Six individuals and two businesses are among those being honored at the West Chester/Liberty Chamber Alliance’s Annual Celebration & Awards Dinner.

The event will be held from 6 to 9:30 p.m. March 8 at the Cincinnati Marriott North.

A first this year is the Chris Worrell Emerging Leader Award — created in the memory of the late A. Christian Worrell — given to a chamber member demonstrating dedication to the business community and outstanding volunteerism in advancing the work of the chamber, said Alison Miuccio, marketing director.

The inaugural recipient is Ian Murray, VP of production at Murray Multimedia Resources. Murray is board president for the non-profit Reach Out Lakota; serves on the board at the Community Foundation of West Chester/Liberty; and is a part-time firefighter/paramedic for the West Chester Fire Department.

“I’m very honored; I really like giving back to the community, being involved and knowing I can help people,” Murray said. “Getting to know Chris through the Chamber and Butler County United Way, he was a great role model and affirmed my desire (to give back).”

Leading up to the awards ceremony, Miuccio said chamber members nominate other members for the awards, and the final three recipients in each category are voted on by the Chamber’s board of directors and 11 team chairs.

Susan Murphy, co-owner of Just Kids Photography in Liberty Twp. along with sister Kathie Wurtzler, said it was a nice surprise to find out their new business was receiving a beautification award. The sisters purchased the building at 6464 Cincinnati Dayton Road in May 2011 and spent nearly a year renovating the 150-year-old structure.

“We’re very happy and excited,” Murphy said. “It’s nice to be recognized; we put a lot of hard work into it.”

The photography business — primarily focused on children and young families — will celebrate one year in April.

“We made the right choice in coming to Liberty Twp.,” Murphy said, a Middletown resident. “The location has been fantastic and it’s nice people have watched the renovations.”

The 2013 award recipients are:

Ian Murray of Murray Multimedia Resources (Chris Worrell Emerging Leader Award)

• Just Kids Photography Studio (David & Katy Kern Beautification Award)

• The WEB Extreme Entertainment (Larry Schumacher Beautification Award)

• Drew Dinkelacker of MarketingAccelerator.com (Jerry Bryan Chamber Member of the Year Award)

• Mitchell Willis of Butler County United Way (Dorothy & Art Roth Citizen of the Year Award)

• Greg Ossmann of Mercy Health-Fairfield Hospital (River City Furniture Community Support Award)

• Jeff Gayonski of Northwestern Mutual-West Chester (Carlos Todd Business Person of the Year Award)

• Lynda O’Connor of Lakota Local School Board of Education (Ambassador of the Year Award)

The keynote speaker at this year’s annual dinner will be Marilyn Johnson, retired IBM Vice President of Market Development. In that capacity, Johnson led an organization responsible for developing IBM’s strategy and marketing to businesses owned or operated by minorities and women in the Americas.

Reservations are being taken for the Annual Celebration & Awards Dinner by calling 513-777-3600 or visiting www.TheChamberAlliance.com/AnnualDinner. Tickets are $65 each; $125 per couple; $500 for a corporate table of eight.