Space Florida Wins CoreNet Global's 13th-Annual H. Bruce Russell Global Innovator's Award

ORLANDO, Fla., Oct. 8, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Space Florida, the state of Florida's aerospace economic development agency, was awarded CoreNet Global's 13th-Annual H. Bruce Russell Global Innovator's Award (GIA) for Boeing's Commercial Crew Program Headquarters and Manufacturing Site for its CST-100 Commercial Crew Capsule. Award results were announced during the Opening General Session at CoreNet Global's Summit in Orlando on 8 October, 2012.

"Space Florida, NASA/Kennedy Space Center and Boeing are demonstrating the vital importance of public-private partnerships as a strategic resource at a time when the economy is more constrained yet we need to find the most effective solutions to advancing critical needs surrounding life science, medical advances and technological innovation," said CoreNet Global Chairman Jim Scannell of the Travelers Companies. "Space Florida's work bolsters the case for the viability of manned space flight as it benefits both society and business."

Bernie McShea, Vice President of Business Development for Space Florida, accepted the Global Innovator's Award and commented on the productive use of public assets as a key element of the group's winning formula. "Bringing together state and federal government with the private sector sets the stage for success in the new era of commercial aerospace," he said. He noted how "unlike traditional government contracting, companies assume much more risk in the public-private partnership model, so that by bringing surplus government assets into play and making them available to companies is a meaningful way to create a win-win situation for everyone involved, ultimately at a lower cost to the taxpayer."

The initiative, which was pursued successfully by a team that also included NASA/Kennedy Space Center and Enterprise Florida, is estimated to create 550 headquarters, engineering and precision manufacturing/assembly jobs in the local area by December 2015  ̶  the date by which Boeing expects the CST-100 will become operational in carrying astronauts to the International Space Station.

"Congratulations to Space Florida and its team for their negotiation skills," said Aditi Sant with Bank of America and one of this year's GIA judges. "This initiative explored corporate real estate in the full sense of innovation – it touched design, project planning, economic development and sustainability."

Other GIA Finalists included:

• OVG Real Estate for its work on the TNT Centre in The Netherlands. This finalist was also the winner of the 2012 Sustainable Leadership Award
• Sprint/CBRE for its Site Assessment Mobile Application. This finalist was a co-winner of the 2012 Industry Excellence Award.
• Microsoft for its Smart-Building Solutions. This finalist was also a co-winner of the 2012 Industry Excellence Award.
• The Christman Company and the Iowa Utilities Board's Office of Consumer Advocate in Des Moines, Iowa.
• BNIM and the National Headquarters for Accident Fund Insurance in Lansing, Mich.

"Each of the candidates demonstrated the willingness to go beyond the status quo to make improvements in their field and be leaders of innovation in the industry," said Chelsie Butler, Editor of THE LEADER magazine and Awards Manager at CoreNet Global.

Judges for the 2012 GIA were well represented by leading companies and included:

• Billy Baker, Senior Director, Portfolio Planning, Capital One
• Roy Black, Director of the Real Estate Program and Professor in the Practice of Finance, Goizueta Business School, Emory University
• Roger Gaudette, Director of Engineering, Planning & Estimating Asset Management, Ford Land
• Lisa Marie Huls-Fry, Executive Managing Director, Principal, Cassidy Turley
• Rick Kriva, VP Global Real Estate, Honeywell International
• Sally Maxwell, Program Manager, IBM Real Estate Operations
• Trex Morris, Global Real Estate Leader, EYG Services, Procurement, Ernst & Young
• Aditi Sant, SVP, Global Workplace, Bank of America
• Bruce Thorpe, Global Energy & Critical Environments, NVIDIA

About CoreNet Global
CoreNet Global is the world's leading association for corporate real estate and workplace professionals, service providers and economic developers. Our 7,000 members, who include 70 percent of the top 100 U.S. companies and nearly half of the Global 2000, meet locally, globally and virtually to develop networks, share knowledge, learn and thrive professionally. For more information, visit www.corenetglobal.org.

SOURCE CoreNet Global