The 15th annual American Business Awards, the premier business awards competition in the U.S.A. which attracts more than 3,000 nominations from organizations nationwide each year, is now accepting nominations for the 2017 program. 

The American Business Awards recognize achievement in every facet of the workplace. Entry details are available at http://www.stevieawards.com/aba. 

REVIEW THE ENTRY KIT.

All organizations operating in the U.S.A. are eligible to submit nominations -- public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small. There are two early-bird entry deadlines this year – November 17 and December 14 – with discounted entry fees. 

A category group that has been greatly expanded for 2017 is the Company / Organization Awards.

Recognizing the achievements of entire organizations (for-profit or non-profit, large medium or small, public or private). 

Information to be submitted online for entries in these categories for the 2017 ABAs will include

a. An essay of up to 650 words describing the nominated organization's achievements since January 1 2016

b. In bullet-list form (up to 150 words), a brief summary of up to ten (10) of the nominated organization's chief achievements since January 1 2016

c. Optional (but highly recommended), a collection of supporting files and web addresses that you may upload to our server to support your entry and provide more background information to the judges

Company of the Year (may be for-profit or non-profit, public or private, large or small).  New for 2017, each of these 35 industry categories now has three sub-categories:

• Small (≤ 50 employees and revenue ≤ $10 million)
• Medium-size (≤ 250 employees and revenue ≤ $50 million)
• Large (> 250 employees and revenue > $50 million)

B01.    Advertising, Marketing, & Public Relations
B02.    Aerospace & Defense
B03.    Apparel, Beauty & Fashion (a new category for 2017)
B04.    Automotive & Transport Equipment
B05.    Banking
B06.    Business & Professional Services
B07.    Chemicals
B08.    Computer Hardware
B09.    Computer Software
B10.    Computer Services
B11.    Conglomerates
B12.    Consumer Products - Durables
B13.    Consumer Products - Non-Durables
B14.    Consumer Services (a new category for 2017)
B15.    Diversified Services
B16.    Electronics
B17.    Energy
B18.    Financial Services
B19.    Food & Beverage
B20.    Health Products & Services
B21.    Hospitality & Leisure
B22.    Insurance
B23.    Internet/New Media
B24.    Legal
B25.    Manufacturing
B26.    Materials & Construction
B27.    Media & Entertainment
B28.    Metals & Mining
B29.    Non-Profit or Government Organizations
B30.    Pharmaceuticals
B31.    Real Estate
B32.    Retail
B33.    Telecommunications
B34.    Transportation
B35.    Utilities

B36. Startup of the Year (for companies that began operations since January 1 2015).  There are no entry fees for the Startup of the Year categories
a. Business Product Industries
b. Business Service Industries
c. Consumer Product Industries
d. Consumer Service Industries

B37. Tech Startup of the Year (for companies that began operations since January 1 2015).  There is no entry fee for this category
a. Hardware/Peripherals
b. Services
c. Software

B38. Most Innovative Company of the Year (recognizing overall achievement in product and/or marketing, sales, manufacturing, management, etc. innovation)
   a. Up to 100 Employees
   b. Up to 2,500 Employees
   c. More Than 2,500 Employees

B39. Most Innovative Tech Company of the Year (recognizing overall achievement in product and/or marketing, sales, manufacturing, management, etc. innovation)
   a. Up to 100 Employees
   b. Up to 2,500 Employees
   c. More Than 2,500 Employees

B40. Innovation of the Year (recognizing singular innovations in product and/or marketing, sales, manufacturing, management, etc., by an organization or an individual)
   a. Business Product Industries
   b. Business Service Industries
   c. Consumer Product Industries
   d. Consumer Service Industries

B41. Technical Innovation of the Year (recognizing singular innovations in technology, new products, etc., by an organization or an individual)
   a. At Organizations With Up to 100 Employees
   b. At Organizations With Up to 1,000 Employees
   c. At Organizations With 1,000 or More Employees

B42. Corporate Social Responsibility Program of the Year (recognizing organizations' contributions to society)
   a. At Organizations With Up to 100 Employees
   b. At Organizations With Up to 2,500 Employees
   c. At Organizations With 2,500 or More Employees

B43. Fastest-Growing Company of the Year (recognizing outstanding revenue growth since the beginning of 2016 over 2015)
   a. Up to 100 Employees
   b. Up to 2,500 Employees
   c. 2,500 or More Employees

