Southwest Florida-based Congress Jewelers has been honored with the 2007 Lee County Industry Appreciation Award, recognizing the company's exceptional levels of leadership, innovation, investment and community involvement.

Congress Jewelers has become one of the fastest-growing independent jewelry stores in the nation. Finlay Enterprises acquired the company last December, with management and operational decisions remaining in Southwest Florida. Finlay's employees continue in the Congress tradition of community service, participating in more than 60 charitable events during the last year, the company said in a statement.

Congress Jewelers was launched nearly a quarter-century ago when Scot Congress and his father began selling gold sand dollars for $25 a piece out of a bike-rental shack in Sanibel Island, Fla.

Scot, Congress Jewelers' current president, and his brother Doug, company vice president, assumed ownership when their parents retired. The brothers and Chief Operating Officer Leon Benzrihem added stores in Bonita Springs, Key West, downtown Naples and Naples' Coastland Center before Finlay's acquisition last year.

The Horizon Council, a public-private group that works to improve the business environment in Florida’s Lee County, sponsors the annual Industry Appreciation Awards program.