The best leaders in business are those with a clear vision and a passion for doing the right thing for their stakeholders and community. We have abundant examples of such leaders in Washington, but some rise above the rest, earning the respect of their peers for their excellence in management and entrepreneurship, public service, and cooperation between business and government. Their leadership bolsters the economy, creates jobs and ensures a high quality of life.

To celebrate their achievements, we have established the first Washington CEOLeadership Awards in three categories:

• CEO of the Year, awarded to a senior business executive with a distinguished track record of leadership that promotes growth and profitability, cultivates a strong, capable workforce, produces an innovative product or service, and contributes to community. This year's winner: Randy Talbot, chief executive officer of Bellevue-based Symetra Financial.
• Nonprofit CEO of the Year, given to an executive from a charitable organization whose leadership and vision exemplify a passion for community betterment, who builds strong relationships among all stakeholders and who is a capable manager. Gene Duvernoy, president of the Cascade Land Conservancy, is this year's winner.
• City of the Year, awarded to a Washington community that best recognizes the importance of creating relationships and partnerships with business and residents, efficiently administers planning and permitting policies, and has a nonregressive tax structure and has excellence in education and livability. The city of Bellevue tops the charts.

RANDY TALBOT

Randy Talbot's story, you might say, is one of riches to riches.

When Safeco decided to shed its life insurance division in 2004, it offered Talbot a lucrative financial package. He said "No thank you" to Safeco's directors, put his 1,300 employees at ease and headed for Wall Street to secure acquisition capital. Investors put up more than $1 billion, and three years later, Symetra Financial posted unaudited profits of $167.3 million on revenues of $1.59 billion. With a team of trusted executives and talented staff members that he put together at Safeco, Talbot's vision has become a company that will anchor the state's financial services community for years to come.

Talbot doesn't shirk community involvement. He's on the board of the Performing Arts Center Eastside and the Washington Roundtable, among others.

Bryan Corliss profiles Talbot on page 24.

GENE DUVERNOY

Gene Duvernoy (profiled on page 26 by Aaron Corvin) heads Washington's largest independent environmental stewardship and conservation program, an organization he has built step by step since 1991.

Duvernoy is thoughtful, pragmatic and articulate, and he understands the importance of building long-term relationships. Among Land Conservancy sponsors are major developers -- both commercial and residential -- banks, law firms, Boeing and the Master Builders Association. Duvernoy seeks market-based solutions to preserve land to make cities more livable. Conservation, he says, can go hand in hand with a strong economy.

In 2007, the Land Conservancy placed 1,452 acres under protection in King, Kittitas, Pierce and Snohomish counties and received $493,000 in federal grants to preserve urban forests in Seattle and Tacoma. Since 1989, 140,000 acres have been protected in western Washington.

THE CITY OF BELLEVUE

The construction cranes that punctuate the skyline of downtown Bellevue are the envy of cities across Washington state and the nation. But as Mike Ullmann writes on page 28, Bellevue's economic viability didn't occur by accident.

Rather, it's the result of hard work by political leaders and the business community, a commitment to quality schools, a passion to maintain livable neighborhoods, a tax base that works for both businesses and homeowners, quality health care and a strong retail community that makes downtown Bellevue a regional shopping destination.