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Werkadoo

 

2010 Stevie Award Winner

Company: Werkadoo, Inc. Houston, TX U.S.A.
Company Description: Werkadoo is poised to be the leading online platform for the professionals within the contingent workforce and those businesses needing to hire them. Werkadoo has a matching algorithm that will look beyond the resume, matching both the candidates skills and professional dimensions (work compatibility) to a project/position posted on the site.
Nomination Category: Company/Organization Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Best New Company of the Year

Nomination Title: Werkadoo, Inc.

Describe for the judges the activities and accomplishments of the nominated company during the eligibility period (up to 500 words):

Bridgette is responsible for not only having defined Werkadoo's vision and long-
term strategy but she is also responsible for having formulated a winning, proven
team that will help meet growth and product strategies over the next years. Such
talent Werkadoo has attracted and attained come from prestigeous universities
such as Rice and Wharton Business School, as well as from world renowned
technology corporations such as AT&T, HP and Brightmail, a Symantec company,
and Lucent Technologies. Much like herself, she is building a team with an
interesting mix between experience and eager to learn. With minimal investment
she has been able to take a concept and build that into a product in less than a
year, with average weekly market adoption growing at more than 125%. As the
product continues towards validation, it has already been adopted within the energy
industry as a preferred tool internationally. In addition, local staffing firms
have begun utilizing the product as one they will leverage through additional value
added services to clientele in multiple industries. Further, Werkadoo has already
received many accolades of recognition and awards, with the most recent being
having been the recipient of the 2009 Most Promising I.T. and Web 2.0 Company
award from Rice University. In extension, the company and Bridgette have been
featured in multiple articles, as well as on the Good Day Houston Show, where she
was featured as a leading knowledge expert in job market subjects.

With Werkadoo's pursuit towards fostering fellow entrepreneurs, they were directly
responsible for spearheading EntrepreneurCamp Houston, both in 2009 and 2010.
The combined events had over 500 professionals, investors, entrepreneurs, and
institutional representatives that have come from around the state to learn from
one another in an all-day event. These events, as well, received press coverage and
recognition from incubators and higher education institutions.

Through product and market validation, Bridgette continues to remains focused and
determined in building a valuable product that professionals and companies now,
and in the future, will use as a primary tool when finding the ideal fit between
the
two. She is loyal to the vision Werkadoo possesses and is steadfast in matching
one professional at a time to the positions, and companies, they will thrive and
grow in.

List the URLs (web addresses) of any online news stories, press releases, or other documents that you would like the judges to see that support your entry. IMPORTANT: List each URL on a separate line, begin each URL with http://, and enclose each URL in square brackets. For example, [http://www.yourcompany.com/pressrelease.html]:

http://www.startuphouston.com/2010/02/16/werkadoo-officially-launches-seeks-to-
become-the-eharmony-of-business/

http://blogs.chron.com/techblog/archives/2010/02/werkadoo_reworks_itself_with_
new_site_business_plan.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm
_campaign=Feed:+houstonchronicle/techblog+(TechBlog)

http://startuplucky.com/2010/04/01/start-up-werkadoo-like-eharmony-but-for-business-sxswi-2010/

http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl?id=2009_4746827

Provide a brief biography of the person or persons who lead the nominated company (up to 100 words):

We work more in a day than we do anything else. Those that thrive in their work
find similar reward in their personal life. When you've experienced how
enriching it is to be within an organization where your talents are valued and your seed to
thrive is nurtured ... where there is a balanced harmony between a professional being
appreciated and a company meeting goals, you now understand the purpose
behind Werkadoo, Inc. Bridgette Penel is Founder, and CEO, of Werkadoo, Inc., a
technology focused on helping professionals and companies find the ideal fit
through behavioral characteristics and professional dimensions in order to meet the
objectives of both. She feels every professional deserves to be in a rewarding,
fulfilling career, as much as companies deserve to have loyal, dedicated and
thriving staff - it is her passion behind this theory that has been her fuel behind
Werkadoo. Having successfully founded, and operated, two previous start-ups,
Bridgette utilizes all that she has learned in parallel with her extensive
background in project management within the technology industry to direct Werkadoo's vision
and mission into reality. Bridgette is an eclectic mix between self-taught and
experience. She is leader who carries obvious passion behind the companies she
has been part of while managing an international family, with two young children
both under the age of six! Her lifelong goal is to help other women in
underdeveloped societies find purpose through entrepreneuralism and continued
education.

Choose one (even if both apply):

The CEO (or other principal manager) of this company is a woman, and at least 40% of the management team is comprised of women.