Innovation Award: BuyOnlineNow.com

Our second Innovation Award goes to... BuyOnlineNow.com. I know, you're probably thinking "This awards is supposed to be for local companies, not big retailers." BuyOnlineNow.com is a local company with roots right here in Rochester. They are an online retailer of office products and have been growing quickly and scooping up local talent during the process. I've had the pleasure to work with several of the folks over there, and they are very deserving of this success.

Even better, they just received another award that is much bigger than anything CWS can dish out. BuyOnlineNow.com was ranked #394 out of the 500 fastest growing companies in the U.S by Inc. Magazine. Even better, the numbers in the current article (due out tomorrow) are from the 2005 fiscal year. For 2006, they are now at 20 employees and revenue is projected at 14 million. "This is Exciting stuff!!!", said Nicholas Dibble, their current Director of Information Technologies.

We at CWS have to agree. Considering their business model puts them against huge retailers like OfficeMax.com and OfficeDepot.com, achieving those sales figures for an online storefront is a remarkable feat. For this creativity, BuyOnlineNow gets our second Innovation Award.