To celebrate the achievements and contributions of the ASBTDC network, State Director Laura Fine presented Employee Excellence Awards to top performers during the spring statewide meeting April 23-25 in Little Rock.
Staff were honored for their 2023 accomplishments. Awards in three categories – startups, capital projects, and capital acquisition – recognized outstanding performance in ASBTDC’s major consulting metrics.
Honored for assisting with the most new business starts were the Startup Star, Ronda Hawkins of Arkansas Tech University, and Wendy Orvis of UA Little Rock.
Recognized for assisting their clients with the most funded capital projects for the year were Hawkins, the Capital Projects Star; Orvis; Lori Lieblong and Mary Beth Brooks and of the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville; and Laura Miller of Arkansas State University.
Miller, the Capital Acquisition Star, was the consultant with the highest dollar amount of loans and other forms of capital funding reported by their clients last year. She assisted clients with obtaining over $30 million in capital investment.
Other top performers in capital acquisition were named to the millions club. The club celebrates the dollar amount of capital investment the consultants helped their clients attain last year.
- $14 Million – Mary Beth Brooks (UA Fayetteville)
- $10 Million – Ryan Cole (UA Little Rock)
- $7 Million – Lori Lieblong (UA Fayetteville)
- $6 Million – Nicolas Mayerhoeffer (UA Little Rock)
- $5 Million – Janell Reeves (Southern Arkansas University) and Brandon Horvath (UA Little Rock)
Winners of the following three awards were selected by a panel of guest judges from nominations submitted by the network.
Reeves was honored as Ambassador of the Year. The award recognizes the member of the network who excelled at promoting ASBTDC in their region or the state through outreach, media, and other activities.
The Game Changer of the Year was Merideth Thomas of UA Little Rock. The award recognizes a network member, collaborative team, or center for an innovative addition to ASBTDC services.
Javier Hernandez of UA Little Rock was named Rising Star, which goes to a network member under age 40 with fewer than three years of service at ASBTDC who has excelled in their position.
Nominated by their colleagues, Values Ambassadors were recognized for their demonstration of ASBTDC’s core values: service, integrity, collaboration, impact, and inclusion.
Honored as Values Ambassadors were Karen Bergh, UA Little Rock; Amy Brenner, ATU; Brooks; Catherine Corley, UA Fayetteville; Carolina Mejia, UA Fayetteville; Miller; Heather Robinette, UA Little Rock; and Bill Sabo, UAFS.
For more photos, see the Lead Center Facebook page.
