2013 Pinnacle Awards

Photography by Vicky Pink - On Friday, October 11, 2013, Houston Style Magazine was on hand at The Power Center for the 19th Annual African American Business Achievement Pinnacle Awards hosted by the Greater Houston Black Chamber. The annual awards show recognizes Houston's top Black Businesses. Business mogul Cathy Hughes, Radio One, served as the keynote speaker. This year’s honorary co-chairs were Carla Lane, Lane Staffing, and Bob McKay, Radio One. The finalists for this year are: Access Data – Renee Logans; CBIC Construction & Development, LLC. - Esther Francis; IAM Brands Interactive – Leslie Wilson; Kay Davis Associates LLC – Dannette Davis; Pennum Industries, LLC – Lucious; Project Management Consultants Texas – Walter and Nikki Johnson; Superior Video Productions, Inc. – Niles Dillard; The K D Company – Kim Davis; Ultimate Touch Beauty Salon – Shirley Carter Williams; and Velocity Unified Communications – Jamaal Thompson. The Mack H. Hannah, Jr. Upstart Business Award Finalists that recognizes a growing business on the path to entrepreneurial greatness that has been in operation less than 2 years were Troi Taylor, Taylor Construction Management; La Tanya D. Walker, JOLT! Consultants & Business Advisors, LLC d/b/a JOLT! LLC; Emile C Browne, Emile Brown Photography; and Leslie Phillips, Obsidian Beauty Supply, LLC. The Advocate Award was created to honor organizations that have been true champions for African-American small businesses in the Greater Houston Metropolitan area. The honorees were: Public Sector Advocate - City of Houston and Private Sector Advocate - CenterPoint Energy. The following special awards will be presented at this year’s event: The Varnett Schools – Annette M. Cluff received The Endurance Award as way to recognize businesses who have reached a milestone of 25 or more years in operation. Mr. Darryl King, President & CEO of the Principle Partnering Group, LLC received The Excellence Award given in recognition of outstanding business performance and community involvement. Mickey Leland Entrepreneurial Public Leadership Award honored a political champion who collaborates across entities and is inclusive of the community at large. This inaugural award recipient is The Honorable Sylvester Turner, State Representative District 139 and Chairman, Texas Legislative Black Caucus. Mr. Keith Davis, President of D-mars.com embodies the spirit of the inaugural Chairman's Innovation Award recognizing a business that continues to thrive and grow in not only a changing environment through reinvention and adaptation of new trends and patterns. GP Industrial Contractors – Roosevelt Petry, Jr. has managed to represent consistent growth in an industry under-represented in African American business and will receive the inaugural Business Trailblazer Award.