ATLANTA’S SECOND ANNUAL PROFESSIONAL SERVICE AWARDS PROGRAM DOUBLES ATTENDANCE, SPONSORSHIP AND NOMINATIONS DUE TO TREMENDOUS RESPONSE FROM CORPORATE AND PROFESSIONAL SERVICES COMMUNITIES
LEADING EXPERTS ON CITY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT POINT TO PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AS ONE OF ATLANTA’S KEY COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES
Country’s Only Award Program Honoring Impact of Professional Service Firms Recognizes Six Companies Who Set the Standard for Client Advisor Professionalism
ATLANTA (December 4, 2007) – Los Angeles is the center of the country’s entertainment industry. Silicon Valley has the technology start-up/venture capital corridor. Atlanta is increasingly drawing attention for the impact of its professional services firms. Professional services provided the largest source of job growth in the City for two years running and the concentration of professional services workers in Atlanta is nearly fifty percent higher than it is in the rest of the US economy.
It was a natural extension of Atlanta’s professional services strength that the City was host to the first recognition program, the Client Advisor Awards, in 2006. Developed in partnership by Creative Growth Group, Inc. and Atlanta Business School Alliance (ABSA), The Client Advisor Awards hosted its second annual award event on December 4, 2007, to recognize those companies who have demonstrated a first-class approach to the relationship between professional services firms and their clients. Held at Atlanta’s exclusive Piedmont Driving Club, The Client Advisor Awards achieved a doubling of nominations, sponsors and attendees.
“The Atlanta business community has responded with great enthusiasm, as we pioneer a very important program to recognize the relationship between trusted advisor and client,” explains Andrew Dietz, president of Creative Growth Group, Inc., which first conceived of the Awards program. “As professional services firms and their client relationships play an increasingly bigger role in the Atlanta economy, we created this program to help set the standards for professionalism on both sides of the table,” says Dietz.
Comments from Carol Coletta, CEO of CEOs for Cities – an organization dedicated to studying the competitive advantage of cities - and from Peggy McCormick, President of the Atlanta Development Authority, supported the increasing role of professional services in Atlanta. “Professional service firms are one of our City’s vital economic engines,” said McCormick. “Because the professional capability in Atlanta is so strong, Atlanta is well-positioned to be a global city,” Coletta added. “Our global cities can provide the specialized and always shifting infrastructure required to keep up with the needs of international capital. And that infrastructure is, first and foremost, professional services.”
In its second year, the Client Advisor Awards received tremendous response from entrants and sponsors alike. The Client Advisor Awards are divided into six categories: Large, Midsize and Small Professional Services Firms and Large, Midsize and Small Client Organizations. Nominees were evaluated on their excellence in five areas: collaboration, creativity, content and value orientation, capability and credibility. Sponsors included: The Atlanta Journal Constitution, The Atlanta Business School Alliance, Business Wise, Cbeyond, The Chubb Corporation, Creative Growth Group, Grant Thornton, Tatum LLC, Wachovia, UBS, Soloflight Design.
2007 Client Advisor Award Winners
Small Professional Services Firm (presented by Cbeyond)
Winner: Spunlogic
Finalists: Argus Benefits
LEADING EXPERTS ON CITY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT POINT TO PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AS ONE OF ATLANTA’S KEY COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES
Country’s Only Award Program Honoring Impact of Professional Service Firms Recognizes Six Companies Who Set the Standard for Client Advisor Professionalism
ATLANTA (December 4, 2007) – Los Angeles is the center of the country’s entertainment industry. Silicon Valley has the technology start-up/venture capital corridor. Atlanta is increasingly drawing attention for the impact of its professional services firms. Professional services provided the largest source of job growth in the City for two years running and the concentration of professional services workers in Atlanta is nearly fifty percent higher than it is in the rest of the US economy.
It was a natural extension of Atlanta’s professional services strength that the City was host to the first recognition program, the Client Advisor Awards, in 2006. Developed in partnership by Creative Growth Group, Inc. and Atlanta Business School Alliance (ABSA), The Client Advisor Awards hosted its second annual award event on December 4, 2007, to recognize those companies who have demonstrated a first-class approach to the relationship between professional services firms and their clients. Held at Atlanta’s exclusive Piedmont Driving Club, The Client Advisor Awards achieved a doubling of nominations, sponsors and attendees.
