Craig Daily Press

Craig — Last year’s Craig Chamber of Commerce annual meeting, which featured addresses from city, county and state agency officials, provided valuable information to the 120 people attending, organizers said.

“It was really successful last year,” Cham­ber Ex­­ecutive Dir­­­ec­tor Christina Currie said. “There was really good information. People are al­­ready talking about it and saying they are excited about attend­ing” this year.

There are 130 tickets available for this year’s event, scheduled for Feb. 19 at the Holiday Inn of Craig, 300 S. Highway 13.

The evening begins with cocktails at 6:30 p.m., and dinner is at 7 p.m.

Craig Mayor Don Jones is scheduled to deliver the state of the city address, and Moffat County Commissioner Saed Tayyara will do so for the state of the county.

The addresses are expected to last about 20 minutes.

Gene Bilodeau, the 2007 Chamber president, and Bryce Jacobson, the 2008 president, will speak on behalf of the Chamber.

The addresses will include what the organizations accomplished in 2007 and plans for 2008.

Last year’s event also featured guest speakers from the Moffat County School Dis­trict, The Memorial Hos­pital, Bureau of Land Man­agement and Colo­rado Div­ision of Wildlife.

It is undecided whether any of those agencies will present information at this year’s event. Currie said time constraints due to expanded information the Chamber must present could limit the evening’s speakers.

The Chamber could decide today at a board retreat whether additional agencies will be asked to present addresses.

“We’re really hoping to be able to because the diversity of information provided appealed to the audience,” Currie said, adding it’s the Chamber’s goal to invite “as many groups as possible.”

The Chamber will also hand out awards for large and small business of the year and businessperson of the year during the evening.

Last year, City Market rec­eived the large business of the year award, Kester Jewelry got small business of the year, and Mike Lausin, of Solutions Oriented Systems, was named businessperson of the year.

The Chamber is accepting nominations for the awards.

The Chamber, KRAI and the Craig Daily Press sponsor the state of the county event. The radio station and newspaper also will present a citizen of the year award. Last year, the award went to former Craig resident and community activist Marilyn Bouldin.

Joshua Roberts can be reached at 824-7031, ext. 210, or jroberts@craigdailypress.com.