Ninth House Inc. and Chief Executive Named as Finalists for the 2006 Stevie Awards

Ninth House Inc, the leadership and management development company, today announced that the company and Jeff Snipes, CEO and co-founder, were respectively named as Finalists in the Best Turnaround Company and Best Turnaround Executive categories in the fourth annual American Business Awards.

Hailed as the business world’s own Oscars by the New York Post (April 27, 2005), The American Business Awards are the only national, all-encompassing business awards program honoring great performances in the workplace. Members of the Awards’ Board of Distinguished Judges & Advisors and their staffs will select Stevie Award winners this week from among the Finalists. Finalists were chosen by business professionals nationwide during preliminary judging in March through early May.

Being named a Finalist in The American Business Awards is an important achievement, said Michael Gallagher, founder and president of The Stevie Awards. It means that independent business executives have agreed that the nominee is worthy of national recognition. We congratulate all of the Finalists on their achievement and wish them well in the competition.

Ninth House is consistently ranked by Forbes Magazine and Gartner as one of the leading providers of learning solutions, and impacts over 100,000 learners a year as one of the fastest growing, self-sustaining companies in the industry. Since 2001, Ninth House has nearly doubled the number of customers from 100 to about 200 top global 2000 customers and federal organizations, while increasing sales by 50% year over year since 2000. Ninth House’s turnaround is directly attributed to Snipes’ leadership and management ability to rebuild its sales & marketing organization, revamp product focus and positioning, and foster a culture of intense loyalty and customer focus from employees.

Ninth House is a special place. We’ve been able to attract and retain a unique level of talented professionals truly committed to innovative leadership development and customer success, said Snipes. Over the last few years we’ve had to reinvent almost every aspect of our business to adjust to changing market demands, and our leading position in the industry today is due entirely to the passion and adaptability of those employees.

Nicknamed the Stevies for the Greek word crowned, winners will be announced during the annual gala on Monday, June 12 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City. More than 800 executives from across the U.S.A. are expected to attend. The ceremonies will be videocast on the Internet and broadcast on radio. The elegant Stevie trophy was designed by R. S. Owens, the same company that makes the Oscar and the Emmy.