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 accepting nominations for the 2017 program. 

REVIEW THE ENTRY KIT

The American Business Awards recognize achievement in every facet of the workplace. Full entry details are available at http://www.stevieawards.com/aba. The entry deadline is Thursday, February 16 but late entries will be accepted through Wednesday, March 15. 

There are more than 50 categories to recognize management executives and teams. 

All organizations operating in the U.S.A. are eligible to submit nominations -- public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small. 

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 nominee's accomplishments since January 1 2016

b. In bullet-list form, a brief summary of up to ten (10) of the chief accomplishments of the nominee 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

Management Awards categories include:

A39. Management Team of the Year
  a. Business Products Industries
  b. Business Services Industries
  c. Consumer Products Industries
  d. Consumer Services Industries

Executive of the Year (e.g. CEO, President, COO) 
A01. Advertising, Marketing, & Public Relations
A02. Aerospace & Defense
A03. Apparel, Beauty & Fashion (a new category for 2017)
A04. Automotive & Transport Equipment
A05. Banking
A06. Business & Professional Services
A07. Chemicals
A08. Computer Hardware
A09. Computer Software
  a. Up to 500 Employees
  b. 500 or More Employees
A10. Computer Services
A11. Conglomerates
A12. Consumer Products - Durables
A13. Consumer Products - Non-Durables
A14. Consumer Services (a new category for 2017)
A15. Diversified Services
A16. Electronics
A17. Energy
A18. Financial Services
A19. Food & Aeverage
A20. Health Products & Services
A21. Hospitality & Leisure
A22. Insurance
A23. Internet/New Media
A24. Legal
A25. Manufacturing
A26. Materials & Construction
A27. Media & Entertainment
A28. Metals & Mining
A29. Non-Profit or Government Organizations
A30. Pharmaceuticals
A31. Real Estate
A32. Retail
A33. Telecommunications
A34. Transportation
A35. Utilities 

A36. Maverick of the Year: recognizing the individual who's affected the most positive change on his or her company and/or industry since the beginning of 2016
  a. Business Products Industries
  b. Business Services Industries
  c. Consumer Products
  d. Consumer Services

A37. Tech Innovator of the Year (recognizing the individual who's contributed most to innovation, within their organization and/or industry, in the U.S.A. since the beginning of 2016)
  a. Hardware/Peripherals
  b. Services
  c. Software
  d. Other

A38. Woman of the Year: recognizing the achievements of women in the workplace since the beginning of 2016
  a. Business Products Industries
  b. Business Services Industries
  c. Consumer Products
  d. Consumer Services

Winners of Management Awards in the 2016 American Business Awards include: 

Management Team of the Year - Business Products or Services Industries
GOLD STEVIE WINNER:
Black Knight Financial Services, Jacksonville, FL: Black Knight Financial Services Management Team

Management Team of the Year - Consumer Products or Services Industries
GOLD STEVIE WINNER:
Jeunesse Global, Orlando, FL: The Team Behind the Billion-Dollar Jeunesse Brand

Executive of the Year - Advertising, Marketing & Public Relations
GOLD STEVIE WINNER:
97th Floor, Lehi, UT: Chris Bennett, CEO

Executive of the Year - Automotive, Transport Equipment & Transportation
GOLD STEVIE WINNER:
Donlen Fleet Leasing and Management, Northbrook, IL: Tom Callahan, President

...and more. See the full list of 2016 Management Stevie Award-winners here.

Brand activation agency Geometry Global nominated Time Warner Cable Business Class in the Marketing Campaign of the Year category of The 2016 American Business Awards. The campaign won a Gold Stevie Award. 

Interested in submitting nominations for marketing awards or any of the other 200+ awards categories in The 2017 American Business Awards? Review the entry kit here.

To learn a bit more about the Manhattan-based agency who submitted Stevie-winning nominations on behalf of Time Warner Cable, we connected with Account Supervisor Riley Sistrunk. Located in the “Chocolate factory” building, our appetites were sufficiently whetted.

“Geometry Global is the world’s most effective brand activation agency driving action conversion, and purchase through award-winning programs for our clients.” Riley began, “Our expertise includes shopper, digital, experiential, relationship, promotional and trade marketing.”

