In its 20^th year, the Lake-Geauga Fast Track 50 Award once again recognizes the 50 fastest growing companies in Lake and Geauga Counties. Winners of the award are based on average sales and employment growth from 2007 through 2011. The most current nomination form can be found online at: www.fasttrack50.org.

To be eligible to receive the award, companies must be located in the two-county region, be organized as a for-profit business, and must have a sales profit for 2007 of at least $100,000. 

Winning companies were honored at a recognition dinner on November 1, 2012 at the Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites LaMalfa in Mentor and were featured in The News-Herald.

Fast Track 50 was founded in 1993 when Peter Ferrante, Greg Skoda and representatives from Huntington National Bank met to talk about the unique small businesses that they served as clients. A formal program was then developed to honor the 50 fastest growing companies in the Lake-Geauga county region. The annual awards banquet is attended by nearly 400 members of the business community and local government officials.

The 2012 program is sponsored by Benjamin F. Edwards & Co., Huntington Bank, Lakeland Community College, The News-Herald, and Skoda Minotti.

Nearly 300 companies have been recognized since the award’s inception in 1993. For a complete listing of these companies, or to nominate a deserving company, please visit www.fasttrack50.org. For questions, please contact Jen Brawner of Skoda Minotti at 440-449-6800.

ERC is very proud to announce that we received a 2012 Wellness@Work Award. This is the third consecutive year that ERC has won an award; winning 2nd place in the Small Business Division. The Wellness@Work Awards honor area businesses for their workplace wellness initiatives.

“We’re honored to receive a Wellness@Work Award for the third consecutive year,” said Pat Perry, President of ERC. “It is important to us to lead by example, as we sponsor the ERC Health program throughout the State of Ohio. Wellness has truly become a part of our culture here. We see it through participation in events like staff health days, cardiovascular screening sessions and afternoon workout classes. We are proud of the commitment we’ve made to improve our employees’ health and work-life balance.”

ERC would also like to congratulate our members who also won the 2012 award: Lake Health, Oswald Companies, ShurTech Brands LLC and Vita-Mix Corporation.

The Greater Cleveland chapter of the American Society for Training and Development is seeking nominations for its 2011 Workplace Learning & Performance Leadership Award. In its 15th year, this award recognizes a Northeast Ohio organization that demonstrates outstanding leadership in organizational learning, employee development, or workplace performance.

You do not need to be an ASTD member to apply. Winners will be honored during the 15th Annual Business Leadership Award luncheon at the Rotary Club of Cleveland meeting in May 2011.

For more information or to apply, visit www.astdclevele.com.

In its 13th year of honoring 99 of the best places to work in Northeast Ohio, ERC is excited to announce that the 2011 NorthCoast 99 Application is now available! Applications will be accepted from now until April 29, 2011. Applicants are encouraged to register at www.northcoast99.org/application to begin their organization’s application process.

There is still no cost to apply, and every applicant receives a free benchmark report in September which summarizes how an organization scored relative to the winners and other applicants.

The application process involves the following:

• Top Performer Workplace Practices Audit - Our comprehensive online questionnaire that asks for detailed information about your organization's policies and practices.
• Branding and Culture Submission - Applicants submit materials such as employee handbooks, sample job ads and materials shared with job candidates. 
• Top Performer Engagement Survey - You select a group of top performers within your organization to complete an online survey that measures their engagement with your organization. 
• New-Hire Assessment - You select three employees hired by your organization in 2010 and employed in Northeast Ohio to complete a short online assessment of your organization. 
• Special Awards - ERC will recognize select organizations for unique and innovative practices described within the application.

To be recognized as a great place to work during good economic times is certainly a great achievement; however, during tough times the ability to attract, retain, and motivate top performing employees becomes even more critical. For more reasons to apply for NorthCoast 99 this year, please visit: http://www.northcoast99.com/.

The 2011 NorthCoast 99 Award program is sponsored by Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, CareerBoard.com, CareerCurve, Cinecraft Productions, Inc., Cleveland.com, FirstMerit Bank, Frantz Ward, Inside Business Magazine, Oswald Companies, PS Awards, Staffing Solutions Enterprises, and WVIZ/PBS and 90.3 WCPN ideastream. In addition, NorthCoast 99 is endorsed by the Cleveland Society of Human Resource Management (CSHRM), the Northeast Ohio Human Resource Planning Society (NOHRPS) and JumpStart Inc.

For more information please visit www.northcoast99.org.