The public will be invited to help shine a bright spotlight on local employers and entrepreneurs whose companies, creations, and innovations deserve recognition and acclaim for positively impacting the Martin County business community.
The 2024 Martin County Business Awards, presented by Bank of America and organized by the Business Development Board of Martin County, is a highly anticipated community event that has, for several years, showcased and celebrated several categories of local businesses to nearly sold-out crowds.
The awards nomination period opens Aug. 1 and closes Aug. 30. The ceremony will take place at 11:30 a.m. Dec. 13 at Hutchinson Shores Resort and Spa in Jensen Beach. Bank of America will again serve as the presenting sponsor. Numerous opportunities remain for sponsorships of varying sizes.
Public and self-nominations are welcome for the seven award categories—some of which have been updated—and the highly esteemed Charlene Hoag Leadership Award. Named after a beloved late county commissioner, the Hoag Award recognizes individuals who demonstrate devotion to family, vocation, and servant leadership to the community.
Award categories:
Business Excellence Award (formerly Business of the Year): Honors a long-established company that consistently serves as an industry leader, remains actively engaged in the business community and makes—year over year—a significantly positive and measurable impact on the local economy. Recent winners include International Training (2023), Bluestream Fiber (2022), Sunshine Land Design (2021) and Cleveland Clinic Martin Health (2020).
Company to Watch: Honors a new business that’s undergone a transformation of some sorts and introduces new technologies and innovations to the market, blazing trails within its industry while creating new economic opportunities for the county. Previous winners include ADDiTEC (2023) and Willis Custom Yachts (2022).
Headquarters of the Year: Honors a company that’s made Martin County the managerial and administrative center of the organization. Recent previous winners include Awareness Technologies (2023), Team IP (2022), Seacoast Bank (2021) and Visiting Nurse Association (2020).
Manufacturer of the Year: Honors a local manufacturer dedicated to best practices and innovative processes while meeting or exceeding industry standards and serving as a leader in their field. Previous winners include Pace Machine and Tool (2023) and WMR Competitive Products (2022).
Entrepreneur of the Year: Honors an entrepreneur for their ingenuity, courage and creativity who’s innovated new solutions, reimagined existing ones and (oftentimes) bootstrapped their business from inception to success. Previous winners include Eddie Kolos, H20 (2023), Jon Justak, AGTI (2022); Brian O’Connor, AirBruners (2021) and Eric Kiehn, C&W Technologies (2020).
Youth Entrepreneur of the Year: Honors individuals 18 years of age or younger for their entrepreneurial ambitions, innovations and work ethic in creating services or products for the market and realizing some early accomplishments along the way. Previous winners include Jaxon McIntyre and Matthew Elder, Bright Delight Windows (2023) and Keegan Nunes, and KSoap (2022).
Newcomer of the Year: Honors a company that moved to Martin County within the last two years and added to the existing base of businesses, bringing new skills, workforce opportunities and additional vibrancy to the local economy. Previous winners include Containing Luxury (2023), Daher (2022), Comfort Suites Stuart-Hutchinson Island (2021) and The Roofing General (2020).
Recent previous winners of the Charlene Hoag Leadership Award—which recognizes leaders who live in Martin County and have advocated for the continuous improvement of the local economy and ensuring creation of sustainable and resilient opportunities—include Tom and Sue Whittington (2023), Kelly Johnson (2022), Janice Norman (2021) and Debra Duvall (2020).
