Chamber Awards Nine at Celebrate Business Awards

The Lincoln Chamber of Commerce and its member organizations are excited to recognize the following award winners from the 2020 Celebrate Business Awards held virtually on Thursday, December 3, 2020 via Zoom:

SMALL BUSINESSES OF THE YEAR – Turbine Flats, The Bay
Turbine Flats is an idea community at 22nd and Y Street. With over 40,000 square feet of office, incubator and startup space, the campus is home to 40 different companies. The facility features a 1,500 SF mural about Nikola Tesla, a gym, coffee shop, training classroom, event and industrial space, and 80 individual offices and collaborative spaces. The project was designed to foster the entrepreneurial community and continues to do so.

The Bay is a 20,000-sq.ft. community space that features the state’s only indoor, public skatepark, an all-ages performance venue, digital media lab, public meeting rooms, emergency pantry and Goldenrod Pastries. A program of Rabble Mill, The Bay offers skateboarding, music and digital media programming to all youth during high-risk hours, including after school, late nights and weekends. The pandemic spurred The Bay to innovate, creating The Bay Online, digital after-school programming that teaches youth statewide.

MANUFACTURER OF THE YEAR – inExhaust
inExhaust has over 50 years combined experience in exhaust system manufacturing, power generation, emissions and the oil and gas industries. They provide quality standard and custom exhaust systems components solutions for the diesel, gas and power industry. The are dedicated to manufacturing quality products and providing timely deliveries and solutions to their customers.

GREEN BUSINESS OF THE YEAR – Monolith
Monolith uses renewable electricity to transform natural gas into carbon black and hydrogen to ensure their customers have sustainable and high-performing materials for the products they produce. They are a next-generation chemical and energy company that believes technology will create the path to environmental transformation. Their innovative plasma process uses renewable electricity, creating a combustion-free process with a substantially reduced environmental footprint. They were able to build the first new carbon black facility on U.S. soil in over 50 years.

ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT AWARD – BasicBlock
BasicBlock is serving fleets nationwide and leading the trucking industry in technology, growing from humble roots. Their team is full of Midwestern folks who believe in values such as working hard, staying honest, setting big goals and keeping up with the fast-paced worlds of trucking and technology. BasicBlock started with a simple app that allowed drivers to scan and send shipping documents at low rates. They have since expanded and continue in their mission of paying trucking companies and their employees quicker.

TOURISM DEVELOPMENT AWARD – Lincoln Sports Foundation
The mission of the Lincoln Sports Foundation is to own and operate a complex that will be of service to the community. They partner with quality organizations that focus on developing, mentoring and training student athletes and their families by providing high-quality and caring coaches that enables them to reach their full potential both as athletes and members of the community.

CORNERSTONE AWARD – Union Bank and Trust
Family-owned for over 50 years, Union Bank & Trust provides complete financial services to help individuals, families and their businesses thrive. Their approach to customer service and commitment to the communities they serve fuels growth in Lincoln and Omaha, throughout Nebraska and the Kansas City metro area. This customer-first approach led to UBT’s recent recognition by Forbes Magazine as the #2 bank in the United States.

ROGER T. LARSON COMMUNITY BUILDER AWARD – Sändra Washington
Sändra Washington, originally from Columbus, Ohio, has lived in Lincoln since 1990. She worked with the National Park Service for nearly 25 years, retiring in 2014 as the Association Regional Director for Cultural Resources, Planning, Construction, Communications, Legislation and Congressional Affairs. Sändra served multiple terms on the Homestead Girl Scout Board of Directors, the Lincoln Parks and Recreation Advisory Board and as a Lincoln-Lancaster County Planning Commissioner before her appointment to the Lincoln City Council in 2019. Sändra is also on the board of the Nebraska Trails Foundation and the National Parks Conservation Association. Sändra lives with her spouse, Deb Cirksena, their daughter, Bella, and canine companion Wally.

MASTER OF THE PIVOT AWARD – Duncan Aviation
**The Master of the Pivot Award is new for 2020, recognizing a business who went above and beyond to significantly alter their business operations in support of COVID-19 relief efforts. The Master of the Pivot is awarded to Duncan Aviation, who made a positive, crucial impact on Lincoln’s pandemic response.**

Duncan Aviation is an aircraft service provider supporting business aircraft operators with airframe inspections, engine maintenance, major retrofits for cabin and cockpit systems, full paint and interior refurbishment and preowned aircraft sales and acquisitions. Duncan Aviation also has international aircraft components solutions experts who can handle any aircraft system problem with avionics, instrument, accessory repairs and overhauls and parts support. Complete service facilities are located in Battle Creek, Michigan; Lincoln, Nebraska; and Provo, Utah, with other facilities located throughout the United States.