Industry Categories
Advertising: Public relations firms, advertising companies, ad agencies, and companies that are involved with web-based promotions.
AI & Data: Companies that provide clients solutions based in artificial intelligence, data science, and machine learning
Business Products: Companies that sell products primarily to other businesses.
Business Services: Companies that sell services primarily to other businesses.
Coaching & Career Development: Companies that provide services, tools, and coaching to guide employees in their career development.
Communications: Companies involved with transmitting voice, video, or data on a mass scale and companies that sell services primarily to telecom firms.
Construction: Companies that put up buildings, normally as contractors, as well as companies that sell or install elements such as windows, doors, and flooring, etc.
Consumer Products: Companies that primarily make, distribute, or sell products intended for consumers.
Consumer Services: Companies that primarily make, distribute, or sell consumer services.
Crypto & Blockchain: Companies that help other companies incorporate crypto or blockchain technology.
E-commerce: Companies that provide software as a service and/or hardware allowing companies to receive digital payments from their customers.
Economic Development: Organizations that provide support and services to help local companies and industries grow, and promote job creation business development, and expansion in home communities.
Economic/Financial Equity: Companies that have excelled in responsibly growing sustainable wealth and/or closing wage gaps specifically for under-resourced communities and the middle class.
Education: Companies that provide instruction or coaching, or sell educational materials, or whose primary market is schools or universities.
Energy: Companies that source or provide power for business and residential customers, as well as companies that provide specialized services to energy firms.
Engineering: Companies that provide engineering and related services, including construction or architectural work, and that manage engineering projects for clients.
Environmental Issues: Companies that are making great strides in improving local, national, or global environmental conditions.
Environmental Services: Companies whose primary focus is on restoring or maintaining clean and safe environments.
Events & Experiential: Companies that organize and host in-person and virtual gatherings for consumers and businesses.
Financial Services: Companies that provide financing or products and services that facilitate transactions, including lenders, mortgage brokers, and financial advisors.
Food and Beverage: Companies that manufacture, sell, or distribute food or beverages or other related services, including meal delivery.
Franchise: Companies that offer branded products and services to franchisees, typically in exchange for an upfront fee and annual licensing fees.
General Excellence: Open to all companies affecting extraordinary change, often across multiple sectors
Government Services: Companies that provide consulting services—especially IT, health care, and procurement—are used primarily by government entities.
Health Products: Companies that provide products strictly to the healthcare market, such as makers or distributors of nutritional supplements and makers or distributors of medical devices.
Health Services: Companies that provide services strictly to the health care market, such as operators of medical facilities, including nursing homes.
Human Resources: Staffing, payroll, executive search, and outsourcing companies, as well as firms involved with employee or management training.
Insurance: Companies that sell insurance products or help the insurance industry in different forms of risk mitigation.
IT Management: Companies whose primary business is the outsourced management of software, servers, printers, security, etc.
IT System Development: Companies that create processes that enable their clients’ information technology to perform to its capacity.
Logistics and Transportation: Freight shipping, trucking, and other companies that move products and people, as well as brokers of those companies’ services and providers of services to the industry.
Luxury: Companies that provide highly refined products and services to an exclusive clientele.
Management Consulting: Companies that provide advice and expertise to help organizations solve problems or improve performance.
Manufacturing: Companies that make both intermediate and finished goods for sale to businesses and consumers.
Marketing: Public relations firms, marketing companies, and companies that are involved in marketing.
Media: Companies whose primary business is creating or distributing content in any kind of communications medium.
Mental Health Advocacy: Companies that dedicate substantial time and resources to improving mental health.
Pets: Companies that provide products and services to people who own pets.
Public Relations: Companies that help brands craft messaging, communicate with the public and their customers, and gain media coverage.
Real Estate: Real estate developers and brokers and those providing services to brokers, buyers, and sellers. Also includes real estate-related investment firms.
Retail: Companies that sell products and services directly to consumers, either online or at brick-and-mortar stores.
Security: Companies that provide physical security—guards, locks, heavy doors, barriers, surveillance systems, or armored trucks.
Social Enterprise: Mission-driven companies that prioritize the interests of their social or environmental initiatives over shareholders, putting purpose before profit.
Software as a Service: Companies that deliver cloud-based software applications on a subscription basis.
Software Development: Companies that create software for businesses or individuals.
Sustainability: Companies that dedicate substantial time and resources to developing or encouraging business practices that reduce reliance on fossil fuels.
Travel & Hospitality: Travel agencies, tour operators, and other companies that help facilitate travel, as well as hotel companies and leisure destinations such as amusement parks.
Veteran Support: Companies that dedicate substantial time and resources to supporting America’s veterans.
Wellness Products: Companies that primarily make, distribute, or sell products that aim to improve quality of life.
Wellness Services: Companies that primarily make, distribute, or sell services that aim to improve quality of life.
Core Business Award Categories
Business Model Strategy: Companies in any industry that implemented a superlative strategic vision, strategy to scale, or path to innovation.
Customer Engagement: Companies from any industry that delivered exceptional customer service, customer experience, and customer retention strategy
Financial Performance: Companies from any industry that have built a business model that returns steep profits or a high return on investment.
Innovation and Technology: Companies from any industry that demonstrated excellence in their application of artificial intelligence, digital growth strategy, a new product launch or pure innovation.
Leadership and Team: Executives at companies from any industry whose performance stood above their peers, including chief executives and leaders in marketing, finance, HR, digital, operations, and recruiting.
Marketing & Branding: Companies from any industry that executed a great marketing campaign, advertising campaign, social media campaign, or rebrand for a product or a brand.
Operational Excellence: Companies in any industry that deliver flawless distribution, supply chain management, quality management, crisis management, and/or operational efficiency.
Sales Performance: Companies from any industry that were driven by a superior sales effort, due to a team, strategy, or specific initiatives such as a robust lead gen program.
Company Stage Categories
Companies that have achieved incredible impact at different stages in their lifecycle.
On the Rise: 0-4 years
Established Excellence: 5-14 years
Enduring Impact: 15+ years
Company Revenue Categories
Companies that have achieved incredible impact at different stages of their revenue.
Lean and Mean: Under $5M
Prosperous & Thriving: $5-50M
Robust & Powerful: Over $50M
Company Size Categories
Companies that have achieved incredible impact at different employee sizes.
Micro: 10-49 Employees
Medium: 50-99 Employees
Large: 100-499 Employees
XLarge: 500+ Employees
Super Early Rate Deadline: July 26, 2024 ($495)
Early Rate Deadline: August 16, 2024 ($695)
Final Deadline: September 13, 2024 ($895)
Join Inc. Editor-in-Chief Mike Hofman for an informational Best in Business Awards Q&A Zoom session on September 11, from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. ET; RSVP here.
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