For  Immediate  Release  Media  Contact:             General  Information:  Brittany  Hutt             Caryn  Laermer  Director  of  Marketing  Communications     Senior  Manager,  Quality  Consortium  Brittany.hutt@theavocagroup.com       caryn.laermer@theavocagroup.com  610-­‐212-­‐1230             609-­‐799-­‐0511      

PATRICIA LEUCHTEN NAMED FINALIST IN 10th ANNUAL STEVIE® AWARDS FOR WOMEN IN BUSINESS

 Stevie Award Winners to Be Announced in New York on November 8

Princeton, New Jersey – October 11th, 2013 – Avoca founder and CEO, Patricia Leuchten, was named a Finalist in the ‘Maverick of the Year‘ category in the 10th annual Stevie® Awards for Women in Business, and will ultimately be a Gold, Silver, or Bronze Stevie Award winner in the program. The Stevie Awards for Women in Business honor women executives, entrepreneurs, employees and the companies they run – worldwide. The Stevie Awards have been hailed as the world’s premier business awards. Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award winners will be announced during a gala event at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York on Friday, November 8. Nominated women executives and entrepreneurs from the U.S.A and several other countries are expected to attend. More than 1,200 entries were submitted this year for consideration in more than 90 categories, including Executive of the Year, Entrepreneur of the Year, Women Helping Women, and Communications Campaign of the Year. Patricia Leuchten is a Finalist in the ‘Maverick of the Year’ category. The basis of Patricia’s nomination was in the formation of The Avoca Quality Consortium, where Patty recognized a need for more collaboration in the industry and decided that her company could be be the catalyst for industry change. The Consortium brings many of the industry’s top clinical outsourcing leaders from pharmaceutical, biotech and clinical research organizations together to collaborate in best practice approaches to quality management in outsourced clinical research.

Finalists were chosen by more than 140 business professionals worldwide during preliminary judging. More than 90 members of the five  final  judging  committees will determine the Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award placements from among the Finalists during final judging. “For 10 years we have been recognizing the achievements of women in business, and this year’s nominations were the most impressive class the judges have ever reviewed,” said Michael Gallagher, founder and president of the Stevie Awards. “We look forward to seeing the final judges’ decisions and honoring this year’s Stevie winners in New York next month.” Details about the Stevie Awards for Women in Business and the list of Finalists in all categories are available at www.StevieAwards.com/Women. About The Avoca Group The Avoca Group, Inc., founded in 1999, is a consulting firm based in Princeton, New Jersey. Avoca’s core capability and the company’s most extensive experience is in the development and implementation of global Relationship and Alliance Management programs for pharmaceutical companies, biotech companies and pharmaceutical service providers. Avoca’s team consists of pharmaceutical industry veterans and subject matter experts in the areas of large-scale organizational change, relationship management, information technology, and survey research. The Avoca Group conducts industry research on trends in clinical outsourcing each year, presenting the results, The Avoca Report, at international conferences and in industry publications. About  The  Stevie  Awards Stevie Awards are conferred in five programs: the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide. Learn more about the Stevie Awards at www.StevieAwards.com.

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