CHICAGO INNOVATION AWARDS

Innovation Award deadline Tuesday

Chicago Sun Times

Conventional wisdom says that strong backs and quick minds rarely come in the same package. But as with so many things, Chicago is the exception.

The city of broad shoulders is also the city of innovation. Chicago reversed the course of a river and built the first skyscrapers. Our residents invented the zipper, the remote control and the dishwasher.

Each year, the Chicago Innovation Award program, now in its sixth year, reminds us that product and service innovation is alive and thriving in the Windy City.

With the deadline for entries in the 2006 Innovation Award on Tuesday, it's fitting to take a look at what the spirit of creativity brings to this great city.

Innovation often goes hand in hand with commercial success, and CIA honorees are no exception. The 2003 award highlighted Archipelago Holdings, inventors of the first totally open, fully electronic U.S. stock exchange. Two years later, Archipelago was purchased by the NYSE in a $9 billion deal.

In 2005, Motorola was honored for its innovative RAZR V3 phone. Later that year the company shipped more than 5 million units globally. The phone set new standards for portable electronics design.

Feedburner, which won in 2006 for establishing a new way for online publishers to measure their audiences and sell ads, was acquired in May by Google for $100 million.

Calling all innovators

Chicago Sun Times

Nominees for the sixth annual Chicago Innovation Award program will be feted at a reception on the trading floor of the Chicago Board of Trade Sept. 20.

CME Group, the name of the newly merged Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Chicago Board of Trade, is a sponsor of the Innovation Award, and will host the reception for the nominees.

"As the world's most innovative and dynamic futures market, the CME's trading floor is the perfect location to honor the men and women in the 2007 award program," said Dan Miller, business editor of the Chicago Sun-Times and co-founder of the award.

In addition, the names of all nominees will be published in September in the Chicago Sun-Times, and the 10 winners will be profiled in a special section in October. Honorees will receive their awards on the mainstage of the Goodman Theatre Oct. 22.

Less than two weeks remain for nominations for the sixth annual award to be submitted.

Take it to the next level

Chicago Sun Times

Only two weeks remain for nominations for the sixth annual Chicago Innovation Awards.

If your business or organization has introduced a new product or service during the two years, and has rung up revenues -- but not necessarily profits -- it's likely a candidate for one of 10 Chicago Innovation Awards.

For more information on nominations and the awards, go to www.chicagoinnovationawards.com

"In the past five years, we've learned that innovation comes in all shapes and sizes," said Dan Miller, business editor of the Chicago Sun-Times, co-founder of the Chicago Innovation Awards. "Past winners have included the region's very largest firms and some of its very smallest. High-tech companies have received Innovation Awards, low-tech companies, and companies with no technology at all have been honored. We've recognized non-profit organizations, for-profit and public-sector innovations."

Tom Kuczmarski, co-founder and name partner of new-product consultancy Kuczmarski & Associates, said, "We've discovered that the key ingredient in innovation is the Chicago area itself. It provides the combustible material for the innovators who make the flame, and for the spark-makers in the companies who nurture it."

Do you like to innovate? Let us know!

Chicago Sun Times

The sixth annual Chicago Innovation Awards is searching for a few good ideas.

If your business or organization has introduced a new product or service during the past two years, and has rung up revenues -- but not necessarily profits -- it's likely a candidate for one of 10 Chicago Innovation Awards.

For more information on the nomination process and the award program, go to www.chicagoinnovationawards.com.

"In the past five years, we've learned that innovation comes in all shapes and sizes," said Dan Miller, business editor of the Chicago Sun-Times, co-founder of the Chicago Innovation Awards. "Past winners have included the region's very largest firms and some of its very smallest. High-tech companies have received Innovation Awards, low-tech companies, and companies with no technology at all have been honored. We've recognized non-profit organizations, for-profit and public-sector innovations."

Tom Kuczmarski, co-founder and name partner of new-product consultancy Kuczmarski & Associates, said, "We've discovered that the key ingredient in innovation is the Chicago area itself. It provides the combustible material for the innovators who make the flame, and for the spark-makers in the companies who nurture it."

Innovators, you have one month left

Chicago Sun Times

Only one month remains for nominations for the sixth annual Chicago Innovation Awards.

If your business or organization has introduced a new product or service during the last two years, and has rung up revenues -- but not necessarily profits -- it's a likely candidate for one of 10 Chicago Innovation Awards.

For more information on the nomination process and the award program, go to www. chicagoinnovationawards.com.

Can we pick the stars, or what?

Chicago Sun Times

The season of innovation is reaching its peak as we close in on the July 31 deadline for the nominations period of the sixth annual Chicago Innovation Awards.

For the last five years, the Chicago Innovation Awards have been recognizing companies and organizations in the Chicago area that have shown a true commitment to innovation. In a way, the awards -- created by the Chicago Sun-Times and Kuczmarski & Associates -- have become an early indicator of trends and successful ventures. Past honorees have ranged from large public multinationals to small privately held companies and non-profit organizations. Our 50 previous honorees, and the hundreds of nominees, have demonstrated that innovation knows no boundaries.

Companies that truly embrace innovation see many benefits -- from higher customer satisfaction to bottom line growth. Of the 50 honorees, 20 are publicly traded. In order to tangibly measure innovation's benefits, last year we created a virtual mutual fund based upon these companies, and once again the results are remarkable.

If an investor had invested in the S&P 500 each year, he would have generated a return of 31 percent over the last five years. If however he had placed $1,000 in each of the publicly traded winners a month before the awards every year from 2002 to 2006, then today he would be generating a return of 62 percent.

The innovation awards mutual fund continues to outperform the Dow over the last five years.

State's lucky 13

Chicago Sun Times

The State of Illinois' third annual small-business challenge cited 13 winners for its $10,000 Innovate Illinois grant program.

The 13 companies were selected from about 100 companies statewide that submitted applications and business plans. Entrepreneurs from the 13 soon will begin a six-month program that includes mentoring, growth plans, access to sales and capital opportunities, education and peer-to-peer networking. In addition, each participant will receive a $10,000 grant to develop and execute a strategic project and a stipend to travel to three regions throughout the program.

Innovate Illinois is presented by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and administered with the Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center at the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce.

If you have a good idea, we want to hear it

Chicago Sun Times

Innovation is not a matter of size. It's an expression of creativity, confidence and perseverance -- and creativity abounds in the Midwest.

That's been the driving force behind the Chicago Innovation Awards for five years, and it's what drives the 2007 program as it opens its call for entries for the sixth annual presentation.

If your business or organization has introduced a new product or service during the last two years and has rung up revenues -- but not necessarily profits -- it's probably a candidate for one of 10 Chicago Innovation Awards.

Calling all innovators

Chicago Sun Times

"Who's bright idea was that?" It's a phrase that's been heard around Chicago businesses for decades.

It probably was heard here when the vacuum cleaner was invented(1869), the roller skate (1884), the softball (1887) and zipper (1896).

More recently, when deep dish pizza made its worldwide debut here (1942), and Twinkies (1930), and the tradition of garnishing a Bloody Mary with a celery stick originated at the Chicago Ambassador East Hotel (1960s).

Innovation's been the driving force behind the Chicago Innovation Awards for the last five years, and it's what drives the 2007 program as it opens its call for entries for the sixth annual presentation.

If your business or organization has introduced a new product or service during the last two years and has rung up revenues -- but not necessarily profits -- it may be a candidate for one of 10 Chicago Innovation Awards.