More than 275 Fayette Business and Community leaders gathered together for The Fayette Chamber of Commerce Annual Award Celebration on Thursday, January 23, 2020, at The Peachtree City Hotel and Conference Center.  As one of the Chamber’s most anticipated events, this year’s Annual Awards Celebration brought together past recipients, members, elected officials, and community leaders to recognize distinguished businesses and community leaders in Fayette County.

Rob Parker, CEO of Pinewood Atlanta Studios and 2020 Fayette Chamber of Commerce Board Chair, welcomed the attendees and presented plaques of recognition to our outgoing board members for their years of service. The night also featured a video from the 2019 Board Chair Lee Whetstone, MAU Workforce Solutions who touched base on highlights that took place this past year such as the Talent Attraction and Retention initiative as well as Governor Kemp coming to Fayette County in February 2019.

Several chamber members were recognized for their service and participation in the Chamber in 2019.

For advancing the impact of young professionals at the Chamber and in the community, Young Professional of the Year was awarded to Abby Bradley, Pinewood Atlanta Studios.

The Chet Wells Award to honor efforts to further the success of the Chamber was awarded to Derek Mills, Tri Copy.

The Carolyn Cary Dreambuilder Award for outstanding service to the Fayette County community was given to Becky Davenport, Bloom. 

The Nonprofit Award of Excellence recognizes a nonprofit that is making a difference in Fayette County, was awarded to Bloom.

Small Business of the Year was presented to Golf Rider for displaying outstanding planning, operations and community involvement.

This year’s annual award celebration was made possible by presenting sponsor, BB&T and Suntrust now Truist.  Other leading sponsors included Panasonic Automotive Systems Company of America, Piedmont Fayette Hospital, Georgia Power, Cooper Lighting Solutions and Hoshizaki.  Small Business of the Year award was sponsored by Christian City. 

The Fayette Chamber of Commerce announces Chris Clark as the 2019 Outstanding Business Person of the Year recipient at their Annual Award Celebration held January 23 at The Peachtree City Hotel and Conference Center.

Chris Clark, has served as the President and CEO of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce since 2010. Prior to joining the Georgia Chamber, Chris served as Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and as Deputy Commissioner for the Department of Economic Development among other positions.  The Georgia Chamber was founded 104 years ago to focus business and local chamber interest on advocacy and economy growth and today is the largest advocacy organization in the state, and one of the seven largest chambers in the country.

The Georgia Chamber is the only chamber of commerce in the world to win Chamber of the Year two years in a row from two separate organizations. The Georgia Chamber represents almost 50,000 members in every county of the state with a diverse cross section of over 600 industry divisions. The Chamber focuses on advocacy for free enterprise, policy development, business and economic development and political activity and also runs a small business insurance plan through its Chamber Services division.

The Fayette Chamber of Commerce created the Outstanding Business Person of the year award to recognize a business leader in the community.  These successful business leaders must demonstrate unselfish support of the community and exhibit a broad range of involvement in community affairs.  Past recipients of this prestigious award oversee the selection process.