Albany Area Chamber of Commerce names Small Business of the Year

ALBANY — Business and community leaders packed the Merry Acres Event Center Thursday night as the Albany Area Chamber of Commerce hosted its 2015 Small Business of the Year awards reception to honor the area’s top small businesses.

The winner of this year’s Small Business of the Year award was ComNet Technical Solutions, an IT company that provides help-desk support, network administration, web development, customer programming, project management, eLearning development and other important services designed to help clients be more efficient.

Over the past 15 years, CTSI has continued to grow, increasing its staff by 75 percent and increasing its client base by 45 percent, according to Albany Area Chamber of Commerce interim President Barbara Rivera Holmes.

“CTSI is a top-tier management and help-desk service provider,” said Holmes. “CTSI prides itself on not only helping its clients with their IT challenges, but also really digging deep to understand the business work flow, financial and organizational challenges in order to bring better overall solutions to clients.”

Tammy McCrary, CEO of CTSI, who accepted the award on behalf of the company, said the award was validation for the hard work and dedication the company’s employees have provided to help their clients be successful. It’s the employees, McCrary said, who really deserve the recognition.

“I have to brag on our employees,” she said. “This really shares with everybody what I already know about them, that they work incredibly hard and they give excellent customer service.”

McCrary was also complimentary of the small business community and the Chamber itself for providing the resources necessary for the company’s success.

“I am speechless and truly humbled by this,” said McCrary. “I really want to thank everybody, especially the Chamber. These guys work non-stop for us. Thank you.”

One of the ways that the Chamber will continue to support CTSI is by helping the company seek national recognition.

“The 2015 Small Business of the Year winner will now have the opportunity to submit its application to the state level competition, and the Chamber will support this effort, allowing additional recognition and accolades for the business,” Holmes said. “This is quite an honor.”

While CTSI took home the night’s highest honor, the Chamber also recognized other small businesses and presented three other awards to deserving companies.

Hughey & Neuman Inc., a family-owned and -operated real estate company in operation in Albany for more than 60 years, was named the Small Business of the Year first runner-up, while Artesian Constracting Co., which has grown from 3 to 45 employees in the past seven years, was named second runner-up.

The Bread House and Granary, which is a nonprofit bakery that dedicates 100 percent of its proceeds to help sustain Albany’s Graceway Recovery Residence, was presented the Chamber’s Innovation in Community Service Award.

Jenny Savelle, chair of the Albany Area Chamber of Commerce’s Small Business Resource Committee, explained that the group of finalists was chosen based on criteria that was established by the National Small Business Administration.

“Each business had to meet the criteria set forth by the small business administration,” Savelle said. “They were judged on a point system that considered the business growth, strategy, customer service, innovation, community involvement, chamber participation, environmental impact and creativity, just to name a few.”

Savelle also said that choosing this year’s finalists and winners was especially difficult for the committee, as this year marked the third straight year that the committee has received a record number of nominations.

In addition to the winners, this year’s finalists included The Clay Spot, Cycle World Bike Shop, Healthy Living Farms, Microf Financial Services, Southwest Georgia Living Magazine, Smallcakes and Breakaway Cycles.