SAN JOSE, Calif., Jan. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Carla Cobb Davis, CEO of DBC Real Estate Services, has been named the ATHENA Business Woman of the Year by The Sunnyvale Chamber of Commerce during the Murphy Awards dinner event Saturday evening. One of the Chamber's highest honors, the award is co-sponsored by Pearson Automobile Company and The Sun. The ATHENA Award recognizes recipients for their demonstrated professional excellence, as well as their leadership role in community service and their assistance to other women in reaching their career goals. Long ago Pearson Automobile Company recognized the importance of the contributions made by women in the community. The first award was given out in 1996.

"Carla Cobb Davis is certainly one of the most outstanding women in our community today," said Mark Balestra of Pearson. "She continues to be a role model to everyone in everything that she does for business as well as for the Chamber." Under Carla's leadership her company was awarded the Hank Tedesco Small Business Excellence Award and Carla was the first recipient of the "Woman Advocate of the Year Award" in 2004.

As a co-founder of DBC Real Estate Services, Incorporated, which now includes DBC Commercial Group, DBC Financial Group, DBC Residential Investment Group and DBC Investment Group, she currently directs the firm's business development and marketing programs. "It is an honor to be selected to receive this prestigious award and share this honor with these phenomenal women before me," Ms. Davis said as she accepted the award. The award was designed by sculptor Linda Ackley and each unique sculpture is numbered as one of a select edition designed especially for the ATHENA Foundation, which began in 1986.

She joined the Sunnyvale Chamber of Commerce in 1993 and has been recognized as one of the top fifty business owners at the state and local level for the past two years. She serves or has served as either a board member or board advisor to a number of Bay Area (CA) organizations, including the Silicon Valley Capital Club Board of Governors, Industry Council for Small Business Development, SBA Small Business Development Center, National Association for Women Business Owners -- Silicon Valley Chapter, Silicon Valley Charity Ball Foundation and the California Association of Mortgage Brokers. Other association affiliates are Forum for Women Entrepreneurs, Silicon Valley Association of StartUp Entrepreneurs, Santa County Association of Realtors, and the San Jose, Cupertino, Sunnyvale and the Hispanic Chambers of Commerce.