Business winners announced

Disabled veteran Darrel Bowman won the new veteran-owned business “Top Gun” award at a Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber lunch on Tuesday.

Bowman owns mynetwork company.com, a company that makes a priority of hiring veterans and current active duty information technology military personnel.

Bowman was one of seven award winners at 2010 Spotlight! On Business award lunch at the Hotel Murano.

Former NBA player James Donaldson spoke to the participants. Donaldson is known as “the big man on small business” and recently published the book “Standing Above the Crowd.”

Winners were chosen from a pool of 18 finalist businesses. New this year was the popular renaming of the awards with recent or popular movie titles:

 • Small business “The Incredibles” award:

Tacoma Rainiers Baseball Club has seen a 141 percent increase in ticket sales revenue in 31/2 seasons of baseball at Cheney Stadium. Attendance records were set last year – more than 350,000 fans entered the gates. Sponsorship revenues have doubled since 2006.

 • Medium-sized business “Iron Man 2” award:

Adriatic Grill Italian Cuisine and Wine Bar remodeled the former Cucina Cucina restaurant. Owners are Bill and Monique Trudnowski.

 • Large business “Avatar” award:

Mountain Construction offers construction and development services for commercial, industrial and institutional projects, primarily in the private sector.

 • Nonprofit organization “Up” award:

Tacoma Community House started in 1910 with two employees; it has grown to 50 full-time employees and a budget of $4.2 million. The group has educated thousands of youth and adults; helped thousands to find jobs; and helped thousands of people obtain their citizenship.

 • Minority-owned business “Transformers” award:

Lile Moving and Storage is owned and operated by the daughters of founder Wendell B. Lile. The business has grown from five employees in 1959 to more than 265 full-time employees.

 • Community driver “Lord of the Rings” award:

Chambers Bay Golf Course will see the 2010 U.S. Amateur and 2015 U.S. Open championships. The Amateur takes place on August 23 through 29, and will be televised nationally by the Golf Channel and NBC. In 2015, the U.S. Open is expected to generate more than $100 million in economic activity for the region.