Business awards: Aug. 6

■ The American Heart Association has recognized Dr. Sylvia Cerel-Suhl and Don Fishback of Lexington for their leadership and service to reduce the risks of heart disease and stroke in Central Kentucky.

Cerel-Suhl received the Distinguished Leadership Award for her work with Smoke-Free Kentucky; Fishback received the Franklin Moosnick Service Award for his long-term service to the American Heart Association.

■ Tate Hill Jacobs: Architects received the 2012 Brick in Architecture Gold Award for outstanding, innovative and sustainable brick design for their work on The Lyric Theatre and Cultural Arts Center. The company is the only firm in Kentucky receiving a Brick in Architecture award this year.

As the largest and most prestigious juried competition of its kind, the Brick in Architecture Awards showcase the finest work in clay face and paving brick from architects and builders around the country.

For more information, go to Gobrick.com/EventsEducation/BrickInArchitectureAwards/tabid/7661/Default.aspx.

■ Fifteen of the region's top small businesses and non-profit organizations have been named finalists in the 2012 Excellence in Entrepreneurship Awards program.

The announcement comes after the EIEA selection committee narrowed a field of 41 nominees from across Eastern and southern Kentucky into groups of three finalists in each of the five EIEA business award categories.

This year, the EIEA program added a fifth award category to recognize the achievements of young entrepreneurs (25 or younger) in southern and Eastern Kentucky who are operating a successful business venture.

The 2012 EIEA finalists and their respective award categories are:

Young Entrepreneur: Jared Sizemore, owner, Juggling Jared in Pineville; Michael Todd Duff, owner of LowGap Outfitters in Hindman; and Hong Ren Zhang Durandal, founder and president of Energy Hunters in Berea.

Start-Up Business: Nick Noble, owner of Park Mammoth Resort in Park City; Shane Richmond, general manager and owner of Wildcat Harley-Davidson in London; and Troy E. Lay, CEO of Alternative Energies Kentucky in Danville.

For-Profit Small Business: Jeff Parmelee and Terry Randall, owners of Total Rehab Center in Somerset; Shane Baker, president, CEO and co-owner of Ferm Solutions in Danville; and potters Sarah Culbreth and Jeff Enge, owners of Tater Knob Pottery and Farm in Berea.

For-Profit Business: Bob and Tom Hutchison, owners of McDonald's of East Kentucky in Paintsville; Anthony and Julie Roberts, owners of Servpro of Pulaski and Laurel counties in London; and Masato Sugimura, president and owner of Lincoln Manufacturing USA in Stanford.

Not-For-Profit Entity: Bobby W. Grant, president and CVO of Twin Lakes Family Wellness Center in Albany; Grace Community Health Center in Gray; and Jeff Rubin, executive director of Body Recall in Berea.

The award recipient in each category will be recognized Sept. 10 at a regional awards presentation and luncheon at The Center for Rural Development in Somerset. All finalists, regardless if they are chosen as an award recipient, will be recognized with in-depth business video profiles that will air during the ceremony.

■ Southern States Cooperative has been named winner of the 2012 Information Technology Innovation Award for integrating the use of mobile hand-held technology with its Benchmate Systems' Computerized Maintenance Management System.

Southern States utilizes mobile devices from Janam Technologies in all eight of its feed mills. Once implemented, employees saw a return on investment from the time saved from manual data entry, which could sometimes take up to three weeks. The previous delays and backlogs they caused became a problem for Southern States.

Another concern was the tracking of equipment maintenance. With the introduction of bar coding and tracking functionality the hand-helds afforded, the technology streamlined processing for the company.

According to Bill Monroe, Southern States manager of feed mill operations, recorded maintenance activity has increased by 25 percent, while planned activity has increased to more than 80 percent. This is due in part to maintenance supervisors no longer entering data or tracking equipment repairs manually.

Southern States Cooperative, one of the nation's largest, began in 1923 as Virginia Feed Service, after 150 farmers pooled their resources and banded together to buy seed guaranteed to grow in Virginia. The member-owned company expanded to provide feed, fertilizer, farm supplies and petroleum products in a number of neighboring states. Today, Southern States encompasses 300,000 farmers and more than 1,200 retail locations in 23 states. Southern States Cooperative's Winchester Mill was selected as runner-up for the 2011 Feed Mill of the Year award.

■ Urban Active has been ranked ninth by Club Industry Magazine, a fitness business publication that ranks U.S. health club companies by total corporate revenue. Urban Active, with three locations in Lexington, reported $107.5 million in revenue, up 7 percent from the previous year. The company was No. 11 in last year's ranking.

Urban Active Fitness has been voted one of America's Top 3 Healthiest Gyms in the United States, according to Health.com, and has been voted best gym in all of their markets. It has 36 clubs in seven states, including Kentucky.

■ First Security Bank has received its seventh consecutive 5-Star rating from Bauer Financial of Coral Gables, Fla. Bauer is an independent financial services ratings firm. The 5-Star rating is the highest a bank may achieve.

First Security is a $400 million asset bank with offices in Owensboro, Bowling Green, Lexington and Franklin, and Evansville, Ind.

Bauer Financial ratings for all banks may be found at BauerFinancial.com.

Compiled by Dorothea Wingo

This story was originally published August 6, 2012 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Business awards: Aug. 6."