Opinion: 'Academy Awards for business' highlight SBJ events season

This event, of course, was Springfield Business Journal’s 2007 Economic Impact Awards (pictures are on page 43). The more than 350 attendees made the evening a record-breaker for EIA. The previous record at the Tower Club was 300 guests.

Longtime Springfield businessman Joe Jenkins of Jenkins Power Diesel served as master of ceremonies, Jack Stack was the keynote speaker, and Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce President Jim Anderson was the 2007 Lifetime Achievement in Business honoree at the banquet, during which we recognized those businesses and organizations for their impact on the local economy.

Top honors

In addition to Anderson’s honor – he joins the ranks of past Lifetime Achievement in Business honorees Stack, John Q. Hammons, Ralph Manley, Charlie O’Reilly, Larry Wallis, Edwin C. Rice Jr. and Tom Finnie – top companies were recognized in five categories:

• Architecture: Butler, Rosenbury & Partners Inc.

• Banking: Commerce Bank.

• Charitable Organization of the Year: Council of Churches of the Ozarks.

• Innovator of the Year: brother-sister duo Matt and Lindsay O’Reilly’s Green Circle Shopping Center for use of green-building techniques.

• Entrepreneur of the Year: Dan & Nicole Chilton for their downtown art-house theater, Moxie Cinema.

EIA, which began in 2000, is our signature event, in that it coincides with SBJ’s anniversary. This year’s celebration was marked by a champagne toast at the end of the evening to mark the beginning of the 27th year of publishing a weekly business newspaper. The toast also allowed SBJ Publisher and President Dianne Elizabeth Osis and the rest of the SBJ staff to pay homage to the businesses – and our readers and advertisers – whose activities keep us busy, week after week and year after year. We also saluted members of our outgoing editorial focus group and introduced the members whose terms began in July. These business leaders are instrumental in helping us in the newsroom to shape everything from coverage to layout, and to gauge how well our message is being conveyed to our readership at large.

All in all, it was a wonderful evening. The stories of each business recognized were inspiring, as was Stack’s reminder that all of us are capable of making a difference, if we just “pass it along.”

MIW and Best Places

Even if you missed out on the fun evening, there are plenty of opportunities on SBJ’s roster of special events.

Up next is Most Influential Women, Sept. 14 at University Plaza Hotel & Convention Center. While the independent panel of judges already has chosen the 2007 class of 20 women from a pool of roughly 70, tickets are available for $29 each at www.sbj.net/event.asp.

Rep. Sara Lampe is returning as the featured speaker, but new this year is a silent auction to benefit Women In Need, a local organization that works to improve the lives of area women.

This year’s final special event is a breakfast event – a first for SBJ – and a first for our Best Places to Work competition, which we launched last year. Honored businesses will be featured in a special publication in the Nov. 19 issue, and the morning event should be inspiring, as we’ll learn about employers who are going above and beyond to provide an engaging workplace for their staff members.

Questionnaires for employers are available at www.sbj.net/user/bestplacesapp07.pdf. The breakfast is scheduled for Nov. 16.

And remember, the 2008 awards-and-events cycle kicks off in March with Dynamic Dozen, followed by 40 Under 40.

The fun never stops!

Maria Hoover is features editor at Springfield Business Journal. She can be reached at mhoover@sbj.net.