Jackson Laboratory Employee Video a Finalist in National Competition

Date: June 1, 2005

"Stevie" Awards to be presented June 6 in New York

Bar Harbor, Maine - A video created by and for Jackson Laboratory employees, celebrating the institution's 75th anniversary, is a finalist in a national competition for organizational films.

Hailed as "the business world's own Oscars" by the New York Post (September 22, 2002), The American Business Awards are the first national, all-encompassing business awards program honoring great performances in the workplace.

Nicknamed the Stevies for the Greek word "crowned," winners will be announced during presentations on Monday, June 6 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City. The ceremonies will be videocast on the Internet and broadcast on radio. Donald J. Trump will receive the first Lifetime Achievement Stevie Award that evening.

More than 1,200 nominations from companies of all sizes and in virtually every industry were submitted for consideration in more than 40 categories, including Best Overall Company, Best Executive, Best New Product or Service and Best Support Staffer. The Laboratory's entry will be competing in the Employee Relations/Recognition category for nonprofit institutions.

Joanne Harris, director of internal relations at the Laboratory, directed the video and co-produced and co-wrote it with Laboratory science writer Nessa Reifsnyder. Dozens of Jackson employees appear in the hour-long video, which premiered at the Laboratory's 75th annual Employee Recognition Day in May 2004.

Members of the Awards' Board of Distinguished Judges & Advisors and their staffs will select Stevie winners from among the Finalists. Finalists were chosen by business professionals nationwide during preliminary judging in February through April.

Jackson Laboratory Director Rick Woychik, Ph.D., said that the video was a fitting tribute to the generations of people who had created The Jackson Laboratory back in 1929 and built it over the years to one of the world's leading biomedical research institutions. "'Celebrating 75 Years of Discoveries' really captures the Laboratory's unique history and culture, and I want to congratulate Joanne and Nessa for their outstanding work on this project."

The elegant Stevie trophy was designed by R. S. Owens, the same company that makes the Oscar and the Emmy.

"The Stevie Award has quickly become the most coveted business honor in America," said Michael Gallagher, founder and president of The Stevie Awards. "We began the Stevies in 2002," said Michael Gallagher, founder and president of The Stevie Awards,  "with the mission to generate recognition of deserving companies and individuals among the business community, the press, and the general public.  Being selected as a Finalist is an important achievement, because it means that independent judges have agreed that the Finalist is worthy of national recognition. We congratulate all of the Finalists on their achievement and wish them well in the competition."

Details about The American Business Awards and the list of Finalists are available at www.stevieawards.com/aba. 

The Jackson Laboratory, founded in 1929, is the world's largest mammalian genetics research institution. Its research staff of more than 450 investigates the genetic basis of cancers, heart disease, osteoporosis, Alzheimer's disease, glaucoma, diabetes, and many other human diseases and disorders. The Laboratory is also the world's source for nearly 3,000 strains of genetically defined mice, home of the Mouse Genome Database and many other publicly available information resources, and an international hub for scientific courses, conferences, training and education.

Hailed as "the business world's own Oscars" by the New York Post (September 22, 2002), Stevie Awards are conferred in three programs: The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, and The Stevie Awards for Women Entrepreneurs.  Honoring companies of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide.  Learn more about The Stevie Awards at www.stevieawards.com.

Premier sponsors of The Third Annual American Business Awards include Rogen International, ValueVision Associates, Veritude, Ultimate Software and The Professional Society for Sales & Marketing Training.
 
Media sponsors include the Business TalkRadio Network, Hoover's Online, Selling Power Magazine and Wired Magazine.  Speedera Networks will again videocast the awards ceremonies live on the Internet.

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Contact(s): Joyce Peterson, 207-288-6051, joyce@jax.org

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Media Relations, Communications Office
The Jackson Laboratory
600 Main Street
Bar Harbor, Maine 04609-1500
Phone: 207-288-6051
Fax: 207-288-6076
Email: news@jax.org