Albany businesses win awards - WALB.com, Albany News, Weather, Sports

Albany businesses win awards

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By Jay Polk - bio | email

ALBANY, GA (WALB) - Albany, Georgia has had it's share of bad economic news lately. Unemployment is up in the city, as it is everywhere else in the state and nation.

The new president of the Economic Development Commission knows he has his a big task.

Ted Clem said, "what we're doing with Economic Development, is going out and trying to meet face to face with as many employers as we can, to find more good stories and find ways that we, as a community, can help support them."

There are some good news stories in the Good Life City. Wednesday, the Economic Development Commission honored three businesses with Industry of the Year Awards.

Equinox Chemicals in Albany won in the small business category, joining larger firms such as Miller-Coors and Tara Foods. Equinox was founded by Mark Grimaldi, who after leaving Merck, decided to stay in Albany.

"We really fell in love with Albany, and South Georgia," he said.

Using his chemistry background, Mark decided to form his own company. After having only two employees initially, Equinox grew quickly.

"We currently have 28 full time employees," Grimaldi said.

They make a wide variety of products.

"We do a lot of pharmaceutical research and manufacturing. We have several defense contracts. So we do chemical research and manufacturing for different government agencies. We also do a lot of work into food flavor and fragrances," Grimaldi said.

In fact, he says that's part of what has helped them grow so quickly:  "we really have a lot of diverse customers that we can bank on."

And they have plans to expand in the near future.

"We have several open positions now that we'll be hiring for to fill before the end of the year," Grimaldi said.

Clem says that stories like the one at Equinox can be repeated many times in Albany. The city has the tools to get the job done.

"Low cost of business, great quality of life and a world class, outstanding work force," he said.

And you can believe that Albany will continue to roll out the welcome mat for new businesses.

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