The Operational Impact Award is given to organizations that turn strategy into measurable business results, driving gains in efficiency, revenue, cost control, risk reduction, or customer experience.

This year, for the first time ever at Quickbase Empower, celebrating the three finalists for the results they delivered. Each took on a different challenge and built a system that improved how their teams operate day to day.

Here's who made the shortlist.

Tractor Supply

Ed Hensel, Team Lead, Retail Technology Support

The Challenge

Tractor supply's IT and retail operations teams were managing deployments, vendors, inventory, and events across more than 2,000 stores — all at once. But the work lived in disconnected spreadsheets. There was no shared system of record. Teams lacked real-time visibility, and reports that should have taken minutes took days or weeks. The organization couldn't scale efficiently with the way the work was set up.

What They Built

Ed Hensel's team built a centralized operational control center on Quickbase. It connects deployment management, IT orders, depot management, and conference planning in one system — backed by more than 150 pipelines and automations, with integrations to ServiceNow, Ariba, and NetSuite. Governance is built in through change tracking, while AI-enabled reporting allows business teams to access insights quickly.

The Impact

2000+ stores now run on a single platform. Teams can now generate reports in minutes, with up-to-date data. A team of five manages thousands of deployments without adding headcount.

The system processes more than 1.2 million data interactions across 16 production apps, giving teams a consistent, real-time view of operations.

The business runs faster, with better coordination across teams and partners, and lower operating costs, including more than $100K, saved annually.

Tractor Supply built a scalable system that supports its growth.

Fiber Network Services

Scott Hunter, Director of IT

The Challenge

Fiber Network Services was running operations across 18 offices without a unified system. Critical workflows — from lead-to-job execution through billing — were manual, paper-based, and inconsistent. Teams relied on disconnected spreadsheets and reconciled data by hand, leading to inaccurate billing, missed revenue, and limited visibility into performance.

Administrative work was time intensive, inventory and labor tracking were unreliable, and compliance and cash flow were at risk. Leadership lacked real-time insight into what was happening across the business. The setup created risk and friction that made scaling difficult.

What They Built

Scott Hunter built a centralized Quickbase platform that now serves as the operational system of record across the business. It connects job creation, field execution, billing validation, and invoicing in one place, with end-to-end automation across the entire process.

Mobile field applications replaced paper processes and capture job data in real time. Role-based access supports employees and a network of 200 subcontractors, while automated dashboards give leadership real-time visibility from job level through regional performance. Integrations handle job creation, task assignment, and invoicing automatically, with centralized systems for permit tracking, contractor management, and compliance built throughout.

The Impact

Administrative effort dropped by 85-90%, reducing more than 40 hours of weekly now to just 4 to 6. Teams now operate from a single source of truth, with billing, field activity, and compliance connected automatically. Missed and unbilled work is caught by the system before it slips through.

The system delivers $75K to $150K+ in annual cost savings, with cumulative savings already exceeding six figures. It also recovered more than $50K in annual revenue from previously unbilled work, increased invoicing capacity without adding headcount.

Fiber Network Services now runs with the visibility and control needed to capture revenue and keep operations on track.

SG Networks

Tom Roberto, Chief Technology Officer

The Challenge

SG Networks operates in the gap between a signed deal and a technician arriving on-site — a stage that was full of friction. Sales-to-operations handoffs relied on emails and manual coordination, leading to delays, missed details, and lost information between teams.

Field data was disconnected from billing, slowing invoicing, and creating revenue lag. Managing purchase orders, vendors, and hundreds of daily dispatches across states without a unified system made it difficult to maintain visibility or scale.

What They Built

Tom Roberto's team built a customized Quickbase platform that serves as the operational backbone across sales, operations, and finance. A unified system combines CRM, project management, dispatch tracking, and financial workflows in one place.

Sales-to-operations handoffs are now automated, triggering scheduling, scoping, and purchase order generation from a single record. Field technicians capture data in real time, tied directly to invoicing. Financial processes are integrated, and centralized tracking provides a consistent view of jobs, vendors, and dispatch activity.

The Impact

Sales, operations, and finance now work from one system, with handoffs handled automatically and fewer delays between teams. Field data flows directly into billing, and leadership has a real-time view of job progress and financial performance.

Invoice cycle time dropped by 30 to 40%, and management visibility and forecasting accuracy improved by 50%. The team coordinates up to 300 dispatches per day across multiple states, scaling operations without increasing headcount at the same rate.

SG Networks now runs with a clear path from handoff to completion that keeps execution tight and revenue on pace.

Three finalists. One winner, announced at Empower

Measurable impact. Real transformation. That's what Tractor Supply, Fiber Network Services, and SG Networks delivered, and why they're this year's Operational Impact Award finalists. The winner will be announced live during the Day 2 keynote on May 20 at Empower 2026 in Houston, TX.

Haven't registered yet? Visit the Empower 2026 site for all the details.

Can't make it to Houston? Sign up for free access to the keynote livestreams here.