ESU Bizzy Awards Recipients Announced

Posted by: admin on October 1, 2014, No Comments

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From left to right: Antoni Jakubowski, president of one of ESU’s Business Accelerator companies, Integnol, LLC, President of East Stroudsburg University Marcia G. Welsh, Ph.D., David Good, who earned his bachelor’s degree in biology in 2011, Joni Oye-Benintende, associate professor and chair of art and design, and Darlene Farris-LaBar, associate professor of art and design.

East Stroudsburg University President Marcia G. Welsh, Ph.D., presented four ESU Innovator of the Year Awards atthe ninth annual Bizzy Awards on September 18, 2014 at the Chateau Resort & Conference Center in Tannersville, Pa.

The Bizzy Awards are an Academy Awards-themed competition among the Greater Pocono Chamber of Commerce member businesses in Northeast Pennsylvania. Greater Pocono Chamber of Commerce members choose which of the 12 categories they would like to enter, and they may enter more than one. Ballots for voting are sent out to all Greater Pocono Chamber of Commerce members.

ESU Faculty Innovator of the Year

The first-ever East Stroudsburg University Faculty Innovator of the Year Awards were presented to Joni Oye-Benintende, associate professor and chair of art and design, and to Darlene Farris-LaBar, associate professor of art and design, for their work in planning and developing the G3Design Lab, a 3-D printing, design and fabrication lab.

“I am honored to receive this award, and welcome the opportunity to encourage collaborations among art, design, business and entrepreneurship,” Oye-Benintende said. “The G3Design Lab would not have come together without the efforts of a great team of people from all areas of the university, working to get it equipped, up and running in one summer. From the strong support of President Welsh, to the computing center, to facilities management, to our partners in the Innovation Center, phenomenal teamwork was key to our success.”

Professor Farris-Labar enjoyed helping in developing the G3Design Lab because it was another chance for her to learn something new.

“As a faculty member, I continue to stay abreast of the current trends in technology, art and design so my students have a jump start to their future,” she said. “I love the fact that as they learn, I learn.”

ESU Innovator of the Year

The third annual ESU Innovator of the Year Award for entrepreneurs participating in the East Stroudsburg University Business Accelerator Program went to David Good, who earned his bachelor’s degree in biology. He received this award for “The Good Project,” a nonprofit humanitarian company, of which he is president and founder that provides assistance and access to fair-trade initiatives to remote indigenous groups.

Good was recently featured on CBS Sunday Morning where he shared his inspiring story of traveling to the Amazon Rain Forest where he reunited with his mother whom he had not seen for more than 20 years.

Good and his mother, Yarima, are members of the Yanomamo tribe residing in southeastern Venezuela. The tribe has been syndicated internationally and is considered to be one of the remaining groups still living in a society with relatively minimal or no contact with the outside world.

The second Innovator of the Year Award went to Antoni Jakubowski, president of one of ESU’s Business Accelerator companies, Integnol, LLC. The company provides proprietary business management solutions for numerous industry sectors — including renewable energy, woodworking, and advanced manufacturing. To date, Integnol has completed over 2,000 high quality projects in the U.S., Canada and Europe. Jakubowski has more than 30 years of experience in the woodworking industry in the U.S., Sweden, Japan, Canada, Dubai, England, and Germany.

ESU has been a proud sponsor of the Bizzy awards for three years.