SF CofC honors 7 companies for excellent practices

SANTA FE — Seven local companies received awards during the Santa Fe Chamber of Commerce’s Red Carpet Business Awards Gala on Thursday night. “The local business climate is not easy and we are excited that so many entrepreneurs are succeeding and doing so with excellent business practices,” Simon Brackley, the chamber’s president and CEO, said Friday. A news release said that more than 400 people turned out for the event held at the Santa Fe Community Convention Center. Among the winners was Descartes Labs, which archives satellite imagery for use in scientific analysis in areas such as crop yields. It received the award for business excellence for firms with 21 or more employees. Berardinelli Funeral Home won in the same category for businesses with between five and 21 employees, while Borrego’s Guitars took the excellence award for firms with fewer than five employees. The Small Business of the Year award went to Squash Blossom Local Foods. La Fonda on the Plaza won the Green Business of the Year, and OpenEye Scientific, which according to its website develops large-scale molecular modeling applications and toolkits that are primarily aimed toward drug discovery and design, was named the Family Friendly Business of the Year. Alterations and More earned the award as the Woman-owned Business of the Year. Judging was conducted by the representatives from the chamber’s partner organizations and last year’s winners. Sponsors of the gala included Century Bank, Santa Fe Community College and the city of Santa Fe.