Five Valley businesses were honored Tuesday at the W.P. Carey School of Business’s Spirit of Enterprise Awards.
The awards were established 15 years ago to recognize Arizona businesses for ethics, energy and excellence in leadership.
Five of the 10 finalists received awards.
“(The ceremony) was outstanding,” said Gary Naumann, director of the Spirit of Enterprise Center. “We had a great crowd, from entrepreneurs to community leaders to faculty to 25 former winners.”
Previous award winners include Cold Stone Creamery and Grand Canyon Railway.
Angel MedFlight Worldwide Air Ambulance received the Spirit of Enterprise Special Achievement in Entrepreneurship Award.
Jeremy Freer founded Angel MedFlight when he was 25 because he saw the opportunity to improve air medical transportation, said Kimberly Halloran, executive vice president and director of business development at Angel MedFlight.
“He faced countless obstacles in launching a worldwide air ambulance company, but he never lost sight of his goal to help patients and their families,” she said. “He never gave up. I think his story of compassion and determination is inspiring.”
The business, which is based at the Scottsdale Airport, helps transport injured patients to health care facilities.
The application process through the Spirit of Enterprise is Angel MedFlight’s first interaction with ASU, but Halloran said Angel MedFlight is interested in pursuing other ventures with ASU.
“It was very exciting to be with students poised to enter the job market,” Halloran said. “They were so well rounded, articulate and educated. I was pleased to be a part of this program.”
Dunn Transportation and its flagship service, Ollie the Trolley, won the Arizona Lottery Overcoming Adversity Award.
Dunn Transportation Director of Operations and ASU alumna Melissa Schubert said that the award made sense, considering that a then-21-year-old woman, Margaret Dunn, started the company 25 years ago.
Schubert described the process of applying for the award as coming fairly naturally, particularly the interview that separated the finalists from semifinalists.
“We just got to talk about something we love doing,” she said.
Fortis Networks, a Hispanic-run engineering and construction firm based in Phoenix, won the Gary L. Trujillo Minority Enterprise Award.
Founder and CEO of Fortis Newtworks and ASU alumnus Clarence McAllister said the award was very prestigious.
“It was an honor,” McAllister said. “We’re a growing company with many more opportunities, and this was a great honor.”
Another engineering company, Phoenix Analysis & Design Technologies, won the Hahnco Companies Entrepreneurial Leadership Award.
“Since we started 17 years ago, we’ve grown a lot and are working hard to share success with other companies,” said Eric Miller, one of four owners of PADT.
Miller said he was the odd man out among the owners as the only non-ASU alumnus. He added that the company, which is based in the ASU Research Park, hires most of its engineers out of ASU.
WebPT, a medical company specializing in compiling timesaving software for electronic medical records, won the U.S. Bank Emerging Entrepreneur Award.
These five companies received the validation of being recognized by a top business school, Naumann said.
“They show the true spirit of entrepreneurship,” he said. “Here are companies that have even in difficult times managed not just to survive but to succeed.”
Reach the reporter at julia.shumway@asu.edu or follow @JMShumway on Twitter.
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