Born, raised and educated on the East Coast, Tom Kuczmarski arrived in Chicago with a two-years-and-out plan.
That was 36 years ago.
Since then he started an innovation consultancy, Kuczmarski & Associates, is in his 32nd year teaching at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, wrote six business books, raised a family, invested in big-draw Chicago restaurants such as Girl & the Goat and, most notably, co-founded and runs the annual Chicago Innovation Awards with Dan Miller.
Chicago, IL—Sarah K. Neukom has been named Director of Events for the Chicago Innovation Awards. In this newly created position she is responsible for the planning and execution of the Innovation Series, the seven events held each year by the Chicago Innovation Awards, including its annual event recognizing the most innovative new products and services brought to market in the Chicago region.
She has also been named Business Development and Relationship Manager for Kuczmarski & Associates, the innovation consulting firm established by Thomas D. Kuczmarski, co-founder with the journalist Dan Miller of the Chicago Innovation Awards.
“The Chicago Innovation Awards has enjoyed remarkable growth over the course of the past three years,” said Luke Tanen, director of the of Chicago-based innovation program. “Sarah’s skill, energy, and enthusiasm are exactly the elements we need to continue the expansion of our education activities, work to connect innovators with the resources they need, and celebration of successful innovation in the Chicago region. I am delighted that she has joined the Chicago Innovation Awards team.”
Previously, Neukom held the title “Producer of Positivity” at Red Frog Events, an active entertainment company based in Chicago. At Red Frog Neukom organized a variety of events including the popular Warrior Dash races, an international series drawing nearly 25,000 people to each event. She also served as the Red Frog Ambassador, representing the company as a speaker, and media spokesperson. Earlier she was a Fundraising Specialist for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston where she served on its Special Events Team, raising more than $10 million annually for the institute.
The Chicago Innovation Awards, established in 2002, have grown from a single awards event to a year-long series of events and activities designed to deepen understanding of the importance of innovation to the local economy, teach its techniques, and celebrate the region’s best examples of innovation. The organization’s expansion has included formation of the Chicago Innovation Awards Foundation, which awards innovation scholarships to local high school and college students each year.
The organization’s signature event is the Chicago Innovation Awards ceremony held in the fall of each year. The series of Innovation Awards events includes a networking reception for the more than 400 award nominees, and an executive education program, The Practical Innovator, held each year at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.
Neukom is a graduate of Bates College in Lewiston, Maine and serves as the Chicago Region Young Alumni coordinator for the school.
Contact: Ray Boyer 312-330-6433 rayboyer@rboyer.com
Groupon Chief Executive Officer Andrew Mason shared the “bittersweet” emotion of seeing some engineers leave the daily deals company, but applauded the fact it shows Chicago now develops and sends entrepreneurs to Silicon Valley to start their own companies.
Mason addressed an audience of 1,500 at the 11th annual Chicago Innovation Awards celebration at the Harris Theater Monday night.
“Groupon could never have existed if not for Chicago entrepreneurs,” Mason said, citing his own unnamed mentors, backers and “people who figured out how to unlock growth.”
Mason also gave credit to the Chicago Innovation Awards for putting Groupon on the map by choosing the company as a 2009 award recipient.
The companies that received “Up-and-Comer” awards at the 11th annual Chicago Innovation Awards last night range from software firms that already have hundreds of thousands of users to hard-science companies still hoping to move their technology from the laboratory to the marketplace.
The nine winners were selected from among 180 candidates, which “shows how Chicago is thriving across its entrepreneurial landscape,” according to Tom Kuczmarski, founder and co-chair of the Chicago Innovation Awards.
For the winners, the awards mean affirmation as well greater visibility. That, in turn, can lead to partnerships, investment and other opportunities.
“This validates that we’re on the right track and also gives us a forum to collaborate with like-minded individuals and companies,” says Paul Fehrenbacher, co-founder of BriteSeed, one of the Up-and-Comer award recipients.
Read more: http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20121023/BLOGS06/121029946/1871-belly-food-genius-among-up-and-comer-honorees#ixzz2C389bZoJ
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Companies who are remaking everything from lighting to hospital masks were named winners of the Chicago Innovation Awards on Monday night at the Harris Theater.
Chicago-based BrightTag, which makes software to manage website advertising, won for its technology that connect websites to digital marketing and analytics services.
Lisle-based Catamaran Corp., the world’s fourth-largest pharmacy benefits manager, won for innovation that allows pharmacy claims to be processed at the point of sale.
