More than 550 representatives of Stevie® Award-winning organizations, competition jurors, sponsors and other VIPs will gather in the Broadway Ballroom of New York's Marriott Marquis Hotel on Tuesday, June 9 for the 24th edition of The American Business Awards®, the USA's top honors for achievement in the workplace.

All individuals and organizations operating in the United States are eligible to submit nominations to the ABAs - large and small, public and private, for profit and non profit.  The 2026 ABAs recognize achievements since the beginning of 2024 in a wide variety of categories representing most aspects of work life, including management, marketing, customer service, product management. innovation, and much more.

Grand, Gold, Silver, Bronze, and People's Choice Stevie Award winners were announced in April and May.  Winners who attend Tuesday's event will be celebrated on stage and deliver short acceptance speeches.

The American Business Awards are the oldest and one of nine Stevie Awards programs, which also include The International Business Awards®, the German Stevie Awards, the Stevie Awards for Great Employers, and the Stevie Awards for Technology Excellence, all of which have entry deadlines in the next two weeks.

Tuesday's presentations will feature the presentation of the AI Waymakers Awards, by sponsor Persistent, and a special presentation about the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the Costello School of Business at George Mason University.

Here is the list of organizations that will be represented at Tuesday's American Business Awards:

(as of June 4)
1871 & BMO Financial Group, Chicago, IL
8x8, Campbell, CA
AB Studios and Passion Struck, St Petersburg, FL
Accenture, New York, NY
Actionstep, Denver, CO
ADI Global Distribution, Melville, NY
Adler Public Relations, Scottsdale, AZ
Affortech LLC, Orlando, FL
AmeriTech Contracting, Berlin, CT
Aptia, Boston, MA
Arch Street Communications, New York, NY
Asheria Marketing, New York, NY
Automation Anywhere, San Jose, CA 
Better Parenting Plan, San Francisco, CA
Beyond Finance, Chicago, IL
Bimbo Bakeries USA, Irving, TX
Black Men's Health Clinic, Austin, TX
BrightSpring Health Services, Louisville, KY
BW Events Tech, Gilbert, AZ
CardWorks, Woodbury, NY
Carestream NDT, Rochester, NY
Catalight, Walnut Creek, CA
Catherine Violet Hubbard Animal Sanctuary, Newtown, CT
CCS Fundraising, New York, NY
CenterLight Health System, Flushing, NY
Channel Partners, Tampa, FL
Chargebacks911, Clearwater, FL 
Chef Works, Poway, CA
Ciber Digita Inc., Flanders, NJ
Cisco Systems, San Jose, CA
Cisco, Jersey City, NJ
Cisco Network Engineering & Operations, Rolesville, NC 
Collaborative Co-Parent, Sydney, Australia
Concept Construction Services Inc., New York, NY
Corn Refiners Association, Washington, DC
Critical Mass, New York, NY 
CVS Health, Phoenix, AZ
Dassault Systemes, Waltham, MA 
Design-Build Institute Of America, Washington, DC
DirectEmployers Association, Indianapolis, IN
DocuWare Corporation, Beacon, NY
Drc Ventures, Franklin, TN 
Emota, Philadelphia, PA
ESI Flow, San Francisco, CA
Ever.Ag, Lewisville, TX
EX.CO, New York, NY
Experis - ManpowerGroup, Milwaukee, MI
Eye Conic Spot LLC, Coral Springs, FL
First Advantage, Atlanta, GA
First Interstate Bank, Billings, MT
Ford Pro, Dearborn, MI
FrankCrum, Clearwater, FL
Fulcrum Solutions, New Rochelle, NY
Fusion5, Odessa, FL
Gema’s Childcare, West Babylon, NY 
Genzeon, Exton, PA
George Mason University, Fairfax, VA
Givelify, Indianapolis, IN
Glassesusa.com, College Park, GA
GTE Financial, Tampa, FL
Heraeus Incorporated, Yardley, PA
Hexaware Technologies, Iselin, NJ
History Factory, Washington, DC
Hive Group LLC, McLean, VA
IBM, Armonk, NY
Innovative Life Sciences, McKinney, TX
Iowa Department Of Human Services And Vimo, Change And Innovation Agency (C!A), Mountain View, CA
Jasmine Norris Photography, Lafayette, IN
Jelvix, Tallinn, Estonia
JFK International Air Terminal, LLC, Jamaica, NY
Khanect The Dots, Kansas City, MI
KNAPP, Kennesaw, GA
Kodak, Rochester, NY
Krupp Agency, New York, NY
Lawyer.com, Basking Ridge, NJ
Lee Andrews Group, Los Angeles, CA
LifeVantage, Lehi, UT
LifeWave, Draper, UT
LPL Financial, Princeton, NJ
LQ™ Listening Intelligence, Rancho Cordova, CA
LTG Re-Teck Renewable Energy Solutions, San Francisco, CA
Machinify Inc, Palo Alto, CA
Manulife John Hancock Retirement, Boston, MA
Marketplace PHL, Philadelphia, PA 
Merrick Bank, South Jordan, UT
MicroHealth, LLC, Vienna, VA
Microsoft Corp, Redmond, WA
Mountain View Group, Atlanta, GA
Musclesport, Ronkonkoma, NY
N-able, Burlington, MA
Naish Partners, Santa Barbara, CA
NextGen Healthcare, Fredericksburg, VA
NMFTA, Alexandria, VA
NorthGate, Flint, MI
NTT Data, Plano, TX
Ohio River South, Atlanta, GA 
OKANA Resort & Indoor Waterpark, Oklahoma City, OK
One Step GPS, San Fernando, CA
Paysafe, Jacksonville, FL
Persistent Systems, Santa Clara, CA
Picore International, Calabasas, CA
Praxis AI, Pleasanton, CA
Precision Point Partners, Fort Lauderdale, FL
Publicis Sapient, New York, NY
Q2i, Boston, MA
Remarkably Resilient, Inc., Shawnee, KS
Revolve Solutions LLC, Alexandria, VA
Rockwell Automation, Milwaukee, WI 
Ruder Finn, New York, NY
Runway 7 Fashion, New York, NY
Selerix Systems, Plano, TX
Shaker Recruitment Marketing, Oak Park, IL
Siemens Energy Inc., Orlando, FL 
Sodexo, Dilworth, MN
Sofidel, Horsham, PA
Speakcore, Pennington, NJ
SPECTRAFORCE, Raleigh, NC
SportsMed Physical Therapy, Glen Rock, NJ
SPS North America, New York, NY
Steno, Los Angeles, CA
STORE Capital, Scottsdale, AZ
Synoptek LLC., Costa Mesa, CA
Tahgis Imports Inc, Cleveland, OH
Takeda, Cambridge, MA
Tata Consultancy Services, Edison, NJ
TeamUp Remote Talent Staffing, Cincinnati, OH
TermScout, Denver, CO
The Dr Z Functional Medicine Academy LLC, Sheridan, WY
The Flora May Foundation, San Clemente, CA
The Shelf, Inc., Atlanta, GA
The Stories And Wisdom Company®, Seattle, WA
The Surplus Line Association Of California, San Ramon, CA
TIAA, New York, NY
Tribeca Softech, New York, NY
Tricentis, Austin, TX
Vensure Employer Solutions, Chandler, AZ
VEON Ltd., New York, NY
Vereigen Media, Austin, TX
Verge Therapy, Milton, MA
West Monroe, Chicago, IL
Yapp Sailing Course, Seattle, WA
YELO Software, Boston, MA

