The Traverse City Area Chamber of Commerce is seeking nominations for its fourteenth annual Small Business Celebration.

The Small Business Celebration is open to for-profit companies in the Chamber’s five-county service area that have up to 150 employees. Nominations will be accepted through Friday, March 16. Nomination forms are available online here. Companies that are nominated will receive a letter informing them of their nomination and then be invited to complete an application by April 13. Companies that apply are featured in the Small Business Celebration Candidates Showcase on April 24.

Following the showcase, a panel of judges reviews the applications and the nominations are trimmed to the Top 10 finalists that are visited and evaluated by the panel. The Top 10 finalists are highlighted at a Meet the Top 10 Breakfast event on May 22. The Small Business Celebration culminates June 4 with the presentation of the Chamber’s 2018 Hagerty Small Business of the Year Award. All events are held at Northwestern Michigan College’s Hagerty Center.

“The Small Business Celebration continues to be the region’s premier stage to recognize and honor our diverse and dynamic small business sector,” says Chamber Executive Director Max Anderson. “A vast majority of our Chamber members are small businesses that represent a large portion of our regional economy. The Small Business Celebration raises the profile and provides recognition and important benefits to the companies that participate.”

The Chamber’s Small Business Celebration was launched in 2005 to "underscore the critical role that small business plays in northern Michigan’s economy," according to the organization.