The Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce honored local businesses last week at its annual Business Awards Banquet, held at the Marriott Savannah Riverfront. Each year, the Savannah Chamber recognizes standout leaders in the community and honors individuals and businesses that represent local economic drivers including hospitality, manufacturing and small business.

Charles H. Morris, Morris Multimedia, Inc. president and CEO, was presented the Gulfstream Community Involvement Award. Morris Multimedia is the Savannah-based parent company of the Coastal Courier in Hinesville and the Bryan County News in Richmond Hill.

“I said to the audience on accepting the award what a great town Savannah is,” Morris told the Courier via telephone. “I raised my family in Savannah. I feel like a lucky guy to live here in Savannah.”

The chamber community involvement award is presented to a company that conducted an outstanding community outreach project during 2017, according to a release from the Savannah Area Chamber. The activities can vary to include involvement with a partnership school, company involvement in coordination of a fundraising event for a charitable organization, ongoing community relations efforts, open house programs for community, educating the public regarding an issue of concern, or any other project that encouraged interaction between the nominated business and the community.

Morris was also recognized in April when he received the Marguerite Williams Award from the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation for his efforts to preserve the Kehoe Iron Works in Savannah. 

Morris said he hopes the city will continue to value and protect its historic district, for history’s sake and because the city’s unique architecture draws tourism, a major economic driver for Savannah.

“If we don’t protect it, the next thing you know we’ll have a city of high rises,” he said. “People don’t come here to see high rises, they come to see historic buildings."