The event brought together more than 200 people from the business community as well as local leaders to Citizens Business Bank Arena.

Through its years of service, the chamber has seen its share of struggles, said Cindy Carpenter, chairwoman of the board of directors.

"Each decade came with its challenges and there are more challenges to come but the chamber is here and alive," she said.

For the chamber, 2008 was a year marked by the departure of the chamber's CEO, massive staff reduction and deficit of about $40,000, chamber leaders say the organization's finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

Since then, the deficit has been cut by more than 75 percent.

An indication of a new chamber emerging was the attendance at the gala, Linden said.

Originally, the event was for 150 people but was expanded after interest from the community, he said.

It shows the support and growth," Linden said. "It lets us know that we're on the right track."

For interim executive director, Stephanie Palomar, it's a chance to kick off the next 100 years a new direction.

It will continue to provide programs like business retention and but it will also continue to improve relations with the city, she said.

"We are fine tuning and improving our existing services," Palomar said. "We will cater to our existing members and reach out to them to make sure we are providing them with resources."

The chamber also took the chance to honor their Citizen of the Year, as well as its Small Business and Large Business of the Year.

The nominees were nominated by the community, said David Bartlett a board of director.

The Citizen of the Year was awarded to Kenneth Salazar, who is not a chamber member but is greatly involved with Inland Valley Hope Partners.

"We evaluated all nominees but as we discussed it, it became very clear that Ken was at the very top of the list," said Bartlett, who was a member of the citizen of the year selection committee.

The small business award went to Graber Olive House, which began selling its cured olives in Ontario in 1892.

"In my opinion, Graber Olive House is not just one of Small Business of the Year but one of the best small businesses in the state," Bartlett said.

The award for large business of the year went to Mag Instrument. Bartlett said the company may be one of the largest companies in the city but it is also very involved in the community.

The city's planning department produced a video that outlined the chamber's history of the last 100 years.

The night was also a chance for the board of directors, who took office last summer, be formally introduced.