Innovation
Judging innovation
Smart Business Akron/Canton | September 2008
Poring over dozens of nomination forms
in search of the most innovative organizations and executives in Northeast Ohio
certainly isn’t an easy job. That’s why
Smart Business assembled an all-star
panel of regional business leaders,
including several previous honorees, who
we knew were up to the task.
The judges were provided with nomination packages filled with essays, articles
and other documentation about the nominees then asked to bring their own personal viewpoint to the table to help select
six Visionaries and four Rising Stars to
honor at this year’s event. They looked at:
Scope of innovation. What was the
new product or service, management
style, or corporate outlook, and what is its
potential or staying power?
Impact of innovation. How did this
innovative product, process or technique
impact the individual organization or its
industry?
Origin of innovation. Where did the
ideas come from — internal or external —
and how does management foster those
ideas?
Our judging panel was composed of:
- A. Ray Dalton,
founder, president and CEO,
PartsSource LLC
(2007 Visionary winner)
- Renee DeLuca Dolan,
president and creative director,
Contemporary Design Group
(2007 Rising Star winner)
- Donna Rae Smith,
founder and chairman,
Bright Side Inc.
- Richard F. Rebadow Jr.,
senior vice president,
economic development,
Greater Akron Chamber
- Frank Bloomquist,
regional vice president,
Anthem Blue Cross and
Blue Shield of Ohio
