Award entries are evaluated by an independent panel of judges. This distinguished panel includes leaders in business, government, education, and the media from across the state. Organizations represented in the past include Business Excellence Consortium, Lands' End, Marquette University, Milwaukee Business Journal, Sargento Foods, Corporate Report Wisconsin, University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin Department of Commerce, and Wisconsin Technical College System.
Judging Process: Once the nomination deadline is reached and all entries are received, a list of the nominated companies is distributed to all judges to identify any conflicts of interest. There are three judges per category. If a judge has a relationship with any nominee that would preclude him or her from objectively judging the entry, he/she is assigned to a different category. In late-December, category assignments are finalized and nominations are shipped to the judges for their evaluation. In January, the entire judging panel convenes in Madison and the judges discuss the top companies in their respective categories. Through these in-depth discussions, grand and special award winners are selected. The names of award winners are held in confidence until they are announced during the formal award ceremony.
