Clinical Research Advantage’s Finance Department received two national honors in this year’s Best in Biz Awards, the only independent business awards program judged by members of the press and industry analysts. The company received the Silver Award for Finance Executive of the Year and Finance Department of the Year.

Jim Vesely, Chief Financial Officer, and his team of Sandy Zipp, Accountant, and Jan Jacobson, Accounting Associate, were recognized for developing and implementing a metrics system that allowed the company to increase revenue and obtain the capital needed for expansion. CRA experienced rapid growth in 2011 and 2012, becoming largest and most therapeutically diverse integrated site network in the clinical trials industry.

“Jim Vesely and his team have done an extraordinary job. Through their efforts, CRA was able to grow our geographic presence and our employee base at a time when many other businesses in our industry were cutting back,” said Mark S. Hanley, CRA’s Chief Executive Officer. “The awards received by Jim, Sandy and Jan are well deserved.”

More than 400 entries were received in this year’s awards program, from a wide array of public and private companies of all sizes and from a variety of industries and regions in the U.S. and Canada.

Winners of Best in Biz Awards 2012 were determined by an independent panel of 32 judges from top-tier news, business and technology publications, as well as broadcast outlets and analyst firms, such as ABC, Businessweek, Computerworld, ECT News Network, Entrepreneur, eWeek, Examiner, Financial Times, Forbes, FOX News, Hartford Business Journal, IDG Ventures, IEEE Institute, Inc., Insight Media, King Features Syndicate, Lab Reviews, Network World, The News and Observer, PC Magazine, ReadWriteWeb, South Florida Business Journal, Tech-Gaming, Techtalk, Upstart Business Journal, USA Today and ZDNet.