• Hispanic Business Man and Woman of the Year: Marcel Dabdoub and Laura Oldaker are being recognized by the board of directors for the Tucson Hispanic Chamber as the 2017 Hispanic Business Man and Woman of the Year. They will be honored at the Noche de Exitos Gala and Bi-national awards with other honorees on Oct. 21 at Casino del Sol Resort. Dabdoub is a real estate developer, financial services entrepreneur, and business consultant. His real estate projects span a wide range of industrial, commercial and residential developments on both sides of the border, including the conversion of an industrial facility in Mexico into a multi-tenant shopping center, a retirement community in Vail with a focus on lifelong learning and cultural engagement, and over a dozen downtown redevelopments that include eight historic renovations. Dabdoub and his partners also started a car financing company and he has ownership in other local businesses. Oldaker has built a human services company from the ground up that focuses on providing care for elderly in the Tucson area. Partnering with her husband, Justin, Oldaker started By Your Side Senior Care in 2009 and has grown it to employ a team of 35 employees. In 2016, Laura launched the Academy of Caregiving Excellence to train future workers for the home health industry. As a business owner, Oldaker’s passion lies in not only caregiver education but empowering future employees who may not otherwise be able to obtain a job due to lack of formal education or disability status.
  • Summit Hut: The local outdoor retailer won Grassroots Retailer of the Year. Summit Hut was recognized for its ability to build relationships, create memorable experiences, preserve the environment and collaborate with the community. The Grassroots Outdoor Alliance chose Summit Hut out of 968 connected retailers.
  • Northwest Fire District: NWFD received an award for Special Achievement in Geographic Information System technology by ESRI, developer of mapping and spatial analytics software. Northwest is one of 180 domestic and international organizations selected from over 300,000 candidates to be honored for its “outstanding application of geospatial technology.” The award is the result of two initiatives: an interactive map informing citizens if they are within the fire district’s boundaries and an internal application used to streamline the District’s fire hydrant location and inspection program.

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