By: Megan Roche

The Mount Olive Chamber of Commerce recently celebrated their Business and Humanitarian Awards (BAHA) dinner on June 8. The Business Award was given to Ernesto Buonincontri, owner of Enzo’s Pizzeria, while the Humanitarian Award was presented to Billy Lockwood.

The Mount Olive Chamber of Commerce BAHA Awards have been a long-standing tradition within the township. The annual event seeks nominations for both the businessperson and humanitarian. Recipients are always honored at a dinner event in the spring. The businessperson must be a member of the chamber who has demonstrated outstanding professionalism in service to the business community. The humanitarian award, named in honor of Tom Klecka, is a person who demonstrates dedication and commitment through volunteer efforts in the community. The humanitarian is not required to be a member of the chamber. 

Enzo’s Pizza is a staple in Mount Olive and many call the pizza shop a favorite. 

The history of Enzo’s Pizza is special to the Buonincontri family. “Enzo’s was founded 45 years ago when my parents traveled here from Naples Italy. My siblings and I worked alongside each other starting as soon as the age of 9, we left school to help our families. My wife joined me over 30 years ago as a business partner and she has helped me elevate the business in a way that I could never do alone, she has been by my side, and she has sacrificed so much with me. We have dedicated our mission to keeping the traditions of Italian cuisine while serving the modern world. My children have worked alongside me and have always been dedicated to helping us manage the day to day of the business. My son has joined me as a partner and this has been such an honor, he will carry this business to a place much greater than I could ever have imagined,” Buonincontri said.

Enzo’s is always giving back to the community in anyway that they can. Buonincontri is their for his customers in the good times and the bad. The Buonincontri children have attended the Mount Olive schools, and Buonincontri strives to help other local businesses. For the entire Buonincontri family, he’s humbled to accept the award. 

“I feel beyond blessed and honored as a community contributor for over 45 years. My family has worked tirelessly alongside me and this not only honors me but the hands of my entire family who helped us get to where we are today. This honors my father who came here from Italy, this honors my son who will carry on the 3rd generation of a business. I serve not for recognition however this means so very much to my entire family. We give our business all we have and have sacrificed so very much to be able to stand where we are today. We stood the test of time and the test of the pandemic and with each challenge we somehow grow stronger as a family, a business, a community,” Buonincontri said.

Bill Lockwood has been a member of the 200 Club of Morris County for the last 20 years. He is a past president of the 200 Club and serves on seven committees. He’s collected and organized numerous donation events, including the 9/11 Relief Effort at Newark Airport, the Sri Lanka Tsunami Relief Effort in Denville, and Hurricane Katrina relief. He has helped arrange for the purchase of freezers for the Mount Olive Food Pantry. He also volunteers at Vasa Park for VetFest each summer. In 2020, he worked hard to secure PPE for first responders. He has also been a past 11-year volunteer Coach for Mount Olive Recreation Soccer; and 6 year coach for both Travel Baseball and football in Mount Olive.

Currently he is a trustee for the Mount Olive Area Chamber of Commerce and he is the current President of the Mount Olive High School Varsity Baseball Club and past President of the Varsity Football Parents Association. 

Lockwood shares the following; “First of all I am humbled by this award. I’m not sure why I was chosen, my Dad always taught me to help others, whether it be cutting their lawn, bringing in the newspapers for our neighbors when they were on vacation or just visiting people in our neighborhood that were too old to socialize to make them feel that they were a part of the “Neighborhood Family.” I have always lived my life with the philosophy to treat others the way you would like to be treated. The main reason to celebrate this award as opposed to this honor is my ability to have a platform to ask others to give of themselves, for lack of a better phrase, to Pay it Forward! It’s not what we take from this world, it’s what we leave behind for our children! Remember in Kindergarten when at the end of the day you had to clean up your toys so the classroom would be in a better place than when you left it? I feel that way about the future for my children. Yes, it may sound corny but if you could make someone’s life better by simply feeding them, housing them or sitting and listening to them, why wouldn’t you do it?”