Greater St. Cloud Development Corporation Recognizes Local Trailblazers with 12th Annual I-Awards

(KNSI) – The Greater St. Cloud Development Corporation honored five local organizations working to make the community a better place.

The GSDC handed out its 12th Annual I-Awards last week. The ‘I’ stands for innovation. The recipients were chosen for being problem solvers. Two businesses and nonprofits and an employee choice award were handed out in 2023. Winners received a trophy and cash prize.

This year’s for-profit winners are Blattner Company in Avon and NETTwork Manufacturing near Rice. Blattner recently launched a leader onboarding program to help grow its workforce to match the increased demand for renewable energy products. NETTwork’s EMS Socket System has been called a revolutionary solution for below-the-knee prosthetic socks.

The non-proﬁt award recipients are GREAT Theatre and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Minnesota, both based in St. Cloud. GREAT was recognized for its annual youth artist project that exposes high school kids to various roles and careers in theatre. Big Brothers Big Sisters partnered with the St. Cloud School District and Granite Partners to launch the BIG Partners Initiative. The program was created to improve educational and career opportunities for students facing barriers.

This year, GSDC added an additional honor, the new Employer of Choice award. It goes to a business that has risen to workforce challenges while remaining an industry leader in retaining and recruiting staﬀ. The inaugural winner went to Preferred Credit, Inc. in St. Cloud. According to the GSDC, PCI has a high employee retention rate and an array of beneﬁts that set them apart from competitors.

For more details about the I-Award winners, click here.

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