awards

Citizens for Modern Transit received a 2024 AARP Community Challenge grant in June 2024. The organization was one of only 343 grantees selected (out of 3,300+ applications) from across all 50 states, Washington D.C, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. This quick-action $20,000 grant will help provide the capital needed to further the latest “Transit Stop Transformation” project being spearheaded by CMT and AARP in St. Louis at MetroBus Stop #9045, located at 13^th Street and Gravois Avenue near Soulard in the City of St. Louis. This project will turn the dilapidated corner stop into a fresh, vibrant and engaging space. The partners have transformed five MetroBus and/or Metro Transit Centers to-date with two more underway. The Hauser Group has garnered hundreds of media placements tied to these transformations with a collective reach of 14.5 million and a media value just shy of $1 million. 

Trenise Winters, assistant executive director of Metro Transit, and Kimberly Cella, executive director of Citizen for Modern Transit, were featured in the Illinois Business Journal’s Women at Work special section in May 2024 spotlighting the tremendous impact of female businesswomen in the St. Louis region.

St. Clair County Transit District captured a 2023 OLGA (Outstanding Local Government Achievements) AWARD from East-West Gateway Council of Governments in the category of “Exemplary Collaboration, Partnership or Regional Initiative” for the new Public Safety Center at the Emerson Park Transit Center. The new, state of the art facility, opening in 2024 at the Emerson Park MetroLink Station in East St. Louis, Illinois, will house the St. Clair County CENCOM West 9-1-1 Emergency Dispatch Center, contain office space for the St. Clair County Transit District and St. Clair County Sheriff deputies as well as serve as a backup Metro Transit Operations Control Center. Owned and operated by St. Clair County Transit District, the center will help bolster communications and security collaboration among public safety partners.

UScellular was recognized with an Impact Award from COMO Magazine in September 2021 for being the Most Impactful Philanthropic Company in Columbia, Mo. The nod came as a result of UScellular’s ongoing support of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Columbia, which includes providing the organization with 80 hotspots for kids without internet access at home, 25 tablets, hygiene kits and additional Wi-Fi access points and donating $165,000 to the club to further STEM programming. The company also hosts an annual Black History Month Art Contest at the club and its associates volunteer at several different events throughout the year.

UScellular – along with five of its PR agencies that support the wireless company in different markets – (The Hauser Group, Laughlin Constable, Lukas Partners, McIntyre Communications and Saxum) – were recognized with a 2021 Bronze Anvil Award of Commendation. The award, presented in May 2021 by the Public Relations Society of America recognized the “UScellular Creates Nostalgic Family Fun Amid Summer Pandemic” campaign, which brought a free, drive-in movie experience to towns across USCellular’s footprint during COVID-19. The Bronze Anvil awards recognize and honor the very best public relations tactics executed each year. The competition drew a total of 358 entries and, of those, 56 organizations were selected by the Bronze Anvil Judges as Bronze Anvil Award of Commendation winners, including the UScellular campaign which was honored in the Media Relations > Consumer Products > Technology category.

Mary Lamie, head of the St. Louis Regional Freightway and Executive Vice President of Multimodal Enterprises at Bi-State Development, received a 2020 Women in Supply Chain Award from Supply & Demand Chain Executive Magazine. This prestigious award honors female supply chain leaders and executives whose accomplishments, mentorship and examples set a foundation for women in all levels of a company’s supply chain network. She was also recognized in The St. Louis Business Journal’s Most Influential Business Women classof 2020. Lamie heads the regional effort to grow the $6 billion of goods traveling through the bi-state area annually and to ensure the freight network can handle the 45% growth in freight volume projected over the next 25 years.

During her time as Chancellor of WGU Missouri, Dr. Angie Besendorfer was named to Ingram’s Magazine’s “50 Missourians You Should Know” 2020 list. The honorees recognized in the publication’s annual tribute have made significant contributions to the state, their communities or their businesses, and they best exemplify what it means to be a Missourian. Dr. Besendorfer was nominated and ultimately selected because of her work in education over the past three decades, including her dedication to embracing innovative curriculum in K-12 education, as well as improving and providing access to higher education for all Missourians.

Citizens for Modern Transit was recognized with a 2020 Arcus Award in the Achievement in Transportation and Infrastructure category, which recognizes organizations demonstrating leadership and creativity to innovate programs relative to transportation and infrastructure in the St. Louis region. The Arcus Awards celebrate extraordinary achievements of private businesses, governmental organizations, innovators and non-profits that are making the St. Louis region an attractive place to live, work and invest. CMT Executive Director Kim Cella along with CMT Board members Chris Beard, Nancy Cross, D’Andre Braddix and Sheila Holm accepted the award at the celebration event.

WGU Missouri was honored with the Arcus People’s Choice Award during the St. Louis Regional Chamber’s 4th Annual Arcus Awards ceremony in Feb. 2017. The Arcus Awards recognize individuals and organizations that make the St. Louis region a more attractive place to live, work and invest. WGU Missouri was one of 56 finalists across 10 categories to be honored at the event

In 2016, the St. Louis Chapter of the Women’s Transportation Seminar (WTS), an international organization dedicated to the professional advancement of women in transportation, named Citizens for Modern Transit’s Executive Director Kimberly Cella as Woman of the Year. This award was presented to Cella for her significant accomplishments and contributions to the transportation industry.

Also during 2016, Citizens for Modern Transit was named a finalist for the 2016 Arcus Award for Achievement in Public Policy.

In 2015, The St. Louis Business Journal recognized Ellen Krohne, executive director of the Leadership Council Southwestern Illinois, as one of St. Louis’ 25 Most Influential Business Women.

The Abilene Trophy, also known as the Air Mobility Command Community Support Award, is a prestigious award presented annually to recognize the community that provides the finest support to an Air Mobility Command unit. The Hauser Group was pleased to assist the Leadership Council Southwestern Illinois in spearheading the nominations highlighting definitive examples of support to Scott Air Force Base resulting in a two-time capture of this coveted award for the St. Louis Region, once in 2013 and again in 2015. The Abilene Trophy is a clear testament to the region’s outstanding ongoing commitment for the men and women at Scott Air Force Base.