SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Global assurance, tax and advisory services leader Ernst & Young (EY) announced that Chris Moore, co-founder of Old Stove Brewery and founder of Concord Technologies, received the Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2019 Award in the Mold Breaker category in the Pacific Northwest Region. Moore, who founded Concord in 1996, was selected by an independent panel of judges and presented with the award during a black-tie gala at the prestigious King Street Ballroom and Perch in downtown Seattle June 14.
As the world’s most prestigious business awards program for entrepreneurs, Entrepreneur Of The Year recognizes entrepreneurs who are excelling in areas such as innovation, financial performance and personal commitment to their businesses and communities, while also transforming our world. It was a well-balanced mix of all those categories that led to Moore’s recognition; however, Moore’s foresight and innovation in three key projects led him to winning the “Mold Breaker” category.
First with Concord Technologies, he saw the benefit of delivering fax over the internet long before the “cloud” moniker was born. Then he founded Old Stove Brewery in Pike Place Market in 2016, and his most recent venture and major investment in preserving The Mill at Vicksburg—a historic paper mill he’s transforming into a mixed-use campus that will include meeting and convention space, multiple indoor and outdoor concert venues, an Old Stove Brewery and Taproom, residential, commercial and outdoor recreation space, and a boutique hotel while also stimulating long-term economic revitalization in his hometown of Vicksburg, Michigan.
In 1996, Concord served as an online hosted service provider for the popular WinFax Pro fax software, but by 1999, the company had created and delivered the SAAS industry standards for internet fax and unified messaging operating through the world’s most prolific fax software. With Concord firmly established as the leading provider of online fax solutions for health care, in 2018 Moore extended the “CloudFax” platform with a new set of easy-to-use cloud software services the company branded as “NEXTSTEP.” This new service enables Concord to go beyond delivering faxed patient records electronically by allowing customers to digitally incorporate those documents into clinical workflows and ultimately, to become usable parts of an electronic patient record.
“Today, health care providers spend too much time and money managing patient information—we want to change that,” said Chris Moore. “At Concord, we've developed AI technology that enables automation in the processing of patient data. Our commitment is to helping health care providers spend fewer resources managing data, so they can focus on superior patient care."
Moore's success with Concord led to entrepreneurial endeavors that are focused on the community around him: In 2016, he founded Old Stove Brewery, which is now the anchor tenant for the MarketFront at historic Pike Place Market. In his native Michigan, Moore is spearheading the restoration of Vicksburg's historic paper mill. The Mill at Vicksburg not only remediates a brownfield site and preserves historical buildings, it also fosters job creation and long-term economic stimulation in Southwest Michigan.
At the June 14 event Moore thanked his parents for their love and support to help him get where he is. He also acknowledged that the award helps recognize a childhood dream of being an entrepreneur: “Ever since I was a little kid I always wanted to be an entrepreneur and I’ve been able to live my life that way. I’m very appreciative of this recognition of how my life has unfolded.”
As a Pacific Northwest award winner, Moore is now eligible for consideration for the Entrepreneur Of The Year 2019 National Awards, which are held Nov. 16 in Palm Springs.