Nominate a Business of the Year

CenterState CEO's Business of the Year Awards celebrate companies and organizations that have achieved growth and gone above and beyond in the past year to distinguish themselves as leaders in the business community.

Nominate to share your company or organization's success and impact in the past year, and your team’s commitment to excellence! 

Deadline to apply is Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. Winners will be announced at CenterState CEO's Annual Meeting in April 2025.

For more information, contact Lisa Metot at 315-470-1870.

Get Started
Deadline

 

Jan. 30, 2026

Award Categories

 

  1. Businesses with Fewer than 50 Employees
  2. Businesses with More than 50 Employees
  3. Nonprofit
  4. Community Involvement 
  5. Minority-owned business (in partnership with UMEA, the Upstate Minority Economic Alliance)
Eligibility


Membership in the CenterState CEO Network, which includes INSPYRE Innovation Hub clients and tenants, or membership in OUT Syracuse, is required for nomination in the Fewer than 50 Employees, More than 50 Employees, Community Involvement and Nonprofit categories.

Nominees in the Minority-owned Business category must be a UMEA member; UMEA Board Members are ineligible to be nominated.

Companies that have won within the last five award years (2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021) cannot be recognized in the same category. Selection criteria and award consideration is not based on number of submissions.

Criteria

 

  • Company Growth & Achievements
  • Products & Services
  • Customer/Client Satisfaction
  • Financial Performance; Fiscal Stewardship/Fundraising
  • Innovation
  • Employer of Choice/Employee Satisfaction
  • Community Commitment, Impact & Leadership
  • Diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives within your organization or community

Apply

Please complete this form to indicate why this company or organization deserves recognition as a CenterState CEO Business of the Year.

Category
Is your Business/Organization a CenterState CEO Member?
Only current CenterState CEO members, or members of OUT Syracuse, are eligible to apply in this category.
Is your Business a UMEA Member?
Is your business a member of OUT Syracuse?

Thank you. A member of our staff will be in touch with you shortly to confirm your membership. Please enter your name and email below.

Thank you for your interest in CenterState CEO’s Business of the Year Awards. Only current Upstate Minority Economic Alliance (UMEA) members are eligible for the Minority-owned Business category. If you would like to learn more about UMEA membership, please contact membership@upstatemea.com. If you are a CenterState CEO member, you may submit an application in one of the other categories:  Fewer than 50 Employees, More than 50 Employees, Community Involvement and Nonprofit.

Thank you. A UMEA staff member will be in touch with you shortly to confirm your membership. Please enter your name and email below.

Thank you for your interest in CenterState CEO’s Business of the Year Awards. Current CenterState CEO members, as well as members of OUT Syracuse, are eligible to apply in this category. If you would like to learn more about CenterState CEO membership, please contact Jess Abbott, or for OUT Syracuse, visit www.outsyracuse.com/membership. 

Thank you. We encourage you to contact OUT Syracuse to learn more about joining: https://www.outsyracuse.com/membership. 

Address
Company Growth and Achievements
If you added employees, how many?
If you had an expansion of space, what was the additonal amount of square footage? (please insert a number)
If you made capital expenditures due to growth, please specify how much was invested?
If your organization received state or national recognition, please specify.
If you started a business, or opened new additional location(s)/facilities, please specify.
What year was your company or organization incorporated/established?

Additional Questions

Please fill out all applicable sections.

Describe your company’s major products and/or services. Please note how those products and services have grown, improved or evolved in the past year, or if you have entered new domestic or international markets.
How satisfied are your customers? Please describe how your company or organization measures customer satisfaction (include referrals and testimonials where possible), noting any improvements in the last year.
Provide information on growth, sales and profits in the past year. Please also note if you have undergone a significant financial transaction (such as an IPO, merger or acquisition) that has or will positively impact the company. (Response required for More than 50 Employees, Less than 50 Employees categories)
Describe how your company/organization has demonstrated fiscal responsibility as a community steward, successfully fund raised to support community events and programs in the past year, and utilized good business tactics to ensure sound financial performance. Please also note any notable grants received or increase in the organization’s donor base in the past year. (Response required for Nonprofit & Community Involvement categories)
What distinguishes your company from others? What creative things have you done this past year to drive business growth, expand products or services, or create new business opportunities, or opportunities for your clients, customers, or community stakeholders?
Describe how you recruit, retain and develop employees, noting particular positive progress or improvements in the past year.
Has your company launched or engaged in diversity, equity and inclusion efforts within your organization or community (e.g., DEI trainings; changes in hiring, recruitment and retention practices; staff professional development opportunities, charitable giving to DEI focused initiatives; procurement of MWBE firms, etc.)? If so, please describe.
Describe how your company/organization demonstrates community leadership, any major community activities in which the company/organization has been involved in the past year (support of events and programs), and how your employees engaged in those efforts (participation and service hours).
(Response required for Community Involvement category; recommended for Nonprofit and other categories)
Describe your organization’s mission, and the impact your organization has had on its stakeholders or the greater community in the past year (quantify where possible). (Response required for Community Involvement category; recommended for Nonprofit and other categories)
Nominees are strongly encouraged to submit high resolution photos of their business, achievement, product or other image indicative of their accomplishments this year. Other documents supporting your submission may also be included.

You can upload one file at a time, with a maximum file size of 128MB allowed.

Allowed file extensions: gif jpg jpeg png bmp eps tif pict psd txt rtf html odf pdf doc docx ppt pptx xls xlsx xml avi mov mp3 mp4 ogg wav bz2 dmg gz jar rar sit svg tar zip

Submission of photos and documents constitutes consent for CenterState CEO to use those materials for purposes of CenterState CEO member communications, marketing materials and within the Business of the Year virtual event.
Upload requirements