Indie Biz Awards celebrate Portland's unique style

The Portland Indie Biz Awards gala took place last night at Empire Dine & Dance. The upstairs bar was packed with tons of folks who run or work for the city's many independently-owned businesses. Now in its second year, the party was a fun-filled event with free food and lots of amazing silent auction items.

Kathy Palmer of Fetch (left) organized last night's party. I snapped this photo while she was chatting with Nancy Lawrence of Portmanteau. Both ladies serve on the Portland Buy Local board.

A great group of volunteers helped put the party together, including Alisa Conroy (left) of the SOAP Group and Kristen Smith of Planet Dog.

Here are a few of the party-goers: From left to right they are photographer Sam Cousins, Hilly Town blogger Bryan Bruchman and Portland Arts & Cultural Alliance Director Cathy Valenza.

There will be lots more photos from the party coming soon. MaineToday Seen photographer Cara Slifka (at left) was snapping a bunch, which will be uploaded to the Seen section.

And now for the winners ...

The always popular Coffee by Design (represented by owners Alan Spear and Mary Allen Lindemann) took home the Community Hero award, presented by Stacy Mitchell of the Institute for Local Self Reliance.

The award for the Business With No Front was won by Emilie Sommer of Emilie Inc. Photography. It was presented to her by Elise Loschiavo of Portland's Downtown District.

Here are the rest of the winning businesses:

Soul of Portland: Portland Farmers' Market
Flavor of Portland: Fore Street
Environmental Hero: Portland Trails
Portland's Best Kept Secret: Micucci's Grocery Store
Portland Totem: Becky's Dinner
Global Hero: Portland Museum of Art
Wild Card Award: Longfellow Books

Congratulations to all the winners and to all the people who support these awesome locally-owned businesses! Without them, Portland would be a very different place.