Chamber of the Year: Meet the Category One Finalists

Since 2007, ACCE has annually recognized chambers of commerce for their work leading businesses and communities with the Chamber of the Year award. In today’s ever-evolving landscape, a chamber’s ability to adapt and thrive, to be visionary and forward-thinking is paramount to achieving success and spurring economic growth. Here’s a look at a few programs that helped earn these chambers a spot as a Chamber of the Year finalist.

Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce | Chino, California

To address the workforce needs and capabilities in Chino Valley, the chamber created Upskill Chino Valley. This program directly contributes to business sustainability and community prosperity. It supports businesses in adapting to changing market needs by providing targeted training and development opportunities, thereby increasing employment rates and business growth.

The results show an increase in employment rates, number of participants and the positive feedback from businesses on employee performances post training.

Newnan Coweta Chamber of Commerce, Inc. | Newnan, Georgia

In their efforts to align ideas and vision for the community, the chamber created the Forward Coweta Summit. This day-long event is held annually to bring together businesses, government and the community to educate about key issues and to create meaningful civic dialogue around those issues.

After discovering many businesses in their region suffered from a lack of e-commerce during the pandemic, the chamber created the GODigital Coweta program, a microgrant program funded with American Rescue Plan Act dollars. It is designed to help Coweta small businesses with 25 or fewer employees, who realized a significant negative impact due to COVID-19. The program has positively impacted over 60 businesses.

 
Opelika Chamber of Commerce | Opelika, Alabama

When the pandemic caused many of the restaurants in Opelika to struggle or close, the chamber created Food Truck Friday to remedy the situation and never looked back. This monthly event in Opelika’s historic downtown has driven significant traffic and sales tax dollars into the community. 

Learn who will be the Category One Chamber of the Year at the #ACCE24 Awards Show, presented by Comcast Business, on Wednesday, July 17 in Dallas, Texas. The Chamber of the Year program is sponsored by Growthzone. Can’t make it? Follow @ACCEHQ on any social media platform to see who wins as it happens!