Hershey, PA – Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett today recognized 50 outstanding Pennsylvania companies and entrepreneurs for creating jobs, developing ideas, reaching new markets, and making positive contributions in local communities at the 2014 Governor’s ImPAct Awards.
“Today, we honor the men and women who spend countless hours providing the leadership and care that it takes to run a successful and growing business,” Corbett said. “This recognition goes beyond the contributions made to Pennsylvania’s diverse and vibrant economy. Today, we celebrate Pennsylvanians who embody the American dream by taking risks, working hard, and achieving success.”
The Governor’s ImPAct Awards recognized 50 companies from throughout the state in five categories: Jobs First, Community Impact, Small Business Impact, Entrepreneurial Impact, and Export Impact. The awardees were chosen by an independent judging panel selected by the state’s partners, Team Pennsylvania Foundation (Team PA) and Journal Multimedia.
James Slay, COO of St. Marys Carbon, commented, “We are extremely pleased and proud to have been named one of a select group of companies in the state of Pennsylvania for this prestigious award. This recognition is a testament to our dedicated and hard-working employees, as well as our philosophy of continuous improvement of our business processes to ensure excellent products and services to our customers. We will continue to ‘relentlessly pursue perfection’ in all that we do, in producing viable engineered solutions for our customers.”
This award is given to a small business that has been an innovator within its industry, demonstrated revenue/profit growth, increased its workforce, and committed to the growth and development of its employees and community. The company must have 100 or fewer employees.
Nominations for each award were provided by the state’s regional economic development partners – the Partnerships for Regional Economic Performance (PREP) network. All 10 PREP regions were eligible to submit up to five nominations per category. A total of 247 nominations were received.
The Corbett administration developed the PREP network to regionalize and coordinate local economic development services to businesses and entrepreneurs. The Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) provides grants through PREP to local economic development service providers that provide assistance and other resources to support local business expansion and growth.
More than 600 business leaders and economic development partners throughout the state of Pennsylvania attended last year’s inaugural awards in Hershey and attendance topped more than 700 this year. Gov. Corbett thanked the audience of more than 700 for helping to move Pennsylvania forward.
The Corbett administration created the Governor’s ImPAct Awards initiative in 2013 to honor businesses in Pennsylvania that are creating job opportunities and contributing to the state’s economy. The awards are sponsored at no cost to the taxpayers by the state’s private sector partner, Team PA, and are coordinated by DCED, Team PA, and Journal Multimedia.
“All of you are champions in partnering with us to build a stronger Pennsylvania,” Corbett said.
Media Contacts:
- Valerie Caras, Governor’s Office: 717-783-1116
- Steve Kratz, DCED: 717-783-1132
- James Slay, St. Marys Carbon: 814-781-7333