Among a sold-out crowd of 610 at Waypoint 4180 last night, President & CEO of Dawn, Incorporated, Dawn Ochman, was named the recipient of the 2022 ATHENA Award, presented by the Regional Chamber and The Vindicator/Vindy.com.
The ATHENA Award is given annually to recognize area business and professional women who have demonstrated excellence in their chosen career, provided leadership in the community and mentored or contributed to the growth of other professional women.
In 1993, Ochman started her business as a dump truck hauler with one truck and grew to 30 trucks within 10 years. A few years later, she decided to expand into construction and now does business in six states. About a decade ago, the company had four employees but has since grown to 31, having added clients that include the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Army Reserves, U.S. District Courts and Piercing Pagoda. To accommodate its growth, Dawn, Inc. purchased five acres next door to its Warren facility to expand. This year the company is completing a $12 million renovation of an aircraft maintenance hangar for the Air National Guard. (See more on page 2.)
Hubbard native Dr. Curren Katz, senior director for Data Science & Digital Health for Janssen Research & Development at Johnson & Johnson, keynoted the 29th annual ATHENA Award event, and 30 nominees were honored. In addition, the 15th ATHENA Scholarship—a $1,500, one-time award created in partnership with the Community Foundation of the Mahoning Valley—was presented to Annabelle Himes, who is majoring in business and human resource management at Youngstown State University, maintains a 4.0 GPA and will be a junior this fall.
Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield also presented for the 10th year two additional scholarships in the amount of $1,250 each to Campbell Memorial High School senior Jazzlyn Flores and Beaver Local High School senior Leah Riccardo. Both will continue their education at YSU, as well.
The Athena Award Dinner was sponsored by Huntington Bank, Personal Protected, Anthem, Professional Generator Systems, Inc., Packer Thomas, Youngstown State University, ONE Health Ohio, HBK, Lee & Bonnie Deutsch Burdman, Dawn, Inc., Valley Economic Development Partners, Nothing Bundt Cakes, Kropp Photography, Phantom Fireworks, Platt Insurance Group, Sweeney, Salem Regional Medical Center, Vallourec, Akron Children’s Hospital Mahoning Valley, Humtown Products and Waypoint 4180.