Real estate business leader and football legend Roger Staubach will be the keynote speaker at the Chamber’s Spirit of Innovation Awards Luncheon on April 16.

The occasion celebrates area businesses that demonstrate creativity and ingenuity in their products and services. The Kruesi Award for Innovation and the Early Innovator Award will be presented during the Convention Center event. The top high school student winners in the Great Ideas Competition will also be recognized.

Staubach is executive chairman of The Staubach Company, which is managing construction of the BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee headquarters on Cameron Hill, one of the largest building projects in the history of Chattanooga, costing over $299 million and including 950,000 square feet.

The Staubach Company has extensive experience in strategic consulting, site selection, construction consulting/project management, real estate administration, portfolio management, facility management, business and economic incentives, and financing and capital solutions.

Staubach clients include Blockbuster, Inc., Cisco Systems, CVS Corp., Office Max, PepsiCo, T-Mobile USA, Target and Time Warner Cable.

The 65-year-old Staubach entered the real estate business while quarterbacking the Dallas Cowboys during the 1970s. Staubach, who guided the team through nine of their record-setting 20 consecutive winning seasons, was described by Cowboys’ Coach Tom Landry as “possibly the best combination of a passer, an athlete and a leader to ever play in the NFL.”

Known as “Roger the Dodger” for his scrambling abilities and as “Captain Comeback” for his many fourth quarter heroics, Staubach led the club to four Super Bowl appearances with victories in Super Bowl VI and Super Bowl XII. He was named Most Valuable Player in Super Bowl VI.

As quarterback for the U.S. Naval Academy, Staubach won the Heisman Trophy in 1963 while leading the Midshipmen to a 9-1 record and a final ranking of No. 2 in the nation. That year he led Navy to victory over standing rival Notre Dame, marking Navy‘s last defeat of The Fighting Irish until 2007. Staubach is the last player from a military academy to win the Heisman.

A four-time winner of Commercial Property News’ Corporate Services Executive of the Year, Staubach is an inductee into the Texas Business Hall of Fame, Dallas Business Journal’s 2007 Business Person of the Year and the recipient of the 2007 Horatio Alger Award from the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans.

Staubach serves on the board of the AMR Corporation and Cinemark Holdings, Inc. and chairs the host committee for Super Bowl XLV which will be held in the Cowboys’ new stadium in Arlington in 2011. He is active in support of the Children’s Cancer Fund, the U.S. Naval Academy Foundation and numerous other civic, charitable and professional organizations.

For more information about the Spirit of Innovation Awards Luncheon or to make a reservation call the Chamber at423-763-4366 or email Christie Kelly at ckelly@chattanoogachamber.com.