The 2007 IndUS Business Journal Award winners are listed below. Nominate for 2007 HERE CATEGORY   WINNER Business Person of the Year   TBA To Be Announced ............................................................................................................. Best Business Idea   TBA To Be Announced ............................................................................................................. Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals   TBA To Be Announced ............................................................................................................. Education   TBA To Be Announced ............................................................................................................. Financial Services   TBA To Be Announced ............................................................................................................. Franchisee   TBA To Be Announced ............................................................................................................. Franchisor   TBA To Be Announced ............................................................................................................. Healthcare & Medicine   TBA To Be Announced .............................................................................................................. Hospitality   TBA ............................................................................................................. Indo-U.S. Trade & Investment   TBA .............................................................................................................. Legal Services   TBA .............................................................................................................. Professional Organizations   TBA .............................................................................................................. Technology   TBA .............................................................................................................. Venture Capital   TBA 2006 Business Person of the Year | Steve Sanghi Steve Sanghi is chief executive officer and chairman of Arizona-based Microchip Technology Inc., a publicly traded maker of microcontroller and analog semiconductors. Sanghi joined Microchip in 1990 as president and led a turnaround of the company. He was named chief executive officer in 1991 and the chairman in 1993. Microchip totaled $846.9 million in sales in 2005, up from $699.3 in 2004. The company currently pays 19 cents a share, per quarter on its stock, one of the highest numbers in the technology industry and has the best performing stock in the semiconductor industry. The company also boasts the highest operating profits in the semiconductor industry (36 percent last quarter). Since going public Microchip has increased its market capitalization from $81 million to $6.75 billion. Sanghi has also authored a recently published book about Microchip's success called, "Driving Excellence: How the Aggregate System Turned Microchip Technology from a Failing Company to a Market Leader." back to the top 2006 Best Business Idea | Subhendu Guha Subhendu Guha is president and chief operating officer of United Solar Ovonic LLC, headquartered Auburn Hills, Mich. The company is a developer of thin-film solar products. Over the past three years sales of its flexible solar roof shingles have doubled annually. The company's last reported annual revenues were $80 million. The company has recently begun a $70 million expansion, which will double its production capacity. back to the top 2006 Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals | Ram Sasisekharan Ram Sasisekharan is founder of the Cambridge, Mass.-based Momenta Pharmaceuticals, which specializes in applying advanced technology for complex sugars to the discovery and development of drugs. In July, the publicly trade company raised net proceeds of $122.3 million through a public offering of approximately 4.8 million shares of common stock. Sasisekharan is also a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he is involved in groundbreaking research using nanocells to fight cancer. back to the top 2006 Education | Mahesh Sharma Mahesh Sharma is president of Cambridge College located in Cambridge, Mass. The college is a multicultural campus community that recognizes diversity as an asset in the classroom. About two-fifths of the students are members of minority groups. Special programs train educators from Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Nigeria. With a student body whose average age is 39, Cambridge College is devoted to adult learners. back to the top 2006 Financial Services | Sushil Tuli Sushil Tuli is the founder and chairman of Leader Bank. The bank, which has two branches in the Boston suburb of Arlington, opened a branch in neighboring Cambridge in July 2005. Leader Bank offers a range of personal and business services including free checking, no minimum deposits, free online banking and free bill payment. The bank also belongs to an ATM network that has 9,000 locations throughout New England and offers commercial and personal loans. It currently has over $160 million in assets. back to the top 2006 Franchisee | Falgun Dharia Falgun Dharia is the founder of Mantiff Management Inc. The Wayne, N.J.