accounting procedures for the event and the bank booths, which distribute tickets and glasses for the lively event.

Froess also regularly helps with Chamber finance and technology. Davis said he not only renovated the Chamber website but regularly maintains it. One of his largest undertakings was creating a user-friendly database for city business licenses.

"I think they gave me the award because they felt I did so much for them," Froess said. "I'm really just an unpaid employee," he added, jokingly.

Presently, Froess is representing the Chamber in land use contract negotiations with the city, which has been quite time-consuming. Froess doesn't mind, he said, because he would rather focus more on the Chamber than his marketing company anyway.

"I'm not really focusing as much time on my business anymore," Froess said. "Most of the work I do now through my company is pro bono for the Chamber, my church or community members."

Along with Chamber activities, Froess has been involved with Habitat for Humanity, the Wildwood Park cleanup, Neighborhood Watch, Heritage Park maintenance and the Route 85 noise reduction project.

Although he spends much of his time with outside interests, Froess is still very visible in the business community. As a home-based business owner, Froess is aware of the network and income challenges that come with such a business, which is why he has been working for several years to connect the home-based business population in Saratoga.

"I'd like to connect the home-based businesses because when you do that for a living, you live in isolation," Froess said.

Aside from connecting the community, Froess would also like to see the Chamber membership grow.

But above all those goals, as a semiretired entrepreneur, Froess has realized the importance of having downtime, which he spends mostly with his wife. "Now we have time to go on camping trips and hikes," he said. "We just go out and have fun."