KNOWLEDGE CENTER

Awards

EDDEs Application / Award Info

Every year, AAED honors significant contributions to the advancement of the organization and economic development within the State of Arizona. The Economic Development Distinguished by Excellence (EDDE) Awards were established by the members of AAED to recognize the outstanding work of their peers. The membership of AAED is responsible for nominating their peers for these awards. The value and prestige of the EDDE’s are defined by the membership through their accomplishments and commitment to the organization. Your nomination is a recognition of their efforts.

Award nomination forms make it easy to nominate someone and give the judging panel the information needed to judge the nominees. Nomination forms for the EDDE’s are available online. The AAED Office must receive all nomination forms  and supplemental documents by Friday, March 8, 2024. Please submit your nominations on the form below or email them to info@aaed.com.

NOMINATION ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

  • Nominations may be made only by members of AAED.
  • Self-nominations by an individual or an employee of an organization are acceptable. Self-nominations must be endorsed by an AAED member.
  • Companies and individuals are not eligible to win the same award two years in a row.
  • Written and electronic nominations submitted on or before the nomination deadline will be eligible for consideration for EDDE’s, Lampkin Award, and Best of Arizona Award.
  • Late nominations due to reasonable uncontrollable circumstances (technological failure, mail delay, accidents, etc) may be considered for eligibility by the EDDE Task Force.
  • “Endorsement” nominations made by groups of people from different organizations may not be considered by the EDDE Task Force to be eligible nominations.

JUDGING PANEL

Judging Panel Selection Pools is developed by the EDDE Task Force and approved by the Board of Directors. The EDDE Judging Panel shall have a minimum of 7 members and should reflect the geographic membership of AAED. The EDDE Judging Panel shall be comprised of at least one person from each of the following categories:

  • EDDE Awards Committee Chair
  • EDDE Awards Board Liaison
  • EDDE Awards Committee member
  • AAED Past President
  • Current AAED Committee Chair
  • Current AAED Board Member
  • Past EDDE Award Winner

The AAED President Elect should not serve on the EDDE Judging Panel.

EDDE awards judges should recuse themselves from voting on a specific award in the following circumstances:

  • The judge works for the same organization as the nominee.
  • The judge is an employee, stakeholder or owner of a nominated organization.
  • The judge is a nominee.

AWARD TIPS AND TRICKS

2024 EDDE AWARD ENTRY DEADLINE:

ALL ENTRIES – MARCH 8, 2024 BY 5PM

The 2024 EDDE Application closed at 5:00 p.m. on March 8, 2024.

Golden Prospector Application / Award Info

The Golden Prospector awards were established by the Arizona Association for Economic Development (AAED) to encourage and recognize excellence in economic development.

Submissions are closed at this time. Please check back.

NOMINATION ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

The 2023 Golden Prospector Awards is open to all AAED members in good standing. To be eligible, at least some part of the project must have occurred in 2022 and have been completed by April 30, 2023. For a project to be considered completed in the “Deal of the Year” category, it must be considered closed by the Municipality and the regional or representative economic development organization or the Arizona Commerce Authority by April 30, 2023.

JUDGING PROCESS

All entries are judged based on the criteria included in the entry guidelines and each entry will be judged by three judges. Entries receiving 90% or more of the total points available are eligible for a Golden Prospector; entries receiving 89% – 80% of total point available are eligible for an Award of Merit. The judges may award multiple winners or no winners, based on the total points and entries received. Judges reserve the right to move entries to alternative categories that they believe to be more appropriate. The decision of the judges is final. The judges, judging process, and deliberations are confidential. AAED reserves the right to exclude any entry for any reason.

SUBMITTAL PROCESS

All entries and support materials must be uploaded to Dropbox or submitted below. Marketing brochure entries must provide three (3) hard copies and be mailed/delivered to the AAED office.

ENTRY FEES

Early – $100 by Friday, July 28, 2023

After July 29, 2023 – $150 until Friday, August 11, 2023

Entries must be received, not postmarked, by 4 p.m. on Friday, August 11, 2023.

Entries will not be accepted after August 11.

Finalists in each category will be notified shortly after the judging of the Golden Prospector entries, no later than September 18, 2023. From these finalists, Golden Prospector and Award of Merit recipients will be announced at the Golden Prospector Awards Presentation at the Fall Forum.

SAVE THE DATE

Please plan on attending the 2024 Golden Prospector Awards presentation during the Fall Forum on October 23-25, 2024!

QUESTIONS

Marc Valenzuela, Awards Committee Chair
marc.valenzuela@srpnet.com
602-236-2192

Katie Hurst, Executive Director
katie@aaed.com
602-240-2233 ext.1

AWARD ENTRY DEADLINES:

EARLY – JULY 26, 2024 BY 4PM

ALL ENTRIES – AUGUST 9, 2024 BY 4PM

2024 GOLDEN PROSPECTOR AWARDS

FINAL AWARD ENTRY DEADLINE: FRIDAY, AUGUST 9, 2024