SALISBURY — The Rowan County Chamber of Commerce has been named a finalist in the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives’ 2016 Chamber of the Year Award competition.

Fifteen other chambers made it to the final round of the competition, including the Catawba County Chamber of Commerce of Hickory.

According to the ACCE, chambers must meet the minimum thresholds in at least three of five key performance areas to enter the competition, including net revenue, net assets, membership account retention and membership dollar retention.

Qualifying chambers are grouped into categories based on total revenue, member accounts, service area population, number of businesses in the area and restricted revenue as a percentage of total revenue.

A judging committee will conduct in-person interviews with leaders from each finalist chamber in the final phase of the competition. One winner from each category will be named at the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives annual conference in Savannah, Georgia from Aug. 9 to 12.

Elaine Spalding, president of the chamber, said the chamber has qualified for the competition in previous years but has never made it to the final competition.

She said volunteers, staff and the board of directors have been working hard for the past three years to help the business community thrive.

“We’re really starting to see that hard work pay off,” she said.

Spalding said she is looking forward to the next phase of the process and would love for the Rowan Chamber to win the award.

“It’s very exciting,” she said. “It’s always humbling to be recognized by your peers in any industry.”