If you haven’t worked at a Agency in New York City, you may wonder what folks like Riley do, so we asked and Riley answered, “As Account Supervisor, I serve as a day-to-day lead for our Time Warner Cable Business Class client – partnering together to identify new opportunities for their business, oversee creative development of those ideas and act as their voice for our internal teams and third-party partners. It’s a great opportunity to get to build a strong client relationship and master the category.”

When asked about Geometry Global’s vision, Riley let us know, “Our organization is built around the belief that brand activation is not about sell, sell, sell but inspiring people to buy well. It is an approach to our work that transforms brand equity into action through pivotal ideas. Ideas that create meaningful, valued engagements with people at the precise right moment that matters to them and connects them to the product, service or brand that best meets their need.”

Time Warner Cable is a well known brand so we asked a bit more about the story behind the award submission. “While it’s a fairly common practice for our agency to submit for awards, we were particularly keen on submitting this campaign for nomination because its timing.” Sistrunk replied, “The challenges facing our clients’ business from their acquisition were mounting and with the positive results of the campaign it made a great ‘betting the odds’ story for us to tell.”

“We first learned of the Stevies while searching for competitive samples for a category audit.” Riley continued, “Our competitors had been known to submit for this award and after a little research into the Stevie American Business Award we decided it was the right award for our team to be entering into as well.”

Winning awards is always exciting but we wondered what it was like for an agency to win “Campaign of the Year.” Riley obliged with a story. “The announcement of our win could not have been more timely. We found out about our win while on a shoot for the next quarter’s production of the campaign. A big cheers erupted around the set as we made to the announcement to our team, clients and crew. It was a wonderful honor to be named Marketing Campaign of the Year (Internet/Telecom) by the Stevie Awards. Our clients and teams are extremely proud of the campaign, so to be recognized further our belief in the strength of this work.”

Riley continued, “This win has further strengthened our partnership with our clients. A win like this is always a welcome opportunity to celebrate success with our clients and a chance to be awarded additional projects because of it. Also, it’s be great for our clients within their own organization. Awards demonstrate to their fellow teams and leadership internally that they are high-achieving brand stewards for the corporation and will be increasingly relied as subject matter experts.”

What of results? We wondered how winning the award has affected Geometry Global. “This campaign and the results from it have gone on to be used as leading B2B and Telecom case study for our agency in new business pitches.” Riley recounted, “Our pitch teams have found it extremely valuable to showcase our capabilities and expertise within the category.”

We wanted to understand what drives folks like Riley in the ultra-competitive agency world in NYC. “I find two sources of inspiration to continue my work. Tangibly, there’s an excitement for our work, an urgency to every project that makes coming in to meet with a team of high-energy people to tackle a new assignment very rewarding.” Said Sistrunk, “There’s a great sense of accomplishment building something from scratch. More conceptually, I continue to be inspired to pursue this line of work for its opportunity to influence culture at large. As advertisers, we have the skill to reflect back an attitude or view of society with a new interpretation, much the way an artist does. That power to inspire change in others toward a goal is what makes this job so attractive compared to other business disciplines.”

Since change is the only constant, we asked Riley about his predictions of the future of the industry. “Advertising is a very flexible and fluid industry. There are many creators out there pushing forward with new ideas, testing and learning as they go and challenging everyone to keep pace. In the future, I see a shift to even more branded storytelling as consumers increasingly reject old ways of doing business and have begun to explore more socially conscience products. Creating and communicating an own-able brand identity that aligns with these new consumer expectations for a different economic model will be key to future success.” Riley mused, “And, the sooner we embrace those trends, the sooner we can position ourselves as thought leaders in the space.”

Learn more about Geometry Global at http://www.geometry.com/us 

 

An interview with Paige L. Schaffer, President & COO, Identity & Digital Protection Services Global Unit, Generali Global Assistance

Stevie Award winner Generali Global Assistance won the Silver Stevie Award in the Customer Service Team of the Year category of The 2016 American Business Awards. The ABAs are the premier business awards competition in the U.S.A. which attract more than 3,000 nominations from organizations nationwide each year.

The American Business Awards are accepting nominations for the 2017 program. 

All organizations operating in the U.S.A. are eligible to submit nominations -- public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small. The last early-bird entry deadline is December 14 – with discounted entry fees. The final entry deadline is February 16 and late entries will be accepted through March 15. 

