TULSA, OK – Mayor Kathy Taylor and members of the Tulsa business community announced the winners for the 2nd Annual Mayor’s Tulseys Awards, held at Cain’s Ballroom Thursday.
The 2009 Tulsey Awards recognize the pioneers and innovators of the Tulsa community. The Tulseys are publicly driven awards consisting of eleven categories: Civic, Emerging, Entertainment, Franchise, Green, Interactive, Legend, Restaurateur, Serial, Young and the Tulseys Entrepreneur of the Year. All votes were made online at the Tulseys website, www.thetulseys.com, with more than 14,000 votes submitted.
In a ceremony that slightly mimicked the Oscars and MTV Music Awards, the 11 category winners were awarded with a golden bronze Driller statuette to recognize their entrepreneurial spirit. One nominee had the possibility of receiving two Tulseys by receiving the most votes in the competition for the Tulsey Entrepreneur of the Year. This year’s 2009 Tulsey Entrepreneur of the Year went to Blake Ewing, owner of Joe Momma’s Pizza by receiving 1,200 votes.
The category winners were:
Civic – George Kaiser, George Kaiser Family Foundation
Emerging – Melanie Henry, 918moms.com
Entertainment – Ben Sumner, Up Late with Ben Sumner
Franchise – Chester Cadieux, QuikTrip
Green – Libby Auld, Elote Café and Catering
Interactive – Natasha Ball, TashaDoesTulsa.com
Legend – Charles Kingsley, Coney I-Lander
Restaurateur – Blake Ewing, Joe Momma’s Pizza
Serial – Gavin Manes, Avansic
Young – Jonathan Conneely, Bootcamp Tulsa
**Tulsey Entrepreneur of the Year** – Blake Ewing, Joe Momma’s Pizza
The Mayor’s Tulseys culminated the end of Tulsa Global Entrepreneurship Week. Sponsors of the 2009 Tulseys were: Tulsa Tech, Tulsa Community College, University of Tulsa, the Tulsa Metro Chamber and the Lobeck Taylor Foundation.