B44. Fastest-Growing Tech Company of the Year (recognizing outstanding revenue growth since the beginning of 2016 over 2015)
   a. Up to 100 Employees
   b. Up to 2,500 Employees
   c. 2,500 or More Employees

B45.  Minority-Owned Business of the Year: This category will recognize the achievements since January 1 2016 of businesses in the U.S.A. that are majority owned by members of an ethnic minority

B46. Veteran-Owned Business of the Year: This category will recognize the achievements since January 1 2016 of businesses in the U.S.A. that are owned by veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces

B47. Energy Industry Innovation of the Year: This category recognizes singular innovations in energy-related technology, production, conservation, storage or delivery, by an organization or an individual in the U.S.A., since January 1 2016.  There is no entry fee for this category

Gold Stevie winners in the 2016 American Business Awards Company / Oraganization of the Year categories include:

Company of the Year - Advertising, Marketing & Public Relations
GOLD STEVIE WINNER:
Makovsky & Co, New York, NY

Company of the Year - Banking & Financial Services
GOLD STEVIE WINNER:
First GREEN Bank, Mount Dora, FL

Company of the Year - Business Services - Less than 100 Employees
GOLD STEVIE WINNER:
Kount, Boise, ID

Company of the Year - Business Services - 100 to 2,500 Employees
GOLD STEVIE WINNER:
Fleetmatics, Waltham, MA

Company of the Year - Business Services - More than 2,500 Employees
GOLD STEVIE WINNERS (TIE):
Infinite Computer Solutions, Rockville, MD
TransPerfect, New York, NY

Company of the Year - Computer Hardware & Services
GOLD STEVIE WINNER:
QLess Inc., Pasadena, CA

Company of the Year - Computer Software - Up to 500 Employees
GOLD STEVIE WINNER:
Tintri, Mountain View, CA

Company of the Year - Computer Software - 500 or More Employees
GOLD STEVIE WINNER:
HubSpot, Cambridge, MA

Company of the Year - Consumer Products
GOLD STEVIE WINNER:
Jeunesse Global, Orlando, FL

Company of the Year - Food & Beverage
GOLD STEVIE WINNER:
Fazoli's Italian Restaurants, Lexington, KY

The Stevie Awards have a made a significant multi-year financial contribution to the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship in the School of Business at George Mason University, the largest public university in the State of Virginia in the USA. 

Michael Gallagher, Stevie Awards president and a 1994 MBA graduate of the university, has been actively involved with Mason for more than 20 years. So much so that he was honored with the university’s 2015 Alumni Service Award.

In 2005, he worked closely with the School of Business Alumni Relations staff to create the first Annual Business Alumni Celebration, the School of Business' premiere alumni event. In 2009, he became active with the School of Business Alumni Chapter, serving as vice president of events and then led the group as president for the next two years. After completing his tenure as president, he served as an at-large member for another year and most recently led the chapter's fundraising committee.

Gallagher regularly contributes time and money to the School of Business’ annual Deans’ Business Plan Competition and often serves as a mentor to student entrepreneurs.

Still, he wanted to do more.

“I feel strongly about encouraging people to become entrepreneurs,” said Gallagher.

Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship

“It’s important to ask people face-to-face to do something because it’s hard for them to say no,” explained Gallagher. That’s what happened to him when asked to be involved with Mason, and he’s had “a lot of fun doing it.”

Having already volunteered much of his time and financially supported several of the entrepreneurial activities the School of Business offered, Gallagher saw a natural alignment with his interests and the school’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

He learned through a conversation with David Miller, director of Mason’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, that the center didn’t lack for ideas and projects, it lacked time to properly run and grow the initiatives already created. Gallagher immediately pledged that the Stevie Awards would contribute $195,000 to give the center the gift of time, which comes in the form of a program manager that will help run the center’s programs.

“Entrepreneurs are the babies of the business world. If people don’t have babies there won’t be much of a human race,” he continued. “The same is true for the economy. If you don’t have entrepreneurs, you won’t have economic and job growth.”

With current opportunities for students ranging from field trips, mentor programs, a maker space, business plan competition, an innovation lab, student support groups, and more, Miller found it challenging to provide each initiative the attention it needed to fully serve students. The new program manager funded by the Stevie Awards will be fully dedicated to expanding and resourcing existing opportunities.

