Chamber presents Entreprenurial Spirit Award to Union Street Media

November 12th, 2008 by Union Street Media News

Filed Under USM News |

Last night at the 98th annual Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce dinner, five awards were presented for emerging talent, community service and leadership. The Chamber selected Union Street Media as the recipient of The A. Wayne Roberts Entrepreneurial Spirit Award.  The award is presented annually to a local business that exemplifies entrepreneurship, leadership, creativity and business expertise.  During the presentation, former Burlington Mayor Peter Clavelle lauded Union Street Media for its record of consistent growth, community service, and dedication to producing quality work for Vermont businesses and firms around the country. Mayor Clavelle went on to describe the founding of the firm in 1999 while Ted Adler was still a student at Middlebury College and praised Union Street Media for its position as a nationally recognized pioneer in the development of Web sites for REALTORS.

The packed room — full of 700 business leaders —  responded warmly to Ted Adler’s recognition of the support Union Street Media has received from the Chamber, Vermont Software Developers Alliance, the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund and the Peer to Peer Collaborative, a business mentoring program. In addition to recognizing his business partners Andy Vota and Jon Adler, his acknowledgment of Champlain College as a source of hard-working, talented, ambitious staff received cheers and a round of applause. (A number of Union Street Media’s team hails from Champlain). Ted also acknowledged the efforts of the LCRCC in its support of the Adler family’s many creative ventures, citing his brothers’ success with The Skinny Pancake (a Burlington creperie) as an example. Most people aren’t familiar with the family connection between Union Street Media and The Skinny Pancake, so the reference elicited oohs and ahhs.  For more on this, read the feature story on the Adler entrepreneurs from July of this year.

When pressed for comment today, Ted said “We have an entrepreneurial spirit at Union Street Media that permeates our culture.  From the first days of the company out of my Middlebury College dorm room, we followed the simple business premise of “find a niche and fill it.”  Starting with our partnership with the Vermont Association of REALTORS in 2002, we have helped REALTORS leverage the power of the Internet.  With 87% of home searches beginning online according to the NAR, our work is helping our clients in this challenging market more then ever.”

For more information on last night’s event, check out the Burlington Free Press article from today.