Sandy Garner, long-time Central Oregon real estate leader and founder of Harcourts The Garner Group Real Estate, has been named the winner in the Founder of the Year category for the 2015 Best in Biz Awards. These national awards are the only independent business awards program judged by members of the press and industry analysts. Garner won the award for founding the local real estate firm and leading it to continued growth and success in a changing marketplace.
The fifth annual program in North America boasted the highest number of submissions to date. More than 600 entries were received this year, from a wide array of public and private companies of all sizes and from a variety of industries and geographic regions in the U.S. and Canada.
“I must say that overall, I was very impressed with the entries,” said Sheryl Nance-Nash, Upscale Magazine, judging her first Best in Biz Awards. “It is clear that these companies have a real sense of what’s most important — what the pressing concerns for today’s small business owners are, and they are developing products and solutions that will help them succeed.”
In 2008, Garner founded The Garner Group Real Estate after spending nearly 30 years practicing real estate in Central Oregon. Always innovating in order to best serve her firm’s clients, her company became the very first Pacific Northwest located franchise for Harcourts USA (a division of Harcourts International LTD) in 2013. One of the largest real estate companies in the world, Harcourts has been recognized for its technological advances and use of technology to better serve the real estate industry.
Best in Biz Awards 2015 honors were presented in 60 categories, Winners of Best in Biz Awards 2015 were determined based on scoring from an independent panel of 46 judges from highly recognized newspapers, business, consumer and technology publications, radio outlets, and analyst firms. In addition to the numerous judges returning from previous panels from years 2011 – 2014, this year’s judging panel included several worthy additions to the high-profile group. The panel included contributors to ABC, About.com, Bloomberg Businessweek, Buffalo News, Business News Daily, Chip Design Magazine, Computerworld, Consumer Affairs, CRN, ECT News Network, eWeek Channel Insider, Fast Company, Fierce Online Video, Forbes, FOX News Latino, Hartford Business Journal, Inc. Magazine, InfoRisk Today, Information Week, King Features Syndicate, L.A. Biz, MediaPost, Motley Fool, PE HUB, Phoenix Business Journal, Portland Business Journal, ReadWriteWeb, San Jose Mercury News, Silicon Valley Business Journal, Small Business Digest, South Florida Business Journal, Tech Cocktail, Wired, Woman’s Day and Xconomy.
For a full list of winners in Best in Biz Awards 2015, visit: http://www.bestinbizawards.com/2015-winners.
About Harcourts The Garner Group
Locally and independently owned Harcourts The Garner Group Real Estate is the first Pacific Northwest franchise for international real estate company Harcourts International. The firm was originally founded in 2008 by real estate veterans and Central Oregon natives, Sandy and Jay Garner, who continue their legacy of service to Central Oregon buyers and sellers. The company and its agents adhere to an ongoing mission to provide expertise in all areas of real estate and development, while demonstrating service to clients beyond all expectations, and proving the value of the company’s contribution to every real estate transaction. Harcourts The Garner Group has nearly 30 agents and staff members and consistently ranks statistically among the top companies in Bend for residential real estate listings and sales. Harcourts is a 125-year-old real estate company with approximately 800 offices in eight countries including the United States. http://thegarnergroup.harcourtsusa.com @thegarnergroup
About Best in Biz Awards
Best in Biz Awards recognizes top companies, teams, executives and products for their business success as judged by established members of the press and industry analysts. Best in Biz Awards honors are conferred in two separate programs annually: North America, and International. Entries will begin to be accepted in the fourth annual Best in Biz Awards International program in January 2016. Any organization worldwide may enter any of the more than 60 company, department or team, executive and product categories. For more information about the entry process and categories in the International program, please visit: http://intl.bestinbizawards.com.