Lake Zurich-based Champion Medical Technologies, a medical information-technology company, won for RecallConnect technology that allows hospitals to automatically match patients and medical devices that have been recalled.
Chicago-based Coyote Logistics, a shipping firm, was singled out for its innovative business model that helps eliminate empty miles when trucks are traveling without a load.
Mount Prospect-based Cummins Allison, which makes currency-handling equipment for banks, won for a new smaller, cheaper machine that can count currency and scan checks.
Chicago-based electrical components maker Littelfuse won for a circuit protector used in outdoor LED lighting and solar power applications.
Medline Industries, a Mundelein-based medical supplier, won for its BioMask, a mask that kills germs.
Chicago-based OptionsCity Software won for its Freeway software, an algorithmic trading platform for independent traders.
Naperville-based Polybrite International, an LED lighting maker, won for its Borealis LED light bulb, which uses 90 percent less energy than traditional bulbs.
Chicago-based SMS Assist, which provides facilities maintenance services to companies with multiple sites, won for its web-based product that allows real-time vendor management.
Read more: http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20121023/NEWS08/121029972/brighttag-catamaran-coyote-logistics-among-winners-of-chicago-innovation-awards#ixzz2C36KGMPU
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Though the still-evolving Silicon Prairie’s top claim to technology fame is daily-deal site Groupon, this year’s Chicago Innovation Award winners boast creative solutions ranging from feeding needy children to warding off the flu virus.
The winners announced Monday night range from the nation’s largest food-donation charity to a fourth-generation family-owned medical products company.
The 11th annual Chicago Innovation Awards drew 410 nominations this year — about the same as last year’s competition — and the 75 preliminary finalists were feted Sept. 5 by 800 celebrants at the House of Blues.
It was a night of glitz, a night of glamor and a night where the word “innovation” was said an innovative amount of times very innovatively about some of Chicago’s most innovative innovating companies who innovative. Show Co-Founders/Co-Chairs Dan Miller and Tom Kuczmarski got things rolling with and honest-to-God performance with the FootworKINGZ, the dance troupe Madonna recently tapped to tour with her, and then donned their tuxes to helm the stage and dispense the awards.
Among those honored were New Futuro, “an Hispanic education community helping families get their students into college and beyond,” which Miller pointed out is one of the many companies forming a rising tide of Hispanic or Latino companies in this city. (It’s true, and something I talked about not long ago with Pizza Patrón’s brand director about the Hispanic pizza market in Chicago and why his company is trying to penetrate it.) New Futuro snagged the People’s Choice Award, which was selected via an online vote.
Take a look at a Chicago event that’s been growing in clout for more than a decade.
October 22, 2012 (CHICAGO) (WLS) – Mayor Rahm Emanuel was honored Monday night for his vision of the future of Chicago.
The mayor was given the visionary award at the 11th annual Chicago Innovation Awards at the Harris Theater on east Randolph. The awards celebrate the creative spirit across Chicagoland.
The mayor was recognized for developing new innovations for Chicago’s airports, infrastructure, mass transit, and adding more protective bike lanes.
Mayor Emanuel Monday night was awarded the Visionary Award from the Chicago Innovation Awards at the 11th annual celebration of innovation in the city. He was the first ever public official to receive that honor.
“Fostering innovation in Chicago is a central focus of my work as Mayor,” said Mayor Emanuel. “I’ll continue to seek creative ways to spur economic opportunity in the city of Chicago in key areas, and I look forward to working with the entire business community to accomplish this goal.”
There were nearly 400 nominations for the Chicago Innovation Awards this year, with over 1,200 of Chicago’s leading business, civic and nonprofit innovators, start-up entrepreneurs, investors and others attending the event at Chicago’s Harris Theater. The Innovation Awards ceremony at the Harris Theater is the culmination of a process that begins each spring with a call for nominations. The awards process included an event at which all nominees were honored at the House of Blues for their commitment to innovation, and a day-long executive education program at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.
As part of winning the Chicago Innovation Awards, all of this year’s winners are invited to ring the NASDAQ bell in New York City on February 25. “This is one way of carrying the message of Chicago innovation to other parts of the nation,” said Luke Tanen, Executive Director of the Awards.
“Chicago has become a hotbed for entrepreneurs and a global center for innovation. In technology, health care, and other areas, our city flows with opportunity and economic growth,” said Ald. Tom Tunney, Chair of the City Council committee on Economic, Capital and Technology Development. “The Chicago Innovation Awards are a way to celebrate the tremendous energy in Chicago and I commend the Mayor on receiving this year’s Visionary Award.”