PHOENIX - s4story -- The Arizona Technology Council, in conjunction with the Arizona Commerce Authority, today announced the winners of the 2020 Governor's Celebration of Innovation (GCOI) Awards. This marks the 18^th year of this prestigious event honoring and attended by the top leaders in Arizona's business, technology, education and government sectors. The winners were honored at the Council's annual event on Wednesday, October 13, at the Phoenix Convention Center.

"This year's GCOI Awards demonstrate the resilience and ingenuity of Arizona's technology community," said Steven G. Zylstra, president and CEO of the Council. "Despite the challenges we faced, leaders have stepped up to continue delivering critical technology across sectors. It was an honor to recognize the organizations and individuals who contributed incredible innovation throughout the year, as well as celebrate our state's legislators, educators and future leaders during tonight's event."

"Each year we are more impressed with the innovators making a difference in Arizona, and this year is no exception," said Sandra Watson, president and CEO of the Arizona Commerce Authority. "The 2021 awardees showcase Arizona's leadership in fields as diverse as technology, manufacturing, health care, sustainability, mobility, policy and more. We are proud to partner with the Arizona Technology Council to celebrate all those advancing Arizona's innovation economy and their accomplishments."

The winners in their respective categories are:

Innovator of the Year Award Winners

• Innovator of the Year – Start-Up Company: EnPower, Inc., Phoenix
• Innovator of the Year – Small Company: GT Medical Technologies Inc., Tempe
• Innovator of the Year – Large Company: Aligned, Phoenix
• Innovator of the Year – Academia: The University of Arizona, Jim Schwiegerling, Ph.D., Tucson

Individual/Company Award Winners

• AccountabilIT Lifetime Achievement Award: Phil Gallagher, Chief Executive Officer, Avnet, Phoenix
• MSS Business Transformational Leadership Award: AGM Container Controls – Howard Stewart, Tucson
• Ed Denison Business Leader of the Year: Intel Corporation (https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/corpora...), Chandler
• Judges Award: Qwick (https://www.qwick.com/), Scottsdale

Legislative Award Winners

• Senator of the Year: Sen. David Gowan, District 14
• Representative of the Year: Rep. Daniel Hernandez, District 2

Tech 10 Award Winners

• Sen. Sean Bowie, District 18
• Sen. Paul Boyer, District 20
• Senate President Karen Fann, District 1
• Senate Minority Leader Rebecca Rios, District 27
• House Minority Leader Reginald Bolding, District 27
• Rep. Regina Cobb, District 5
• Rep. Aaron Lieberman, District 28
• House Majority Leader Ben Toma, District 22
• Rep. Michelle Udall, District 25
• Rep. Justin Wilmeth, District 15

Future Innovators of the Year Award Winners:

• Marina Galasso, Galasso Homeschool, Tucson
• Arjun Gupta, Paradise Valley High School, Phoenix
• Karah Mayer, Tanque Verde High School, Tucson
• Lilli Seebold, Nathan Lam, Perry High School, Gilbert
• Bailey Tischer, San Tan Charter School, Gilbert
• Katherine Wei, BASIS Chandler, Chandler

Teacher of the Year Award Winner:

• Jeremy Jonas, Tucson High Magnet School, Tucson

Teacher Honorable Mentions:

• Michelle Landreville, Paradise Valley High School, CREST program, Phoenix
• David Worth, Millennium High School, Goodyear

The individual and company award winners were evaluated and chosen by the following selection committee of experts independent of the Arizona Technology Council:

• Mark Dallmeier, chief sales/revenue officer, MSS Business Transformation Advisory
• James Goulka, chairman and managing director, Arizona Tech Investors
• Doug Hockstad, assistant vice president, Tech Launch Arizona, The University of Arizona
• Eric Miller, principal and co-founder, PADT, Inc.
• Mary O'Reilly, Ph.D., vice president, Bioscience Research Programs, Flinn Foundation
• Chuck Vermillion, CEO, AccountabilIT

About the Arizona Technology Council

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The Arizona Technology Council is Arizona's premier trade association for science and technology companies. Recognized as having a diverse professional business community, Council members work towards furthering the advancement of technology in Arizona through leadership, education, legislation and social action. The Council offers numerous events, educational forums and business conferences that bring together leaders, managers, employees and visionaries to make an impact on the technology industry. These interactions contribute to the Council's culture of growing member businesses and transforming technology in Arizona. To become a member or to learn more about the Arizona Technology Council, please visit http://www.aztechcouncil.org.

About the Arizona Commerce Authority

The Arizona Commerce Authority (ACA) is the state's leading economic development organization with a streamlined mission to grow and strengthen Arizona's economy. The ACA uses a three-pronged approach to advance the overall economy: attract, expand, create - attract out-of-state companies to establish operations in Arizona; work with existing companies to expand their business in Arizona and beyond; and help entrepreneurs create new Arizona businesses in targeted industries. For more information, please visit azcommerce.com (https://www.azcommerce.com/) and follow the ACA on Twitter at @azcommerce (https://twitter.com/azcommerce).