Portland Business Journal: OEN names Holce Awards finalists

Date: Tuesday, July 17, 2012, 4:40pm PDT

Andy Giegeric, Business Journal staff writer- Portland Business Journal

The Oregon Entrepreneurs Network has named its 13 finalists — 10 companies and three individuals — for the 2012 OEN Tom Holce Entrepreneurship Awards.

The finalists for Development Stage Company of the year are

• 4-Tell Inc., a Portland company that helps online retailers convert more sales.
• Tellagence, a Portland company that develops and markets predictive social analytics software.
• VendScreen, which creates touch-screen devices for new and existing vending machines.

Working Capital Stage Company of the Year finalists are:

• Act-On Software, a Beaverton company that creates next-generation online marketing suites.
• Foundation Fitness, a Portland-based indoor cycling bicycle and performance measurement company.
• Portland-based tech company Jama Software.

Growth Stage Company of the Year finalists are:

• Cerus Industrial, of Portland, which makes motor controls.
• Portland software developer Coaxis.
• Elemental Technologies, a Portland video processing specialist.
• Timbercon Inc., a Lake Oswego company that works in the optical field.

Umpqua Bank’s Ray Davis, Urban Airship’s Scott Kveton and Agilyx’s Chris Ulum were named as finalists for the group’s Entrepreneurship Award for Individual Achievement.

OEN named Irving Levin as the winner of its 2012 Lifetime Achievement Award. Levin is executive chairman of Genesis Financial Solutions and, according to OEN, “a serial entrepreneur.” The award goes to a business operator “who has had a long career of entrepreneurial achievements that place him or her in the top echelon of their peers.”

“Irving embodies the entrepreneurial spirit through his many successful business endeavors,” said Linda Weston, OEN’s president and executive director, in a statement. “He continues to be a role model in the community by supporting early stage entrepreneurs through investments and mentoring while also generously giving back to many great causes in Oregon and around the world.”

The OEN’s Holce Awards ceremony takes place Sept. 20 at downtown’s Portland Hilton.

Andy Giegerich covers government, law, health care and sports business.