REVIEW THE ENTRY KIT HERE.

President & COO Paige L. Schaffer shares her business insights and thoughts on the Stevie Awards:

What does Generali Global Assistance do?

Generali Global Assistance (GGA) has protected the assets of organizations and their customers for over 50 years, and provides best-in-class identity theft protection and resolution services for leading Fortune 500 companies.  GGA’s recently launched Iris® identity protection platform which is offered as a solution to over 25 million people addresses all areas of need for companies and their customers, offering 360° protection with prevention, monitoring, alerts, award-winning resolution services and identity theft insurance.

What is your role as the President & COO?

I oversee our Identity and Digital Protection Services Global Unit. In this role, I lead sales & marketing strategy and revenue growth initiatives, and manage operations as well as global expansion.  Additionally, I ensure that we continue to offer the best possible solutions to our clients, minimizing the risk of identity theft for our diverse set of end users and maintaining a deep commitment to customer service.

What is the organizational vision?

Identity theft is on a precipitous rise internationally and consumer demand for identity protection service is rising at an equal rate. People are turning to the business and organizations they trust to get the protection they need - financial institutions, insurance companies, travel providers, legal services, associations and membership organizations, among others.

Our vision is to develop a seamless business-to-business platform driven by a people-first mentality that can help organizations of any type generate new revenue and exceed their business goals, especially as it relates to strengthening trust with their customers and building long-term brand loyalty. We have experienced ongoing success largely because the foundation of our program – our customer service team of identity theft resolution specialists – continues to be one of the very best in the business.

What sets your company apart in this category?

Helping people in their time of need has been GGA’s core DNA since its founding in 1963. Identity theft results in major emotional distress and financial difficulties for victims. As such, it’s absolutely essential to our mission that we not only quickly resolve any issues for identity theft victims, but do so in an empathetic, caring way. Our entire customer service team provides a human touch to identity theft protection and resolution, and this nomination was an opportunity to recognize their exceptional work.

How did you first become acquainted with the Stevies?

The Stevie® Awards are well-recognized and respected and we received several recommendations from our partners and clients to submit a nomination.

What was it like for your company to win this award?

We are thrilled to have won a Stevie for the fourth year in a row – and we were especially excited, after learning of our American Business Award, to receive a Gold Stevie from the International Business Awards during the same year.

How has the win affected your business?

Each Stevie® Award that we win is a rallying cry to continually improve and innovate. It’s a valuable reminder to the entire GGA Identity & Digital Protection Team that the world is watching and taking note of those companies that are providing extraordinary service. When we meet potential new business clients, customer service is at the top of their minds.  Having a trophy case full of Stevie Awards drives confidence that our team of identity protection specialists are industry leaders and will work tirelessly to meet the needs of all customers.

What results have been gained since you've won this award?

Identity and Digital Protection Services remains one of the fastest growing business lines within Generali Global Assistance and in the time since we received our first Stevie Award in 2013, we’ve delivered a number of service enhancements to support our expanding client base. Most recently, we launched our new Iris® online identity protection dashboard earlier this year. We have deployed Iris® for several organizations across a variety of industry sectors, including Optima Tax Relief and National Benefit Services, for example. Additionally, several prospective new clients are Stevie Award winners, and they quickly recognize that the award indicates exceptional service.

What inspires you to continue your work?

I’m always inspired by the individual stories that I hear from our customer service team. We’ve had specialists work with individuals for months or years at a time, untangling complicated identity fraud issues that had destroyed their credit, made it difficult to work, and put stress on personal relationships with families and friends. It’s so rewarding to see a case successfully closed and to hear directly from our clients when their customers call and say that their lives have been improved because of the work that we do.

What changes do you expect in your industry in the future?

The world is becoming increasingly connected and the need for identity theft protection will continue to develop in ways that we aren’t even aware of yet – and not just in the U.S., but also globally. The rise of the Internet of Things, surging social media use, more frequent online transactions, and a more sophisticated crowd of international criminals all present significant challenges for digital security. To best serve our clients and customers, continual learning and reinvestment in the technology that monitors theft and fraud is an absolute must. What truly sets us apart and is absolutely crucial to our future as a leading identity protection provider for organizations around the world is a commitment to the person behind the data. While identity crimes are often perpetrated digitally, the victims they affect are human and we will always go above and beyond to care for that individual.

