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Regional recognition brings global awareness

Bettie Steiger, former executive director of the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center, cited a lack of recognition as the main reason women leave big companies, during her recent address at the annual Spokane meeting of the Inland Northwest Chapter of National Association of Women Business Owners.

Jeannine Marx
Special to The Spokesman-Review

Some people refer to it as the "glass ceiling."

Webster defines the word "acknowledge" as "to express thanks for, to recognize as valid."

The word "recognition" is defined as "special notice or attention."

Technet has made great strides in honoring, acknowledging and recognizing leaders in innovation and technology through our Catalyst Awards. We understand the importance of recognition and would like to see a greater effort in this area. Recognition brings global awareness of how great and innovative our region truly is.

An enthusiastic, eclectic and innovative group recently launched a national search for the "Most Intelligent Community."

Boston, Colorado Springs, Colo., Austin, Texas, and the Silicon Valley are vying for this prestigious award. Why not Spokane? Big dreams mean big rewards. Landing the 1974 World’s Fair taught us that.

Servatron, Itronix and the Davenport Hotel are just a few of the regional companies that have recently received national recognition. But unless companies have budgets and marketing personnel to widely promote these awards, only people from their industries acknowledge the significance of their accomplishments. Maybe some of our economic development funds should go to broadcasting some of these honors.

Steiger also gave us another thought to ponder: "Networking is not whom you know, but who knows you."

That is exactly how three guys from Agilent turned their Wi-Fi idea into Vivato, a Spokane Valley company backed by $44 million in venture capital networking and recognition.

Internet search engines are like a worldwide recognition barometer. A quick search for a person or company is a quick and easy indication of how much bandwidth they have achieved. The better job our region does of acknowledging our regional accomplishments and awards, the greater the global awareness.

That’s where recognition events, like the Technet Catalyst Awards, come in.

The Catalyst Awards recognize an organization, company and individual for outstanding innovation, technology and economic growth in the region.

This year’s semifinalists are Gonzaga University’s Hogan Entrepreneurial Leadership Program, Inland Northwest Health Services, Pacific Northwest National Laboratories and Pathology Associates Medical Laboratories, chosen in the organization category.

In the company category, the semifinalists are Advanced Input Devices, Isothermal Research and Vivato.

The individual semifinalists are Dr. Steve Simmons, Fred Brown and Kim Pearman-Gillman.

When former Washington Water Power Chairman Wendell Satre, whom many refer to as the wise sage of innovation, received the first Catalyst Award in 1998, he remarked, "This means the world to me. At my age you begin to wonder if you really can still make a difference. Apparently I can!"

Each of us can make a difference, and it is important to take the time to acknowledge those leaders that stand out in our region.

This year’s individual award, the "Ken Grunzweig Innovator of the Year Award," honors a great man. Once in a while we are given the opportunity to meet someone that touches our life in a special way, sometimes a teacher, a mentor or a friend. It is not always appreciated until they are no longer available to take our call, to bounce an idea off of, or just complain to.

Ken Grunzweig was such a person for our entrepreneurial community and Technet. He fought a courageous nine-month battle with cancer, and in the end I am sure he negotiated a fair deal.

On the evening of Oct. 16 at the Davenport Hotel, the Catalyst Awards ceremony will honor Ken, who touched several people’s lives during his brief return to Spokane. He was a significant influence on Technet’s Entrepreneur Boot Camp series, champion of SIRTI’s efforts, poised to teach entrepreneur classes at Gonzaga University’s Hogan Entrepreneurial Leadership Program, volunteer consultant to startups, a board member for six technology companies in the U.S., and most importantly a great friend and visionary.

Please join us in honoring these companies, organizations and innovators that deserve our recognition and gratitude.

# Jeannine Marx is president of Technet, a Spokane-based nonprofit organization that promotes education and growth within the Inland Northwest.

http://www.spokesmanreview.com/news-story.asp?date=100503&ID=s1420827&cat=section.business

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