OPALCO’s new website (www.opalco.com), launched in May 2009, has won the 2009 Silver Davey Award in the Energy category. The Davey Awards is an international creative award focused exclusively on honoring outstanding creative work from the best small firms worldwide. The 2009 Davey Awards received over 4,000 entries from ad agencies, interactive agencies, production firms, in-house creative professionals, graphic designers, design firms, and public relations firms.

The award was presented to Synotac (www.synotac.com), the small web design firm that built the OPALCO website. Synotac is located in Portland, OR and the partners are part-time Orcas Island residents. “The Daveys are geared toward relatively small organizations and the focus is on ideas and execution rather than the whiz-bang factor of big ad agencies,” explained David Drouin, designer for the project. “It’s definitely an honor to have received the award.” 

David defeated the mighty Goliath with a big idea and a little rock. That is the sort of thing small firms do every day. The Davey Awards honors the achievement of the “Creative David’s” where strength comes from ideas, intelligence and out-of-the-box thinking, not a “Giant’s” bankroll.

The Davey is judged and overseen by the International Academy of the Visual Arts (IAVA). The IAVA is an invitation-only member-based organization of leading professionals from various disciplines of the visual arts dedicated to embracing progress and the evolving nature of traditional and interactive media. For more information about the Davey Awards, please visit www.daveyawards.com.

OPALCO is a member-owned cooperative electrical utility serving more than 11,000 members on 20 islands in San Juan County. OPALCO provides electricity that is 95% greenhouse-gas free and is predominately generated by hydro-electric plants. OPALCO was founded in 1937 to bring electricity to rural islanders.