Maria-Elena Grant of Hewitt, president and owner of Alpha Marketing Solutions, LLC, has received the 2009 communications award from the New Jersey Association of Women Business Owners (NJAWBO) on behalf of the Essex Chapter for serving as editor of the NJAWBO Essex Quarterly Newsletter. The chapter also presented her with a plaque to commemorate the achievement of creating an award-winning newsletter for the chapter in her first year of membership. In addition to the state’s communications award, Grant was also one of three Notable Newcomer Award recipients. The Notable Newcomer Award is presented to chapter members who are dynamic, active, and productive in their first year of membership. Grant is a writer, editor, and marketing specialist. She started Alpha Marketing Solutions in 2001 after a 15-year career at Lucent Technologies. She is also marketing director for Awesome Rooms, LLC, an interior designing and professional organizing company. She joined the Essex Chapter last year and is currently serving her second term as the newsletter editor. Grant earned her bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Caldwell College and her MBA in finance from Seton Hall University. The New Jersey Association of Women Business Owners, Inc., is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to provide tools for women business owners to compete in any marketplace, enabling them to operate a financially successful business. NJAWBO is the largest statewide women business owners’ organization in the United States. Its primary objective is to support and encourage business ownership by women. Networking, partnering, leadership, education, and political advocacy are the hallmarks of the NJAWBO experience.