POCATELLO - One award winner is a heart surgeon who lists his cell phone number on his business card so patients can call him at any time with questions.

Another winner organized a highly successful golf tournament when he was just 15 years old. And a third winner is a key reason why the community is fast becoming a hub for high-tech industries.

A crowd of more than 280 people that included some of the community's most amazing business minds gathered at the Red Lion Hotel Thursday morning for the Ninth Annual Idaho State Journal Business Awards.

A field of 57 accomplished nominees was whittled down to 36 finalists. And at the breakfast, eight awards were given. Many awards were presented by the previous year's winner.

Sam Nettinga took home a new award for Volunteer of the Year. Bob Klosterboer won in the Technology and Communications category. Dr. Joseph Steiner won in the Education category. Gynii Gilliam won in Industry and Agriculture. Ken and Daphne Eline won in the Retail category. Stephanie Palagi won in the Government and Nonprofit category. Dr. Jacob DeLaRosa won in the Professional Service category. And Ryan Ben Ward was named Overachiever Under 40.

Klosterboer, the Pocatello site manager for ON Semiconductor, was presented award by a colleague, ON Vice President of Manufacturing John Spicer. Spicer credited Klosterboer for providing stability throughout a tumultuous time while the company, formerly AMI Semiconductor, made an ownership transition.

"Bob always puts his people first," Spicer said, citing a common trait among the award winners.

Steiner, dean of Idaho State University's College of Pharmacy, is in charge of the state's entire pharmacy program and was praised for getting his pharmacy students to take an active role in providing health care to the community.

Gilliam is the executive director of Bannock Development Corp., charged with luring industry into the community and helping existing businesses with expansions.

The Elines own a local business that sells invisible fences for pets. They recently donated oxygen masks used for treating animals for smoke inhalation from house fires.

"We recognize you have to give back in order to receive," Daphne Eline said.

Mayor Roger Chase awarded Palagi, executive director of Old Town Pocatello Inc., and described how the appearance of the downtown area has been transformed thanks under her leadership.

"Without the efforts of Stephanie Palagi, I don't know where we'd be," Chase said. "When you look at … the downtown area of our community, Stephanie Palagi was a godsend."

DeLaRosa was introduced simply as a man who gives his customers "a second lease on life." DeLaRosa is the head surgeon of Portneuf Medical Center's new cardiac unit.

"In 2004, we came here and we said we were going to have a renowned heart and vascular center, and we've done it," DeLaRosa said. "Where we're going is only up."

Ward's title belies his age. The 34-year-old is the senior vice president and senior real estate lender for Citizen's Community Bank. But he's always been won to exceed expectations. While in high school, he organized a successful charity golf tournament. Ward now serves his community in many capacities, including as a Little League coach and a Special Olympics volunteer.

The final award of the night went to Nettinga, a man with so many civic accomplishments under his belt, the award presenter opted not to list them all, joking it would extend the breakfast into lunch time.

Nettinga's most recent project was to oversee efforts to build a statue of Chief Pocatello for the community. That statue is now complete and has been entirely paid off.

"With this Chief Pocatello project, the entire community was involved. I don't even know how it all came together, but it started seven or eight years ago," Nettinga said. "This has got to be the greatest community anyone could ever have the pleasure of living in."