Written by Tanya Terry
Featured of 2024 awards ceremony courtesy of Flint & Genesee Group
Explore Flint & Genesee has extended an invitation to the community to help them celebrate the numerous outstanding business leaders, hospitality professionals and community champions in our area by submitting nominations for the Art of Achievement Awards.
“By nominating them in different categories, we have the opportunity to kind of shine the spotlight on some of them,” said Amari Steward, executive director of Explore Flint & Genesee.
Steward added: “We not only celebrate their impact, but also inspire others and show them what’s possible when business leaders invest in our community.”
Flint and Genesee County residents can nominate individuals, businesses and organizations by visiting https://www.flintandgenesee.org/art-of-achievement-awards/ and clicking either business or hospitality awards.
“They can submit as many nominations as they want,” said Steward. “There are about 14 different categories in business and hospitality. We welcome all nominations. We celebrate all types of businesses, and even nonprofits. We even have a Young Professionals Award that we’re accepting nominations for, as well.”
Business Awards presented by the Flint & Genesee Chamber include:
The Business Impact Award for companies with 50 or more employees;
The Claire M. White Award, honoring a woman working for the betterment of Flint & Genesee;
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Champion, intended to recognize a business or organization that has demonstrated leadership in helping make Flint and Genesee a place of opportunity and inclusion for all;
Minority-Owned Business Award, intended to honor an impactful minority-owned business;
The Nonprofit Impact Award for charities, church or nonprofits;
The Small Business Award for companies with fewer than 50 employees;
And the Young Professional Leader Award for professionals 40 or under.
“Then, there’s our hospitality awards that focuses basically on how we service our guests. How do we serve our visitors when they’re visiting our area? When you go visit somewhere, you think about ‘what do I want to eat?’ and ‘where do I want to stay?’ And it’s really those frontline ambassadors that really make a difference in the visitors’ experience. So, this night gives us an opportunity to acknowledge those nominees who are making an impact on that visitor experience.”
Awards in the hospitality category include:
- Attraction of the Year for a venue or attraction;
- The Bryant “BB” Nolden Community Champion for an individual or organization that improves Flint & Genesee through community collaboration, advocacy and engagement ;
- CTA of the Year, which recognizes an individual Flint & Genesee Certified Tourism Ambassador (CTA) who has gone above and beyond to promote the region, bring awareness to attractions, spread a hospitality-driven culture and grow the CTA network;
- Frontline Ambassador of the Year, recognizing outstanding customer service in the non-hotel areas;
- Hotel Ambassador of the Year, which recognizes a hospitality worker who provided outstanding service;
- Hotel of the Year, which is based on service, comfort and attention to hotel guests;
- And Restaurant of the Year, which is based on service, menu and overall experience of the customer.
A panel of judges will choose the winner of each award, and every nominee will receive a certificate at the event.
“Nominations are still open, now through October 3. You can nominate anyone. You can nominate yourself if you’d like to! If you’re doing something great in the community, we’re really about this storytelling and letting others about the great things our individuals, our residents and our employees are doing in our community…It’s a chance to shed the light on all the positive things that are happening in our community!”
The Art of Achievement Awards event will take place on Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2025, at the FIM Capitol Theatre, in downtown Flint. For tickets, visit https://www.flintandgenesee.org/art-of-achievement-awards/.
