Kane County Board Chairman Chris Lauzen and the Kane County Board have released the nominations for the 2016 Kane County Sparkler Awards.

Sparkler Awards recognize outstanding and sometimes-unheralded achievements in three categories: business, partnership and innovation. The awards will showcase the work of each of the nominees, and an award winner will be named in each category.

• Click this link to view last year’s winners.

The Kane County Board invites all leaders in business, government, education, health care and institutional organizations to attend the 2016 Kane County Leaders Summit on May 27, 2016.  The announcement of all the nominees, as well as an announcement of the winner for each category, will be the exciting conclusion of the event.

This year’s theme is “Connecting Our Futures.” From “Gigabit Gilberts” to the fire-hose power of Kane County’s 47 miles of fiber-optic cable, IT innovator Roger Fahnestock and keynote speaker Michael Burke — winner of Government Technology Magazine’s “Dreamers, Doers & Drivers Award” — will lead an eye-opening, brass-tacks discussion of the 21st Century infrastructure available to your organization, right here, right now.

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle will round out the morning talking about regional collaboration and economic development initiatives made possible through the collaboration of seven northern Illinois counties

If you’d like to attend the event, you should RSVP quickly. More than 250 people already have signed up for the May 27 event.

• Click this link to sign up online for the May 27 Kane County Leaders Summit.

2016 Sparkler Award Nominees

Innovation Category

• IN2 / Illinois Math & Science Academy
• Kane County Fiber Optic Network
• Kane Health Counts
• Kane County OpenGov website
• Troy Mertz, The Conversancy, with the Village of Gilberts
• Waubonsee Vision 2050: A Future Beyond Expectations

Partnership Category

• Aurora River’s Edge Park
• Anderson Road Overpass
• Blackberry Township / McNair Field
• D300/Elgin Community College tuition partnership
• Downtown Neighborhood Association of Elgin
• Lao American Organization of Elgin (LAOE)

Business Category

• ALE Solutions
• Chicago Premium Outlets
• Clarke
• Kane County Cougars
• Otto Engineering/Tom Roeser with the Villages of Carpentersville, West Dundee and East Dundee
• Riverbank Laboratories

SOURCE: Kane County news release

Read More

• Leaders Summit 2016: The Tech Success Story of Kansas City, MO
• Leaders Summit 2016: Unveiling Kane’s Fiber-Optic Cable Network