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Blue Chip Community Business Awards
HISTORY OF THE BLUE CHIP AWARDS
The Blue Chip Enterprise Awards program was established nationally in 1990 to honor successful small businesses and to help them to learn from one another's experiences. For-profit businesses that had been in operation for at least three years and employed five to 400 people were eligible to compete in the program, which recognized small businesses that had overcome adversity to achieve success. The book "Insights and Inspirations: How Businesses Succeed," was published each year to chronicle the personal and professional sagas of all state and national honorees.
Oswald Trippe and Company began coordinating the Blue Chip Enterprise Awards program in Southwest Florida in 1993. The number of applications and state honorees increased steadily every year and, in 1997, Computer Rescue Squad earned national Blue Chip Enterprise honors. In 2000, six of the 13 state honorees were from Southwest Florida.
The following companies were state honorees in the Blue Chip Enterprise Awards program, a national program that ran from 1994-2000:
| 2000 |
Cornerstone Financial Advisory, Inc.
Komputer Integration Service Specialist (K.I.S.S.)
Leather Medic, Inc.
Pinchers Crab Shack
Unified Marine, Inc.
Wellington Academy, Inc. |
| 1999 |
The Chiropractic Practice of Dr. Lana Perkins
Markham Norton Stroemer & Company, CPA |
| 1998 |
Easy Picker Golf Products |
| 1997 |
Computer Rescue Squad (National Winner)
King Landscaping & Sod of Southwest Florida |
| 1995 |
The MARC of the Professionals |
| 1994 |
Fireservice, Inc. |
In 2000, the national sponsors announced that the Blue Chip Enterprise Award program was being restructured. Oswald Trippe and Company, committed to the continued recognition of Southwest Florida's successful small businesses, adopted the new Blue Chip Community Business Award.
Blue Chip Keynote Speakers
| 2008: |
Bob Love, inspirational NBA legend |
| 2007: |
Jason Hall, quadriplegic, successful businessman |
| 2006: |
Nikki Stone, 1998 Olympic gold medalist in inverted aerial skiing |
| 2005: |
Dave Dravecky, Former Major League Baseball Player |
| 2004: |
David DeNotaris, "Feeling Your Way Through Life" |
| 2003: |
Bill Butterworth, "Butterworth Gets His Life Together
But It Falls Apart Before He Can Show His Friends!" |
| 2002: |
Dan Clark, "Chicken Soup for the Soul" |
| 2001: |
Peter Vidmar, Olympic Gold Medal Gymnast |
| 1999: |
John Naber, Olympic Gold Medal Swimmer |
| 1998: |
Bill Clement, ESPN Sportscaster and Pro Hockey Player on Stanley Cup Team |
| 1997: |
Dr. Kevin Freiberg, Co-author of NUTS! |
| 1996: |
Diana Golden, Alpine Skiing Paralympian |
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