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Tuesday night, the Austin Area Chamber of Commerce held its Annual Meeting at the Austin Country Club.

This annual event showcases a thriving business community by choosing both Large and Small Businesses of the Year, as well as recognizing those leaders within the business community that promote and work within it.

This year’s Large Business and Small Business of the year — Thompson Sanitation and Edward Jones-Jaclyn Bird — are worthy of their awards, just as past winners are worthy. It’s a continuing trend of a business community that cares about Austin and strives to do their part.

But while naming those business winners is a big part of the evening, naming the winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award is just as important.

This year, the winner was Jeff Baldus and you don’t have to dig too deep to see why he was a nominee and winner. It’s hard to really go to any event in Austin without seeing Baldus attending or working and believing that to make Austin a better place you have to be involved.

All three of these examples, along with those other award winners, should be held as examples of how to be part of a community and we congratulate them for their exemplary examples.