The 25th Annual American Business Awards will begin accepting nominations this coming October.  Learn more and get the entry kit at https://ABA.StevieAwards.com. 

Grand Stevie winners Eastern Health Cluster “EHC” of Saudi Arabia and the Federal Authority for Government Human Resources “FAHR” of the United Arab Emirates will be celebrated at an awards gala on 11 September

The Stevie® Awards have announced two Grand Stevie Award winners in the seventh annual Middle East & North Africa Stevie Awards. These are the top prizes in the competition. Grand Stevie winners will be presented their awards at a gala banquet at the InterContinental Istanbul, Türkiye, on Friday, 11 September.

The Middle East & North Africa Stevie Awards, sponsored by the Ras Al Khaimah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, is an international business awards competition open to all organizations in 18 nations in the Middle East and North Africa. The focus of the awards is recognizing workplace innovation in all its forms.

This year, more than 1,400 nominations were considered in the judging process by more than 155 professionals, whose average ratings determined the Gold, Silver, and Bronze Stevie Award winners announced earlier in January. For a complete list of the 2026 Stevie Award winners, visit https://MENA.StevieAwards.com.

In addition to the Gold, Silver, and Bronze Stevie Awards, the organizations with the most award points (total number of points conferred by total Gold, Silver, and Bronze Stevie wins) and the highest-scoring nomination are awarded the Grand Stevie Awards, which cannot be applied for directly. These are the top prizes in the competition.

Organization of the Year: With 84.5 award points, earned through nine Gold, 19 Silver, and 14 Bronze Stevie Award wins across various categories, Eastern Health Cluster (EHC), Saudi Arabia, is the most honored organization in this year’s competition.