“The Atlanta business community has responded with great enthusiasm, as we pioneer a very important program to recognize the relationship between trusted advisor and client,” explains Andrew Dietz, president of Creative Growth Group, Inc., which first conceived of the Awards program. “As professional services firms and their client relationships play an increasingly bigger role in the Atlanta economy, we created this program to help set the standards for professionalism on both sides of the table,” says Dietz.
Comments from Carol Coletta, CEO of CEOs for Cities – an organization dedicated to studying the competitive advantage of cities - and from Peggy McCormick, President of the Atlanta Development Authority, supported the increasing role of professional services in Atlanta. “Professional service firms are one of our City’s vital economic engines,” said McCormick. “Because the professional capability in Atlanta is so strong, Atlanta is well-positioned to be a global city,” Coletta added. “Our global cities can provide the specialized and always shifting infrastructure required to keep up with the needs of international capital. And that infrastructure is, first and foremost, professional services.”
In its second year, the Client Advisor Awards received tremendous response from entrants and sponsors alike. The Client Advisor Awards are divided into six categories: Large, Midsize and Small Professional Services Firms and Large, Midsize and Small Client Organizations. Nominees were evaluated on their excellence in five areas: collaboration, creativity, content and value orientation, capability and credibility. Sponsors included: The Atlanta Journal Constitution, The Atlanta Business School Alliance, Business Wise, Cbeyond, The Chubb Corporation, Creative Growth Group, Grant Thornton, Tatum LLC, Wachovia, UBS, Soloflight Design.
2007 Client Advisor Award Winners
Small Professional Services Firm (presented by Cbeyond)
Winner: Spunlogic
Finalists: Argus Benefits
Bell Oaks Executive Search
Small Client Organization (presented by Cbeyond)
Winner: Bennett Thrasher
Finalist: Hands on Atlanta
Turner Enterprises
Mid-Sized Professional Services Firm (presented by Chubb)
Winner: TM Capital
Finalists: Intellinet
Jackson Spalding
Tarpley & Underwood
Mid-Sized Client Organization (presented by Chubb)
Winner: Alternative Apparel
Finalist: Immucor
Large Professional Services Firm (presented by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Winner: Edelman Public Relations
Finalist: Thomas & Hutton Engineering
Large Client Organization (presented by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Winner: Equifax
Finalist: Cox Communications
Georgia Gulf
About Creative Growth Group
Creative Growth Group, Inc. is the leading consultancy that helps build more profitable client advisor relationships for professional services firms and the companies they serve through strategy, skill-building, support and its Rainmaker Council program. www.creativegrowthgroup.com
About Atlanta Business School Alliance
The Atlanta Business School Alliance is an alliance of Atlanta-area alumni groups from the top-ranked MBA programs including Harvard Business School, Yale School of Management, Ross School of Business at University of Michigan, The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, Duke University Fuqua School of Business, University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, the Johnson School at Cornell University, New York University Stern School of Business, Emory University Goizueta Business School, MIT Sloan School of Management, Stanford Graduate School of Business, and the London Business School. www.absatlanta.com
Small Client Organization (presented by Cbeyond)
Winner: Bennett Thrasher
Finalist: Hands on Atlanta
Turner Enterprises
Mid-Sized Professional Services Firm (presented by Chubb)
Winner: TM Capital
Finalists: Intellinet
Jackson Spalding
Tarpley & Underwood
Mid-Sized Client Organization (presented by Chubb)
Winner: Alternative Apparel
Finalist: Immucor
Large Professional Services Firm (presented by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Winner: Edelman Public Relations
Finalist: Thomas & Hutton Engineering
Large Client Organization (presented by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Winner: Equifax
Finalist: Cox Communications
Georgia Gulf
About Creative Growth Group
Creative Growth Group, Inc. is the leading consultancy that helps build more profitable client advisor relationships for professional services firms and the companies they serve through strategy, skill-building, support and its Rainmaker Council program. www.creativegrowthgroup.com
About Atlanta Business School Alliance
The Atlanta Business School Alliance is an alliance of Atlanta-area alumni groups from the top-ranked MBA programs including Harvard Business School, Yale School of Management, Ross School of Business at University of Michigan, The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, Duke University Fuqua School of Business, University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, the Johnson School at Cornell University, New York University Stern School of Business, Emory University Goizueta Business School, MIT Sloan School of Management, Stanford Graduate School of Business, and the London Business School. www.absatlanta.com
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