The Albany-Dougherty Economic Development Commission recognized existing industries Coats & Clark, Outdoor Network, Better Brands of South Georgia and Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital for their global commerce, innovative business practices, impact and corporate giving, respectively. 

“Existing industries employ our families and reinvest in our community. Albany-Dougherty Industry Celebration Week and the industry awards are just two ways in which the we say ‘thank you’ and recognize the diversity and caliber of industries that call Albany home,” said Justin Strickland, CEcD, interim president of the Albany-Dougherty EDC. 

Coats & Clark, whose North American distribution hub is located in Albany, received the Global Commerce Award. About 15 million tons of product move through Coats’ Albany facility each year, bound for regions including Latin America, the Caribbean and Asia. Coats & Clark is the world’s leading industrial thread and consumer textile crafts business. The company also has a yarn manufacturing facility in Albany. 

Better Brands of South Georgia, which distributes some 700 beverage products throughout a 41-county area, received the Economic Impact Award. Better Brands expanded its Albany operations in 2012. The company purchased a 70,000-square-foot building and added another 40,000 square feet, investing a total of $4 million. They retained their work force of 50, and announced the creation of another 45, for a total of 95 jobs. 

Outdoor Network, a customer service and Internet fulfillment center for after-market power sports parts, was honored for its Excellence in Innovation in the area of search engine optimization. Outdoor Network’s approach to SEO has yielded real-dollar by enabling the company to carry the parts its customers are looking for. Outdoor Network’s distribution warehouse now stocks 50,000 parts and has an in-house fill rate of 80 percent, significantly higher than the industry average. 

Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital received the Good Life City Award for corporate community citizenship. In 2013, Phoebe, which was started more than 100 years ago by community volunteers, provided $821,000 in cash donations and in-kind support to nonprofit organizations in Southwest Georgia, and $84,000 for anti-poverty programs. Phoebe provides on-site nurses for 24 Dougherty County schools and provides health-related services to more than 17,000 children, faculty and staff each year. 

The annual ADEDC Industry Awards are the highlight of Albany-Dougherty Industry Celebration Week, which promotes the community’s existing industries. 

The Albany-Dougherty EDC also recognized snack good giant Mars Chocolate North America for its 50 years in Albany, as well as Albany-based SASCO Chemical Group, a 66-year-old family-owned chemical manufacturer that produces and distributes more than 1,200 products throughout the world.