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Longmont, CO: At their 2017 Community Impact Awards Celebration on Thursday, the Longmont Economic Development Partnership awarded three Community Impact Awards to Longmont businesses in recognition of their philanthropic contributions in the community over the past year. This year, Longmont EDP also worked with Partners for a Clean Environment (P.A.C.E.), and City of Longmont Sustainability Coordinator Lisa Knoblauch to present a Business Sustainability Award, and added a new Collaboration Award category. Nominations for this year’s awards came from the businesses themselves, through the Longmont EDP ELEVATE and Local Business Advisory Committees, and through Longmont EDP’s public calls for nominations. This year’s Community Impact Award winners were selected from the pool of all nominees by the ELEVATE and Local Business Advisory Committees.
The 2017 Community Impact Awards winners were:
- Left Hand Brewing was recognized for their support of a variety of organizations through their Left Hand Brewing Company Foundation, a non-profit committed to brewing a stronger community where they live, work, and play. The LHBF supports primary needs, community support groups, arts & cultural activities, housing projects, and medical research, and responds to issues and emergencies in the Longmont community and beyond. Some of their beneficiary partners are: LHB Foundation, SOS Outreach, Arts Longmont, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Safe Shelter of the St. Vrain, Meals on Wheels, and The In Between Longmont.
- Sticker Giant was recognized for their support of Meals on Wheels, a non-profit whose primary focus is to provide hot, nutritious meals and a daily check to older adults and people with disabilities that reside in the Longmont community. This service helps them maintain their independence, health, and dignity. Longmont Meals on Wheels provides this service without any state or federal funding
- Elevations Credit Union was recognized for their support of Intercambio, a non-profit that was born from a desire to help immigrants in Boulder County improve their quality of life. Their mission is to improve immigrant lives through English education, and unite communities across cultures. They have served 10,000 adult English students since 2001, and have spent over 54,000 student/teacher hours together.
The Business Sustainability Award was presented to Simply Bulk Market in recognition of their zero-waste mission. Simply Bulk’s entire business revolves around reducing waste, especially plastic waste, by buying and selling items in large quantities. They have also installed energy efficient lighting, compost and recycle, co-locate their waste bins, and have high efficiency faucet aerators.
New this year, the Collaboration Award was presented to the 10 Breweries and the cidery that collaborated to brew the Wannapreneur beer for Longmont Startup week with proceeds going to the Longmont Ignite Fund, a Community Foundation fund established by community-minded individuals to make grants available to early-stage startups in Longmont. In total, $1,500 was raised for Longmont Ignite through sales of Wannapreneur during Longmont Startup Week in July. Participating breweries included: 300 Suns, Oskar Blues, Left Hand Brewing, Open Door Brewery, Skeye Brewing, Shoes & Brews, Wibby Brewing, The Pumphouse, Grossen Bart, Bootstrap Brewing, and St. Vrain Cidery.
Also at yesterday’s event, the annual Tom Brock Award was presented by the Longmont Industrial Parks Board. The Tom Brock Award was created by the Longmont Industrial Park Board many years ago to honor Tom Brock, a business and community leader who helped establish the connection between a healthy local economy and a quality community. The award bearing his name is presented to a member of the Longmont business community that has demonstrated outstanding leadership in continuing Tom’s legacy.
This year’s Tom Brock Award recipient was local developer Barry Serlis. As part of this recognition, Barry was asked to identify a local non-profit to receive a $1,000 contribution in Tom’s honor on behalf of the Longmont Industrial Park Board through the Longmont Community Foundation. Barry selected Meals on Wheels.
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About The Longmont Economic Development Partnership: The Longmont Economic Development Partnership is a public/private 501c(6) non-profit economic development organization serving the greater Longmont area. As Longmont’s primary agent for economic development, the Partnership leads a comprehensive and collaborative economic development strategy to promote and strengthen the Longmont community’s economic health. The Longmont Economic Development Partnership offers a variety of services and resources to support the relocation, retention, and expansion of business in Longmont and serves as the gateway to Longmont for all businesses.
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This is a press release issued by the Longmont Economic Development Partnership and is published by the Longmont Observer as a public service.
