Awards highlight business leaders
AED’s inaugural 505 program celebrating exceptional contributions in the metro area
A new economic development event celebrated longtime Albuquerque business leaders and some up-and-coming new talent this week as part of Albuquerque Economic Development’s inaugural 505 Awards.
Leean Kravitz, chair of the Albuquerque Forward Fund and one of the hosts of the luncheon event Tuesday, said the awards are designed to celebrate people, projects and organizations that have made exceptional contributions to growth and prosperity in metro Albuquerque.
Each recipient was celebrated with a video and invited on stage to receive awards designed by a local maker’s space during the event.
The Community Leadership Award, which recognizes a public or private organization that has helped strengthen or advance Albuquerque’s economy, was awarded to WESST, which offers consulting, training, lending and incubation services to clients looking to start or grow a business.
Advocate of the Year award, designed to celebrate an individual who invested in a project that created jobs in Albuquerque, went to Ed Garcia, executive chairman of Garcia Automotive Group, for a couple of adaptive reuse projects he spearheaded.
The link between computer coding and workforce development was a particular focus, as two such organizations took home awards.
Deep Dive Coding, a program offered by CNM Ingenuity that offers coding bootcamps designed to teach data modeling, machine learning and more topics, received the Excellence in Workforce Development Award. The Rising Star Award went to Charles Ashley III, president of Cultivating Coders, a New Mexico-based company that teaches K-12 students in tribal, rural and underserved urban areas how to develop websites and mobile applications.
The award ceremony also paid homage to several longtime business leaders. Deirdre Firth, Albuquerque’s deputy director of economic development, received the Public Service Leadership Award, which goes to a public employee who has supported economic development in Albuquerque for at least three years.
The Lifetime Leadership Award, the final award presented during the ceremony, went to Bob Murphy, executive director of Economic Forum. During the event, Gary Tonjes, president of AED and one of the hosts of the event, said Murphy embodied a spirit of togetherness that he sees throughout the Albuquerque business community.
“We are accomplishing so much as a community because of what we’re doing collectively,” Tonjes said.