Obtiva Named Finalist for Illinois Technology Association CityLIGHTS Award

CHICAGO, April 20, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Obtiva, one of the nation's most innovative custom software development companies, has been selected as a finalist for a 2011 Illinois Technology Association (ITA) CityLIGHTS award in the Rising Star category.

The Rising Star award goes to the Illinois company that, through innovation in products, services or business approach, has grown to become a serious competitor in the marketplace.

Since its founding in 2005 by Kevin P. Taylor, Obtiva has recruited a team of extraordinary, talented employees. In addition to writing amazing software, all of them do their part to cultivate the Illinois technology community. Every day, you can find them leading, speaking, mentoring, tweeting, blogging, organizing, volunteering, sharing, networking and teaching. They are involved software craftsmen whose passion and talent drives Obtiva's success.

Obtiva has grown to 47 full-time employees at its Chicago headquarters, expanded the range of coaching and training programs it provides, and in March 2011 opened an office in Denver to better serve customers in the Western U.S.

"We're pretty ecstatic at being named a CityLIGHTS finalist," Taylor said. "Obtiva has accomplished so much in less than six years. We've designed and built beautiful software for our clients, assembled a team of world-class software craftsmen, and made great strides in helping further connect and grow the technology community."

The winners will be announced at the CityLIGHTS Awards Gala May 12, 2011, at Union Station in Chicago. The gala attracts more than 700 people from 400 organizations including business owners, investors, legislators and policymakers.  

A panel of more than 40 judges reviewed nominations and selected the finalists. Judges hail from organizations ranging from Microsoft and the University of Chicago Booth School of Business to Viewpoints.com and midVentures. The list of past winners includes The Point (now known as Groupon), GrubHub.com, NAVTEQ, Model Metrics, Smart Signal, Mayor Richard M. Daley and Jack Noonan.  

"There is a growing energy and momentum in the Illinois technology industry, and this is reflected in both the record number and the quality of the CityLIGHTS Awards nominations this year," said ITA CEO Fred Hoch. "Nominees range from start-up companies to industry leaders, and we are extremely excited to see the organizations and individuals that rise to the top in 2011."

Public voting runs through April 29, 2011 at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/2011itacitylightsvote. Winners will be determined by composite score (50 percent judges; 50 percent community voting) in all categories except the CityLIGHTS Award, which is determined solely by the ITA Board of Directors.

About Obtiva

Obtiva ignites ideas to bring web and mobile applications to life. A full service Agile software consultancy specializing in Ruby on Rails and Java and fluent in multiple programming languages, Obtiva's technical mastery shines through in its work. Obtiva's studio team of developers, project managers and mobile technology experts provide full-service web application development. Co-development services bring specialized skill sets to your existing team. Obtiva also provides coaching as well as public and private training in a classroom setting or on site at your location. For more information call 630.588.8622, follow Obtiva on Facebook and Twitter, and visit www.obtiva.com.

About the ITA

The Illinois Technology Association (ITA) is a driving force behind the growth of Illinois' vibrant technology industry. We are relentless in championing the development and application of technology, from start-up companies to industry leaders, leveraging the transformative nature of technology to revolutionize industries. ITA uniquely capitalizes peer-to-peer collaboration, networking, and access to experts across the breadth of business to cultivate the Illinois technology industry. The unique and powerful integration of these valuable and experienced resources differentiates the ITA as a source of accelerated growth for the technology industry of Illinois. For more information about ITA, please visit www.illinoistech.org.

Contact the ITA at headquarters@illinoistech.org, follow the discussion on Twitter at @itabuzz, and visit www.illinoistech.org to find out more about how ITA supports the growth of the local industry.

SOURCE Obtiva