For the second year in a row, the Charles County Chamber of Commerce received top honors in the 2023 Chamber Challenge. The announcement was made at the U.S. Small Business Administration’s “37th Maryland Small Business Awards Event” on June 8 at Martin’s West in Woodlawn, MD.
Chamber President & CEO Bonnie Grady accepted the award on behalf of the Chamber. “This is an extreme honor for me. I’m retiring today after 24 years in the chamber world, so I guess you could call this ‘going out with a bang’”.
Accompanying Grady was former Member Services Manager for the Charles County Chamber, Kathy Guzman-Russell. Russell is currently employed by the College of Southern Maryland. Russell welcomed 153 new members to the Chamber between February 2022 and April 2023.
This is Grady’s third time accepting an SBA Chamber Challenge award. The Charles County Chamber took top honors at last year’s awards luncheon and the Cecil County Chamber of Commerce in Elkton, MD, placed third in the Chamber Challenge while Grady was serving as President & CEO for that organization.
Chamber Challenge
The annual Chamber Challenge recognizes chambers across the state for their efforts in supporting Maryland’s small businesses. Chambers are voted on by their members throughout the month of March. The top three winners are announced as part of the annual awards event. In addition to the Charles County Chamber being recognized as the 2023 statewide champion, The Greater Ocean City Chamber of Commerce was awarded second place, while the Northwest Chamber of Commerce was awarded third place.
National Small Business Week
The President of the United States designates one week each year as “National Small Business Week” in recognition of the small business community’s contributions to the American economy.
Maryland Small Business Week
Averaging over 600 attendees each year, the Maryland Small Business Awards is the highlight of the annual Maryland Small Business Week activities.
