The 2017 Sacramento Region Innovation Awards luncheon was held at the Hilton Sacramento Arden West on November 7, 2017, to recognize winners and 10 other finalists in six different categories in this program that honors the people and organizations that advance new products, services and processes from the regional economy. There was extensive media coverage of the event and the run up to it, and following is a summary.
- Photos of the event can be found here.
- The awards ceremony was preceded by an Innovation Showcase and networking session, which can be seen in this Facebook Live video.
- The event drew nearly 250 attendees and was kicked off by master of ceremonies Scott Moak, public address announcer for the Sacramento Kings.
- Prior to revealing the 2017 winners, UC Davis was given an Innovation of the Year award, in recognition of the university’s role as champion of innovation and entrepreneurship in the Capital Region. Chancellor Gary S. May accepted the trophy on behalf of UC Davis and offered keynote remarks [video].
- Program co-chairs Melissa Jones and Chris Russell of Stoel Rives spotlighted award category finalists through a series of video montages, with each winner joining them onstage for congratulatory remarks:
- The entire awards ceremony is available on video courtesy of Jeff Bennett with StartupSac.
For more, see our wrap-up of the awards luncheon here, our press release announcing the 2017 winners here, and our news item featuring interviews with 2016 winners here.
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Learn about our sister programs at www.stoel.com/innovation. Stoel Rives has celebrated innovative companies and their accomplishments since hosting the first Innovation Awards in Salt Lake City in 2002. Each consecutive year, the law firm has celebrated new and exciting developments from businesses. In its commitment to foster innovation across the country, Stoel Rives has since expanded its Innovation Awards program to Boise, Idaho (2006) and Sacramento, California (2016). In 2017, the firm partnered with the Puget Sound Business Journal as a presenting sponsor of the publication’s inaugural awards program in Seattle, Washington.