SMART named Most Innovative Company and SMART CEO named Best Canadian Entrepreneur
CALGARY, Alberta--- March 5, 2007 --- SMART Technologies Inc. announces that it has received two Stevie Awards for Women in Business. SMART was recognized as the Most Innovative Company of the Year (up to 2,500 employees), and SMART CEO Nancy Knowlton was named Best Canadian Entrepreneur. Knowlton accepted both awards at a ceremony in New York City on Saturday, March 3. The Stevie Awards for Women in Business is an international competition that recognizes the accomplishments of women executives and entrepreneurs and the companies they manage. The awards are governed by a board of judges and advisors that feature leading businesswomen from all over the world.
SMART was judged on innovation in marketing, sales, manufacturing, management and products. Knowlton’s recognition as Best Canadian Entrepreneur was based on her business achievements during 2006. Throughout that year, she was responsible for the day-to-day direction of SMART and its more-than 900 employees. Knowlton co-founded SMART in 1987 with partner David Martin, and in 1991 they introduced the world's first interactive whiteboard. Since then, more than 500,000 SMART Board™ interactive whiteboards have been installed in classrooms, offices and training rooms around the world. SMART has also maintained its position as global education market segment leader with sales in over 100 countries worldwide. In 2006, the company reached CAD$1 billion in cumulative sales. SMART continues to create new product categories and find new ways to enhance its current product offerings for a growing global market. SMART has also been presented with the Lifetime Achievement Canada Export Award from the Canadian government's Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, and has qualified for the country’s most prestigious national business award, Canada’s 50 Best Managed Companies, for eight consecutive years.
“Bringing a Canadian innovation such as the SMART Board interactive whiteboard onto the world stage has been most rewarding,” says Nancy Knowlton. “These Stevie Awards recognize the hard work and ingenuity of so many people working at SMART who are contributing to changing the way the world learns and works.”
About the Stevie Awards
Stevie Awards are conferred in four programs: The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, The Stevie Awards for Women in Business and the Selling Power Sales Excellence Awards. Honoring companies of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevie Awards recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide. Learn more about The Stevie Awards at www.stevieawards.com.
About SMART
SMART Technologies Inc. is both the industry pioneer and a global market leader in user-friendly interactive whiteboards and other group collaboration tools. SMART products include the award-winning family of SMART Board interactive whiteboards, interactive pen displays, interactive digital signage, conferencing applications and software. SMART products are designed to meet the requirements of today’s corporate environment. With SMART’s versatile products, users are able to effectively display media-rich information, host and participate in audio and videoconferencing, share desktops remotely, collaborate, share data and efficiently train personnel. SMART products are used in more than 100 countries around the world and customers include NASA, Texas Instruments, BMW, Toyota Motors, DaimlerChrysler, Boeing, Lucent Technologies, the Los Angeles Lakers, Novartis, the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Procter & Gamble, Disney Imagineering and Harvard University.
SMART is a private company founded in 1987. Employing more than 900 people, SMART is headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, with assembly facilities in Ontario, and offices in Bonn, Tokyo, Shanghai, New York City, Chicago and Washington DC. SMART has been issued and maintains a broad portfolio of patents with numerous U.S., Canadian and other patents pending. In 1992, SMART formed a strategic alliance with Intel® Corporation that resulted in joint product development and marketing efforts, and Intel’s equity ownership in the company. SMART products are sold through dealers across North America and distributors worldwide. To learn more about SMART visit www.smarttech.com.
