Posted: Thursday, February 12, 2015

The University of Evansville’s chapter of Delta Sigma Pi bestowed its annual business awards on Thursday, February 12 in a ceremony on UE’s campus.

Pat Wempe, co-owner of ProRehab, PC, was given the Business Leader of the Year award. Chris Traylor, co-president of Traylor Brothers, Inc., received the Business of the Year award on behalf of the company. Alissa Fricke was presented the Young Business Leader of the Year award.

Wempe earned his bachelor of science in physical therapy degree from UE, and completed certification as developed by the American Board of Physical Therapy Specialists. He is a board certified clinical specialist in sports physical therapy and a NSCA certified strength and conditioning specialist.

ProRehab, founded in 1999, has corporate headquarters and locations in Evansville, Indiana, along with sites in Newburgh, Haubstadt, Vincennes and Rockport, Indiana, and Henderson, Madisonville and Bowling Green, Kentucky. It sends volunteer therapists to a clinic in Haiti, and is a clinical education site for university professional programs.

Traylor Brothers, Inc., was founded in 1946 by William F. Traylor. The company was later led by his son Thomas W. Traylor, and is now under the guidance of the third generation: co-presidents Christopher and Michael Traylor. One of the nation’s leading heavy civil contractors, the company handles bridge, underground, and marine projects.

The firm’s home office is in Evansville, Indiana. The company also has offices in Alexandria, Virginia, and Long Beach, California.

Fricke graduated from UE with a degree in communication. At UE she received the Mabel Dillingham Nenneker Outstanding Senior Service Award for most outstanding senior woman and was the student elected member of the Board of Trustees and Alumni Association Board of Directors. Fricke serves as mentor to UE students and in the Big Brothers Big Sisters program. She is president of the Downtown Neighborhood Association. In June 2014, she started Thrive Marketing Strategies.

Delta Sigma Pi is a professional fraternity organized to foster the study of business in universities; to encourage scholarship, social activity, and the association of students for their mutual advancement by research and practice; to promote a closer affiliation between the commercial world and students of commerce; and to further a higher standard of commercial ethics and culture and the civic and commercial welfare of the community.

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