Eastern Health Cluster is one of the largest integrated healthcare network operators in Saudi Arabia. It serves over two million beneficiaries, making it a key pillar of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 healthcare transformation. The cluster’s extensive medical service network spans the entire Eastern Province, operating 22 general and specialized hospitals, one medical city, and more than 120 primary healthcare centers. With specialized centers of excellence in cardiology, oncology, neurosurgery, and organ transplantation, EHC’s network has an overall capacity exceeding 3,450 medical beds and a team of more than 4,500 doctors. EHC won Gold Stevie Awards in categories recognizing innovation in Academic Institution Events, Finance, Human Resources Management, Planning & Practice, Management in Health Care Industries, Thought Leadership, and more.

Highest Rated Nomination of the Year: With an average score from the judges of 9.66 out of a possible 10, the nomination submitted by the Federal Authority for Government Human Resources, “FAHR,” Dubai, United Arab Emirates, received the highest average score in the 2026 competition. The nomination, about their development of their HR AI Agent, also won a Gold Stevie Award in the Award for Excellence in Innovation in Artificial Intelligence category.

FAHR is an independent federal entity responsible for managing and developing human capital within the United Arab Emirates federal government sector. Acting under the supervision of the UAE Council of Ministers, FAHR designs, reviews, and implements modern workforce policies, performance management programs, and civil service legislation across all federal ministries.

"We are delighted to announce the 2026 Grand Stevie Award winners. EHC and FAHR exemplify the outstanding caliber of nominations received for the 2026 Middle East & North Africa Stevie Awards," said Maggie Miller, President of the Stevie Awards. "The judges were highly impressed by the Grand Stevie winners' creativity, resourcefulness, and expertise in driving their organizations forward over the past two years. We eagerly anticipate celebrating their achievements at the gala on 11 September."

Complete information about the awards banquet in Istanbul is available at https://mena.stevieawards.com/tickets/awards-banquet/

Press representatives interested in covering the Middle East & North Africa Stevie Awards ceremony on 11 September in Istanbul, Türkiye, may contact May@stevieawards.com.

The eighth edition of the Middle East & North Africa Stevie Awards will open for entries in late September 2026.

 

 

Winners have been announced in the 2026 People's Choice Stevie® Awards for Favorite New Products, an annual feature of The American Business Awards®, the USA’s top business awards program, which is now in its 24th year.

The worldwide public vote was conducted in April and May, with the highest number of votes determining the winners in dozens of product and service categories. More than 22,000 votes were cast. To win, a category’s leading vote-getter had to have received at least 100 votes.

The winners of the crystal People’s Choice Stevie Awards will be recognized during the ABA’s awards ceremony on June 9 in New York City, along with the winners of the Grand, Gold, Silver, and Bronze Stevie winners announced in April and May.

All new products and services nominated in the new product awards categories of this year’s ABAs were eligible to be included in voting for the People’s Choice Stevie Awards.

The winners of the 2026 People’s Choice Stevie Awards for Favorite New Products are:

Business-to-Business Products: Carestream NDT: Carestream NDT's INDUSTREX HPX-ARC Bendable Detectors

Business-to-Business Services: Golden Hour Veterinary Telemedicine: Golden Hour's SUPER STAT Teleradiology Service

Consumer Products & Services: 2500Divorce.com: 2500Divorce.com

Education - Emerging Technology Solution For Administrators: Luxor Workspaces: CellGuard™ Cell Phone Storage Cabinet

Education – Other: Savvas Learning Company: MyPerspectives English Language Arts With SavvyWriter By Savvas

Electronic Commerce Solution: Constructor: Constructor AI Product Insights Agent

Financial Services: Manulife John Hancock Retirement: FutureStep

FinTech Solution: EBizCharge: EBizCharge

Governance, Risk & Compliance Solution: TermScout: TermScout

Health & Pharmaceuticals: Golden Hour Veterinary Telemedicine: Golden Hour's 6-Channel Veterinary ECG Device

Healthcare Technology Solution: OnMed: OnMed CareStation™

Insurance Solution: Arch Insurance: Arch APEX

Legal Solution: Opus 2: Opus 2 Cases

Payments Solution: EBizCharge: EBizCharge

Supply Chain Management Solution: RapidRatings: ActionPath

Technology Solution – Other: Vereigen Media: Verified Content Engagement

Supporting sponsors of The 2026 American Business Awards include Golden Hour Veterinary Telemedicine, Melissa Sones Consulting, and SoftPro. Persistent Systems is the sponsor of the competition’s AI Waymakers Awards categories.

