Nine more Tucson area small businesses now have Wells Fargo Copper Cactus Awards as either the best place to work, or for growing their businesses or for serving the community.

Nearly 500 people attended the 12th annual awards ceremony Oct. 8 at the Westin La Paloma Resort and Spa during which the honorees were recognized from among 38 finalists.

Bruce Beach, chief executive officer of Beach, Fleischman & Co. certified public accountants, was also honored as the Tucson Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce Small Business Leader of the Year.

Print this story Email this story Post a Comment (Use arrows above to view more photos) ADVERTISEMENT

In conjunction with the Copper Cactus Awards program, Wells Fargo awarded $1,000 scholarships to Anna-Paula Lopez, Sara Robinson and Karole Valencia, who are studying business-related fields at the University of Arizona Eller College Of Management. To date, $81,000 has been awarded to Eller students through the scholarship program.

The Wells Fargo Copper Cactus Awards are Southern Arizona’s oldest and largest awards program for small businesses.

“Small businesses employ more than half the country’s private work force, create three of every four new jobs and generate a majority of American innovations,” said Larry Finuf, regional president for Wells Fargo Community Banking in Southern Arizona. “Wells Fargo developed the Copper Cactus Awards to honor this vital sector of our economy, and public interest in the awards has increased greatly. Since the program’s inception in 1998, participation has grown from about 72 nominations to nearly 350 – which demonstrates how much support there is for our small business owners and their employees.” 

To qualify for a Copper Cactus Award, a business must have 250 or fewer employees and be locally owned and operated, profitable and in operation more than two years.

Winners of 2009 Wells Fargo Copper Cactus Awards are:

Best place to work

Businesses that encourage growth, education and development for their employees through the workplace environment or employee benefits.

• One to 30 employees: Darling  

Environmental & Surveying, Ltd., 9040 S. Rita Road, Suite 2350

• 31 to 75 employees: Heinfeld, Meech & Co., 10120 N. Oracle Road, Oro Valley

• 76 to 250 employees: Madden Media, 345 E. Toole Ave.

Business growth

Businesses that are unique and successful in the way they are handling growth or change in today’s marketplace.

• One to 30 employees: Eye Care and Cure, 4646 S. Overland Drive

• 31 to 75 employees: Frost, A Gelato Shoppe, 7131 N. Oracle Road

• 76 to 250 employees: Hotel Congress, 311 E. Congress St.

Community service

Businesses investing in the community through volunteerism, in-kind or cash contributions or support of nonprofit organizations.

• One to 30 employees: Madaras Gallery Inc., 1535 E. Broadway

• 31 to 75 employees: Tucson Appliance/Tucson Wholesale Supply, 4229 E. Speedway

• 76 to 250 employees: Bass & Associates, 3936 E. Fort Lowell Road, Suite 200

This year’s judges were  Sharon B. Foltz, community relations director for Tucson Electric Power; Joe Higgins, owner of Talking Trash; Sherry Hoskinson, director of the McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Arizona; Dave Iaconis, founding shareholder of Beach, Fleishman & Co.; Mark Irvin, managing member of Mark Irvin Commercial Real Estate Services; and Lisa Lovallo, vice president and systems manager for Cox Communications Southern Arizona.

The emcees for the awards ceremony were Bobby Rich, morning radio personality on Mix-FM KMXZ 94.9-FM, and Chuck George, chief meteorologist at KOLD 13.

See more photos on our Flickr page at http://www.flickr.com/photos/insidetucsonbusiness