EY Experience Illuminates Phoenix Innovate Journey

In recent days, I was recognized as a finalist for the 2017 EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Michigan/Northwest Ohio. It was an honor, not just for me, but for the whole Phoenix Innovate team. The experience was so rewarding, I feel compelled to reflect on it for a moment.

Each year, the award program focuses on recognizing innovative organizations that work to change the way business is done in their respective industries. It was encouraging to be part of a process that highlights companies who continue to push boundaries, leverage emerging technologies and think in new ways about the challenges and opportunities of business.

The acknowledgement by EY underscored the Phoenix Innovate journey. A journey started by my brother and a few close associates, that became a family business when I joined the company a few years later. The selection process which examined our business acumen and philosophies, illuminated the fact that much of Phoenix Innovate’s success has come from applying the same behaviors and principles we use to propel client success. We’ve developed and deployed strategies that have helped us not only build a sustainable business model, but also thrive in the process, alongside our clients.

Adaptability is vital; and nobody knows this more than Phoenix Innovate. We began as a printing company more than 30 years ago. But today, market research is the cornerstone of what we do; helping nonprofits and other business entities better understand and then engage with their respective audiences. We successfully transformed by actively listening to clients and evolving to meet their changing needs. While printing is still a part of our core services, as a team, we’ve efficiently moved our business out of a commoditized environment to a space where there truly is no competitor.

Through it all, we’ve remained a team that complements each other’s strengths and continues to identify new strategies and methods to help clients. I am proud of the success we’ve built internally and externally for our clients, and for that, I thank EY for the reminder and recognition that our team is capable of achieving anything together.