FOUNDERS AWARD RECIPIENTS

DON BERRY AWARD

The Don Berry Award of Excellence was created to honor individuals who gave of themselves for the betterment of SNUG and the industry. This Award was initiated by Startel the year Don Berry passed away. As the founder of Startel Corporation, we wanted to honor and remember Don for his enormous contribution to this industry.

Don took an automation dream and made it a reality. In the early days with his leadership, Startel grew the system over the years and provided many businesses an opportunity to grow and become prosperous. Because of his commitment and dedication to his beliefs, he never stopped working for his customers. We have come a LONG way from the cord boards we started with in this industry 20+ years ago. Don believed in hard work, knew of no time clock, and was always concerned for his customers and employees.

His visionary insight provided the foundation on which Startel has been able to grow and prosper through the years. Don always had time for others, was willing to help them solve any problems, fix any customer issues or just willing to provide an ear for general moral support. Those that knew him, have been very proud over the years to see the individuals, who have been selected for this award.

Past Award Winners:

• 1995 Herb Chinoski – Rochester Telemessaging

• 1996 Susan Krems – Tel-Us Call Center

• 1997 Dan L’Heureux – A-Alpha, Inc

• 1998 Peter Orvis- Central Communications

• 1999 Gwen Corbett-Answer All

• 2000 Randy Singh – Startel Corporation

• 2001 Dan L’Heureux- TeamSNUG

• 2002 Barbara Willis- Startel Corporation

• 2003 Chris Bell- MedCom Professional Services

• 2004 Donna West- Focus Comm Centers

• 2005 Mary Jones- Answer 1 Communications

• 2006 Larry Kinder- Combined Communications

• 2007 Beth Cooper – Answer Quick

• 2008 Aaron Boatin – Ambs Call Center

• 2009 / Special Award – Charlie Wich – Startel In Memoriam

• 2009 Dirk Moeller – Business Connections, Inc

• 2010 Sheryl Denny – Startel Corporation

• 2011 Tom Reandeau – Focus Call Centers

• 2012 Peter Brousseau – MedCom Professional Services

• 2013 Terri Paffile – Answer 1 Communications

• 2014 Drew Ritter – Advantage TeleMessaging

• 2015 Victoria Nelles & Jim Hoopes – Startel Corporation

• 2016 John Carey – Startel Corporation

• 2017 Renita Dorty – Nationwide Inbound

• 2018 Margaret Lally – Startel Corporation

• 2019 Nick Giacopuzzi – Alert Communications

• 2020 John Martin – Startel Corporation

• 2021 Ryan Chinoski – Rochester Telemessaging​

The plaque reads:
"The Startel National User Group bestows the DON BERRY AWARD to individuals who exemplify excellence in the advancement of SNUG and its members. We honor the enormous contributions Mr. Don Berry, founder of Startel, made to our industry."

 

 

ALLEN KALIK AWARD

The Allan Kalik Award was established in 2011 to honor the founding President of

Professional TeleData and recognizes individuals whose unselfish dedication and leadership

have led to the advancement of the PINetwork Group.

• 2011 Ray Shaw – Business & Professional Exchange

• 2012 Ken Goldenberg – Direct Line Tele Response

• 2013 Royce Mitchell – iTAS Solutions

• 2014 Phyllis Shaw – Business & Professional Exchange

• 2015 Angelo Celesia- Professional Services

• 2016 John Freire - Direct Line Tele Response

• 2017 Nate Gefvert – Towne Answering Service

• 2018 Dan L’Heureux – Executive Director PINetwork 􀀃

• 2019 Jeff Wood – Contact One Call Center 􀀃

• 2020 Charlie Crown- Towne Answering

• 2021 Jim Graham - Startel

• 2022 Alan Hartmann- Startel