 

The Women|Future Webinars are back for 2026 with a new season of free virtual sessions designed to empower, educate, and connect women in business around the world.

Hosted by the Stevie® Awards, the world’s premier business awards, the Women|Future Webinars are designed for women entrepreneurs, executives, small business owners, and professionals interested in starting or growing a business. The webinar series continues the mission established by the Women|Future Conference in 2018: creating a space where ambitious women can learn from experts, share ideas, and build meaningful professional connections.

After seven successful years as a live conference, the program evolved into a webinar series to make these conversations and resources accessible to even more women globally. Registration is free, and attendees may register individually for each session.

This year’s webinar lineup features three sessions taking place in June, July, and August 2026—in line with the 23rd annual Stevie Awards for Women in Business, which is now accepting nominations. The early-bird entry deadline, with discounted entry fees, is June 24.

What to Expect

The 2026 Women|Future Webinars will feature practical insights and expert guidance centered around some of today’s most relevant business challenges and opportunities. Led by accomplished entrepreneurs, executives, and Stevie Award winners, each session is designed to help attendees grow as leaders and prepare for the future of business.

This year’s webinar topics include:

• Future-proofing your organization and developing strategies to adapt in a rapidly changing business environment
• Crafting an AI strategy to navigate risks, embrace innovation, and unlock new opportunities for growth
• How earning business awards can strengthen brand recognition, credibility, and visibility in a competitive marketplace
• Developing a founder mindset by overcoming fear, doubt, and failure in business and leadership

Attendees will gain practical tools, fresh perspectives, and real-world advice they can apply to their organizations, careers, and entrepreneurial journeys.

Who Should Attend?

The Women|Future Webinars are designed for women professionals at every stage of their careers and across all industries. Whether you are an entrepreneur, small-business owner, executive, manager, consultant, student, or someone exploring a new professional path, the sessions offer valuable insights and meaningful conversations for ambitious women seeking personal and professional growth. 

Our Mission and Tagline

Our mission is to inspire and accelerate women in business by fostering professional and personal development through live educational sessions. Cultivate Your Tomorrow is our tagline. We chose this phrase because The Women|Future webinars encourage you to not only embrace your tomorrow, but to walk away with inspiration and thought leadership to tackle your career, personal, and life aspirations!

Sign up individually for each webinar session you wish to attend below.

June 17, 2026, 2:00 PM ET
Register Now

July 15, 2026, 2:00 PM ET
Register Now

August 12, 2026, 2:00 PM ET

Register Now

Sponsorship/Partnership Opportunities

Want to connect with a global community of ambitious women? Sponsoring the Women|Future Webinars is an opportunity to showcase your brand to a global network of business leaders and entrepreneurs. Sponsors receive visibility across our website, social media, email campaigns, and live webinar sessions. Email Lindsey@stevieawards.com for 2026 sponsorship opportunities.

 

The Stevie® Awards announced today the Grand Stevie Award winners in The 24^th Annual American Business Awards^® competition. Winners will be honored during an awards banquet on June 9, 2026, in New York City. Registration for the event is now open.

All organizations operating in the USA—large and small, public and private, for-profit and non-profit—are eligible to submit nominations to the ABAs in a wide range of categories, honoring achievement in every aspect of work life, from customer service and management to public relations and product development.

This year, more than 3,700 nominations were considered in the judging process by more than 230 professionals on nine juries. Their average ratings determined the Gold, Silver, and Bronze Stevie Award winners announced earlier this month. For complete lists of those Stevie Award winners, visit ABA.StevieAwards.com.

The Grand Stevie Awards are best-of-competition prizes awarded to the organizations that submit the best body of work to the competition, in their own name or in the names of one or more clients. Grand Stevie Awards cannot be applied for directly.

Grand Stevie winners in the 2026 program are as follows:

Organization of the Year: Delta Dental of Kansas, Wichita, is the most honored organization in the 2026 competition, earning four Gold, six Silver, and seven Bronze Stevie Awards, collecting a total of 34.5 award points. Delta Dental also won this Grand Stevie Award in 2024.

Most Honored Public Relations Agency of the Year: MikeWorldWide, New York, New York, wins the honor this year with 30 award points earned on behalf of itself and clients American Dairy Queen, ICSC, and the Travelers Championship. MikeWorldWide is among the world's leading independent, integrated PR agencies with five offices across the United States, Latin America, and the United Kingdom. The agency won this top honor in 2025 as well, in addition to winning Grand Stevies in the ABAs in 2013-2016.

Most Honored Marketing Agency of the Year: Mountain View Group, Atlanta, Georgia, earned 12 award points with two Gold and four Bronze Stevie wins for videos produced for clients Amneal Pharmaceuticals, GE Healthcare, and RTX Corporation.

