AURORA | Ten Aurora businesses will be recognized Friday evening at the African Chamber of Commerce Colorado’s first business awards and recognition reception.

The chamber is recognizing 20 businesses in five categories, half of which are based in Aurora. In the non-profit category, Aurora-based Colorado Ethiopian Community, United African Premier Soccer League and Nigerian Women Association of Colorado are being recognized.

In the woman-owned category, Endless Grind Coffee and Rosma Designs are being recognized, and Jeroyaf Accounting and Tax Service and Dollar Grocery were nominated in the small business category.

All three awardees in the “disrupter” category, Afrik Digest Magazine, KT Architecture and Genuine Home Care Agency, hail from Aurora.

The ceremony is being held at the Hyatt Regency in Denver, where a winner from each category will be named. The chamber hopes to make it a yearly event.

Chamber president Naquetta Ricks, an Aurora-area state lawmaker, said that many of the businesses being recognized struggled to stay open during the pandemic.

“It is a joyous process to see these businesses re-emerge from the pandemic among the other challenges that they have faced,” she said in a statement. “The African Chamber is here to support these businesses by providing assistance and resources that are necessary for a full recovery, and we are proud to recognize them.”