Argo Tea, Inc. is a growing tea company that brings natural and tasty signature drinks to all those looking for healthy alternative beverages and lifestyle experiences. Since opening their first cafe in Chicago in 2003, Argo Tea has quickly become a local household name. They also strive to reach customers where they shop, dine, work, and travel through wholesale partnerships with prominent distribution, foodservice, retail, and hospitality companies that share Argo Tea's values and commitment to quality products and healthy living.
Argo Tea was a finalist for the CEC’s 2008 Merrick Momentum Award.
BrightStar Healthcare, LLC is a full-service healthcare staffing agency that provides medical and non-medical homecare to private clients within their homes, as well as supplemental healthcare staff to corporate clients. BrightStar’s well-qualified, attentive caregivers provide peace of mind to clients and their families. The company works to understand the needs of their clients and provides a customized care plan to match them with a qualified, pre-screened caregiver who is compatible with their needs. BrightStar is one of the few home healthcare providers that offer both medical and non-medical homecare, available to all clients 24/7.
BrightStar was a finalist for the CEC’s 2008 Merrick Momentum Award.
CallPod, Inc. is an emerging technology company that has created and patented unique audio conferencing and content sharing technologies for wireless consumer electronic devices and cellular telephones. CallPod became a finalist for its lineup of new products, which includes: Dragon, a Bluetooth headset that allows users to be 250 feet from their cell phones; Chargepod, which charges six devices at the same time; Phoenix, the first mobile conferencing device; and Drone, a Bluetooth USB antenna for computers.
CallPod was the winner of the 2008 Innovate Illinois Competition in the Later Stage Category.
Cleversafe is building an enterprise-grade implementation of a technology for data storage called Information Dispersal which stores data by creating a lot of little “Data Slices”(which are like packets, but are for data storage) and storing these Slices across a grid of servers which can be geographically distributed. Individual Slices are unusable which makes them private and secure, but any “threshold” portion of the Slices can be used to perfectly recreate all the original data in real time-which makes data storage inherently viable and long-term as the data is disassociated from hardware. Cleversafe’s goal is to provide a better mother than copying or replicating for data storage and content distribution.
Eved Services is an event services, destination management and technology company. Along with corporate offices, based out of Chicago, Eved Services is also an in-house vendor for over 35 Chicago area hotels. In-house service team utilize Eved’s proprietary software to work with hotel clients on planning and executing their events, from ground transportation management to helping them with their event options, such as linens, entertainment and floral arrangements. Eved Services works from inside the venue orchestrate and delegate event logistics.
Eved was the winner of the CEC’s 2009 Merrick Momentum Award.
Neat-Oh! International, LLC(NOI) primarily engages in the manufacture and marketing of the patented and pending Neat-Oh! ® and ZipBin ® brand of toys, which function at the intersection between an elegantly and creatively executed play surface for toys and the container that stores them. They convert back and forth from toy to storage via zippers; hence their name.
Neat-Oh! International, LLC was a finalist for the CEC’s 2009 Merrick Momentum Award.
NogginLabs utilizes the latest technological advancements and instructional design learning models to deliver highly effective and innovative e-learning courseware, customized to accommodate learners’ individual leaves of education and understanding. NogginLabs also provides products and services such as strategic consulting to develop an overall company training approach, ILT session materials (including facilitator and participant manuals_, and blended learning solutions. The company’s instructional design temp incorporates NogginLabs’ e-learning training ideals to create immersive training solutions.
NogginLabs was a finalist for the 2009 ATHENAPowerLink Business of the Year Award.
SAVO is the industry’s only provider of collaborative Sales Enablement solutions. SAVO’s on-demand Sales Enablement platform maximizes the sales organization’s ability to communicate value and differentiation in clear, consistent and compelling ways. Combining proven sales and marketing best practices with award-winning technology, SAVO addresses all aspects of the Sales Enablement challenge—spanning people, process, insight, and technology.
SAVO was the winner of the CEC’s 2008 Merrick Momentum Award.
Zorch is the first aerodynamic approach to the promotional products industry. Their innovative supply chain model eliminates the redundancy caused by using a distributor to shop for branded merchandise. They bridge the gap between the client and the manufacturer, providing access to their infrastructures and best practices, including skilled customer service and merchandising and sourcing. As a result, their clients enjoy guaranteed savings and accelerated delivery, as well as unparalleled brand protection and order accuracy.
Zorch was a finalist for the CEC’s 2009 Merrick Momentum Award.
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