This will provide Miller more time to nurture student entrepreneurs and hopefully, increase their success.

“If you have 100 entrepreneurs, maybe one will be successful. That’s the reality of entrepreneurship. I’d like that to be five or six at Mason,” said Gallagher

“Everyone has an expertise in something, and I would like to see Mason, and the USA as a whole, to encourage people to start their own businesses. You don’t have to be Mark Zuckerberg or Sergey Brin. You just need to support yourself and be able to look at yourself in the mirror. You can be a company of one.”

Learn more about Mason’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship or contribute to its success by making a gift.

The 15th annual American Business Awards, the premier business awards competition in the U.S.A. which attracts more than 3,000 nominations from organizations nationwide each year, is now accepting nominations for the 2017 program. 

The American Business Awards recognize achievement in every facet of the workplace. Entry details are available at http://www.stevieawards.com/aba. 

REVIEW THE ENTRY KIT.

All organizations operating in the U.S.A. are eligible to submit nominations -- public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small. There are two early-bird entry deadlines this year – November 17 and December 14 – with discounted entry fees. 

A category group that has been greatly expanded for 2017 is Mobile Site & App Awards. 

These categories recognize excellence in mobile websites and apps.

Information to be submitted online for entries in these categories for the 2017 ABAs will include

a. An essay of up to 200 words describing the mobile site or app's purpose and results to date.

b. The mobile site or app itself, in the form of a demonstration video of up to three (3) minutes in length.  You must attach the video to your entry through our attachment/link uploading tool. 

c. Optionally, you may list creative and production credits for your site or app - a list of the people and organizations that contribute to its development

F55. Business/Government
F56. Education & Reference
F57. Entertainment
F58. Events
F59. Experimental & Innovation
F60. Family & Kids (new category for 2017)
F61. Fashion & Beauty (new category for 2017)
F62. Financial Services / Banking (new category for 2017)
F63. Fitness & Recreation (new category for 2017)
F64. Food & Drink (new category for 2017)
F65. Games
F66. Guides/Ratings/Reviews
F67. Health (new category for 2017)
F68. Integrated Mobile Experience
F69. Lifestyle
F70. Magazine / Editorial (new category for 2017)
F71. Marketing
F72. Messaging (new category for 2017)
F73. Music
F74. News
F75. Productivity (new category for 2017)
F76. Professional Education
F77. Professional Services (new category for 2017)
F78. Public Service & Activism (new category for 2017)
F79. Real Estate (new category for 2017)
F80. School / University (new category for 2017)
F81. Shopping
F82. Social
F83. Sports
F84. Training
F85. Travel
F86. Utilities & Services

Gold Stevie winners in the Mobile Site & App Awards categories in 2016 include:

Business/Government - Advertising, Marketing, Public Relations and Business Services Industries
GOLD STEVIE WINNER:
EffectiveUI, Denver, CO: City and County of Denver’s PocketGov Web App Allows Citizens to Interact with Government from Anywhere

Business/Government – All Other Industries
GOLD STEVIE WINNER:
Applied Systems, University Park, IL: Applied Mobile

Education & Reference
GOLD STEVIE WINNER:
Neocate, Rockville, MD: Neocate Footsteps App

Events
GOLD STEVIE WINNER:
BMO Capital Markets, Chicago, IL: Global Metals and Mining Conference App

Experimental & Innovation
GOLD STEVIE WINNER:
Sharecare.com, Atlanta, GA: Sharecare Voice App

Integrated Mobile Experience
GOLD STEVIE WINNER:
LogMeIn, Boston, MA: join.me

Lifestyle
GOLD STEVIE WINNER:
ACTIVE Network, Dallas, TX: Couch to 5K: Running App, Training Coach and GPS Tracker

Marketing
GOLD STEVIE WINNER:
LABOV Marketing Communications and Training, Fort Wayne, IN: Audi of America Audi exclusive App

Shopping
GOLD STEVIE WINNER:
Peapod, Skokie, IL: Smart Shopping Gets Smarter: Peapod's New Mobile App
App

Today, the Stevie® Awards issued the call for entries for The 2017 (15th Annual) American Business Awards, the premier business awards competition in the U.S.A. which attracts more than 3,000 nominations from organizations nationwide each year.  Entry details are available at http://www.stevieawards.com/aba. 

