ATLANTA, Sept. 30, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cbeyond, Inc. (Nasdaq:CBEY), the technology ally for small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs), announced today its CEO, Jim Geiger, has received the 2013 Turknett Leadership Character Award in the "CEO/President/Managing Partner - Large Company" category. The Leadership Character Awards recognize individuals who demonstrate integrity; relate to customers, suppliers, co-workers and others with respect; and maintain a culture in which everyone takes responsibility for achieving results while upholding the organization's core values.

Fifty-two Atlanta leaders were nominated for the 10th Annual Turknett Leadership Character Awards bestowed during the September 18, 2103 ceremony held at the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta. Awards were given in the following categories: Business (Large Company, Small/Medium Company), Executive/Manager, Education, Non-Profit, and Inspiritor, with a Lifetime Achievement Award given to Alana Shepherd, cofounder of the Shepherd Center.

"We are incredibly proud to be able to recognize Jim Geiger this year," said Lyn and Bob Turknett, co-founders of TLG. "Jim has always led from a place of character and has such a strong reputation in the community."

"I am humbled and honored to be presented with the 2013 Turknett Leadership Character Award," said Jim Geiger, founder and CEO of Cbeyond. "This award is shared with all in the Cbeyond family who give their best every single day to exemplify the Character of Cbeyond and build a culture where integrity, respect and responsibility are welcome inside and outside of the workplace."

Geiger is the driving force behind the core values of respect, service and teamwork that demonstrate Cbeyond's unique corporate culture. These values are reflected in the company's CALL Character Statement which has four core principles and is the promise employees make to each other, customers and communities:

  • Care Relentlessly: Care about each other, our customers, our results and our communities.
  • Act Graciously: Be good to each other and our customers.
  • Lead Courageously: Do the right thing and do what it takes to make it right.
  • Learn Continuously: Strive to grow personally and professionally.

Jim Geiger founded Cbeyond in 1999 and continues to serve as the company's founder, chairman, president and chief executive officer. Earlier in his career he served as senior vice president and chief marketing officer of Intermedia Communications, as a founding principal and CEO of FiberNet, and held sales and marketing management positions at Frontier Communications, Inc. He obtained a bachelor's degree in accounting and pre-law from Clarkson University.

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About the Leadership Character Awards

Since 2003, the Turknett Leadership Character Awards have recognized individuals who demonstrate character in leadership by maintaining integrity while consistently balancing respect and responsibility. GV Financial and Accord Services are the silver sponsors and Kroger, Career Spa and Talent Connections are the bronze sponsors of this year's awards. For more information visit www.leadershipcharacter.com.

About Turknett Leadership Group

TLG's expertise is Leadership. We are Atlanta's premiere resource for Executive Coaching, Talent Assessment, Leadership Team Building, and much more. Through an approach grounded in science and guided by the Leadership Character Model, we help organizations hire the best people, identify and develop high potentials, and create high-performing cultures. For more information visit www.turknett.com.

About Cbeyond

Cbeyond, Inc. (Nasdaq:CBEY), a cloud and communications services provider, is the technology ally for small and mid-sized business. Our private, proactively-managed IP network connects customers to voice, data and enterprise applications hosted in our award-winning cloud data centers. Since 1999, Cbeyond has served the unmet needs of businesses through technology and service innovation. We were the first company to build an all-IP network specifically for small businesses and among the few to offer consultative sales and service professionals onsite. Today, our expanded portfolio helps customers reduce the burden of outlaying capital and manpower to manage infrastructure. Creating an exceptional customer experience is in our DNA. It's why more than a third of our approximately 60,000 customers come from referrals.http://www.cbeyond.com and follow Cbeyond on Twitter: www.twitter.com/cbeyond. 


CONTACT: Media Contact:

         Helga Ojinmah

         678-370-2243

         helga.ojinmah@cbeyond.com
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