Meet the 2022 Chamber of the Year winners!

The Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives announced the winners of the 2022 Chamber of the Year competition, sponsored by Personify, at the Annual Awards Show during #ACCE22 in Indy.

Chamber of the Year is the most prestigious and competitive award presented by ACCE and is the only globally-recognized industry award that honors top chambers of commerce. Those honored with the Chamber of the Year designation have demonstrated organizational strength and made an impact on key community priorities.

“Chambers of commerce have never been more essential to regional prosperity,” said ACCE President & CEO Sheree Anne Kelly. “This achievement reflects how hard chambers work to ensure the vibrancy of their communities and organizational success. Congratulations to our winners on their outstanding leadership, commitment to its community and serving as a role model for the chamber profession.”

The 2022 Chamber of the Year winners are: 

Category One

Mason City Chamber of Commerce

Mason City, Iowa

Over the past year, the Mason City Chamber has been laser-focused on building community through workforce attraction and retention, working to showcase the area as welcoming and inclusive. Through its Community Concierge program, the chamber helps local employers recruit and retain high-value employees through a variety of services to help in the transition, like personalized tours, connecting families to local school leaders and more. “If we can recruit one physician, that supports eight to 11 additional jobs,” said President & CEO Robin Anderson, CCE, IOM. “If we can recruit a specialist, that supports 18 to 21 additional jobs. It’s not only an economic driver, it’s also a quality-of-life issue.”

Category Two

Henry County Chamber of Commerce

McDonough, Ga.

It started with the Henry County Chamber leading community conversations after local, state and national events put a spotlight on diversity, equity and inclusion. The chamber set to work, trying to figure out ways to bring the community together. Those actions inspired a new initiative, called Culture of Customer Service. “It transitioned and grew to provide hospitality training for our hoteliers and our retailers and looking at the economic impact of diverse customers,” said Joseph Henning, president & CEO. The chamber ensured the community discourse was turned into action through professional development opportunities. The initiative offers two programs: Guest Experience 101 and Hospitality for All. “Diversity is huge in our county,” said Henning. “As a chamber of the future, we’re looking at those proactive models that we can take.”

Category Three

Conway Area Chamber of Commerce

Conway, Ark.

The Conway Chamber crafted the city’s first community strategic plan in 2010. Ten years later, the same week the steering committee was set to meet on their next plan, COVID closed the organization’s doors. Yet the planning process forged ahead, collecting survey responses, convening stakeholders for a visioning retreat and creating a 15-year community strategic plan. The chamber collected over 1,800 survey responses, a 31% increase from the 2010 effort. Conway 2035 was revealed in May 2021. Progress is already being made on the priorities. In February, Conway voters approved a community center/soccer initiative with 81% of the vote, addressing four of the eight goals under the Parks and Recreation section of the plan.

Category Four

Dallas Regional Chamber

Dallas, Texas

In the spring of 2021, vaccination rates in Texas were slowing down. And Texans of color were losing their businesses, jobs and the battle against COVID at higher rates. The Dallas Regional Chamber launched its Take Care of Business/Manos A La Obra vaccination initiative campaign. The goal was to get one vaccine in the arms of 600,000 North Texans over the age of 16 between June and September 2021. “No one asked us to do this. No one expected us to do this. But we knew it needed to be done because communities of color were being affected more than anybody else,” said Dale Petroskey, president & CEO. The public awareness campaign, coupled with an active on-the-ground plan and a campaign toolkit for businesses, surpassed its goal by 60,000 and was the fastest metropolitan area in the country to recover to pre-pandemic job levels.

Learn more about Chamber of the Year here.