REVIEW THE ENTRY KIT.

All organizations operating in the U.S.A. are eligible to submit nominations -- public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small. There are two early-bird entry deadlines this year – November 17 and December 14 – with discounted entry fees.  The final entry deadline is February 16, but late entries will be accepted through March 15 with payment of a late fee.

The 2017 awards will honor outstanding work since the beginning of 2016.

More than 200 professionals nationwide will participate in the judging process in February through April.  The Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie® Award winners will be announced on May 1, and celebrated during a gala event in New York City on June 20.

The American Business Awards recognize achievement in every facet of the workplace. Categories include:

-Management Awards

-Company of the Year Awards

-Customer Service Awards

-Human Resources Awards

-Information Technology Awards

-Marketing Awards

-New Product Awards

-Public Relations Awards

-Web Site Awards, App, Video, Live Event, and Other Media Awards

New categories for 2017 include:

• Mobile Site & App Awards: Family & Kids, Fashion & Beauty, Financial Services, and more
• Video Awards: Travel & Tourism
• Company/Organization Awards: Each of the 34 Company of the Year categories have been broken into 3 sub- categories by company size and/or revenue
• Management Awards: Apparel, Beauty & Fashion, and Consumer Services
• Marketing Awards: Branded Utility of the Year
• New Product Awards: Data Visualization Technology, Endpoint Security Management Solution, Event Management Solution, and more
• PR Awards: Communications Research, Healthcare, Media Relations, and more

Every new product or service nominated in The 2017 American Business Awards will automatically be included in voting for the People's Choice Stevie Awards for Favorite New Products. Voting will open to the general public in May, and the winners will be honored at The American Business Awards banquet on June 20.

The PJ Lhuillier Group of Companies is the top winner in the 2016 People’s Choice Stevie® Awards for Favorite Companies, a feature of The International Business Awards, the world’s only international, all-encompassing business awards program which is now in its 13^th year.

The worldwide public vote was conducted this summer, with the highest number of votes deciding the winners in a variety of industries. More than 33,000 votes were cast. All Stevie Award winners in the Company of the Year categories of this year’s International Business Awards were eligible to be included in voting for the People’s Choice Stevie Awards.

The PJ Lhuillier Group of Companies, the Manila, Philippines-based conglomerate that owns and operates a portfolio of financial services businesses, has won People’s Choice Stevie Awards in three industry categories. Freelancer.com, the Sydney, Australia-based outsourcing and crowdsourcing marketplace for small businesses, has won two People’s Choice Stevie Awards.   The organization that received the most votes overall is the Dubai Statistics Center.

The crystal People’s Choice Stevie Awards will be presented to winners at The International Business Awards banquet on Friday, 21 October at the Rome Cavalieri, Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Rome, Italy. Tickets for the event are now on sale. The winners of peer-adjudicated Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Awards will be presented with their awards along with the People’s Choice Stevie Awards. Stevie winners were selected from more than 3,800 nominations received from organizations and individuals in more than 60 nations.

The winners of the 2016 People’s Choice Stevie Awards for Favorite Companies are:

-Advertising, Marketing & PR: other
-Automotive / Manufacturing / Transport: International Armoring Corporation
-Banking: ZiraatBank
-Business or Professional Services: Freelancer.com
-Computer Services: RheinBrücke IT Consulting
-Computer Software: Jasper
-Consumer Products: Jeunesse Global
-Diversified Services: PJ Lhuillier Group of Companies
-Financial Services: Payoneer
-Government / Non-Profit: Dubai Statistics Center
-Health / Pharmaceutical: NMC Healthcare
-Insurance: Cebuana Lhuillier
-Internet / New Media: Freelancer.com
-Other Industries: PJ Lhuillier Group of Companies
-Real Estate / Retail: N&F Global Corp.
-Telecommunication: Ooredoo Qatar

The Stevie® Awards will present The 14th Annual American Business Awards, the top business awards program in the U.S.A., on Monday, June 20 at 7:00 pm ET at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City.   The presentations will be broadcast live via Livestream.

Close to 500 executives from across America will attend the June 20 presentations. More than 3,400 nominations were reviewed in The American Business Awards (ABA) judging process this year by more than 250 professionals, whose average scores determined the winners in categories such as Executive of the Year, Woman of the Year, Startup of the Year, and many more.

