FOUNDATION AWARDS

| 2013 Winter | story by EMILY MULLIGAN | photos by STEVEN HERTZOG |

There are ribbon cuttings and announcements when a new business opens in Lawrence, and that is great. However, it is a fact that the growth of our current existing local business is the foundation of our local economy. The Lawrence Business Magazine and Cadre Lawrence want those existing businesses to receive recognition and applaud them for all that they do to grow their businesses and help to sustain and expand our local economy.

Consequently, the Lawrence Business Magazine and Cadre Lawrence Foundation Award was established. To qualify, a company must be a locally owned or locally franchised for-profit business in Douglas County that has been in existence for at least three years. In addition, the recipients of the Foundation Award must also have shown growth in employment by 20 percent or 20 people between January 1, 2013 and December 31, 2013. To illustrate, if you have four employees and add one, that is a 20% growth, if you have 10 employees and have expanded to 12, that is a 20% growth.

“We are excited about The Foundation Award, because it fits so perfectly with our (Lawrence Business Magazine’s) mission,” states Ann Frame Hertzog, LBM managing editor, “which is to write about the people and businesses making a positive impact on Lawrence. As you know, it takes a lot of hard work, sacrifice and dedication to create a successful business. We’re hoping for this award to make a positive statement about our existing businesses, our need to support those businesses locally and also to celebrate their achievements.”

“This award is so important to the mission of Cadre Lawrence,” Zak Bolick, Cadre Lawrence President explains, “because it recognizes the successes of the small businesses in our community that are making an impact on the economic development challenges that Lawrence faces. We oftentimes recognize and celebrate new businesses that choose Lawrence as a place to land, but not often enough do we take an evening to recognize those businesses that are doing amazing things here in our own backyard.”

The Lawrence Business Magazine and Cadre Lawrence want to get out the word to all Douglas County businesses to make them aware of the award and to get them to fill out the simple online application. They are encouraging members of the community who know of a company that they believe meets these criteria to go online and enter the company’s name and in the notes let them know that you are recommending that company for follow-up to see if they qualify. Or if your company meets the criteria they really want you to fill out and submit the simple application online at: www.LawrenceBusinessMagazine.com/FoundationAward by January 31, 2014. All applicants will be contacted by email or phone to follow- up and verify that the criteria is met and other details.

In addition, there will be one other award presented, The Footprint Impact Award. It will honor an established business that is committed to working and investing locally by working with and using other businesses in Douglas County–businesses dedicated to the belief that spending and buying locally, whenever possible, is essential to our business community and overall community as a whole.

“We feel there is nothing more important to our local economy than local business growing,” Hertzog states. “And, there is nothing more powerful than businesses working with other local businesses to invigorate and grow our local economy.”

To be eligible for the Footprint Impact Award, businesses must be locally owned or locally franchised in Douglas County and must demonstrate the local impact of their financial reinvestment in the local community. Who do you work with, where do you buy your business supplies, where do you print, where do you go for healthcare – just a few of the items to consider when thinking of your business’s Footprint Impact. Business can be any shape or size; the goal is to highlight how they spend their business’s expense dollars through collaboration with other local businesses.

Nominations (including self-nominations) for the Footprint Impact Award can also be submitted online at LawrenceBusinessMagazine.com/FoundationAward by January 31, 2014.

Awards will be presented by Lawrence Mayor Mike Dever, from 5 to 7 p.m., February 27 at Alvamar Country Club. Neeli Bendapudi, H.D. Price Dean and Professor of Business at the KU School of Business, will be the featured speaker. Tickets are $15.00 and available online at LawrenceBusinessMagazine.com/FoundationAward.

Lawrence Business Magazine, published since 2011, is a quarterly magazine covering people and businesses making a positive impact on our community.

Cadre Lawrence is a coalition of Lawrence citizens who work together to promote and support economic growth in Lawrence and Douglas County.