Highest-rated Nomination of the Year: With an average score from the judges of 9.88 out of a possible 10, the nomination entitled “From Vision to Legacy: AstraZeneca and Emota Driving Sustainable Innovation,” submitted by the Emota Experience Agency in London, United Kingdom, is this year’s highest-rated nomination. The entry, which won the Gold Stevie for Best Cause & Green - Sustainable Event, describes the agency’s work with AstraZeneca to create the pharmaceutical giant’s presence at the 2025 edition of The American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting, the world’s largest oncology congress.

Highest-rated New Product Nomination of the Year: Praxis AI, Pleasanton, California, wins this year’s top product-nomination honor for “The AI That Showed Up for the Students Nobody Else Scaled For,” a submission about their use of artificial intelligence in education, specifically “Human-First Digital Twins — AI powered by an expert’s real brain, personality, and wisdom, with constitutional governance and patent-pending IP protection.” Deployed across education, workforce development, and enterprise, their 1,000+ twins have driven 70% student engagement, 3× wage increases, and full letter-grade improvements. The nomination won the Gold Stevie for Best AI Solution in EdTech.

The 2027 edition of The American Business Awards will begin accepting nominations this October. Learn more and get the entry kit at ABA.StevieAwards.com.

Founded in 2024, Award Writing Services is an Australia-based agency specializing in award submissions and thought leadership strategy for businesses and entrepreneurs. Established by Annette Densham, the company is built on more than four decades of journalism and communications experience, with a focus on helping organizations strengthen their visibility, perception, credibility, and digital presence.

The agency was launched following a business transition, beginning with two clients and a lean operational model. Within 12 months, Award Writing Services expanded to support 21 clients across industries, including legal, wellness, education, nonprofit, and ecommerce.

Award Writing Services’ approach centers on simplifying how organizations manage visibility and perception across multiple channels. Rather than treating PR, awards, and SEO as separate activities, the company integrates them into a single strategy designed to build sustained recognition and measurable business outcomes.

Developing a Unified Visibility Framework
A defining feature of the company’s work is its proprietary “Breadcrumb Method,” a framework that connects awards, PR, SEO, and content into a coordinated system. The approach is designed to ensure that each piece of content contributes to a broader digital footprint, supporting search visibility, media opportunities, and brand credibility over time.

The method was developed in response to changes in the communications landscape, where traditional PR and marketing efforts often operate in isolation. By aligning these functions, Award Writing Services provides clients with a more consistent and strategic approach to building visibility across platforms.

This integrated model has supported clients in achieving more than 80 finalist or winning placements in national and industry awards programs. In parallel, the company has contributed to securing over 70 media placements across outlets, including News.com.au, ABC News, and SmartCompany.

Measurable Impact for Clients
The company’s work focuses on delivering outcomes that extend beyond visibility alone. Clients have reported measurable improvements in organic search performance, including traffic increases of up to 130% within three months of implementing award-driven PR strategies.

Additional outcomes include increased lead generation, improved brand positioning, and expanded business opportunities. In some cases, award recognition and media exposure have contributed to higher investor engagement and conversion rates, demonstrating the commercial impact of integrated communications strategies.

Operationally, Award Writing Services has combined traditional communications expertise with modern tools to enhance efficiency and scalability. These include AI-assisted data tracking, and workflow automation systems designed to streamline internal processes and client delivery.

Leadership and Industry Experience
Founder Annette Densham brings 45 years of experience across journalism, corporate communications, publishing, and business storytelling. She began her career in newspapers at age 15 and has since worked across editorial and corporate environments, developing expertise in media relations, executive communications, and brand strategy.

Prior to launching Award Writing Services, she founded Publicity Genie and co-founded The Audacious Agency, where her work earned multiple industry recognitions, including a Grand Stevie® Award. In addition to client work, Densham has contributed to industry education through workshops, keynote presentations, and mentorship initiatives focused on helping small business owners navigate PR, awards, and visibility strategy.

Award Writing Services and Annette Densham’s recent recognition reflect the growing importance of integrated communications approaches in supporting business growth and long-term visibility.

Award Writing Services won a Bronze Stevie Award for Company of the Year – Advertising, Marketing & Public Relations – Small, Grand Stevie for Most Honored Award Agency, and Annette Densham won a Silver Stevie Award for Communications Professional of the Year in The International Business Awards®.

Interested in entering for 2026?