The format of the ABA presentations has been changed this year.  In the past, Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie winner placements were not revealed until the gala.  At the event, only Gold Stevie winners were called to the stage to accept their awards and make a speech.  This year all Stevie winners were pre-announced on May 2. All Stevie-winning organizations that attend the gala will come to the stage to accept their awards. 

Monday's event will feature a silent auction to benefit CARE.  CARE fights poverty for all by focusing on girls and women with programs that bring lasting change to whole communities

For a complete list of the Stevie Award winners, visit www.StevieAwards.com/ABA.

The 14th Annual American Business Awards, the top business awards program in the U.S.A., will be presented on Monday, June 20 at 7:00 pm ET at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City.   The presentations will be broadcast live.

Download the awards presentations program book here.

Close to 500 executives from across America will attend. The event is a sellout: no new ticket orders will be accepted, although organizations that have already purchased tickets may purchase additional tickets through tomorrow (June 15).

We changed the format of the ABA presentations this year.  In the past we announced the finalists about a month before the awards banquet, and didn’t reveal the Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie® placements until the gala.  At the event, only Gold Stevie winners were called to the stage to accept their awards and make a speech.  This year we decided to pre-announce the Stevie winners (winners were announced on May 2), and to invite all Stevie-winning organizations that attend the gala to come to the stage to accept their awards.  While Monday's event won’t hold as much suspense as past ABA presentations, we think the new format will be more enjoyable for all Stevie winners. 

Monday's event will feature a silent auction to benefit CARE.  CARE fights poverty for all by focusing on girls and women with programs that bring lasting change to whole communities. 

All organizations operating in the U.S.A. – 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 3,400 nominations were reviewed in the judging process this year by more than 250 professionals, whose average scores determined the winners.

Here is the list of organizations that will attend The 2016 American Business Awards.

