Twitter among Boulder Chamber’s Esprit award winners

BOULDER – Twitter, Boulder County Farmers Markets and the owners of the Eight Days a Week business-services company are winners of the 2014 Esprit Entrepreneur awards, the Boulder Chamber announced today.

The chamber each year recognizes exceptional local businesses, celebrating the success of their entrepreneurial endeavors and their contributions to the community’s economic vitality. The awards will be presented Oct. 23 during an event at the St. Julien Hotel and Spa in Boulder.

“The Boulder Chamber takes pride in presenting the Esprit Entrepreneur awards to three outstanding Boulder businesses and honoring their respective founders and leaders,” said John Tayer, president and chief executive of the chamber, in a media statement. “All three award winners represent the diversity of innovation and the spirit of entrepreneurship that is the foundation of Boulder’s economy.”

Twitter, which acquired Boulder-based Gnip, won an Esprit award for entrepreneurial leadership. The media statement lauded the company for being “a positive disruptive force in helping companies understand that the thoughts, conversations, and debates expressed in public social conversation have unlimited value and near limitless application.”

The Boulder County Farmers Markets, held in Boulder and Longmont, won an Esprit Impact award “for creating an entrepreneurial solution to social and environmental problems,” the Chamber statement said. “The Farmers’ Markets have been a foundation for Boulder’s pioneering model of a livable, collaborative space in which creative people meet, share ideas, and fashion innovative solutions. Moreover, they have sustained the farm-to-table food model that is expanding nationwide to promote better nutrition and environmental responsibility.”

Sam and Cheryl Sussman, owners of Eight Days a Week, shared an Entrepreneur of the Year award “for their innovation, determination and success that exemplify the Boulder community,” the Chamber statement said. “Eight Days has thrived for decades in an ever-changing industry by adopting innovative technologies and services, from employing the first color copier in Boulder to offering 3D scanning and printing, along with environmentally-friendly practices.”

The event on Oct. 23 will include panels, presentations and a keynote speech from Amy Cosper, vice president and editor-in-chief at Entrepreneur magazine.

BizWest Media LLC is a co-sponsor of this year’s Esprit awards, along with Elevations Credit Union, EKS&H Business Advisors, ForTrust Data Center Services, the University of Colorado Boulder, Colorado PERA, Terrapin Care Station, A Spice of Life Catering and Events, the city of Boulder, Triple Threat Digital, Vermilion Design + Interactive, BHGR Law, Google, Kaiser Permanente, CBIZ MeyersDining Insurance, Goozmo, the Daily Camera, Colorado Business Bank, Guaranty Bank and Trust Co. and the Boulder Chamber Safety Group, Contributing members are PrintExperts, Hazel’s Beverage World, Bivio Software, Ryan Trupp Photography, 11:11 Productions, the St. Julien Hotel & Spa, eTown Hall, Originality Design, and Haertling Awards.

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