Seventh Annual Awards Sponsored by RAK Chamber of Commerce and Industry Recognize Innovation in 18 MENA Nations

Winners in the seventh annual Middle East & North Africa Stevie® Awards, the only awards program to recognize innovation in the workplace throughout 18 nations in the Middle East and North Africa, have been announced. The awards are sponsored by RAK Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The list of Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award winners is available at http://MENA.StevieAwards.com.

The 2026 Middle East & North Africa Stevie Awards have recognized organizations in 15 nations including Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Türkiye and United Arab Emirates. More than 1,400 nominations in Arabic and English were evaluated in this year’s competition. Winners were determined by the average scores of 155 professionals worldwide, acting as judges on five juries to recognize innovative apps, achievements, entire organizations, public relations, customer service, human resources, individual professionals, live and virtual events, management, sustainability, technology, thought leadership, and more. 

Winners of multiple Gold, Silver, or Bronze Stevie® Awards include Abu Dhabi Heritage Authority, UAE; Abu Dhabi Housing Authority, UAE; ADNEC Services, UAE; ADNOC Drilling, UAE; Al Dhafra Region Municipality, UAE; Batı Anadolu Group of Companies, Türkiye; Byrne Equipment Rental, UAE; Capital 360 Event Experiences, UAE; CarrefourSA, Türkiye; Dubai Culture & Arts Authority, UAE; Dubai Customs, UAE; Eastern Health Cluster, Saudi Arabia; Etihad Water and Electricity (EtihadWE), UAE; Federal Authority for Government Human Resources, UAE; FLO Group, Türkiye; GSTC, Saudi Arabia; Hail Region Municipality, Saudi Arabia; Samsung, Saudi Arabia ; Le Chene, UAE; National Partnerships and Capacity Development Agency, Ministry of Culture, Saudi Arabia; NEOVA KATILIM SİGORTA, Türkiye; NMDC Energy, UAE; Ooredoo Kuwait, Kuwait; Qatar Foundation, Qatar; Qatar Vision Production Company, Qatar; QNET, Hong Kong; Quill Communications, UAE; Saudi Authority for Industrial Cities and Technology Zones (MODON), Saudi Arabia; Saudi German Health UAE, UAE; TCS Dubai, UAE; Tosyalı Holding, Türkiye; Türkiye Sigorta, Türkiye; Ülker Bisküvi Sanayi A.Ş., Türkiye; and VakıfBank, Türkiye, among others.

Stevie winners will be presented their awards at a gala banquet at the InterContinental Hotel, Istanbul, Türkiye on Friday, 11 September. Tickets for the event will be on sale this summer.

“We are delighted to recognize the achievements of such a diverse group of organizations across the MENA region in the 2026 edition of the Middle East & North Africa Stevie Awards,” said Stevie Awards President Maggie Miller. “We look forward to celebrating Stevie winners during our gala event on 11 September in Istanbul, Türkiye. The quality of nominations received this year was exceptional. The program has grown considerably every year, showing the vast amount of innovation in the MENA region.”

Winners to be celebrated during an event in New York City on June 9.

The Stevie® Awards, organizers of the world's premier business awards programs, today announced the Gold, Silver, and Bronze Stevie winners in The 24th American Business Awards®.

All organizations operating in the USA - large and small, public and private, for-profit and non-profit - are eligible to submit nominations to the ABAs in a wide range of categories honoring achievement in every aspect of work life, from customer service and management to public relations and product development.

More than 3,700 nominations were considered in the judging process this year by more than 230 professionals worldwide, whose average scores determined the winners.

Winners of three or more Gold Stevie Awards include:

A-One Janitorial LLC, Newport Beach, CA (5), MikeWorldWide & American Dairy Queen, New York, NY (5), Cisco, San Francisco, CA and Jersey City, NJ (4), Delta Dental of Kansas, Wichita, KS (4), Invision, Walnut Creek, CA (4), VelocityEHS, Chicago, IL (4), VUMI Group, Miami, FL (4), Azul, Sunnyvale, CA (3), Catherine Violet Hubbard Animal Sanctuary, Newtown, CT (3), Critical Mass, New York, NY (3), Deloitte Services LP, New York, NY (3), EBizCharge, Irvine, CA (3), Espresa, Palo Alto, CA (3), GigaCloud Technology, El Monte, CA (3), IBM, Armonk, NY, USA (3), Jenzabar, Boston, MA (3), London Computer Systems, Cincinnati, OH (3), Manulife John Hancock Retirement (3), MikeWorldWide, New York, NY (3), Origence, Irvine, CA (3), Proximity, Centerville, UT (3), SoftPro, Raleigh, NC (3), SynergySuite, Sandy, UT (3), The Holliday Collaborative Agency, Indianapolis, IN (3), and The Surplus Line Association of California, San Ramon, CA (3).

