Marie Case, Newport Beach’s favorite Italian gal about town, was announced as the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce’s 2024 Citizen of the Year on Tuesday, Aug. 6 at a surprise gathering at VEA Resort & Spa.
The award, presented since 1949, honors long-term, continuing commitment to the community.
VEA General Manager Debbie Snavely, the 2018 Citizen of the Year and recently named “Top General Manager for Marriott North America,” ushered Marie into the hotel’s newly renovated Reveal Room for a Tattinger champagne toast with civic leaders including Chamber President and former Mayor Steve Rosansky and former Citizens of the Year David Beek (2022), Mayor Pro Tem Joe Stapleton (2020), former Mayor Nancy Gardner (2019), Seymour Beek (2005), Paul Watkins (2015), Nancy Skinner (2014), Tom Johnson (2011), and former Mayor Tom Edwards (2000).
Rosansky said of Case, “Marie’s contribution to the Newport Beach community makes all the difference, she is a ‘doer’ and consistently contributes her expertise, imagination, and ‘we can’ attitude”.
This isn’t Case’s first time to be recognized, having won the Chamber’s Silver Anchor Award in 2016 for participating in the betterment of the business, residential, civic and recreational environment in our community.
The Commodores Club, an arm of the Chamber, marked its 60 years of service in 2020 and named Marie its first female skipper that same year. Case took decisive action creating “Commodores Cruising in Cars Getting Coffee” to bring people together during the pandemic-forced cancellations of public events.
Also, the Newport Beach City Council invited Case to the January 2024 Council Meeting to receive a Proclamation in appreciation of her many contributions to the city.
Case’s leadership around town transcends her work with the Chamber having included serving on the Board of Leadership Tomorrow and supporting the efforts of nonprofits like the Sherman Library & Gardens, Balboa Island Museum, and the Newport Beach Library and Arts Foundations. Her commitment is year-long with many of the town’s signature events including the Christmas Boat Parade, Ring of Lights, Sandcastle Contest and Art in the Park.
With a background in advertising, Case runs her own marketing services company, Case Communications. A Newport Beach resident since 1987, she joined the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce in the 1990s and was elected to the Commodores Club in 2010.
Her career spans the country having developed strategies for multi-national resort properties and sports endeavors, with stints in Aspen, Colorado, Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and here in Newport Beach, where she has consulted to a variety of clients including Catalina Island, Laguna Beach Visitors Bureau, Surfer Magazine and the Orange County Register.
Case also co-founded Board-Trac, a firm that specializes in marketing and research in the action sports space and has been widely quoted in national and international media.
Molte Grazie Marie Case!
Robyn Grant is a member of the Newport Beach City Council. First elected in 2022, she represents the 4th District. She can be reached at rgrant@newportbeachca.com or @robynbgrant.
