A few weeks back, we found out that I was selected as a finalist for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for the Utah region.

Last night was the finalist reception and I was able to meet quite a few of the judges, the sponsors, and the other finalists.

To all the other finalists I say good luck and congratulations! I am very proud to be included with the names/companies included in this year’s 25 finalists. It’s a list of incredibly talented and focused entrepreneurs, many of whom I know very well.

I’m honored to be able to represent Doba in this program. All credit goes to my family, Doba’s employees and their families, our vendors and advisory board members, and our thousands of satisfied customers. The award will be announced at a special black-tie gala event on June 27, 2008, at the Salt Palace in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah.

Here is the list of the 2008 Utah Region Finalists:

Agel
Glen Jensen
American Name Services
Jill Grammer-Williams
AtTask, Inc.
Scott Johnson
Companion Systems Design & Manufacturing
John Hansen
Al Tiley
Sally Tiley
Dianne Williams
Costume Craze, LLC
Kate Maloney
Discovery Investment Group
Paul Gifford
Doba
Jeremy Hanks
G Code Ventures / Utah Flash
Brandt Andersen
Harmons
Bob Harmon
Randy Harmon
Mindshare Technologies
Richard Hanks
John Sperry
Move Networks, Inc.
John Edwards
Mozy Inc (Berkeley Data Systems)
Josh Coates
Packsize LLC
Hanko Kiessner
ProPay, Inc.
Gary Goodrich
R&O Construction
Orluff Opheikens
Seastone LC
Warren Osborn
SnapLock Industries, Inc.
Jorgen Moller
Skullcandy
Rick Alden
Suh’dutsing Technologies, LLC
Travis Parashonts
Thomas Arts
Dave Thomas
Titanium Solutions, Inc.
Todd Sibley
United First Financial
Jonathan Bonnette
Don Jorgensen
Matthew Lovelady
John Washenko
Skyler Witman
Wescor, Inc.
Wayne Barlow
Xactware Solutions, Inc.
Jim Loveland
Xlear, Inc.
Nathan Jones

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dobalash (dō-bä’lăsh’)

n.

1. An antagonistic reaction to a trend, development, or event involving Doba.
2. What happens if Doba doesn’t just stop it with all the awards and recognition: “The dobalash reached a new fervor with its recognition by Utah Business as Best Companies to Work For.”
3. The breakdown that will happen if Doba lets even a tiny bit of this go to our heads.

Doba was one of the companies that Utah Business has recognized as a 2007 Best Company to Work For (me, Blaine Nielsen, and Ashley Schaumburg were in the pic on the cover in front of our Doba Green wall). I have to admit I was impressed with the level of detail and the sophistication that Utah Business employs in the process of selecting these companies. The surveys that employees fill out during this process are very comprehensive and complete.

Here’s the part of the article about Doba:

Any visitor to Orem-based drop shipping company Doba can quickly see that this company believes in having fun at work. Employees might be seen playing ping pong, foosball or video games in break rooms. On Wednesday mornings, breakfast is provided for the entire company, and it may even be the CEO mixing the waffles. Doba doesn’t enforce a dress code, believing work can be done just as effectively in T-shirts and shorts as in traditional business attire.

Calling the company “employee-centric,” president Jeremy Hanks says taking care of workers will lead to the best customer service a company can provide. Doba sends gift cards to employees’ family members on birthdays and anniversaries and rents out entire theaters for family movie nights. It also sponsors Doba Day, a celebration of the company’s birthday that includes eating contests, stunts and giveaways.

With so many perks, clocking in at Doba may not even seem like going to work, employees say. And that’s just the way management likes it.

“We place so much emphasis on our employees because we feel like it’s a two-way street,” Hanks says. “They invest a lot into Doba and they believe in our company, so we invest as much as we can in them.”

Though employees love the generous health benefits and competitive compensation, it’s the way they are treated that makes them stay at Doba. Says one employee, “Perks such as a game room and a light-hearted working environment are nice, but the best benefit is working for a company that you can believe in and enjoy going to work at.”

Survey Highlights:

• Access to the Doba Truck, a Ford F-150 with Doba logos.

• Doba Dot awards, a monthly recognition program based on outstanding performance.

• Barbeques and movie nights throughout the year for employees and their families.

This is really awesome. I hope that there really isn’t a dobalash.

I posted over a year and a half ago about Focusing on Your Employees. I truly believe that success in building an amazing company that is a great place to work it’s the sum of many little things. I focus a lot on employees. Having the caliber of employees that we have at Doba makes that sure easier.

Finally, go try this experiment: 1. Get a copy of the November 2007 issue of Utah Business. 2. Hold it up in front of a mirror. 3. You’ll see the secret real title of the cover story: Best Employees in Utah.

In the end, it’s the employees that deserve the recognition more than the companies.

More info from the official Doba release: Doba Honored as a “Best Company to Work For” by Utah Business magazine.

When it rains it pours.

Today, Deloitte announced their annual Technology Fast 500.

The Deloitte Technology Fast 500 is a ranking of the fastest growing technology, media, telecommunications and life sciences companies in North America based on percentage fiscal year revenue growth over five years (2002–2006).

Doba is listed at spot #6 in the 2007 rankings.

You can read more about this year’s companies and see the full list by reading this PDF: 2007 Deloitte Technology Fast 500

And I have a bad feeling that the upwelling of pride that Doba caused in Ricky Bobby yesterday is completely undone with this horrible showing. I’m sorry Ricky for coming in last place. We’ll do better next time.

Today is the very day we started Doba 5 years ago. October 22, 2002. So today was a good day to attend the Mountain West Capital Network (MWCN) Utah 100 event in Salt Lake City.

The main purpose of this event is learning the rankings of the top 100 fastest growing private and public companies in Utah. This morning, we found out that Doba was ranked the #1 fastest growing company in Utah based on percentage revenue increases from 2002 through 2006.

Here’s a photo of me and the Doba executive team with the event’s keynote, Utah Governor Huntsman. We even convinced the Governor to give us a big #1 sign.

When I posted about Doba ranking #23 on the 2007 Inc 500, I listed the people that deserve thanks for Doba’s receipt of recognition like this. Same list applies this time.

Finally, a good friend of mine (Ricky Bobby) lived his life by a simple motto: “If you’re not first, you’re last.” Well Ricky, today Doba made you proud. Shake and Bake.

Damn!!! I think I’m going to start wearing tuxes every day to work. Just because I LOOK SO GOOD!!

Since this alone is enough to keep your mind reeling over the weekend, I’ll wait till next week for more Inc 500 Conference cool stuff.