ECONOMIC IMPACT AWARDS

Nominate: Company categories by year (2018)

Nominate: Other awards (2018)

Every year, we ask our readers to nominate companies and individuals for honors in categories including Lifetime Achievement in Business and Entrepreneur of the Year.

Each nominee is put through a stringent independent judging process. The top three finalists are profiled in the special publication in July, with the winner in each category announced at the annual banquet. The culmination of the evening is the announcement of the annual Lifetime Achievement in Business honoree, also selected by the outside judging panel.

The 2017 categories and selected honorees are:

    •    Lifetime Achievement in Business: Robert Low, Prime Inc.
    •    Philanthropic Business of the Year: Hamra Enterprises
    •    Business Advocate of the Year: Missouri Association of Manufacturers
    •    Community Involvement Champion: Robert Roberts of Second Baptist Church
    •    Entrepreneur of the Year: Paul Allen, founder of Farm2Counter Inc.
    •    Charitable Nonprofit of the Year: The Child Advocacy Center Inc.

Economic Impact honors also will be announced in three categories based on years in business. Finalists, in alphabetical order, are:
    •    A hip joint Springfield LLC, Gilardi’s Ristorante and Hurts Donut Co., in the one to five years in business category;
    •    Burgess Aircraft Management LLC, MariCorp US LLC and Total Highspeed LLC, for the six to 15 years in business category;
    •    Integrity Home Care Inc., JMark Business Solutions Inc. and Penmac Staffing Services Inc., for 16 to 29 years in business; and
    •    Bass Pro Shops, College of the Ozarks and Mercy Springfield Communities for 30 or more years in business.