The Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce has announced finalists for the 2019 Distinguished Service Awards.
“The 2019 Distinguished Service Awards finalists are unsung heroes in the Northern Virginia business community employing thousands of veterans and civilians alike,” said Julie Coons, Northern Virginia Chamber president and CEO. “Veterans are a vibrant part of Northern Virginia’s robust economy and their contributions are integral to growing our region. “
The Distinguished Service Awards honor those who have made meaningful contributions to help veterans succeed. The award categories include: Veteran-Owned Business of the Year in three categories, Veteran Employee of the Year in one category, Veteran Service Organization of the Year in one category, and one Lifetime Distinguished Service Award.
The 2019 Distinguished Service Awards finalists are:
Veteran-Owned Business of the Year:
Emerging (less than 5 years in business)
• IT Depot LLC
• GCubed, Inc.
• RavenTek
Maturing (between 5 and 10 years in business)
• AbleVets LLC
• Firebird Analytical Solutions and Technologies
• Gritter Francona, Inc.
• Heartland Consulting
• HigherEchelon, Inc.
• OBXtek, Inc.
Established (more than 10 years in business)
• B3 Group, Inc.
• Intelligent Waves LLC
• ITility LLC
• Knight Solutions
• Perfecta
• VARCom Solutions
Veteran Employee of the Year:
• Hillary Boyce, IntellecTechs, Inc.
• Brooke Chelette, Novetta
• Christopher Duffley, American Red Cross, National Capital Region
• Shaun Duling, Washington Gas
• Richard Ferry, LMI
• Wes Hall, C2S Consulting Group
• Gene Hammond, iDirect Government
• Lieutenant General (United States Army, Retired) Frank Helmick, SOS International LLC (SOSi)
• Charles Kuyk, Deloitte & Touche, LLP
• Brian McGuiness, JK Moving Service
• Charles Miles, PenFed Credit Union
• Maggie Pollard, Accenture
• John Pross, Criterion Systems, Inc.
• Michael Quinn, EY (Ernst & Young)
• Jovani Santana, Leidos
• Herbert Valle, Axiologic Solutions LLC
Veteran Service Organization of the Year:
• 360 Veterans’ Association
• Association of the United States Army (AUSA), George Washington Chapter (GWC)
• The Coalition to Salute America’s Heroes
• Code of Support Foundation
• Easterseals DC MD VA
• Hope for The Warriors
• Operation Renewed Hope Foundation, Inc.
• Operation Second Chance
• PenFed Foundation
• Veterans Next Mission
• Workhouse Arts Center
Phillip Panzarella, Chief Operating Officer of Easterseals DC MD VA, will be recognized as the Lifetime Distinguished Service Award recipient. Panzarella served as the President for Siemens/ENTEX Government Services, Inc. and Senior Engineering Manager and Sales Executive for IBM. He also served in the U.S. Army for ten years.
“The response from the community has been overwhelmingly positive as we introduced a new Veteran Employee of the Year award,” said Ben Rodgers and Bob Eisiminger, co-chairs of the Northern Virginia Chamber’s Veteran and Military Business Council. “We were highly impressed by all the finalists and their efforts to advance the veteran and military community.”
James Schenck, President & CEO of Pentagon Federal Credit Union, will be the keynote speaker at the annual awards breakfast on Oct. 22. Schenck is a Legion of Merit recipient and served on the Army Staff in the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations and Plans. Later he was selected to serve as a Special Assistant to the Secretary of the Army.
More information about the Distinguished Service Awards can be found here. Follow the conversation on Twitter through @NovaChamber with hashtags: #DSA2019.