For a complete list of the Stevie Award winners announced today, visit https://aba.stevieawards.com.

Winners of five best-of-show prizes will be awarded Grand Stevie Award trophies, to be announced the week of May 4.

2026 Stevie winners will be celebrated during an awards banquet on Tuesday, June 9 at the Marriott Marquis in New York City. Tickets for the event are now on sale.

The categories that recognize outstanding new products and services introduced in the USA are among the most heavily subscribed to in the ABAs. Every new product or service nominated in the program will be included in voting for the People's Choice Stevie Awards for Favorite New Products, an annual feature of the ABAs in which the general public votes for their favorite new products. Voting opens on tomorrow, April 27 at https://aba.stevieawards.com/Awards/PeoplesChoiceVoting/ and will conclude on May 23. People's Choice Stevie winners will be announced the week of May 25 and will be honored during the June 9 awards presentations.

“We’re proud to recognize the breadth and quality of achievements demonstrated by organizations and individuals honored in The 2026 American Business Awards,” said Michael Gallagher, founder and Executive Chairman of the Stevie Awards. “This year’s nominations reflect the many ways organizations across the United States are driving progress, from advancements in artificial intelligence to excellence in communications and beyond. We look forward to celebrating the accomplishments of the 2026 Stevie winners at our June 9 awards ceremony in New York City.”

Supporting sponsors of The 2026 American Business Awards include Golden Hour Veterinary Telemedicine, Melissa Sones Consulting, Persistent, and SoftPro.

Business awards can be easy to dismiss as vanity metrics. In practice, the right recognition can do much more: validate a company’s credibility, strengthen trust with clients and partners, support employer brand, and give internal teams proof that their work stands out beyond their own market. That is especially true when the judging process is structured and based on expert review.

In this article, I will share practical steps that can help businesses pursue credible international awards more strategically and effectively. It will be especially useful for PR managers, marketing leaders, founders, and business owners who want to turn real achievements into recognition that strengthens reputation, trust, and market positioning.

Awards: Vanity metrics or business impact?

Choosing the right awards program is just as important as preparing the entry itself. For business owners and PR managers, a good starting point is to look at credibility, relevance, and long-term value. Ask simple questions:

• Is the award recognized in your industry or region?
• Is the organizer a credible source?
• Is the judging process transparent?
• Are judges independent and experienced?
• Does the program attract strong companies and meaningful competition?

It is also worth considering what happens after the announcement, including:

• Feedback from the judges
• Media coverage and visibility
• Networking opportunities.

The best awards are those that align with your business goals, reflect real achievement, and earn recognition respected by clients, partners, and future talent.

This is one of the reasons Stevie® Awards programs are widely respected in the business world. Founded in 2002, the Stevie® Awards now run multiple international competitions, receive thousands of nominations from more than 70 nations, and use judging panels made up of more than 1,000 professionals worldwide each year. Each entry is reviewed and rated by at least five judges, and entrants receive judges’ comments after results are announced. 

At ZONE3000, we have experienced that firsthand. Our company received a Gold Stevie® Award in the 2025 Middle East & North Africa Stevie® Awards for Innovative Achievement in Organization Recovery. We also received a Bronze Stevie® Award in the 2026 Stevie® Awards for Sales & Customer Service in Achievement in AI-Driven Sales Automation.

How to prepare an entry that deserves to win

From my perspective as a PR & Communications manager, a strong award is not only a logo for a website footer. It is a framework that helps you package achievements clearly, test whether your story is convincing to outside experts, and turn business results into a credible market narrative. A very important thing to remember is understanding how to prepare an entry that deserves to win. Below, I share tips based on my own experience that helped my company win credible business awards.

1. Start with business significance, not with self-praise

One of the most common mistakes in award submissions is trying to sound impressive instead of being specific. Judges do not need adjectives. They need evidence, context, and outcomes.

When we prepared ZONE3000’s organization recovery case, the story was not “we are resilient.” The real story was much more concrete. The majority of our team was based in Ukraine when the full-scale Russian invasion began. The challenge was to evacuate people, secure infrastructure, protect continuity, and keep client delivery stable under extraordinary pressure. The case became strong because it showed actions and results: safe workplaces, evacuation support, remote work readiness, cybersecurity enhancements, backup planning, stronger internal communications, and continuity of service.

The same principle worked in our AI-driven sales automation case. Instead of presenting AI as a trend, the entry focused on a real business problem: fragmented sales data, manual qualification, and limited visibility into opportunity readiness. The story became compelling when connected to the solution, technologies used, and business outcomes such as faster sales cycles, stronger forecasting, and better use of sales resources.

