The Gwinnett Chamber welcomed more than 900 business and community leaders to the Gas South District Grand Ballroom on Friday evening to celebrate seventy-eight years of progress at its Annual Dinner, presented by Northside Hospital. The evening recognized a dozen individuals and organizations whose leadership and service have made a lasting impact on Gwinnett’s business community and quality of life.

Emceed by Gwinnett Chamber and Partnership Gwinnett President & CEO Nick Masino, the program highlighted this year’s honorees and their accomplishments. It reflected on the Chamber’s continued role in championing business and community advancement across the region.

“These awards are about recognizing the leaders who show up, step forward, and advance this community with intention,” said Masino. “Our honorees reflect what it means to ‘make business their business’ and epitomize servant leadership through their investment in the success of others. We congratulate them — and their families — on their well-earned success.”

The 2026 Citizen of the Year award was presented to John Michael Levengood, Law Office of J. Michael Levengood, LLC.

Public Service Award recipients included Jim Brooks, Evermore Community Improvement District; Majority Leader Chuck Efstration, Georgia House of Representatives, District 104; T. Lanier Levett, Gregory B. Levett & Sons Funeral Homes & Crematory; Joy M. Mitchell, Office Creations; and Ginger Powell, Gwinnett Hospital System Foundation & Northside Hospital Gwinnett

Street Grace, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preventing and fighting the sexual exploitation of children, received the D. Scott Hudgens Humanitarian Award.

The James J. Maran International Award was given to Price Industries, Gwinnett’s second-largest manufacturing operation and the largest Canadian manufacturer in the area with three locations in Georgia.

R. Wayne Shackelford Legacy Awards were posthumously presented to Robert “Bob” Baroni, Former Manager, City of Lawrenceville; Randall W. Dixon, Founder and Former Board Chairman, Precision Planning, Inc.; and Dick Goodman, Former Chair, Gwinnett County Public Library Board and Former Council Member, City of Suwanee

Gwinnett Chamber’s Ambassador of the Year was Lisa Thompson with Thompson Hypnotherapy, LLC, and its salesperson of the year was Amanda Petrone, Sr. Membership Development Manager.

Immediate Past Chair Brad Carr, Andersen Tate & Carr, passed the gavel to incoming Chair Kim Hartsock with Warren Averett. Hartsock is the sixth woman to serve as Chair in the Gwinnett Chamber’s history. In her remarks, she called leaders to be vision carriers and Champion Gwinnett (watch video) sharing how our community is working to connect business through Chamber membership, drive opportunity with Partnership Gwinnett, accelerate small business through the Foundation, and advance leaders with Gwinnett Young Professionals.

The Annual Dinner remains one of the region’s premier business gatherings, serving as both a celebration of achievement and a reflection of the leadership that continues to shape Gwinnett’s future.

View Red Carpet Photos provided by Mighty 8^th.