4Life Research Sandy UT
97th Floor  Lehi  UT
Active Leadership, LLC  New York NY
Ad Exchange Group Irvine CA
Ad*vantage Printing Inc  Kew Gardens NY
AGS Health New York NY
Alexium International Greer SC
Alliance for Downtown New York New York NY
Allianz Global Assistance Richmond VA
American Standard  Piscataway  NJ
AMN Healthcare San Diego CA
Amobee  San Diego  CA
AT&T  Dallas  TX
BDNA Mountain View CA
Black Oak Casino Resort Tuolumne CA
BlackDoctor.org  Chicago  IL
BluePay Processing Naperville IL
Blueshift Labs San Francisco CA
BMO Capital Markets Chicago IL
BrainStorm, Inc.  American Fork UT
C-4 Analytics  Saugus MA
Callidus Software  Dublin  CA
Capital One Investing  Seattle WA
Capstrat  Raleigh  NC
Carbonite Inc. Lewiston ME
Cartus Corporation  Danbury  CT
CAS  Columbus  OH
Cast & Crew Burbank CA
Ceridian  Minneapolis  MN
Charleston County Park & Recreation Commission  Charleston SC
Christmas in Hollywood Hollywood CA
Cigna  Bloomfield  CT
Cisco Systems  San Jose  CA
Cisco Systems Inc. Research Triangle Park NC
ClearSlide  San Francisco  CA
Coastal Risk Consulting Plantation FL
College Works Painting  Irvine  CA
ConforMIS  Inc.  Bedford  MA
Cricket Wireless  Atlanta  GA
Curriculum Associates North Billerica MA
Dallas Fort Worth International Airport  DFW Airport  TX
Davies Santa Barbara CA
Delhaize America Salisbury NC
Deluxe Corporation  Shoreview  MN
DHL Doral FL
Diligent Corporation New York NY
Donlen Fleet Leasing And Management Northbrook IL
Echelon Design Inc Gilberts IL
EffectiveUI  Denver CO
Effex Management Solutions Houston TX
Elemica Wayne PA
ezCater  Boston  MA
Fazoli's Italian Restaurants  Lexington KY
Fiksu Boston MA
First GREEN Bank Mount Dora FL
Fluor Enterprises Inc Dallas TX
Forter  San Francisco CA
Foxwoods Resort Casino Mashantucket CT
Future Energy Solutions Ft. Laudersdale FL
GTT Communications Inc. McLean VA
GuideWell Connect Jacksonville FL
HCSS Sugar Land TX
Henry Repeating Arms Bayonne NJ
ICON Clinical Research  LLC  North Wales  PA
Ignite Sales Dallas TX
Independent Security Evaluators (ISE)  Baltimore  MD
Integral Ad Science  New York  NY
Isagenix International Gilbert AZ
iText Software Corp. Cambridge MA
Ixia  Calabasas  CA
Karma Agency  Philadelphia  PA
Kia Motors America  Irvine CA
L4 Digital Seattle WA
Lakeshore Recycling Systems  Morton Grove  IL
LanguageLine Solutions  Monterey  California
LCG  Ltd. & H.E.L.P.® Legal Plan   Philadelphia PA
Lion Agency  Miami FL
Lockheed Martin Bethesda MD
M&M Electric Service  Inc. Gastonia  NC
Managed Maintenance Inc. Boca Raton FL
Marriott Vacations Worldwide Orlando FL
Meals on Wheels America  Arlington  VA
MediaBrix New York NY
Mendoza Media LLC Montclair NJ
Merkle  Columbia  MD
MetLife  New York NY
MicroHealth LLC Vienna VA
Minacs Marketing Solutions Milwaukee WI
Momentum Worldwide  New York  NY
MONAT Global Doral FL
Monitronics Security Farmers Branch TX
mroads LLC.  Dallas  TX
MSLGROUP  Los Angeles  CA
National Association of Convenience Stores Alexandria VA
NCR Small Business  Alpharetta  GA
Northstar Travel Group  Secaucus  NJ
Novus Global Solutions LLC  North Brunswick  NJ
Nutrisystem  Fort Washington  PA
Opmantek  Charlotte  NC
OptumRx Irvine CA
Opus Capital Markets Consultants a Wipro Limited Company Chicago IL
Palm Beach County Schools West Palm Beach FL
Panasonic Automotive  Peachtree City  GA
Peapod  Skokie  IL
Pearson English Business Solutions  Brisbane  CA
Philadelphia Insurance Companies Bala Cynwyd PA
Popular Ink McKinney TX
Prevedere Columbus OH
Prositions  Inc.  Urbandale  IA
QLess Inc.  Pasadena  CA
Qmatic Atlanta GA
Regal Beloit Inc. Florence KY
Rhea Lana's Franchise Systems  Inc.  Conway  AR
RiseSmart  San Jose  CA
Sentient Interactive  Morristown  NJ
Shinola Detroit MI
Signet Interactive Houston TX
SocialCode New York NY
SoftPro  Raleigh  NC
Southwest Michigan First Kalamazoo MI
Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital  Boston  MA
Squarespace  New York  NY
Studio 11 Design  Dallas  TX
Swiss Post Solutions New York NY
Tata Consultancy Services New York  NY
Technica Communications Ojai CA
Thomson Reuters  New York  NY
Timberland Stratham NH
TMG (The Members Group)  Des Moines  IA
TomTom Inc Burlington MA
TopSpot Internet Marketing  Houston  TX
TouchCommerce Agoura Hills CA
TransPerfect  New York  NY
TriNet  San Leandro  CA
USHEALTH Advisors LLC Grapevine TX
Ve Interactive Boston MA
VirtusaPolaris  Westborough  MA
W Magazine New York NY
WalletHub Washington DC
Waxman  Bedford Heights  OH
Wells Fargo Treasury Management San Francisco CA
Wheels Inc. Des Plaines IL
Workiva Inc. Ames IA
Worldwide Clinical Trials King of Prussia PA

Awards to Be Presented at Gala Ceremony on June 20 in New York City

Liaison Technologies and West Unified Communications are the top winners in the 2016 People's Choice Stevie® Awards for Favorite New Products, a feature of The American Business Awards, the U.S.A.’s top business awards program, which are now in their 14th year.

The nationwide public vote was conducted last month, with the highest number of votes deciding the winners in a variety of product categories. More than 26,000 votes were cast.  To win, a category’s leading vote-getter had to receive at least 100 votes.

Liaison Technologies, the Alpharetta, Georgia-based provider of integration and data management solutions, and West Unified Communications, the Omaha, Nebraska-based telecommunications group, both won People’s Choice Stevie Awards in two categories. LIMU LEAN BURN garnered the most votes of any nominee.

The crystal People’s Choice Stevie Awards will be presented to winners at The American Business Awards’ gala event on Monday, June 20 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City. The winners of peer-adjudicated Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Awards will also be presented their awards that evening. More than 400 executives from across the U.S.A. are expected to attend.