-based company is the umbrella company for his franchise and hotel portfolio. In recent years, Dharia sold off his 45 Dunkin' Donuts stores, while branching into the Golden Corral Buffet and Grill chain. Dharia also signed a 21-store deal with Houlihan's Restaurant Inc. for locations in New York, Connecticut, Arizona and Texas. Dharia got into the hotel business in November 2001 with the Holiday Inn Express just outside of Hartford, Conn. He has been steadily adding properties ever since; brands include Holiday Inn, Hampton Inns and Knights Inn. back to the top 2006 Franchisor | Mail Boxes Etc., Inc. (A UPS Company) Late last year, Mail Boxes Etc. Inc. set its sights on the thriving Indian franchise industry and announced plans to launch The UPS Store concept in India. The deal to launch The UPS Store brand in India is the first time UPS will be introducing The UPS Store concept outside of the United States, as well as the first time a new market has been developed exclusively as The UPS Store. The plan is to open between 100 to 150 stores in the next several years, mostly in major cities in India. United Parcel Service of America Inc. subsidiary Mail Boxes Etc. franchises both The UPS Store and Mail Boxes Etc. locations. back to the top 2006 Health care & Medicine | Dr. Abha Agarwal Dr. Abha Agrawal is trying to lower a medical errors death toll that has hit almost 100,000 a year in the United States. She is the director of medical informatics and the associate medical director at King's County Hospital in Brooklyn, N.Y. Last year, she was also appointed a commissioner on the board of the Certification Commission for Heatlhcare Information Technology. She is the only Indian-American serving on its board of 18 commissioners. Agrawal was nominated by the National Heart Association to represent its 4,800 hospitals and health-care organizations, and 33,000 members. back to the top 2006 Hospitality | Elite Hospitality Inc. Elite Hospitality had a busy stretch last year when the growing hospitality company opened a new hotel, bought three more properties and had one of its hotels awarded for improvement. The Daytona Beach, Fla.-based Elite Hospitality owns and operates franchise and independent properties including Hilton Garden Inns, Hampton Inns, Wingate Inns, Comfort Inns, Quality Inns and Sleep Inns. back to the top 2006 Indo-U.S. Trade & Investment | Citigroup Citigroup, a leading global financial services company has some 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 100 countries, providing consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, and wealth management. In 2005, Citigroup invested more than half a billion dollars to grow its Indian business. This is the largest ever capital infusion by Citigroup into this country, clearly signaling that it now wants to scale up its business in the world's fourth largest economy in terms of purchasing power. back to the top 2006 Legal Services | Navneet Chugh Navneet S. Chugh is the managing partner of The Chugh Firm. The Chugh Firm has offices in Los Angeles, Santa Clara, Calif., Iselin, N.J., and Bangalore, India. Chugh has extensive experience in a wide variety of corporate, transactional, taxation and mergers and acquisitions matters. He has been an attorney-at-law since 1992, and a Certified Public Accountant since 1990. He has been a Certified Financial Planner since 1994. Chugh was the founding president of the National South Asian Bar Association, which was started in 2003 and represents 5,000 South Asian lawyers in the United States and Canada. back to the top 2006 Professional Organizations | American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin In the past year, the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin has stepped up as a top organization in response to several natural disasters including the tsunami that struck Asia, Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico and the earthquake that hit Kashmir and Pakistan. Most notably, the Houston chapter of AAPI headed up the treatment efforts for many of the Katrina victims who left a flooded New Orleans. About 200 doctors of Indian origin in the Houston area were essential to the city's response in sheltering 30,000 Katrina victims. back to the top 2006 Technology | Shri Thanedar Shri Thanedar is chief executive officer of the St. Louis-based Chemir Analytical Services, which provides chemical analysis and testing to a wide variety of industries, using a combination of analytical capabilities, instrumentation, technical expertise and quality systems. Current divisions include Chemir Analytical Services, a non-routine problem solving laboratory, Chemir Analytical Services-Michigan, a research and development laboratory serving the paints, coatings and inks industries; and Industrial Testing Laboratories, a customized mechanical and metallurgical testing facility. In 2005, company sales jumped to $16 million from $6.2 million in 2004. Chemir has 120 employees. back to the top 2006 Venture Capital | Norwest Venture Partners Vab Goel is a partner at the Palo Alto, Calif.-based Norwest Venture Partners. He has led a spate of recent investments including the funding of Yatra, which is based in New Delhi, India. The online travel company will help businesses and consumers book airline, railway and bus tickets, and reserve hotel rooms and car rentals through three options: by phone, through the Web or using mobile handsets. Norwest Venture Partners has funded over 350 companies and currently manages over $1.8 billion in venture capital. It predominantly focuses on information technology in areas such as semiconductors, software, services and consumer/Internet technologies. back to the top