GALLERIA — Before handing over the reins as chairman of the Cobb Chamber of Commerce, 2012 Chairman Tony Britton touted some of the organization’s accomplishments during his term.

Britton, senior vice president of Cumberland-based Community and Southern Bank, said the Chamber has helped create 1,773 new jobs and $54 million in revenue in the past year. It also added 665 new members with an 82 percent retention rate, making it one of the 10 fastest growing Chambers in the country.

Before about 1,000 people at the Chamber’s 71st Annual Dinner, Britton said he won’t be able to repay all those who helped him along the way.

“I can express my thanks by paying it forward each and every day,” he said.

New Chairman Greg Morgan, partner in charge of the Atlanta-based accounting firm Mauldin & Jenkins, told Britton his work left an imprint on the Chamber and the county.

“It’s not about one person or a couple of people working together, it’s about us all working together, being greater, achieving more,” he said. “Tony, you’re an extremely hard act to follow.”

Morgan said his top priority will be implementing the Chamber’s Competitive EDGE economic development program.

During brief remarks, Gov. Nathan Deal praised Cobb for the EDGE program.

“We are making huge progress in making everybody around the world aware of the fact that this is indeed the best place to come and create jobs and do business,” he said.

Other elected officials in attendance included U.S. Reps. Phil Gingrey (R-Marietta) and Tom Price (R-Roswell); Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens; Public Service Commissioner Stan Wise; Cobb Chairman Tim Lee; Sheriff Neil Warren; and state Reps. Ed Setzler (R-Acworth), David Wilkerson (D-Austell) and Alisha Thomas Morgan (D-Austell).

Comedian Tripp Crosby, considered a YouTube sensation, hosted the event. He was introduced by a video of Jeff Foxworthy proclaiming Crosby to be the “future of comedy,” only to pan out and show Crosby holding Foxworthy hostage.

Crosby may have received the most laughs from the Cobb Galleria Centre audience with his opening joke, where he recited what he was told before the event.

“Please do not mention anything about anyone who accidently took a firearm through airport security,” he said, a reference to Chamber CEO David Connell’s arrest last April at the Atlanta airport.