All new products and services recognized as Stevie winners in the new product awards categories of this year’s American Business Awards were eligible to be included in public voting for the people’s choice awards.

The winners of the 2016 People’s Choice Stevie Awards for Favorite New Products are:

Business-to-Business Products: ClearSlide Mail
Business-to-Business Services: iTalent Digital Transformation Service
Computer Hardware: Link by Fasetto
Consumer Electronics: TomTom Spark GPS Fitness Watch
Consumer Products & Services: LIMU LEAN BURN
Content Solution: West Unified Communications’ Webcast Pro
Education – Cloud/Virtual: Study.com Video Lessons
Education – Enterprise Solution: SchoolMint
Education – Other: Youth Digital’s Server Design 1
Education – Personalized Learning: Epiphany Learning K-12 Learning Relationships Management (LRM) Solution
Financial Services: The Caregiver Mortgage
Health & Pharmaceutical: Beltone Legend 17 – Custom
Other Products/Services: Gorilla Safety’s Fleet and Safety Management Mobile App
Software - Big Data:  Progress® DataDirect
Software –  Cloud Application/Service: Infor CloudSuite Facilities Management
Software – Cloud Backup/Storage: Hedvig Distributed Storage Platform
Software – Cloud Infrastructure/Platform: Liasian Alloy Platform
Software – Collaboration/Social: Zoom’s Collaboration Product Suite
Software –  Content Management: Progress® Sitefinity^TM
Software – Ecommerce: Elavon’s Commerce SDK
Software – Financial Management: Host Analytics’ Cloud-Based Financial Modeling
Software –  Governance/Risk: Simility’s Fraud Prevention
Software – Human Capital Management: mroads Paññã
Software – Integration Solution: Liaison ALLOY Platform
Software –  Learning/Workforce Development: Brainshark for Coaching
Software –  Marketing/Public Relations: West Unified Communications' Webcast Essentials
Software –  Mobile: CD2 Mobile Platform with Enhanced Gamification
Software – Project/Systems Management: Epicor ERP 10.1
Software—Security Solution: SecureAuth’s SecureAuth IdP
Software –  Social Business: TouchCommerce TouchSocial
Software– Other: Qmatic Orchestra 6
Telecommunications – Product: Ooma Telo
Telecommunications – Service: Broadview Networks' MyOfficeSuite

The Stevie® Awards today announced Grand Stevie Award winners in The 14^th Annual American Business Awards competition. Winners will be presented with their Grand Stevie trophies at the ABAs’ gala banquet on June 20 in New York.

CallidusCloud, the Dublin, CA based software developer, received the Grand Stevie for organization of the year, for earning the most award points (76) in The 2016 American Business Awards. Other top ABA Grand Stevie winners include TopSpot Internet Marketing (Houston, TX) for interactive agency of the year (17 points), Merkle (Columbia, MD) for marketing agency of the year (16), and MWW (East Rutherford, NJ) for public relations agency of the year (17.5). This is the fourth year in a row that MWW has won this award.

The Grand Stevie Awards were granted to the organizations that submitted the best body of entries to The American Business Awards this year, in their own name or in the names of one or more clients, with a Gold Stevie Award win counting for three points, a Silver Stevie win for two points, and a Bronze Stevie win counting for 1.5 points. The organizations with the most points won.

Besides CallidusCloud, TopSpot Internet Marketing, Merkle, and MWW, Grand Stevies were also awarded to the 10 other organizations with the most points in the 2016 competition. There were a few ties this year.  The other winners are:

1. Cisco Systems, San Jose, CA (52 points)
2. Tied at 27 points: Jeunesse Global (Orlando, FL) and Lakeshore Recycling Systems (Morton Grove, IL)
3. Accenture, Chicago, IL (22)
4. Isagenix International, Gilbert, AZ (20)
5. Tied at 18.5 points: Cigna (Bloomfield, CT) and John Hancock (Boston, MA)
6.  Tied at 17.5 points: AT&T (Dallas, TX) and New American Funding (Tustin, CA)
7. SoftPro, Raleigh, NC (17)

The American Business Awards honor an all-inclusive spectrum of American business people and organizations -- from non-profits, emerging start-ups, major public companies and government agencies, to corner-office executives, product developers, marketers and web development teams. More than 3,400 entries were submitted to The 2016 American Business Awards and more than 250 executives nationwide participated in judging.

