Gwinnett Chamber’s Nick Masino discusses the upcoming Small Business Awards ceremony

Next Friday, the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce will be recognizing local small business owners at their Gwinnett Chamber Small Business Awards ceremony. Community leaders, entrepreneurs and more will be in attendance to show their support for the county’s economy. Nick Masino is the President and CEO of both the Gwinnett Chamber and Partnership Gwinnett, and has spent years encouraging small business growth across Georgia. Jim Fitzpatrick, host of the Atlanta Small Business Show, sits down with Masino to discuss next week’s event.

Gwinnett County is a unique economic powerhouse. While most Metro-Atlanta communities are sustained by larger corporations and Fortune-500 companies, the county’s small business arm is so strong that when global banking giant NCR moved its headquarters closer to Atlanta, instead of suffering an unemployment crisis, job growth actually increased from the previous year. This happened in spite of the fact that 95% of its 3,000 companies have less than 15 employees, meaning hundreds of new startups took the corporation’s place. Local businesses represent many industries, pulling in employees from across the globe and shoring the region against economic headwinds.

Because small business is so integral to Gwinnett’s success, the awards were arranged to both encourage entrepreneurs and to give recognition to the county’s contributors. The event is also a perfect exposure and networking opportunity for nominees and attendees. While tickets are extremely limited, Masino notes there is still some room for those interested.

After the ceremony, the Gwinnett Chamber plans to focus on revitalizing itself to continue attracting the attention of local entrepreneurs. The members will also continue supporting their community’s business operations by conducting data collection for economic forecasts and developing initiatives to drive growth. Above all, Masino will be focusing on helping his county recover from the job and revenue losses sustained from COVID, as he notes many leaders are still overwhelmed by the pandemic’s economic fallout.

ASBN is a proud sponsor of the Gwinnett Chamber Small Business Awards, and will be in attendance at the ceremony. Expect to see more coverage of the event in the coming days.

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