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The Albany Area Chamber of Commerce held its 103rd Annual Meeting Thursday evening at the Hilton Garden Inn.

The who's who of Albany turned out to the meeting to give thanks to outstanding community leaders.

“We're going to be highlighting our three annual awards that we do; our ambassador of the year, our non-profit of the year and our lifetime service awards,” said Chris Hardy, President and CEO of the Albany Area Chamber of Commerce.

Miles Espy, 2012 Chairman of the Albany Area Chamber of Commerce, passed the gavel to Cynthia George to lead the chamber through 2013. He says although the economy isn't back to a full recovery, the chamber is looking forward to a year of prosperity.

“We've got some initiatives that we believe are really going to pay some huge dividends,” said Miles Espy.

Espy says chamber members and community leaders are actively working to see the city's five year plan unfold and the incoming chair says it's her goal to be apart that growth.

“I just hope that over the coming months and the next year that we can let other businesses in our community know what the benefits of the chamber are so that we can grow our chamber,” said Cynthia George, Albany Area Chamber of Commerce 2013 Chair of the Board.

As Cynthia George moves into her new position, she's hoping for unity amongst business leaders.

“It's important that we pull together, we pull our resources and we start looking at things as partners in the region of southwest Georgia and I hope that our chamber can lead that effort,” said Cynthia George.

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