Chuck Hammond President/CEO Raining Rose Inc. 11/14/03

CEDAR RAPIDS — The Central Midwest region includes companies based in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska.

Hammond was selected by an independent judging panel made up of previous winners of the award, leading CEOs, private capital investors and other regional business leaders. He and eight other winners from the region were recognized Tuesday at a gala event at the Sheraton in Overland Park, Kan.

Raining Rose is a Cedar Rapids-based producer of natural and organic lip balm and body care items. The company, which has experienced rapid growth in recent years, employs just over 100.

Thomas Cardella, founder, president and chief executive officer of Thomas L. Cardella & Associates, also was a finalist for the award. His Cedar Rapids-based customer contact company focuses on the direct marketing needs of Fortune 500 clients.

Cardella won the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 1998 Central Midwest Award for his achievement with Access Direct, a Cedar Rapids-based contact center business that he sold in 2000.