New Albany, OH – July 29, 2025 – Buckeye Innovation has been named the winner of a Gold Stevie® Award in the Assistive Technology category in the second annual Stevie Awards for Technology Excellence for its work on the VocFit workforce assessment platform for individuals with developmental disabilities.
The Stevie Awards for Technology Excellence recognize the remarkable achievements of individuals, teams, and organizations that are shaping the future of technology across all industry sectors.
More than 1,500 nominations from organizations of all sizes in 36 nations and territories were submitted this year for consideration in a wide range of tech-related categories. Buckeye Innovation is the winner in the Assistive Technology category.
VocFit: Turning Research into Workforce Solutions
This award recognizes Buckeye Innovation’s work on VocFit, a digital tool that supports people with developmental disabilities in exploring job opportunities and building personalized employment plans. Developed in collaboration with occupational therapists Dr. Andy Persch and Dr. Dennis Cleary, VocFit is based on the Vocational Fit Assessment—an evidence-based tool designed to go beyond simple interest surveys and help job seekers create meaningful, actionable plans. Buckeye Innovation translated the vision of occupational experts into a powerful and accessible web platform that brings this resource to life for individuals, families, and service providers.
The Buckeye Innovation team focused on making the tool easier to use, creating intuitive data reports, and helping users stay aligned with changing job goals. To date, over 25,000 people across the world have utilized the Vocational Fit tool to assist with their career goals.
“From our first meeting with the VocFit team to assess how we would scale their spreadsheet model to a scalable platform available worldwide, this has been a great partnership of research with technology and design,” said Buckeye Innovation CEO Brad Griffith. “Bridging equity gaps is the most important goal we can achieve with technology, and VocFit plays an important role in workforce development for individuals with disabilities.”
“Technology for Good at Its Best”
More than 160 professionals worldwide participated in the judging process to select this year’s honorees.
Regarding the VocFit project, one Stevie® Award judge commented, “This project exemplifies technology for good at its best—transformative, research-based, inclusive, and already making a measurable impact. It addresses a systemic gap in employment services through a uniquely capable platform, and it does so with empathy, technical skill, and strategic clarity. A model entry for innovation in assistive and vocational technology.”
Details about the Stevie Awards for Technology Excellence and the list of 2025 Stevie winners are available at www.StevieAwards.com/Tech.
About Buckeye Innovation
Buckeye Innovation is a New Albany-based digital services company specializing in custom web development, design, and content strategy. Buckeye Innovation believes in the power of entrepreneurship and innovation to drive meaningful change in our community. Through unparalleled access to exceptional web engineering, design, and content strategy, the company amplifies the impact these innovators have on our world. For more information, visit https://www.buckeyeinnovation.com/about-buckeye/.
About the Stevie Awards
Stevie Awards are conferred in nine programs: the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, the German Stevie Awards, the Middle East & North Africa Stevie Awards, The American Business Awards®, The International Business Awards®, the Stevie Awards for Great Employers, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, the Stevie Awards for Technology Excellence and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. Stevie Awards competitions receive more than 12,000 entries each year from organizations in more than 70 nations and territories. Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performance in the workplace worldwide. Learn more about the Stevie Awards at http://www.StevieAwards.com.
