Business Awards

Business awards earned in Southern Arizona

Justice Innovation awards: The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges has honored two Tucsonans-based organizations.

Receiving the Impact of the Year award was Steven Cota-Robles, founder and executive director of The Tucson Family Food Project (TTFFP).

The Innovator of the Year Award went to Judge Wendy Million, presiding judge and city magistrate of the City of Tucson’s Court Domestic Violence Court.

Cota-Robles founded TTFFP in 2021 with the mission of providing meals and education for children struggling with hunger and food insecurity. It provides food for school-age children while teaching them life skills on how to cook nutritious meals with fresh, seasonal, and local produce.

Million presides over the Domestic Violence Court, which was established in 2012 to provide greater access to the court process and victim services for cases of domestic violence, provide accused defendants with due process, legal representation through the city public defender’s office, access to quality treatment options, and to hold convicted offenders accountable.

Los Milics Vineyards: Los Milics Vineyards was ranked second best in the country in the USA TODAY 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards 2024 for Best Wine Tasting Room.

The LMV tasting room, in Elgin, is the only Arizona property to make the list.

Nominees were chosen by a panel of subject matter experts and voted on by the public.

Hughes Federal Credit Union: Hughes Federal Credit Union was recognized in Forbes’ 2024 Best-In-State Credit Unions list.

Forbes’ seventh annual ranking, conducted with market research firm Statista, surveyed approximately 26,000 U.S. residents who ultimately ranked Hughes as one of the top six credit unions in Arizona.

Survey participants evaluated their bank or credit union on customer satisfaction, willingness to recommend, customer service quality, financial advice, fee structures, ease of use of digital and in-person services and overall trust. Current customers’ feedback was given more weight in the results.

Pima County procurement: The Pima County procurement department earned the 2024 Achievement of Excellence in Procurement Award from the National Procurement Institute, Inc.

The AEP Award, established in 1995, recognizes innovation, professionalism, e-procurement, productivity and leadership in procurement organizations.

A recent report reveals how much people in different states need to earn to save a spot in the 'top one percent club' in the United States. A study conducted by SmartAsset, recorded on the basis of IRS tax return data revealed Connecticut as the most earning state in the US. Median household income in the US stood at $75,000 per year but in most states, a person has to make ten times that figure, close to $787,712, to be placed in the top one percent. Connecticut, Massachusetts, and California took the top three places on the list, with a minimum of $1.15 million, $1.11 million, and $1.04 million, respectively. Washington, assumed to be the first, stood fourth on the table with an income floor of $989,649, among the top one percent earners. New Jersey, New York, Colorado, Florida, Wyoming, and New Hampshire, all had a place in the top ten of the highest one percent earners in the country. On the other hand, the last place was secured by West Virginia with $420,453 and Mississippi stood second-last with $440,744 as the income floor for the top 1% of the earners.


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Submit items to business@tucson.com; please use ‘Biz Awards’ in the email subject line.

To be considered for the Arizona Daily Star’s other weekly business features Moving Up, which recognizes promotions and new hires of Tucsonans, or Giving Back, which highlights charitable donations by local business or nonprofits, email business@tucson.com.