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The Tullahoma Area Chamber of Commerce (TACC) held their annual membership celebration at the Manchester Coffee County Conference Center on Friday, awarding members with trophies while acknowledging their efforts in the community during 2022.

Eight awards were presented to chamber members, including: the President’s Award, the Rising Star, the Ambassador of the Year, the Board Member of the Year, the CEO Business Partner of the Year, the Small Business of the Year, the Business of the Year and the Citizen of the Year.

Members of the 2022 Celebration Committee included Andy Whitt, Caroline Hennigan, Catherine Murray, Elizabeth Banks, Emily Raths, Greg Gressel, Ivy Petty, James Fuller, Jessica Lawton, Joanna Reynolds, Joe Orr, Kaycee Edwards, Kim Uselton, Pam Carver, Scarlett Carpenter and Vickie Shelton.

Master of ceremonies Catherine “Cat” Murray opened the event by acknowledging the special guests, committee members and executive board of the TACC, before handing the mic off to the chamber’s marketing and communications coordinator Lily Thompson.

“I have been with the Chamber for a little over a year now, and it truly has been amazing,” Thompson shared. “When I first started, Hope (Nunley) was about to give birth, and the 2021 celebration was just a few weeks away. I wasn’t too sure what to do with myself, as Hope was on maternity leave and Tisha (Fritz) ran around the office taking care of every aspect of the event. At least until I was tasked with attending the event and photographing everyone there.”

She thanked the members for their friendliness and the community they helped make, before calling the other staff members of TACC to the stage for a selfie with the crowd.

TACC assistant executive director and membership director Tisha Fritz then took the stage to share with the attendees the growth that the chamber had achieved in the previous year. In 2022, the TACC reached over 440 members, with more than 72 members joining in the past year. This led to the chamber receiving $11,790 in new member revenue.

Throughout 2022, the TACC held 42 chamber events, in addition to 20 ribbon cuttings and 35 networking events, and had 15,774 event attendees.

“We hit milestones across the board and have achieved greater visibility for our chamber and our members,” she said. “Four hundred and fifty businesses, small to large, have joined an organization with singular focus: to do whatever can be done to help our community thrive. Together, each of us in this room, have made the decision to be a part of the good that is happening in and around Tullahoma.”

She highlighted the media partnerships and tourist visibility that the chamber supports for the town and local businesses, as well as the support of local leaders. She then introduced TACC executive director Hope Nunley to finish the remarks before the presentation of awards.

“The successes that we celebrate are a team effort, and that includes all of you: our members, the staff, the board of directors, the ambassadors and the volunteers that all give their time, talent and resources in support of our mission,” she said.

Event attendees were provided with a three-course meal, which included a salad, main course and dessert, as well as access to a cash bar. During the dinner, attendees were encouraged to participate in a silent auction, which boasted donations from local businesses. Following the presentation of awards, a live auction was held.

Items available in the silent auction were donated by: 4 the Win, About Town Apparel, Advance Auto, Ascend Federal Credit Union, AutoZone, Beechcraft Heritage Museum, The Bookshelf, Buffalo Wild Wings, Camino Real, Cherielynn Gunsell, Cherokee Distributing, Clayton’s Shoe Store, Common John Brewery, Courtesy Cleaners, Definitive Wellness, Divine Canine, EnV Embroidery & Vinyl, EC Design & Print, Emil’s Bistro, Emily Rice – Yard Card Queen, Eye Care Center, F.I.T. Beyond Therapy, Farmington Local Market, Fazoli’s, Furniture Merchandise Outlet, Fuel So Good, Fully Armored, George Dickel, Gondola, Hands-On Science Center, Jack Daniel’s, Jane McChesney, Jim Uselton, L & L Pressure Washing, L & H Distributing, Lakewood Golf & Country Club, Laura Foster Knight, London’s, Meg Glenn, Nature’s Elite, North Jackson Nutrition, O’Charley’s, O’Reilly’s, The Painted House, Piggy’s Place, Raphael’s, Red Lobster, Roscoe Brown, Russell Barnett, Seafood Place, Sherrill Pest Control, SmartBank Mortgage, South Jackson Performing Arts Center, Southern Electric, Stan McNabb, Starbucks, Sun Drop Shoppe, T Michelle Clothier, Templar Shooting Sports, Threads, Tullahoma Drug, Tullahoma Lanes, Uncle Nearest, UPS Store, Willowbrook, Yamato and Yardy Party.

Items available in the live auction included: 5 “Tullahoma” engraved bricks, donated by Fran Marcum; a selection of Jack Daniel’s whiskeys, donated by Jack Daniel’s Distillery; a ‘57 Chevy chauffeured date night, donated by James Fuller; The Flower Shoppe flowers for a year, donated by Nancy Fuller; two UT vs. UConn football tickets, donated by Renee Keene; a load of gravel, donated by Rogers Group; two tickets to a Nashville Predators hockey game, donated by Tommy and Linda Anderton; a legacy whiskey box, donated by Uncle Nearest Distillery; and a jewelry piece, donated by Woodard’s Diamonds & Design.

Corporate table sponsors for the event included many local businesses, namely: Ascend Federal Credit Union; the City of Tullahoma; Coffee Co. Bank; Coffee Co. Government; Clayton’s Shoe Store; Elk River Public Utilities District; Farmington Local Market; FirstBank; First Vision Bank; Good News Magazine; Harton Realty Company; Industrial Board of Coffee County; Jack Daniel’s Distillery; Keller Williams Realty; Lester, Greene, McCord, & Thoma Insurance; Manchester-Coffee County Conference Center; Motlow State Community College; National Aerospace Solutions; Sherrill Pest Control; SmartBank; South Jackson Civic Center; Stan McNabb Automotive; Traders Bank; Tullahoma Area Economic Development Corporation; Tullahoma City Schools; Tullahoma Housing Authority; The Tullahoma News; Tullahoma Utilities Authority; University of Tennessee Space Institute; Vanderbilt Tullahoma Harton Hospital; Weichert Realtors; and Woodard’s Diamonds & Design.