Nominations open for annual chamber awards

By Randy Grider
randy@casscountynow.com

Nominations are now open for the Atlanta Area Chamber of Commerce annual awards.
Categories include Man of the Year, Woman of the Year, Business of the Year, Educator of the Year and Youth of the Year.
The deadline to nominate someone for one of the awards is Feb. 10.
“Anyone in the community can nominate someone,” Chamber President Miranda Johnson said. “Our Business of the Year has to be a chamber member, but the community awards are wide open to everyone.”
There is one form to nominate a person or business for an award. The exception is Youth of the Year, which is a separate award.
“The Youth of the Year awards has a different form,” Johnson said. “We look for an outstanding youth, ages 13 through 19 --- who has had a profound impact on their peers or on their community or someone who has overcome some kind of challenge.”
As for Men of the Year and Woman of the Year, Johnson said the awards are based in part on community service.
“We look for someone who has gone above and beyond what their job description is,” Johnson said. “We look for someone who is really well-rounded and really involved in a lot of facets of the community. They might be involved in volunteering with a civic club or their church or they do something independently and who might not get a lot of recognition for what they do.”
Educator of the Year can someone from any area school within the chamber’s reach.
“They can be any of our service ISDs. That person can be from Atlanta, Queen City, Bloomburg or McLeod,” Johnson said.
The awards will be presented at the annual chamber banquet on March 4 at the Atlanta Middle School.
Nomination forms are available at the chamber office. Nomination forms can be emailed or faxed to anyone interested. For more information, call 903-796-3296.