• Nominations may be made only by members of AAED.
• Self-nominations by an individual or an employee of an organization are acceptable. Self-nominations must be endorsed by an AAED member.
• Companies and individuals are not eligible to win the same award two years in a row.
• Written and electronic nominations submitted on or before the nomination deadline will be eligible for consideration for EDDE’s, Lampkin Award, and Best of Arizona Award.
• Late nominations due to reasonable uncontrollable circumstances (technological failure, mail delay, accidents, etc) may be considered for eligibility by the EDDE Task Force.
• “Endorsement” nominations made by groups of people from different organizations may not be considered by the EDDE Task Force to be eligible nominations.

Judging Panel Selection Pools is developed by the EDDE Task Force and approved by the Board of Directors. The EDDE Judging Panel shall have a minimum of 7 members and should reflect the geographic membership of AAED. The EDDE Judging Panel shall be comprised of at least one person from each of the following categories:

• EDDE Awards Committee Chair
• EDDE Awards Board Liaison
• EDDE Awards Committee member
• AAED Past President
• Current AAED Committee Chair
• Current AAED Board Member
• Past EDDE Award Winner

The AAED President Elect should not serve on the EDDE Judging Panel.

EDDE awards judges should recuse themselves from voting on a specific award in the following circumstances:

• The judge works for the same organization as the nominee.
• The judge is an employee, stakeholder or owner of a nominated organization.
• The judge is a nominee.

The 2025 Golden Prospector Awards is open to all AAED members in good standing. To be eligible, at least some part of the project must have occurred in 2024 and have been completed by June 30, 2025. For a project to be considered completed in the “Deal of the Year” category, it must be considered closed by the Municipality and the regional or representative economic development organization or the Arizona Commerce Authority by June 30, 2025.

All entries are judged based on the criteria included in the entry guidelines and each entry will be judged by three judges. Entries receiving 90% or more of the total points available are eligible for a Golden Prospector; entries receiving 89% – 80% of total point available are eligible for an Award of Merit. The judges may award multiple winners or no winners, based on the total points and entries received. Judges reserve the right to move entries to alternative categories that they believe to be more appropriate. The decision of the judges is final. The judges, judging process, and deliberations are confidential. AAED reserves the right to exclude any entry for any reason.

All entries and support materials must be submitted below or emailed to info@aaed.com.  Marketing brochure entries must provide three (3) hard copies and be mailed/delivered to the AAED office.

Early – $100 by Friday, August 8, 2025

After August 8, 2025 – $150 until Friday, August 22, 2025

Entries must be received, not postmarked, by 4 p.m. on Friday, August 22, 2025.

Entries will not be accepted after August 22.

Finalists in each category will be notified shortly after the judging of the Golden Prospector entries, no later than September 26, 2025. From these finalists, Golden Prospector and Award of Merit recipients will be announced at the Golden Prospector Awards Presentation at the Fall Forum.

Please plan on attending the 2025 Golden Prospector Awards presentation during the Fall Forum on October 22-24, 2025 in Prescott!

Marc Valenzuela, Awards Committee Chair
marc.valenzuela@srpnet.com
602-236-2192

Katie Hurst, CEO
katie@aaed.com
602-240-2233 ext.1