Still on the move: celebrating tried and true women to watch alumni.

• Author: Kennedy, Linda T.
• Position: Utah Business magazine

It was more than 10 years ago when Utah Business magazine first decided to annually honor 30 women who are setting the professional gold standard, not just for women, but for every professional. Since then, we've annually combed Utah's business landscape to bring you the most up-and-coming professionals you'd want to keep an eye on.

In this special recognition feature, we've done just that: kept an eye on the former 30 Women to Watch honorees and their scope of influence. Take a look now at what some of them have accomplished. Their achievements testify that a good leader's reach is limitless.

Nicole Toomey Davis

When Utah Business magazine recognized Nicole Toomey Davis nine years ago, she was a successful entrepreneur who had just launched DoBox, a provider of residential gateway software and parental control solutions for the broadband gateway industry.

Today Davis' accomplishments could fill pages. Beyond having a hand in developing many startup companies, Davis now helps other entrepreneurs reach success in her role as the director of the Centers of Excellence (COE) program for the Governor's Office of Economic Development (GOED). In this position, Davis plays an integral role in the COE program, which is a grant program designed to provide early funding for technologies developed at Utah's colleges and universities that are being licensed by either a startup or an existing Utah company to take to market.

Since becoming director of he COE, Davis says she's learned a lot about the role of politics in business--and vice versa. "If elected officials do not hear from the business community, they do not always know the impact of the decision that they are making," she says.

Davis' decision to take the COE director's post didn't come easily, though. "I never imagined that I would work for the government," she says. "When I was approached about running the Centers of Excellence program, I discussed it with Brad, my husband and business partner. I told him that 1 felt government service was a huge left turn. He just looked at me and said, 'If you do it, you could help change the game for entrepreneurs in Utah, and that is worth doing.'"

The impact of Davis' decision to lead the COE program has meant accelerating the go-to-market phase of some very promising technologies ranging from life science technologies, to new types of materials to information technologies. "There are many companies which have come through our program, particularly in...