Four Northeast Ohio Leaders Earn Inaugural CIO of the Year Awards

Thursday, November 10, 2005

The annual CIO Symposium was highlighted yesterday by an awards ceremony honoring four Northeast Ohio Chief Information Officers (CIOs). The 2005 CIO Symposium marked the fifth anniversary of the largest annual gathering of CIO’s in the 13 county Northeast Ohio region represented by the Northeast Ohio Software Association (NEOSA). This year marked the first time that CIO of the Year awards were presented.

Sponsored by Oracle, the awards were presented in four categories to a Northeast Ohio CIO or Information Technology (IT) professional who demonstrated “outstanding leadership, vision and implementation.”

The 2005 CIO of the Year award winners are:

  • Small Non-Profit Organization:
    Leonard Steinbach, Cleveland Museum of Art
  • Small Company:
    John Schindler, Kichler Lighting
  • Large Non-Profit Organization:
    Vincent Miller, MetroHealth Medical System
  • Large Company
    Doug Wenger, OMNOVA Solutions

“CIO’s have such a high responsibility position, but they often remain the ‘unsung executives’ in their organizations,” said Jim Cookinham, President of NEOSA. Typically, they receive recognition only when their organization is responding to some crisis – a security breach, a virus, or company IT project that doesn’t go as planned.”

Cookinham explains, “Beyond just honoring individual CIO’s, the NEOSA Board believed that this award was key in raising the appreciation of the role that CIO’s perform.”

Doug Wenger of Fairlawn-based OMNOVA, said, “I am honored to receive a “CIO of the Year” award in Northeast Ohio. I am proud of the teamwork between the Information Technology team and our business unit colleagues.” Wenger was the award winner in the Large Company category.

He continued, “Their hard work and commitment to results, along with excellent support from OMNOVA’s senior management, has been instrumental in improving our company’s capabilities through the use of information technology.”

“When I first learned about the ‘CIO of the Year’ award, I was pleased that NEOSA took the initiative to create it,” said Vincent Miller of Metro General Health Centers. In particular, Miller liked the fact that the award recognized different segments of Northeast Ohio’s IT community.

“When I looked at the other people that were nominated in my category (Large Non-profit), I was honored just to be on the same list. I can’t explain how honored and surprised I was to be singled out at the winner.”

About NEOSA

NEOSA is a membership-based organization that promotes the advancement of the Technology Community and IT Industry of Northeast Ohio. NEOSA is an industry-led, industry-driven organization made up of more than 800 member companies representing all facets of information technology. NEOSA is a Council of Smaller Enterprises (COSE) partner organization.

About COSE

COSE, the small business arm of the Greater Cleveland Partnership, serves as a one-stop resource for its members by providing: group-purchasing programs that reduce the cost of doing business; education and development programs for small- and mid-sized businesses; advocacy on legislative and regulatory issues affecting the business community; a wide range of resources focused on helping firms grow; and economic development partners that can address business concerns.

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