Catalyst Awards honor region’s best innovators
What do a Jesuit priest, a businesswoman and a mayor have in common?
Each of them initiates and sustains action, becoming a catalyst for positive change.
These individuals, along with other innovative organizations and businesses, have been nominated for the Seventh Annual Technet Catalyst Awards, which will be held on October 20 at the Davenport Hotel.
Since 1991, Technet — the Inland Northwest’s oldest and largest member-based technology organization — has hosted the event to recognize the region’s leaders. This year’s theme is “trailblazers of innovation and inspiration” and features the Rev. Robert Spitzer, president of Gonzaga University, as keynote speaker. Highlighting the event will be a ceremonial blessing from a representative from the Kalispel Tribe of Indians. The Whirlaway Square dancers also will be on hand to entertain.
The Inland Northwest is a maverick in the use of technology. The wireless “hot zone,” which extends throughout Spokane’s downtown core, even caught the attention of President Bush during his visit last summer. It took intense collaboration between government, businesses and universities to create the hot zone, which is becoming a model for other cities.
Spokane and the surrounding region have a diverse collection of technology leaders. The Catalyst Awards seek to recognize these individuals and companies for making a positive impact on economic development and our national reputation.
The semifinalists in the four categories for this year’s Catalyst Awards all care deeply about the future of our region. Some of the issues they’re championing include better education, preservation of rivers and parks and creation of living-wage jobs.
Semifinalists for the Ken Grunzweig Innovator of the Year award are: Spitzer; Kim Pearman-Gillman, executive on loan from Avista Utilities to the University District project; and Spokane Mayor Jim West. Technet received 45 nominations for this category, which honors an individual who has demonstrated courage, passion and dedication in bringing to life an innovative process, product or service.
Semifinalists in the Company of the Year category are: Hollister-Stier Laboratories, Itronix, 180 Networks and Network Design Management. This award recognizes a business that has created or utilized technology to the benefit of the region. The efforts of these firms have resulted in new jobs, new methods, processes, products and concepts.
The Innovative Organization of the Year award recognizes an organization that has made an impact on the region through job creation, development of new methods or processes, or development or launch of new products and concepts. This year’s semifinalists are: Spokane Wi-Fi Alliance, the collaboration that brought the downtown hot zone to life; Richland, Wash.-based Pacific Northwest National Laboratories; and Pathology Associates Medical Laboratories.
New this year is the Mentor of the Year award. It honors an individual, organization or company that has had a positive effect on the community through work force development, human development or gender and diversity awareness. The semifinalists are: Big Brothers/Big Sisters of America; Gonzaga University’s Hogan Entrepreneurial Leadership Program; and Karen Michaelson of TINCAN.