2008 Business for the Arts Awards Finalists:

Philanthropy Award recognizing exemplary corporate citizenship and generosity to arts and culture. Charitable giving generates goodwill and adds value to business enterprises.
Winner
GE Johnson Construction Company
GE Johnson Construction Company won for their generosity in spearheading the renovation and expansion of the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center. As general contractor for the project, GE Johnson donated a considerable amount of in-kind services in addition to major financial gifts. The company is also a large contributor of Colorado Springs' Pikes Peak Art Center, Arts in the Streets and Salon 'arts in Denver.

Finalists
- New Frontier Bank
- U.S. Bank

Innovation Award recognizes a strategic use of arts to propel company success. The synthesis of business and arts can take the form of a creative business, ingenious product, imaginative promotional/public relations campaign or inventive business/arts partnership.
Winner
Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente has a long standing commitment to using live theater and the arts to promote community health. Kaiser Permanente employs 13 diverse actors who produce plays and offer skill building workshops in school and community settings at no charge to over 32,000 students per year. The focus is on messages of prevention through healthy eating and active living. This program fosters an appreciation for the art form of theater as well as furthering healthy changes in individual behavior.

Finalists
- Mental Health Center of Denver
- Tagawa Gardens

Workforce Award recognizes company programs that engage employees with creativity and the arts. Arts opportunities build skills, unleash creative potential, and increase morale, teamwork and innovation.

Winner
ripcord, LLC
ripcord has made a significant contribution to encouraging creative thinking in under-served youth. After ripcord partners identified Arts Street as an arts-based nonprofit aligned with their creative marketing company vision, the entire ripcord staff offered countless hours of time to create and host a very successful fundraising event. This began a long-term and mutually beneficial partnership resulting in significant benefits to members of both organizations, the youth served and the larger community.

Finalists
- Holland & Hart
- Ron's Printing Center

Workspace Award pays tribute to an exceptional work environment that advances business objectives. Through architecture, interior design, space planning or art collections, workspace can foster employee creativity and morale while communicating corporate identity and style.

Winner
Anchor Center for Blind Children
Anchor Center for Blind Children's new teaching facility embraces all the senses, and the building itself functions as a teaching tool. This unique school for very young blind children incorporates experimental features into its design to support the children's varying levels of sensory ability and helps to build their confidence to explore their surroundings. Anchor Center for Blind Children's buildings and grounds themselves have also been designed as art forms through their use of color, texture and sound.

Finalists
- The Children's Hospital
- San Luis Valley Regional Medical Center

Event entertainment highlights included outstanding performances by The Dutch Hop Music Makers, Rene Marie, Curious Theatre Company, Denver Film Society and Denver Office of Cultural Affairs, and Ballet Nouveau Colorado. Jim Benemann, CBS4 News Anchor, emceed the event.

In addition to lead sponsors, Ernst & Young, LLP and Pinnacol Assurance, supporters of the luncheon included Kaiser Permanente, The Publishing House, JohnstonWells Public Relations, Qwest, ColoradoBIZ Magazine, Colorado Data Mail, and Post-News Community.