 

From left to right: David Brown, Generali Global Assistance Marketing Manager, Identity and Digital Protection Services Global Unit, Julie Jamsa, Generali Global Assistance Vice President, Service Delivery, Identity and Digital Protection Services Global Unit, Patrice Bobala, Generali Global Assistance Identity and Digital Protection Quality Analyst, and Michael Gallagher, the Stevie Awards President.

Learn more about Generali Global Assistance

 

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 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. The last early-bird entry deadline is December 14 – with discounted entry fees. The final entry deadline is February 16 and late entries will be accepted through March 15. 

One of the larger category groups in The 2017 American Business Awards is the Marketing Awards categories. 

The Marketing Awards categories are divided into three groups:

• Marketing Campaign: Industry Categories
• Marketing Campaign: Specialty Categories
• Marketing Professional Categories

Categories Include:

Marketing Campaign of the Year - Industry Categories

E01. Agricultural / Industrial / Building: for all related products, materials, tools and services.
E02. Automotive - Aftermarket: gasoline, motor oil, tires, batteries, paint, quick-lube, oil change, muffler, transmission, windshield wipers, enhancements, etc.
E03. Automotive - Vehicles: cars, trucks, motorcycles, both brand and model advertising.
E04. Beauty: cosmetics, fragrances, hair products, nail products, beauty services such as salons, spas, etc.
E05. Beverages - Alcohol: beer, champagne, liquor, wine, wine coolers, after dinner drinks, etc.
E06. Beverages - Non-Alcohol: diet and non-diet soda, coffee, tea, juices, milk, milk substitutes, bottled water, sparkling water, etc.
E07. Breakfast Foods: cereals and other foods intended primarily for breakfast consumption.
E08. Corporate Reputation/Professional Services: includes sponsorships, image & identity, communications to promote corporations, not exclusively their products. Includes business/professional services such as consulting, accounting, legal, employments, etc.
E09. Culture & The Arts: plays, museums, music organizations, concert series, cultural festivals, theater festivals, etc.
E10. Electronics: audio and/or video devices such as TVs, radios, mobile devices, home entertainment (DVD/Blu-ray players), cameras, computer hardware, game consoles, laptops, tablets, sound systems, etc.
E11. Energy/Nutrition Products & Services: products and services aimed at the energy, sports, wellness lifestyle. Vitamins, energy bars, drinks, etc.; weight loss and fitness programs/camps, training camps and facilities, etc.
E12. Entertainment & Sports: includes entertainment and sporting events. Sporting events such as the Super Bowl, sports teams, etc. All forms of entertainment including specific films, books, DVDs, videogames, games (online, mobile, social, board, card, etc.), entertainment apps, greeting cards, online, radio and TV programming, etc.
E13. Fashion & Style: brands of clothing, eyewear, footwear, hosiery, jewelry, accessories, etc.
E14. Financial Cards: credit, charge, debit, reward, phone and other cards.
E15. Financial Products & Services: communications promoting overall image and capabilities of a financial institution and specific products or services including home banking, loans, mortgage, mutual funds, traveler's checks, etc.
E16. Government / Institutional / Recruitment: municipal or state economic development, lotteries, utilities (i.e. electricity conservation messages), membership drives, armed forces marketing communications. Includes political messages and special interest/trade group communications.
E17. Healthcare - Disease Education & Awareness: communications to educate and/or spread awareness about a certain disease or health issue, whether to healthcare professionals, patients, and/or consumers.
E18. Healthcare - OTC: communications efforts for products that may be purchased without a subscription that address a specific illness, disease, or health issue, whether to healthcare professionals, patients, and/or consumers.
E19. Healthcare - Rx: communications efforts for products that may be purchased with a subscription that address a specific illness, disease, or health issue, whether to healthcare professionals, patients, and/or consumers.
E20. Healthcare - Services: marketing communications efforts that were developed for hospitals, HMOs, referral services, dental and medical care services, or chronic care facilities, whether to healthcare professionals, patients, and/or consumers.
E21. Home Furnishings & Appliances: kitchen appliances, air conditioners, carpeting, furniture, decorator's supplies, paint, wallpaper, etc.
E22. Home Supplies & Services: cleaning products, waxes, detergents, floor-care products, fabric softeners, paper products, domestic services, mowers, fertilizers, lawn care, gardening services, etc.
E23. Insurance: communications promoting specific products or services related to insurance and the capabilities of financial institutions offering these services. All types of insurance are eligible (home, auto, financial, health, life, travel, business, etc.).
E24. Internet / Telecom: wireless/cellular providers, high speed Internet access services, online services, portals, search engines and related Internet products & services (including SaaS/IaaS and Cloud-based services), bundled communications (Internet, telephone, and cable TV).
E25. Leisure Products & Services: recreational, sporting, and camping goods/services and other items/services intended for leisure activity.
E26. Media & Entertainment Companies: broadcasters, magazines, newspapers, web sites, consumer or trade media, radio and television stations, including networks.
E27. Office & Delivery Products & Services: delivery - overnight delivery, packagetracking, international service, etc. Office - printers, physical servers, fax machines, copiers, supplies, office furniture, etc.
E28. Packaged Food: packaged and frozen foods both regular and diet/light.
E29. Personal Care: soap, dental products, face & body lotions and cleansers, cotton swabs, deodorants, feminine hygiene products, razors, shaving cream, etc.
E30. Pet Care: animal care products and services of all types, including food, toys, veterinary and boarding services, training, and breeders.
E31. Real Estate: homes, real estate brokers, malls, etc.
E32. Restaurants: quick service, casual dining, mid-scale, white table cloth and other restaurants.
E33. Retail: general -- stores and/or web sites that provides a multiple range of non-related or generally related merchandise, which include department stores, food retailers, and discount/bulk retailers, craft stores, etc. Specialized -- stores and/or web sites that specialize in one particular line of products (e.g. clothing, fashion, jewelry, health food, shoes, pet care, toys, greeting cards, etc.).
E34. Snacks / Desserts / Confections: ice cream, candy, chips, cookies, bakery items, nut, fruit & vegetable snacks, popcorn, etc.
E35. Software & Apps: software, groupware, operating systems, or software stored locally on a computer, tablet, or mobile device. (See category E24 for Saas/IaaS or Cloud-based services, and category E12 for online and mobile games.)
E36. Transportation: air, train, bus/trolley, taxi, subway systems, bike shares, car rentals, leasing not including automobile sales/leasing, ferries, etc.
E37. Travel / Tourism / Destination: cruises, hotels, resorts, amusement parks, travel websites and booking services, travel tours, tourism campaigns, etc.

