Last modified: Monday, October 15, 2007
Indiana Entrepreneurial Awards of Distinction recognize state's best entrepreneurial companies
Editors: A complete list of finalists follows this release. Winners will be announced at the awards program on Thursday (Oct. 18) and will be posted on the JCEI web site (https://www.kelley.iu.edu/jcei/) on Friday (Oct.19).
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Indiana University's Kelley School of Business Thursday (Oct. 18) will recognize more than 40 Indiana companies as finalists at its third annual Indiana Entrepreneurial Awards of Distinction. The awards banquet spotlights these emerging companies for their growth, innovation, spirit and social enterprise.
The Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the Kelley School will host the event at the Indiana Roof Ballroom, 140 W. Washington St. in Indianapolis, and recognize the finalists before naming the winners in several categories. Bruce Kidd, director of small business and entrepreneurship for the Indiana Economic Development Corp., again will assist with the awards portion of the program.
"These companies are vital to the state's effort of developing an entrepreneurial culture," said Donald F. Kuratko, executive director of the Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation and the Jack M. Gill Chair of Entrepreneurship. "They work hard to make a success of their businesses and have a real impact on the state's economy. They certainly deserve the special recognition that this program gives them. They are the future for the state of Indiana.
"This year's Blue Ribbon Panel spent an entire day analyzing the over 100 applications that were submitted," Kuratko added. "Without question this was the most rigorous judging that we have seen and we are confident that the honorees represent the very best entrepreneurial companies in the state of Indiana."
To be eligible for the awards, companies had to be founded by the 2004 fiscal year, be a public or private corporation with a proprietorship or partnership located in Indiana and have revenues of more than $1 million.
Eleven of the companies have been founded since 2001 and 17 of the companies are less than a decade old. The companies being honored employ nearly 6,000 people in Indiana and have a total revenue of $600 million.
The Indiana Entrepreneurial Awards of Distinction recognizes finalists and winners in four categories:
- The Growth Award recognizes companies with at least 35 percent growth over a two-year period.
- The Spirit Award honors companies for their high standards in risk-taking and perseverance through various mistakes and obstacles.
- The Innovation Award goes to companies that pioneered new systems, products or best practices to adapt to the changing business climate.
- The Social Enterprise Award recognizes non-profit companies with social missions that have adopted entrepreneurial attributes.
The certified public accounting firm of Katz, Sapper & Miller audited and verified financial statements for the finalists in the growth category, requiring companies to demonstrate how they achieved their growth.
Partners for this year's Indiana Entrepreneurial Awards of Distinction are: Katz, Sapper & Miller, IU Research & Technology Corp., Indiana Venture Center, Monument Advisors, Premier Capital Corp. and NASDAQ.
For more information regarding the program and the Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, visit the center's web site at https://www.kelley.indiana.edu/jcei or call 812-855-4248.
Here are this year's finalists, listed alphabetically within each award category, and their locations:
Growth Award
- ANGEL Learning Inc., Indianapolis
- Employment Plus, Bloomington
- IT Solutions Inc., Indianapolis
- Marketing Informatics, Indianapolis
- MSP Aviation Inc., Bloomington
- Noble Marketing Group, Cicero
- Oak Street Funding, Carmel
- TruPay Corp., Mishawaka
- YourEncore Inc., Indianapolis
Spirit Award
- AIT Laboratories, Indianapolis
- ANGEL Learning Inc., Indianapolis
- CareGuide, Indianapolis
- Employment Plus, Bloomington
- Harlan Bakeries, Avon
- Healthx Inc., Indianapolis
- Information In Place, Bloomington
- Marketing Informatics, Indianapolis
- Option Six, Bloomington
- Pac-Van, Inc., Indianapolis
- Perpetual Technologies Inc., Indianapolis
- Pro Winds, Bloomington
- Vyante, Indianapolis
Innovator Award
- AIT Laboratories, Indianapolis
- ANGEL Learning Inc., Indianapolis
- CareGuide, Indianapolis
- Case Engineering Inc., Evansville
- Cine-tal Systems Inc., Indianapolis
- Harlan Bakeries, Avon
- Healthx Inc., Indianapolis
- Imaginestics LLC, West Lafayette
- Indiana Health Information Exchange, Indianapolis
- Information In Place, Bloomington
- Interactive Intelligence Inc., Indianapolis
- Midwest Mole Inc., Indianapolis
- NAI Harding Dahm, Fort Wayne
- Oak Street Funding, Carmel
- Perpetual Technologies Inc., Indianapolis
- T2 Systems, Indianapolis
- Vyante, Indianapolis
- Weaver Popcorn Co. Inc., Indianapolis
Social Award
- Cornea Research Foundation, Indianapolis
- Desert Rose Foundation Inc., Martinsville
- Indiana Fair Chance LLC, Indianapolis
- People's Burn Foundation, Indianapolis
- Second Helpings Inc., Indianapolis
