Every year, the Columbus entrepreneurial community awaits the
TechColumbus Innovation Awards gala with anticipation. The event is held in recognition of individuals, companies and technology teams in the 15-county Central Ohio region for achievements and contributions in technology leadership and innovation.
This month’s 2011 Innovation Awards program commemorated the Capitol City’s bicentennial. In celebration of “200 years of innovation in the Columbus region,” Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman joined
Ohio State University President Gordon Gee and Les Wexner, Chairman and CEO of
Limited Brands, in recognizing thirteen business leaders and two promising high school students.
The gala drew a record crowd of 1,100-plus attendees. Wexner led the audience in singing “Happy Birthday” to President Gee, whom he followed at the gala podium. During his speech, Wexner praised Central Ohio’s entrepreneurs and developers for emphasizing the importance of intellectual curiosity in their work.
TechColumbus CEO Tim Haynes attributes the event’s success to growing interest in TechColumbus’s mission as a startup business accelerator. “The idea that the innovation and tech ecosystem -- all of the companies that make up our tech economy -- are crucial to our individual and collective strength is really resonating," he says.
Innovation Award recipients are selected by a panel of independent judges from the entrepreneurial community. The 2011 winners included JP Morgan Chase’s Corporate Technology Team for Corporate Innovators of the Year, Owens Corning for Green Innovation; The Wright Center of Innovation in Biomedical Imaging at The Ohio State University for Innovation in Nonprofit Service Delivery; Health Care DataWorks for Outstanding Startup Business; and OSU’s Center for Automotive Research (CAR) for Outstanding Technology Team.
A complete roster of award winners is available on the
TechColumbus website.
Source: Tim Haynes
Writer: Kitty McConnell