Innovation Award deadline Tuesday
COMMENTARY | City quick to find new ways of attaining success
The city of broad shoulders is also the city of innovation. Chicago reversed the course of a river and built the first skyscrapers. Our residents invented the zipper, the remote control and the dishwasher.
Each year, the Chicago Innovation Award program, now in its sixth year, reminds us that product and service innovation is alive and thriving in the Windy City.
With the deadline for entries in the 2006 Innovation Award on Tuesday, it's fitting to take a look at what the spirit of creativity brings to this great city.
Innovation often goes hand in hand with commercial success, and CIA honorees are no exception. The 2003 award highlighted Archipelago Holdings, inventors of the first totally open, fully electronic U.S. stock exchange. Two years later, Archipelago was purchased by the NYSE in a $9 billion deal.
In 2005, Motorola was honored for its innovative RAZR V3 phone. Later that year the company shipped more than 5 million units globally. The phone set new standards for portable electronics design.
Feedburner, which won in 2006 for establishing a new way for online publishers to measure their audiences and sell ads, was acquired in May by Google for $100 million.
Chicago innovation comes in all forms, whether it is small entrepreneurial companies powerfully influencing industry giants, or well-established brands redefining their industry. The Chicago Innovation Awards recognize that creativity and ingenuity are about far more than just turning a profit.
The American Cancer Society won an award in 2004 for the creation of a test that helps predict the usefulness of cancer treatments. In 2005, a Chicago Innovation Award was given to the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, for its remarkable redevelopment strategies in 16 Chicago neighborhoods. Chicago's Millennium Park, a 2004 Innovation Award winner enriches the lives of all who visit it.
Innovation breeds success and strengthens the economy. Companies are constantly evolving and as a result, consistently successful. By staying ahead of trends and exploring new industries and technologies, Chicago boasts one of the most diverse business sectors in the country. According to a 2003 report by Moody's Corp., this diversity makes our economy well-equipped to bounce back from a slowdown in any particular industry, since other sectors would be able to pick up the slack.
The power of innovation is creating a new identity for Chicago business people. These innovative workers are a combination of determination and achievement: Their entrepreneurial success stories are a steady fare in the news. Innovation frequently requires belief in a vision that no one else can see. Often, this vision will not be realized without some driving force to push it to fruition.
In the world of business, that force is the business culture of Chicago.
The 10 honorees that will receive a 2007 award will undoubtedly have as much impact on Chicago businesses as those companies that came before them. I am certain Oct. 22 will present further proof of the inspirational power of Chicago. To find out more about the awards and how you can nominate a product or a service, go to www.chicagoinnovationawards.com
Thomas D. Kuczmarski is president of Chicago based innovation and new products consulting firm Kuczmarski & Associates, and co-founder with the Chicago Sun-Times of the Chicago Innovation Award. he can be contacted at tkuczmarski@kuczmarski.com.