Arkansas Business

Sam Alley, CEO of VCC in Little Rock, and Brian Itzkowitz, CEO of Goodwill Industries of Arkansas, won executive of the year awards at Tuesday's 25th annual Arkansas Business of the Year Awards at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock, presented by Centennial Bank.

Each year, the awards, sponsored by Arkansas Business Publishing Group, honor businesses in three categories, business executives, nonprofit executives and nonprofit organizations in Arkansas.

(Video: Click any of the links below to see video from last night's event. And read more about all the winners and finalists here.)

Alley received the Business Executive of the Year Award for his work at VCC, the $450 million construction company based in Little Rock. It employs 270 people.

Brian Itzkowitz received the Nonprofit Executive of the Year Award for his work with Goodwill in Little Rock. Last year, Goodwill helped 6,500 Arkansans with career services and placed 1,100 in jobs.

Other winners at Tuesday night's event:

• Buffalo Outdoor Center of Ponca in Category I (1-25 employees)
• All-Clean USA of Jonesboro in Category II (26-75 employees)
• Tankersley Food Service of Van Buren in Category III (75-300 employees)

Economics Arkansas of Little Rock was named Nonprofit Organization of the Year. The group trains teachers to teach economics and was a leading advocate of a 2010 requirement that all students who entered high school in Arkansas must complete a semester of economics to qualify for a diploma.

The event also includes the Outstanding Philanthropic Corporation Awards, given by the Arkansas Community Foundation to honor businesses that support charitable and nonprofit endeavors in their communities.

Those honorees are:

• City Plumbing Heating & Electric of Hot Springs
• Medic One Ambulance of Jonesboro
• Lockheed Martin of Camden
• City Water & Light of Jonesboro

Arkansas Business readers nominate businesses, executives and nonprofits for the awards, and an independent panel of judges determines the winners.

Below, Lance Turner talks about Tuesday night's awards during the daily Arkansas Business segment on "THV 11 News This Morning."