The Journal Record names winners of 2009 Innovator of the Year

Journal Record, The (Oklahoma City), Feb 3, 2009 by Jessica Mitchell

More than 30 entities representing a wide variety of industries, from architecture and agricultural to e-commerce and energy, will receive special recognition at The Journal Record's annual celebration of business innovation scheduled for 6 p.m. on March 12 at the Renaissance Tulsa Hotel and Convention Center.

Also scheduled for this year's event, eight On the Brink awards will be given for promising new products and services.

The third annual Creativity Award will also be presented. This year's recipient of the Creativity Award will be the deadCENTER Film Festival, founded in 2001 to promote independent film arts. The name "deadCENTER" refers to the geographic location of Oklahoma City within the continental United States.

Jay Martin, director of the Advanced Systems Group for OrthoCare Innovations, will deliver the keynote speech. Martin, winner of the overall 2008 Journal Record Innovator of the Year, was founder and president of Martin Bionics, an engineering research and development company that specialized in the development of advanced high-tech medical and prosthetic technology. In March 2008, Martin merged the prosthetics department of Martin Bionics with OrthoCare Innovations, creating one of the largest research and development groups in the nation, specializing in advanced prosthetics and orthotics technologies.

"The Journal Record's Innovator of the Year program has honored the spirit of Oklahoma ingenuity for more than a decade. This program allows us to recognize businesses, organizations and individuals who embrace both the entrepreneurialism and innovation that make Oklahoma such a special place to live and work," said Mary Melon, publisher of The Journal Record. "Our honorees over the years have developed products and services that have grown our communities and have literally put us on the map - both nationally and internationally."

"Adding the Creativity Award two years ago has given the program another dimension and brings much-deserved focus on The Creativity Project, which is a progressive program designed to capture and promote creativity in Oklahoma."

An overall winner will be announced from the 33 innovators at the banquet. These innovators, along with the winners of "On the Brink" awards and the Creativity Award honoree, will be profiled in the Innovator of the Year magazine to be published March 13.

The Innovator of the Year award winners for 2009 are:

* American Bank Systems Inc., Oklahoma City.

* Auto Way Manufacturing Co. LLC, Oklahoma City.

* Base Velocity LLC, Norman.

* Crowe & Dunlevy, Oklahoma City.

* Emergency Medical Services Authority (EMSA), Tulsa.

* eMotion Media Inc., Tulsa.

* EngaTech, Tulsa.

* Flintco Inc., Oklahoma City.

* Francis Tuttle Technology Center, Oklahoma City.

* Frankfurt Short Bruza, Oklahoma City.

* Griffin Holdings Inc. - The House of Webster, Muskogee.

* HESI Security Inc., Oklahoma City.

* I Thryv, Oklahoma City.

* ICX Nomadics, Stillwater.

* Ideal Homes, Norman.

* Jack Frank Productions, Tulsa.

* Lazarus Medical, Tulsa.

* MedEncentive LLC, Oklahoma City.

* Merchant Metrix, Norman.

* mobiManage, Tulsa.

* Oklahoma State Treasurer and OK.gov, Oklahoma City.

* P & H Properties, Tulsa.

* PL Studios, Oklahoma City.

* Productify, McAlester.

* Rococo, Oklahoma City.

* Scriptfolio LLC, Oklahoma City.

* Selser Schaefer Architects, Tulsa.

* St. Anthony Hospital, Oklahoma City.

* Suspended Climbing Systems, Broken Arrow.

* Synthesized NanoCoatings Inc., Norman.

* Thirty Sixth Span Internet Technologies, Oklahoma City.

* The University of Oklahoma, Norman.

* The University of Oklahoma/Center for the Creation of Economic Wealth, Norman.

This year's On the Brink honorees include:

* Digitouch Innovations, Oklahoma City.

* DormaTarg, Oklahoma City.

* Eichler Valve, Edmond.

* Lifetone Technology, Oklahoma City.

* NexGenData LLC, Tulsa.

* The University of Oklahoma-Acoustic Mass Pump, Norman.

* The University of Oklahoma-Oklahoma Wind Power Initiative, Norman.

* UVIZZ, Oklahoma City.

Sponsors of the 2009 Journal Record Innovator of the Year Awards are Crowe & Dunlevy, Ernst & Young, The State Chamber, OCAST, i2E and SpiritBank.

Tickets for the banquet are $100. Corporate tables are available for $2,000 and include a table for eight, advertising, preferred seating and recognition. Regular tables for eight are $1,000. Information on tickets and sponsorships is available from Kari Koster at (405) 278-2820 or kari.koster@journalrecord.com.

In 2008, the 36 Innovator of the Year winners and three "On the Brink" innovators honored companies and individuals from a variety of industries including education, health care, aerospace and environmental, just to name a few. Over 400 people attended the awards ceremony last year.