Schaumburg Business Association honors top companies, individuals

Energy and a special aura filled the room Friday night as hundreds of suburban business leaders celebrated success and honored top Schaumburg Business Association companies and individuals.

More than 300 people gathered for the annual Toast of Schaumburg - a formal event held at the Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center Hotel.

Members socialized and celebrated as Schaumburg Bank & Trust was named winner of the Brian H. Burke Business of the Year award, the top honor of the evening.

The award is named after the association's founder Brian Burke, CEO of Links Technology, the Schaumburg company that originated as an office supply company and reinvented itself as a growing digital firm.

Other business award winners during the evening included Leadership Award to Jaci Kator, a representative from AT&T; Volunteer of the Year to Mike Alagna of Alagna Consulting; and Rookie of the Year to Granite City Food & Brewery.

For the first time, the Schaumburg Business Association awarded a scholarship to a Harper College student. Lightning Johnson, 18, of Schaumburg said she plans to major in accounting and was thrilled to receive the award.

A mission of the SBA Foundation is to provide educational support to students residing and continuing their education in Schaumburg and the surrounding region.

This year's theme for the evening was Aura - a subtly pervasive quality or atmosphere seen emanating from a person, place or thing, said Ben Olson, owner of 3 Monkeys & Aardvark Studios.

"The person is our members, the place is their business and the thing is what they do," said Olson, who also is chairman of the association. "All this creates the persuasive atmosphere of energy and success."

Olson said the organization is all about business relationships.

"And celebrating our members and their accomplishments and giving back to the community is key," Olson said. "That's the soul of the Schaumburg Business Association."