Join us to Honor the 2008 Award Recipients

Exceptional Leadership and Dedicated Service

Tricia Sticca and Ann Rushlo

Tricia Sticca of Northland Communications, far left, and Ann Rushlo of HSBC Mortgage Corp (USA) who have demonstrated exceptional leadership and dedicated service to the Chamber by bringing the Jack Canfield Professional Development Seminar to Rome and inspiring all of us to succeed and persevere.

Outstanding Contributions to the Cultural Vitality of the Community

Capitol Theatre

The Capitol Theatre, celebrating its 80th anniversary this year, has a full-range of artistic offerings — from theatrical live performances, and big bands and jazz, to modern classic cinema and classic horror and science fiction films, to the glories of the silent film era complete with accompanying music played on its restored and completely operating 1928 Moller organ.

Outstanding Contributions to the Economic Vitality of the Community

Rome Lab

Rome Lab (Air Force Research Laboratory Information Directorate) has a $266,441,444 annual economic impact in the five counties of Oneida, Herkimer, Onondaga, Madison, and Oswego. The operations at the Rome Research Site rely on 1,275 military, civilians, and on-site contractors.

Businesses of the Year

Savoy Restaurant and the Boilermaker Road Race

The Mohawk Valley Business Journal and the Chamber will also present special awards to Businesses of the Year (for-profit and not-for-profit): The Savoy Restaurant, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2008, and the Boilermaker Road Race, which attracts visitors from all over the world and shows the best of what our area has to offer. Both the Savoy and the Boilermaker are well-known traditions in our community.

Guest Speaker

Dr. Kamal Jabbour

My Journey to America

Dr. Kamal Jabbour, Senior Scientist for Information Assurance, Information Directorate, Air Force Research Laboratory, is the principal scientific authority and independent researcher in the field of information assurance, including defensive information warfare and offensive information warfare technology. He conceives, plans, and advocates major research and development activities, monitors and guides the quality of scientific and technical resources, and provides expert technical consultation to other Air Force organizations, Department of Defense and government agencies, universities and industry. Dr. Jabbour is also Program Director of the Advanced Course in Engineering Cyber Security Boot Camp.

Dr. Jabbour began his professional career on the computer engineering faculty at Syracuse University, where he taught and conducted research for two decades, including a three-year term as department chairman. In 1999, he joined the Cyber Operations Branch at AFRL through the Intergovernmental Personnel Act, and transitioned gradually from academia to government. He contributed to building the Offensive Cyber Operations Program at AFRL before assuming his current position.

In response to President Bush's National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace, Dr. Jabbour created the Advanced Course in Engineering in 2003 to develop the best ROTC cadets into future cyber security leaders. The ACE combines advanced academic training, hands-on internships, officer development and weekly eight-mile runs into a challenging cyber security boot camp. Dr. Jabbour has received one U.S. patent, published more than 60 papers in refereed journals. An avid distance runner, Dr. Jabbour wrote a weekly column on running in the Syracuse Post-Standard from 1997 to 2003.

Dr. Jabbour holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Electrical Engineering degree with distinction from the American University of Beirut, Lebanon and a Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical Engineering from the University of Salford, England. In addition, he has attended numerous Air Force Leadership and Development seminars.

12 May 2008