Albany Chamber recognizes businesses, nonprofits that are making a difference
Staff Photo: Alan Mauldin
By Alan Mauldin
alan.mauldin
@albanyherald.com
ALBANY — The Albany Area Chamber of Commerce honored local businesses and service organizations on Thursday during a ceremony in which the new “Uniquely Albany” award category was introduced.
“The Albany Area Chamber Business Awards celebrates excellence and shines the spotlight on our community and our member organizations — on their success, their innovation, their talent, their contributions, their impact,” Bárbara Rivera Holmes, president & CEO of the chamber, the region’s largest business advocacy organization, said. “We’re honored to recognize these outstanding organizations and honored that they’ve chosen Albany.”
The finalists and winners were chosen from among chamber member organizations that are “making strides, demonstrating a unique vision and establishing best practices.”
The business awards encompass the small business of the year, the nonprofit of the year and the new “Uniquely Albany” award.
The 2021 Small Business of the Year award was presented to Q’s Cakes & More. Q’s Cakes and More was founded out of a deep love for real food, food that is fresh, authentic and made the old-fashioned way.
Quintetta Hall had more than 20 years of baking experience when she decided to start her own business. She said she was a baker by default.
Her family always had big gatherings to which everyone would bring food, but there were never any sweets. Her grandmother taught her how to bake, and after her grandmother passed away, Hall became the baker of the family.
Q’s Cakes was born in 2014 as a home-based business on Gillionville Road. Just one year in, the business suffered a devastating fire, and Hall lost everything.
After much deliberation, she began again from “scratch.” Hall is now located in the heart of Albany’s retail district and employs 15 people.
The business has blossomed into a thriving restaurant with indoor and outdoor seating, space for families and parties, cooking classes, and a personalized vending machine that satisfies her customers’ sweet tooth 24/7.
The 2021 Nonprofit of the Year award was presented to the Lily Pad SANE Center. The Lily Pad provides 24-hour services in Albany and Dougherty County and 19 counties throughout southwest Georgia for victims of sexual assault, child abuse, neglect and deprivation, as well as children in foster care.
The Lily Pad serves the immediate primary needs of its clients, including crisis intervention, forensic interviews and safe, compassionate forensic medical evaluation and evidence collection. A case management approach is used for all clients to ensure that appropriate services are available, to include counseling/therapy for up to 24 months.
The Lily Pad collaborates with local, state, and national resources; and provides a safe haven for victims of sexual assault and their families in the immediate aftermath of an assault. It also educates all stakeholders of the local community regarding sexual assault and child abuse and neglect.
As a nonprofit organization, the Lily Pad never charges victims for services. In 2020, the Firefly House and Oak House Child Advocacy Centers at Lily Pad conducted more than 400 forensic interviews. Children interviews were alleged victims of physical abuse, sexual abuse or witness to the abuse of another child.
The 2021 Uniquely Albany Award was presented to Mars Wrigley Confectionery. Mars Wrigley Confectionary has been making products in Albany for 57 years and is the sole producer of Combos baked, bite-size crackers, pretzels or tortillas packed with cheese.
Anyone in the world who experiences the product experiences Albany, and that’s because this product is” #MadeInAlbanyGA” — and only Albany. Combos are Uniquely Albany.
Albany’s Mars site employs 215 local people, participates in the city of Albany’s annual Christmas parade, and is the presenting sponsor of the popular Snickers Marathon and Half Marathon.
Mars regularly donates to local schools, and Mars associates volunteer in local reading programs. During the pandemic, Mars spread cheer by donating thousands of cases of Combos to health care heroes.
The 2021 Albany Area Chamber Business Awards were sponsored by Flint Equipment Co., Phoebe Putney Health System, Colony Bank, Mitchell EMC, Renasant Bank and CTSI.
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