Our History
The Jesse H. Neal Awards were created by American Business Media (ABM) in 1955 to recognize and reward editorial excellence in business publications. They are named after ABM’s first managing director, who remained active in promoting the B2B industry throughout his life.
Steady growth in the number of entries over the years is a testament to both SIIA’s reputation and the prestige of the awards. With categories that reflect the entire multi-platform suite of products used by B2B editors today, the Neal Awards represent the changing face of business media.
Specialized business publications have been an expanding force in the United States for more than 300 years. These titles, now joined by their multimedia counterparts, established the tradition of providing service to the business community on two levels: First, they are the primary source of highly specialized technical, professional and economic information for every kind of business audience. Beyond that, they strive to act as the conscience of the fields they serve. The Neal Awards ceremony, supervised by SIIA’s Editorial & Content Committee, is held annually to honor editorial excellence across all platforms, including print, digital media, events, video, mobile, social media and online applications.
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In most cases, the recipients of the Neal Awards have spent many months and thousands of dollars creating visionary content. Winners exemplify the B2B industry’s main goal: to educate and inform business, professional and industrial communities. SIIA extends its appreciation to its member editors, who give business media its powerful voice.
Entries are submitted in one of three classifications, based upon the publication’s gross advertising and circulation revenue; some categories had no revenue classification.
Previous Winners of the Grand Neal Award
The Grand Neal Award honors the most outstanding entry from among the winners in all categories.
1996
Fire Engineering
“Oklahoma City”
1997
Sales & Marketing Management
“Diversity in Sales”
1998
National Jeweler
“Ruby/Emerald Treatment”
1999
PC World
“Privacy in the Internet Age”
2000
PC World
“Web @ Warp Speed”
2001
RoadStar
“The New Hours Rules”
2002
Pharmaceutical Executive
“Discovery Series”
2003
CIO
“Making it in 2002”
2004
CIO
“All Systems Down”
2005
Baseline
“We Did Nothing Wrong”
2006
Farm Journal
“Asian Soybean Rust Takes Root in the U.S.”
2007
IEEE Spectrum
“Re-Engineering Iraq”
2008
CSO
“Red Gold Rush”
2009
Heavy Duty Trucking
“Fuel Crisis Survival”
2010
IEEE Spectrum
“Why Mars? Why Now?”
2011
Farm Journal, Top Producer, Dairy Today, AgWeb, AgDay, U.S. Farm Report
“The Farm Journal Legacy Project”
2012
Architectural Record
“New York: The Death and Life of a Great American City”
2013
IEEE Spectrum
“A Shocking Truth”
2014
Overdrive
“CSA’s Data Trail”
2015
Automotive News
“GM’s Ignition-Switch Recall”
2016
Advertising Age
“Super Bowl 2015”
2017
Aviation Week
2018
Architect
“The Climate is Changing. So Must Architecture.”
2019
John Heltman for Nobody’s Home – A Podcast about Vacant Housing
Ameriacan Banker
SourceMedia
2020
IEEE Spectrum
“Project Moon Base”