TBTF Announces Finalists for 7th Annual Awards Gala

TAMPA - The Tampa Bay Technology Forum announced today the finalists for its 7th Annual Industry Achievement Awards. This year’s awards will recognize the leading organizations and individuals in Tampa Bay’s technology community. Finalists were selected by a distinguished panel of judges and will be honored in front of hundreds at an exciting black-tie awards gala on November 12 in Tampa.

"This year we revamped our categories and added a sixth in order to broaden our reach and attract a more diverse panel of nominations,” said Amy Norman, president and CEO of TBTF. "We’re very happy with the response we received and I think this year’s awards are going to be particularly exciting. Our judges had their work cut out for them and we look forward to celebrating with all of our honorees and the entire technology community next month.”

A total of 18 finalists were chosen in six award categories:

Emerging Technology Company of the Year
Alakai Defense Systems, Inc.
Digital Legal Florida
OmniPoint, Inc.

Technology Company of the Year
Catalina Marketing
IntegraClick, LLC
Peak 10 Tampa

Excellence in Service Award
HealthPlan Services Inc.
Jagged Peak
myMatrixx

Community Supporter of the Year
Career Technical Education Foundation Inc. (CTEF)
Professional Science Master’s Program in Biotechnology at USF
Science Center of Pinellas County

Rising Star Award
Alfred Goldberg, President, Absolute Mobile Solutions
Doug Pace, Executive Vice President and COO, Bayshore Solutions
Balaji Ramadoss, Administrator and Chief Technology Officer, Tampa General Hospital

Outstanding Leadership Award
Brent Britton, Shareholder and Chair, Emerging Business and Technology Group, Gray Robinson, PA
Debra Curtiss, Vice President and General Manager, Peak 10 Tampa
J. Paul Wahnish, Founder and President, Career Technical Education Foundation, Inc.

This year’s finalists were selected by an independent group of judges, which included:

• Tonya Elmore, president, STAR Technology Enterprise Center
• Frank Farro, new technology research & development, Walt Disney Resorts & Parks
• Robin Kovaleski, executive director, Florida Venture Forum
• Lee A. Mezrah, president, Mezrah Financial
• W. Scott Miller, managing partner, Lovett Miller & Co.
• Stephen Myers, VP enterprise infrastructure, PharMerica
• Wit Ostrenko, president & CEO, MOSI
• Scott Seehawer, president, Tri-Tronics
• Ray Wright, vice president of information services, Eckerd Youth Alternatives, Inc.
• Harry D. Venezia, Jr., managing director, HealthCare Capital Advisors

The awards gala will take place Friday, November 12th at the A La Carte Pavilion in Tampa. For more information visit www.tbtf.org