ATLANTA, April 23, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Four companies were selected as Atlanta's most notable leaders in international business selected by the Metro Atlanta Chamber (MAC) at the 2014 Global Impact Awards. The annual Global Impact Awards event honors international business excellence, innovation and leadership.

Award finalists and winners were honored at an April 23 luncheon event at the Georgia Aquarium.

The event winners by category are:

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) – Interroll, an international leader in supplying key products for internal logistics.

Trade – Guided Therapeutics, the maker of a rapid and painless testing platform that utilizes light for the early detection of disease at the cellular level.

Service Provider – InterContinental Hotels Group, a global organization of hotel and resort brands including  InterContinental® Hotels & Resorts, Hotel Indigo®, Crowne Plaza® Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn® Hotels and Resorts, Holiday Inn Express®, Staybridge Suites®, Candlewood Suites®, EVEN™ Hotels and HUALUXE™.

Innovation – M2SYS Technology, Manufacturing Resources International (MRI), the emerging industry leader in high-performance indoor and outdoor digital displays. (This award is sponsored by the Technology Association of Georgia).

Global Impact – This special award was given to the Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD), which plans, manages and mobilizes state resources to attract new business investments to Georgia, drive the expansion of existing industry and small business and more. GDEcD is the state's sales and marketing arm and lead agency developing new domestic and international markets. Additionally, it promotes Georgia as a top destination for arts event, film, music and digital entertainment projects.

"All of the companies we recognized today understand that global business is vital to driving economic development in our region," said Hala Moddelmog, MAC president and CEO. "We applaud their outstanding efforts in innovation that create jobs and fill the talent pipeline."  

Each year, the Global Impact Awards showcase excellence and innovation in international business, honoring MAC members who have gone above and beyond, exhibiting excellence in the area of global commerce.

The FDI category recognizes companies that have established a presence in metro Atlanta that has been significant in terms of capital investment, high quality job creation, community leadership and sustainable practices.

The Trade category recognizes a company that has operations in metro Atlanta and has exhibited significant growth in terms of capital investment and high quality job creation as a result of international trade, community leadership and sustainable practices.

The Service Provider category recognizes a company in metro Atlanta that has played a significant role in increasing high quality job creation by attracting capital investment to metro Atlanta and by fostering international trade through methods that go above and beyond the normal scope of business. This category also recognizes companies that have taken an active role in the leadership or betterment of our community at large and employed sustainable practices.

The Innovation category recognizes a company recognizes a technology, or technology-enabled company that has introduced/leveraged innovation to grow in 2013. 

SOURCE The Metro Atlanta Chamber