My first recommendation is simple: do not think like, “How do we make this sound award-worthy?” Emphasize, “What changed in the business, why did it matter, and what can we prove?”

2. Choose the category as carefully as you write the entry

A great story placed in the wrong category can easily become an average entry.

This is where many PR teams lose points. The temptation is to choose the broadest or most prestigious-sounding category. In reality, awards are won by relevance. The closer the fit between your case and the category criteria, the easier it is for judges to understand why the nomination belongs there.

In my experience, category selection is a strategic step. You need to study the category, compare it to your actual achievement, and decide on the strongest angle. Is your case about innovation, leadership, customer impact, technology implementation, team performance, or market growth?

If you are not fully sure which category fits best for your story, it is absolutely fine to contact the organizers and ask for guidance. A short clarification can help you avoid a mismatch and significantly improve the chances of placing your case in the category where it has the strongest potential.

3. Treat communication with organizers as part of the process

One thing I value in awards programs is the quality of communication with organizers. Good organizational communication reduces uncertainty and helps applicants navigate categories, deadlines, and practical requirements with more confidence.

With Stevie® Awards, the process is structured and transparent, supported by entry kits, category descriptions, FAQs, and competition-specific materials. They also regularly run free live webinars for entrants on topics such as choosing categories, understanding the judging process, and crafting stronger nominations. In my own experience, attending these webinars was genuinely helpful: they made it easier to see that we already had strong stories worth submitting and helped me understand how to shape them into award-ready entries.

My advice is to approach organizers’ materials the same way you would approach a media brief: read carefully, use the available resources, and take advantage of webinars and Q&A opportunities to strengthen your submission before you enter.

4. Write for judges, not for your website

Award entries are not marketing brochures. They are evidence-based narratives. A strong submission usually has three qualities.

• It gives enough context for an outside reviewer to understand the scale of the challenge.
• It explains the solution in plain business language, not only internal terminology.
• It proves outcomes with facts, metrics, or credible indicators.
• It includes strong supporting materials that back up the claims made in the nomination, through links, visuals, case examples, testimonials, or other relevant evidence.

This is also where PR expertise becomes especially valuable. A communications professional knows how to structure a story so that technical, operational, and business details become readable without losing precision. In many companies, the achievement already exists, but the narrative does not. Building that narrative is the real work.

5. Respect the judging process and use the feedback

What makes awards especially useful is that the process does not end when results are announced. In the Stevie® Awards, entrants receive judges’ anonymous comments, which also function as a valuable external review mechanism. Based on my experience with other awards programs, receiving judges’ comments is not always typical, which makes this a real advantage of the Stevie® Awards process.

That is valuable for two reasons. First, feedback helps you understand how your story was perceived by external reviewers. Second, it can make future submissions stronger. Sometimes, comments show that the case itself was strong but presented too broadly. In other cases, they highlight that the business impact was compelling, but the evidence was not supported clearly enough, for example, through stronger supporting materials, external links, or proof points.

The smartest way to approach awards is not to submit once and simply hope for the best. It is to learn from the process, refine your approach, and build a stronger recognition strategy over time.

6. Do not underestimate the ceremony and networking value

Awards ceremonies are often viewed as symbolic, but they can also be highly practical. Stevie® Awards ceremonies bring together winners, judges, executives, and guests from multiple industries, and official ceremony information highlights networking, on-stage recognition, photography, and interviews as part of the experience.

For communications teams, this creates additional value around the award itself. The ceremony can become an opportunity for content, establishing relationships, and visibility.

7. Plan your post-award communication before the result arrives

Winning is not the end of the story. It is the start of a communications cycle. If you wait until the award is announced to decide what to do with it, you lose momentum.

Prepare a post-award plan in advance:

• internal communications
• LinkedIn content
• media outreach
• leadership commentary
• website updates
• case-study repackaging
• award page integration
• partner-facing materials.

The goal is not to overpromote. The goal is to translate recognition into trust.

Final thoughts: Turn recognition into business assets

If I had to sum it up in one principle, it would be this: business awards are won through strong achievements, clear storytelling, solid evidence, and professional communication.

At ZONE3000, our strongest award results have come not only from the recognition itself, but also from how we turned that recognition into a credible business narrative. Our awards and recognitions also support marketing and sales efforts by helping demonstrate trust, credibility, and proven expertise when approaching new leads. Referring to winning cases allows us to show the business community tangible results, strengthen our market positioning, and attract new partners and clients.

My advice: Identify what is truly meaningful inside the business, shape it into a credible narrative, and present it in a way the market can trust. That is how awards become more than recognition. They become business assets

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