PROVO — Neal Williams, founder and chief executive officer of Corda Technologies, was named Utah Entrepreneur of the Year on Thursday for several accomplishments in major product expansion by his company.
The annual award, presented by the Utah Valley Entrepreneurial Forum, a non-profit organization dedicated to fostering the entrepreneurial spirit, is presented to individuals in business that have made exceptional contributions in their industry or community.
Corda Technologies, a Lindon-based company specializing in Web-based charting and graphing of data, is best-known for its descriptive-text technology, which allows the blind accessibility to charts on the Internet through a link that converts data to speech.
Customers of Corda's products include the National Cancer Institute, General Electric, NASA and Harvard University.
The Ronald K. King Community Service Award was given to Fraser Bullock, chief operating officer and chief financial officer of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee. Allegiance Technologies, an Internet-based provider of customer retention products, was selected as Utah Valley's Best Kept Secret.
Steve W. and Bette Gibson were recipients of the Greatest Contribution to Entrepreneurs award for their 18 months of service in the Philippines, where they trained individuals in how to start their own small businesses.
The Most Innovative Product for 2001 was awarded to Precision Cover Systems Inc. of Lindon for a manhole cover that adjusts to different roadway heights.