Stevie Awards are conferred in five levels of distinction: Grand, Gold, Silver, Bronze, and People’s Choice. More than 400 executives and their guests are expected to attend the June 20 awards gala at New York’s Marriott Marquis Hotel.

For a complete list of all 2016 American Business Awards’ Stevie Award winners visit http://www.StevieAwards.com/ABA.

This is the first year in which Stevie winners in The American Business Awards are announced before the awards gala. In the ABAs’ first 13 years, finalists were announced in advance of the awards gala, but the Stevie winners weren’t revealed until the night of the presentations.

Max Ash is the 11-year-old "chief creator" of MAX'IS Creations, the Boston-based company whose motto is "The world would be better if we could play with our food!^TM"  Max just became the youngest-ever winner of a Stevie® Award when he won the Gold Stevie for Product Developer of the Year in The 14th Annual American Business Awards.  (Winners were announced on Monday, May 2.) 

Here is Max's story, just as he presented it to the ABA judges, some of the most accomplished people in the world of business.

"I have lots of ideas. But, The Mug With A Hoop!^TM is my best so far. In 2nd grade art class my teacher told us to make a mug.  I like sports and hot chocolate so I put a hoop on my mug for tossing marshmallows into hot cocoa.  I pitched my idea at Babson College and was named a top ten finalist in an innovation contest at Fenway Park. I ran a successful crowdfunding campaign, found a sourcing partner to allow large scale manufacturing overseas, and launched on the market in 2014.  Now, with LOTS of help from my mom, dad and brother Sam, MAX’IS Creations has become a profitable family business!

"In the last year, my team and I launched a multi-sport product line that now includes The Mug With A Glove! ^TM, The Mug With A Goalpost! ^TM, The Soccer Mug With A Goal! ^TM, and The Hockey Mug With A Net!^TM   We sold over 27,500 mugs in 2015 (that’s over $665,000 in retail sales across channels) bringing the total retail sales to over $1 Million since first launching on the market in June of 2014.  Based on industry norms, that’s a LOT of mugs!  

"My mugs created a whole new market. Adults like my mugs because they make them feel like kids again.  And kids like my mugs because they’re fun. My mugs are sold at places like Nordstrom, The Grommet, Uncommongoods, Hammacher Schlemmer, and the Basketball Hall of Fame! The Mug With A Hoop! ^TM is currently a top selling mug on Amazon.

"Lots of other great things happened in 2015. I got my first patent (at age 10) with additional design and utility patents pending.  I signed my first licensing deal with Typo/Cotton On who quickly sold through the Basketball Mug!  And I entered into a partnership with Boelter Brands, a major licensed drinkware company to bring MAX’IS Creations licensed mugs to market.  An NCAA March Madness program is currently underway with NBA, MLB, MLS, NFL, NHL mugs coming next!

"In the past year, me and my mugs have been featured in places like The Boston Globe, CNN Money and Gift Shop Magazine, with product placements on Real Simple, Woman’s Day and Buzzfeed.  A Vat-19 video of my mug went viral with over 4 million views! Queen Latifah featured me on her show and my basketball and hockey mugs made separate appearances on The Today Show!  

"I happen to have dyslexia, a language-based learning disability often linked to creativity. Kids like me see the world differently and the world is lucky that we do! 1 in 5 kids in the U.S. struggles with learning and attention issues related to reading, writing, math, organization and attention. People with learning and attention issues can thrive when they get the support they need. That’s why I donate five percent of the profits from the sale of my mugs to dyslexia-related charities and nonprofits like Understood.org, which are dedicated to empowering parents of kids like me.

"In the last year I shared the stage with people like Daymond John, John Legend and others to showcase the creative advantage of people with dyslexia.  We recently updated my packaging to feature Understood.org as a public service announcement for this great resource.  Since January 2015 I have donated thousands of dollars to dyslexia-related causes and over 1000 mugs to charity.  Being honored by the Stevie Awards will help people see that kids like me are smart and can achieve success with the right supports. Imagine what other good ideas our world will have when ALL kids who think and learn differently are understood!

Congratulations Max, we look forward to presenting your Gold Stevie Award to you on June 20 at The American Business Awards gala in New York.