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AGENDA Moderator: Jamie Coughlin, CEO, abi Innovation HUB
7:30AM	Registration Opens & Breakfast is served
8:00AM	Opening Remarks by Mayor Ted Gatsas
8:15AM	Keynote Speakers: Congressman Frank Guinta &  Senator Jeanne Shaheen (Invited)
8:40AM	Awards Ceremony

AND THE NOMINEES ARE:

Growth Award The Small Business Growth Award is intended to recognize small businesses that have shown strong growth in sales, market share, employment, exports or other similar factors.

Double Midnight Comics Double Midnight Comics into one of the fastest growing comic book stores in New England since it opened in 2002. In 2010, the store expanded, doubling the overall size of their store from 2,000 to 4,000 square feet. The expansion allowed Double Midnight Comics to increase its tournament game space and diversify their product lines. This past year the store had its best financial year ever which allowed the owners to add additional employees.

Wasabi Media Group Founded only 3½ years ago, Wasabi Media Group has experienced significant growth in their readership, increasing their audience to more than one million readers a month. To manage their success, the Wasabi Media Group has expanded their workforce from 5 to 38 employees and increased the amount of content creation by 450%. During the same period, Wasabi Media Group has seen their revenue grow by 2700%. With continuing growth in the areas of audience, employees, content, and revenue, Wasabi Media Group is on pace to reach new heights well into the future.

Ty-Flot Ty-Flot has experienced significant growth since it was founded in 1995. Since 2008, Ty-Flot has more than doubled their yearly sales volume and tripled their workforce, earning a reputation as a leading provider of safety equipment around the world, including becoming the preferred supplier for France’s 59 nuclear power plants. Ty-Flot moved to a new location in 2011 which offers larger warehousing and office space, a training auditorium and manufacturing space. In addition, Ty-Flot has added three employees to help with their expanding manufacturing facility and are currently in the final stages of opening a warehouse distribution center in Europe.

Innovation Award This award recognizes innovations in a diverse range of areas including products, services, business practices, marketing campaigns, design, construction, and energy savings.

Republic Republic Café is innovating the way restaurants operate. Rather than using national food suppliers and sticking toa  tradition menu, Republic uses local farmers as their main source for products and creates an ever-changing menu around what is in season and available from their network of local farmers. Republic is the first restaurant to recieve the Certified Local Designation by the New Hampshire Farm to Restaurant Connection.

My Bridal Dream One of the top three finalists for the New England VentureX start up contest, My Bridal Dream co-founder Tia Lori Bergeron wants to revolutionize the way brides plan weddings. “Our goal is to provide an opportunity for brides to build their dream team by providing the most extensive and complete database of available vendors. In addition, we are providing local wedding vendors an opportunity to market their business in a new unique way.”

Siege Technologies                                                                     Since their formation, Siege Technologies has developed numerous innovative technologies in computer security including a unique hypervisor to protect desktop computers, a novel detection system to detect and block data theft attempts from computers, and developing military cyber weapons and capabilities for various government and intelligence customers. Siege Technologies is looking to innovate the way we think about computer security, from national defense to a small business owner looking to secure their customer’s information.

Community Service Award  The Community Service award is intended to recognize small businesses for their contributions to to the Manchester community.

Benton Shoe Company One of Benton Shoes most notable contributions is to the Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of New Hampshire. Every year the Benton Shoe Co. supports the CASA Annual Fashion Show where apparel and shoes from their store have adorned the shows notable NH women models, including Manchester’s own First Ladies Cassandra Gatsas & Morgan Guinta. Altogether Benton Shoe Co. has helped raise over $50,000 to help CASA of NH. Benton Shoes looks forward to another 21 years helping to make downtown Manchester a better place to live.

Runner's Alley Runner’s Alley gives back to the community by offering free training groups to encourage and promote an active lifestyle. Runner’s Alley also hosts an annual holiday food run as well as a Winter Warrior Series that has collected over 247 pounds of food for the New Hampshire Food Bank. Runner’s Alley is also very active in the Souls for Souls and Rerun Shoes programs which provide “lightly used” shoes to those in need. Runner’s Alley looks forward to another decade of success keeping the Manchester community fit!

Indian Head Athletics Indian Head Athletics has helped support all the Manchester-based Little Leagues as well as the Senior Citizen Softball program, Special Olympics, and the Manchester Boys and Girls Club. Owner Don York is a Queen City Hall of Fame recipient, a Memorial High School Hall of Fame recipient and a recipient of the Red Hayes Award for his outstanding community service to youth sports around New Hampshire.  Owner Gail York has been involved in many civic endeavors and was recognized with the Spirit of Manchester Award for her contributions to the West High School fitness center.

For information or questions please contact Chris Wellington at 603-624-6505 or cwellington@manchesternh.gov