The Gwinnett Chamber hosted the annual Small Business Awards last week at 12Stone Church in Lawrenceville.
The program, presented by Atlanta Small Business Network, named ten winners among the best in the region for exceptional business practices and entrepreneurial excellence.
“Ninety-nine percent of all businesses in Georgia are small businesses, making this industry a critical component to the future of our economic health and well-being,” said Nick Masino, President & CEO, Gwinnett Chamber and Partnership Gwinnett. “We are honored to champion these amazing individuals and organizations through today’s program and want to congratulate the nominees, finalists, and winners on their incredible success this year.”
Rikki Klaus, producer for CNN, emceed the awards program, calling out each of the ten winners by name and category to come to the stage and receive their award. Category winners included:
- Community Contributor Award – Annandale Village
- Culture Creator Award – Virguez Law
- Emerging Entrepreneur Award – Elizabeth M’balu Oke – PivotPath
- Founder Award – Grace Fricks – Access to Capital for Entrepreneurs
- Launch Award – Byron Hospitality
- Minority-Owned/Woman-Owned Business Award – 32 Pearls Family Dentistry
- Small Business (0-5 Employees) Award – Cartridge World (Lawrenceville)
- Small Business (6-24 Employees) Award – El-Amin Orthopaedic & Sports Medicine Institute
- Small Business (25+ Employees) Award – Capital Restoration
- Support System Award – Atlanta Chinese Entrepreneurs Club
The program also hosted featured speaker Terri-Nichelle Bradley, Founder & CEO of Brown Toy Box, who sat down with Jim Fitzpatrick, President & CEO of Atlanta Small Business Network, to share her journey of success from start-up to one of Oprah’s Favorite Things in 2022.
The awards program comes on the heels of Gwinnett’s recent announcement on being named a five-star accredited Chamber through the U.S. Chamber of Commerce where it credited its members and investors, many of whom were present for today’s program, for their commitment and contributions that helped earn this designation for the non-profit organization.