Marketing Campaign of the Year - Specialty Categories

E40. Brand Experience of the Year - Business-to-Business: recognizing work that reaches out to business audiences to establish meaningful relationships, memorable, engaging experiences, and unique connections with their brands.
E41. Brand Experience of the Year - Consumer: recognizing work that reaches out to consumer audiences to establish meaningful relationships, memorable, engaging experiences, and unique connections with their brands.
E42. Branded Utility of the Year: recognizing products and services created to address a marketing or business challenge, not to be sold, as part of a marketing program itself.  Entrants must explain the product or service created in response to the challenge, its roles and objectives, and how it was communicated to its audience, and the results achieved.  (New category for 2017)
E43. Mobile Marketing Campaign of the Year: for campaigns targeted to consumers' mobile devices.
E44. Branded Content Campaign of the Year: recognizing work that has used branded content - original or sponsored - to reach out to audiences to establish meaningful relationships, memorable, engaging experiences, and unique connections with their brands.
E45. Online Marketing Campaign of the Year: for campaigns that were conducted in their entirety online.
E46. New Product or Service Introduction of the Year: for campaigns conducted to introduce a new product or service to the U.S. market.
E47. Small-Budget Marketing Campaign of the Year (<$3 million)
E48. Viral Marketing Campaign of the Year: for campaigns that used word-of-mouth, video stunts, and other viral tactics as their primary means of communication.
E49. Youth Marketing Campaign of the Year: for campaigns that targeted the youth market (up to age 24).

Marketing Professional Categories

E50. Marketing or Advertising Agency of the Year
E51. Marketing Department of the Year
E52. Marketing Team of the Year
E53. Marketing Executive of the Year
E54. Marketer of the Year: recognizing non-executive marketing professionals.  There is no entry fee for this category

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.