Kudos

Business leaders win CED awards

More than 300 people attended the Council For Economic Development's Entrepreneurial Excellence Awards on Thursday night. The event, at the American Tobacco Historic District in Durham, honored a who's who in the Triangle's entrepreneurial community with a red-carpet night of cocktails, dinner and dancing.

Among those recognized:

* Monica Doss, who is retiring as head of the CED, was given a Lifetime Achievement Award. She also got the Charles Hamner Leadership Award.

* Scot Wingo, president and CEO of ChannelAdvisor, walked away with the award for entrepreneurial excellence. Channel Advisor sells software and services that allow retailers to sell their products online. The company is based in Morrisville.

* Serenex, a drug development company that's based in Durham, was named Growth Company of the Year in the life-sciences division.

* iContact, an on-demand e-mail marketing company in Durham, was named Growth Company of the Year in the technology division.

* BEECo. Inc., which came out of RTI International, was deemed SpinOut of the Year.

* DigitalSmiths, a digital video search technology company in Morrisville, won for Technology of the Year.

CED, which is based in Research Triangle Park, is a private, nonprofit organization that is meant to foster and nurture companies that will have a high effect on the region.

Since 2001, it has helped companies in the Triangle raise more than $2.6 billion in venture capital.

For a complete list of the award winners and more information on each, go to www.cednc.org/awards.

Awards and recognition

ResponsePoint, based in Cary, received a 2008 Gold Key Award from the Colorado chapter of the Business Marketing Association for its Regal Entertainment Group Holiday 2007 direct-mail campaign.

Jenny Martin, real estate and retail new business director at The King Partnership in Raleigh, was recognized by The Triangle Sales and Marketing Council of the N.C. Home Builders Association with the Perseverance Award for her outstanding effort on behalf of the council's annual Major Achievements in Marketing Excellence awards gala.

Richard Kolarov of Specialty Builder in Raleigh earned the Certified Green Professional designation, which is administered by the National Association of Home Builders University of Housing.

All American, a Mayflower Transit agent that's based in Raleigh, was awarded the Moving and Storage Agent of the Year Service Excellence Award at the American Moving and Storage Association's 2008 Education Conference & Expo in Orlando, Fla.

Dr. Thomas Perkins and the Sleep Medicine Program at Raleigh Neurology received the Accredited Member Center approval from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

Three area women were named industry rising stars by the Healthcare Businesswomen's Association at its 2008 Woman of the Year Awards: Fahti Khosrow-Shahi, senior vice president, brand management practice, Campbell Alliance; Lori Williams, director of outsourced manufacturing operations for Eisai; and Dawn Pope, director, IRB services and study startup at Copernicus IRB.

Gail Ragazzo and Mike Tillman, the Eastern North Carolina Lees Carpets' team, received the 2007 Excellence Award at the national meeting of The Mohawks Group in Scottsdale, Ariz. There were 21 recipients worldwide. The award recognizes sales, customer service and contributions to the sustainability efforts of Mohawk commercial floor covering brands.

Insurance agency SIA Group has been named a Top 100 Privately Held Property Casualty Independent Agency by the Insurance Journal for the third year. Insurance Journal is a national property and casualty publication for independent insurance agents and brokers.