Last evening, Solid Cactus co-founder Joe Palko and myself had the honor of receiving the 2009 Ben Franklin Technology Partners iXchange Award for “Entrepreneurial Achievement.” This award is given to “individuals who best exemplify the quintessential entrepreneurial spirit: a combination of ingenuity, hard work and innovation that has resulted in the creation of a successful and growing business venture.”
According to Ben Franklin, “the Innovation Awards represent the core tenets of the Ben Franklin program: developing early-stage, technology-oriented companies; helping established manufacturing companies enhance their competitive advantage through innovation and promoting a community-wide infrastructure that fosters a favorable business environment for high-growth companies.”
The awards ceremony has held at Lehigh University‘s Zoellner Arts Center in Bethlehem, PA and was attended by about 600 people.
During my acceptance speech, I thanked the 150+ Solid Cactus team members who are the real recipients of this award. They are the guys and gals who come to work every day, giving their absolute best to keep our customers happy, bring in new business and work hard to innovate and make us a leader in our industry. Without their hard work and dedication, there would be no Solid Cactus.
Enjoy some candid and not-so-candid video of the event, including the acceptance speech. Blame Beth Hartman for the shaky camera movements, I think she was more nervous than Joe! And thanks to Joe & Katrina Domkowski, Catherine Shafer, John Dawe, Greg Kosicki and of course Beth for attending and sharing in the moment. And thanks to “Candy Pam” from Blair Candy for the flowers that made us look great!