The Fort Worth Report was among five businesses honored during the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce’s annual Small Business of the Year awards program. The awards were announced ahead of Mayor Mattie Parker’s Oct. 24 State of the City address at Dickies Arena.
The Fort Worth Report was one of two winners in the 21-50 employees category, sharing the award with Quorum Architects. Other winners were Galvan Strategy Group, which won in the emerging business category; Panther City Media, which was honored in the 1-20 employees category; and coffee shop/lounge Ampersand, which received the award in the 51-100 employees category.
The chamber received a large number of entries for this year’s event, said Steve Montgomery, president and CEO of the Fort Worth Chamber.
“What we learn, through this process, is that there are a lot of great entrepreneurs here,” he said. “Just some really amazing small businesses and at the same time, there’s a lot of opportunity, too.”
Montgomery said the companies honored with the award went through a rigorous process to receive their honor.
“It speaks extremely well of these companies that made it because it wasn’t easy; the judges took a close look,” he said.
The awards came just over a week after the chamber announced plans to split with the Fort Worth Economic Development Partnership beginning Jan. 1, 2025. Montgomery previously told the Report that the move would allow the partnership to focus on business attraction while the chamber focuses on retention, expansion and advocacy.
Montgomery said Thursday that the chamber is also making a renewed effort to center small businesses.
“I think the more we focus on small business, it is going to make for a more vibrant local economy,” he said. “That’s where the growth is going to come.”
Often, the emphasis is on the big businesses that come to Fort Worth, Montgomery said.
“They’re important and thank God they’re here, but there’s a lot of growth that comes from small businesses. More than that, (small business) just adds to the vibrancy of the economic community here and brings that kind of diversity that we need,” he said.
The Fort Worth Chamber currently has just under 1,400 members, Montgomery said. Eight years ago, the organization had about 1,000 more.
“We just didn’t focus on small business,” he said. “Now we’re focusing on small business to grow that back.”
During the event, the Fort Worth’s 2024 Best Place for Working Parents Innovator Award winners were also announced.
These awards recognize businesses that have implemented innovative strategies to support working parent employees through unique policies and practices in three award categories: family resources, events and policies.
Honored were Trademark Property Co., Elevate and M2G Ventures. The Best Place for Working Parents organization is based in Fort Worth.
Best Place for Working Parents Innovator Awards
Best Place for Working Parents 2024 Events Innovator: Trademark Property Co.
Best Place for Working Parents 2024 Family Resources Innovator: M2G Ventures
Best Place for Working Parents 2024 Policy Innovator: Elevate
