The Minnesota High Tech Association (MHTA) on Thursday named the Minnesota businesses and executives who are up for this year's annual Tekne Awards.

The Tekne Awards honor companies and individuals who play a significant role in discovering new technologies that educate, improve lifestyles, and impact the lives and futures of people living in Minnesota and all over the world. This year marks the award's 11th year.

Awards are separated into categories that recognize innovation, development, commercialization, and management of technology.

“This year's Tekne Award finalists are outstanding examples of why Minnesota continues to be a front-runner in innovative technology,” MaryFrances Schurb, interim president of MHTA, said in a statement. “These quality leaders continue to raise the bar year after year as they pave the way for excellence through their progressive thinking and leadership.”

The winners will be announced on November 3 at an event at the Minneapolis Convention Center, which will be emceed by Paul Douglas.

Categories and finalists for the 2010 Tekne Awards, along with each company's headquarters, are:

*Established companies include those with annual revenues of more than $50 million, and small and growing companies include those with annual revenues under $50 million.

Advanced Manufacturing Award

– Established company finalists: 3M Company (St. Paul), PaR Systems (Shoreview), and Starkey Laboratories, Inc. (Eden Prairie)

– Small and growing company finalists: Allen Interactions Inc. (Mendota Heights), Hysitron, Inc. (Eden Prairie), and ION Corporation (Minnetonka)

Cleantech Award

Activeion Cleaning Solutions (Rogers), EarthClean Corporation (Minneapolis), and Tennant Company (Minneapolis)

Green Award

Asset Recovery Corporation (St. Paul), Cortec Corporation (St. Paul), and Latuff Brothers, Inc. (St. Paul)

Innovation in Teaching (K-12) Award

Aaron Doering, University of Minnesota (Minneapolis); Jennifer Nelson, Eden Prairie Schools (Eden Prairie); and Scot Hovan, Mahtomedi Engineering Leadership Program (Mahtomedi)

Innovative Collaboration of the Year Award

Bemidji State University and 360¼ Manufacturing & Applied Center of Excellence (both in Bemidji), General Mills and Koda Energy (both in Golden Valley), and Genesys Works (St. Paul)

IT-Software & Hardware, Communications and Infrastructure Award

– Established company finalists: Merrill DataSite (St. Paul), Thomson Reuters (Eagan), and Vital Images, Inc. (Minnetonka)

– Small and growing company finalists: Calabrio, Inc. (Plymouth), Digitiliti Inc. (St. Paul), and Global Traffic Technologies (St. Paul)

Life Sciences Award

– Established company finalists: American Medical Systems (Minnetonka), Coloplast Corporation (Minneapolis), and Medtronic, Inc. (Minneapolis)

– Small and growing company finalists: Ativa Medical (St. Paul), CoreSpine Technologies, LLC (Minnetonka), and Vegizyme, LLC (Minnetonka)

Next Generation Technology Leader

Matt Meents, Reside, LLC (Minneapolis); Molly Decklever, BenchmarkQA (Minneapolis); and Ralph Awad, VISI (Eden Prairie)

Technology Excellence in Higher Education or Non-Profit Organization

Minnesota Planetarium Society (Minneapolis), Saint John's University (Collegeville), and The Works (Edina)

Technology Executive of the Year Award

Abdul Bengali, Mayo Clinic (Rochester); Gene Lytwyn, WynEdge Software, Inc. (Minnetonka); and Peter Jackson, Thomson Reuters (Eagan)

Technology Services Award

– Established company finalists: Digital River, Inc. (Eden Prairie), Pearson VUE (Bloomington), and Thomson Reuters (Eagan).

– Small and growing company finalists: ID Insight, Inc. (Northfield), ImageTrend, Inc. (Lakeville), and Open Access Technology International, Inc. (Minneapolis)

Technology User Award

Cargill, Inc. (Wayzata), Honeywell, (Golden Valley), and IndusTrack (Minneapolis)

-Melissa Loth