2008 Utah Best of State Awards

The winner of the 2008 Excellence in Small Business Innovation Award will be announced May 31 at the official Best of State Gala event, held at the Salt Palace Grand Ballroom in Salt Lake City and televised on KUTV-2. For more information, to complete a nomination or to order tickets for the Best of State Awards Gala dinner, call 801.226.6106 or https://www.bestofstate.org/

Submissions for the program should be sent by March 31, 2008.

Best of State, Utah' s premier public forum for awards and recognition in business, education, government and the arts, and the Miller Business Resource Center at Salt Lake Community College invite small businesses to submit nominations for the 2008 "Excellence in Small Business Innovation Award." The annual award, offered in partnership by Best of State and the Miller Business Resource Center, is designed to help accelerate the growth of a promising early-stage Utah company that has used innovation and creativity to achieve success in the local, national or international marketplace.

"Utah' s Best of State program provides an annual venue to recognize the innovation that is so integral to Utah' s cultural and economic landscape," said Randy Schouten, director of the Miller Business Resource Center. "We are pleased and honored to be chosen as a partner for this event, and to participate in the growth of a terrific young Utah company."

The Excellence in Small Business Innovation Award provides the winning company with access to the multifaceted resources of the Miller Business Resource Center (MBRC), a comprehensive collection of programs and resources created to foster the creation and growth of dynamic small businesses in Utah. MBRC programs include the Business Innovation Center, the Women's Business Institute and the Salt Lake Small Business Development Center, as well as corporate training programs, space for offices, conference and events, and a Global Business Center designed to assist companies looking to expand overseas.

The Miller Business Innovation Center is an accelerator program for new and young companies seeking high growth. The Center offers 30,000 square feet of space where entrepreneurs operate their business, while receiving infrastructure and entrepreneurial resources that accelerate growth and create long-term business success.

The winner of the Excellence in Small Business Innovation Award will receive no-cost use of the Miller Business Resource Center's comprehensive array of resources for start-up and new businesses for one full year. These resources include: training in advanced business plan development and marketing research; mentoring by seasoned entrepreneurs and business owners; matchmaking opportunities for capital acquisition; and qualification for admittance into the Center's business acceleration program.

The recipient will be an early-stage company (in business five years or less) chosen from among those Best of State entrants who meet the criteria for the award. Nominees in several innovation categories - new product, new technology, new process, communications innovation, and management or systems innovations - will be judged based on its potential for positive impact and success in the marketplace, and include the following criteria: the nature of the innovation; proposed benefits; current stage of development; and key company achievements resulting from the innovation. Best of State nomination forms can be found at https://www.bestofstate.org/entry.php

The winner of the inaugural 2007 Best of State Excellence in Small Business Innovation Award was TodaysMama, a leading provider of local and national information, resource guides and social networking opportunities for mothers in a growing number of U.S. metropolitan areas and online through the national TodaysMama website.

"TodaysMama is a great ongoing success story, with an expanding national presence and a new round of capital under its belt," said Schouten. "We have been delighted to see their progress and honored to contribute to their growth."

"I would strongly encourage promising young companies with big plans to apply for the Best of State Excellence in Small Business Innovation Award to take advantage of the resources at the Miller Business Resource Center," said Rachael Herrscher, CEO and co-founder of TodaysMama. "It has been a great experience for us to have access to all the amenities and of this great shared office space is perfect for a small and growing business like ours; you're sharing not only office space but also invaluable experiences and resources."