BOSTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Interise, the go-to partner with a proven model for accelerating small business growth, was presented with a Gold Stevie® Award in the category of Nonprofit Organization of the Year at The 13th Annual American Business Awards. This award category recognizes the achievements and positive contributions of nonprofit and government organizations around the nation. Interise was selected for its proven model for accelerating economic and small business growth in lower income communities. Its StreetWise ‘MBA’ ™ curriculum leads small businesses to scale and contribute to economic development, job creation and the social resilience of their community.
Interise was honored for its banner 2014 year, during which it expanded to 26 states and 32 cities across North America. Interise now works with twelve partners throughout the country to deliver its curriculum and reached 511 small business owners in 60 communities; cumulatively, the organization has reached over 3,000 small business owners.
Internal growth also contributed to the organization’s momentum, with the addition of six department managers, four new board members, and the formation of a research department purposed with the examination and sharing of insights collected from over ten years of program delivery, operations, and systematic program evaluation data.
“This is our first year participating in the American Business Awards, and we are profoundly honored to be recognized as the Gold Stevie Award winner for our contributions to supporting economic development and small business growth in underserved communities across the country,” said Jean Horstman, CEO of Interise. “This prestigious acknowledgment validates our dedication and continued commitment to create thriving small businesses and resilient communities as we look to further expand throughout 2015 and beyond.”
More than 3,300 nominations from organizations of all sizes and in virtually every industry were submitted this year for consideration in a wide range of categories, including Startup of the Year, Executive of the Year, Best New Product or Service of the Year, Marketing Campaign of the Year, Live Event of the Year, and Human Resources Department of the Year, among others. More than 200 executives worldwide participated in the judging process to select this year’s Stevie Award winners.
“We are extremely impressed with the quality of the entries we received this year. The competition was intense and every organization that won should be proud,” said Michael Gallagher, president and founder of the Stevie Awards. “To those outstanding individuals and organizations that received Gold, Silver, and Bronze Stevie Awards, the judges and I are honored to celebrate your many accomplishments. You are setting a high standard for professionals nationwide.”
Recently forged Interise partnerships, programs and expansion to new communities will be unveiled in the coming weeks, and its 2015 annual Impact Report will be available in September.
About Interise
Interise is the go-to partner with a proven model for accelerating economic and small business growth in lower income communities. Its StreetWise ‘MBA’TM provides small business owners with the management knowledge, business know how and relationships they need to scale using peer-based learning models. Alumni historically create new jobs at 5x the rate of the private sector as a whole and have secured almost $3 billion in government and institutional contracts. As alumni grow, they contribute to economic development, job creation and social resilience within their local community. Headquartered in Boston, Interise currently offers its program in 60 communities directly and through 12 partners, including New York University Stern School of Business, The Cities of Houston, TX and Portland, OR, and the National Urban League. This unique licensing model allows partners to deliver the StreetWise ‘MBA’ TM program through their own locally branded programs, providing them with training, quality assurance and evaluation. To learn more visit www.interise.org or follow @StreetWise_MBA.