Columbia Association and Columbia have been honored with several awards over the years for outstanding service, benefits to members and team members and excellent facilities. Below is a listing of our most recent awards and accomplishments.
Columbia
AARP’s Most Livable Communities — Mid-Sized Communities
- 2018 — No. 8
Baltimore Business Journal’s Smartest Communities in the U.S.
- 2011 — No. 16
CNBC’s 10 Perfect Suburbs
- 2011 — No. 10
Daily Finance’s Best Neighborhoods for the Money
- 2010
Forbes Magazine’s Best Places to Raise a Family
- 2008 — No. 17
Forbes Magazine’s Top Towns to Live Well
- 2009 — No. 7
League of American Bicyclists
- 2016, “Bicycle Friendly Community,” bronze award
Match.com’s Best Cities to Date a Nerd
- 2011 — No. 8
Money Magazine’s Best Places to Live
- 2006 — No. 4 (jointly with Ellicott City)
- 2008 — No. 8 (jointly with Ellicott City)
- 2010 — No. 2 (jointly with Ellicott City)
- 2012 — No. 8 (jointly with Ellicott City)
- 2014 — No. 6 (jointly with Ellicott City)
- 2016 — No. 1
- 2019 — No. 20
Niche.com’s Best Cities to Live in America
- 2016 — No. 3
- 2019 — No. 8
Niche.com’s Best Cities to Raise a Family in America
- 2019 — No. 5
Niche.com’s Best Suburbs to Live in Maryland
- 2017 — No. 2
Rolling Stone’s Best Amphitheaters in America
- 2013 — No. 4, Merriweather Post Pavilion
SecurityChoice.com’s Safest Cities for Women
- 2017 — No. 3
SmartAsset’s Most Livable Mid-Sized Cities in the U.S.
- 2017 — No. 6
24/7 Wall St.’s Best Cities to Live In
- 2017, No. 9
Wallet Hub’s Best Cities for People with Disabilities
- 2018, No. 5
- 2019, No. 10
Wallet Hub’s Best Places to Find a Job
- 2018, No. 15
- 2019, No. 2
- 2020, No. 23
Wallet Hub’s Best Places for Summer Jobs
- 2019, No. 9
Wallet Hub’s Happiest Cities in America
- 2018, No. 12
Wallet Hub’s Safest Cities in America
- 2017, No. 4
- 2018, No. 1
- 2019, No. 1
Columbia Association
Aquatics International Magazine
- 2015 — Best in Aquatics Programming
Audubon International
- 2006-present — Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary, Fairway Hills Golf Club (recertification occurs every three years)
- 2006-present — Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary, Hobbit’s Glen Golf Club (recertification occurs every three years)
Baltimore Sun’s Top Workplaces
- 2013 — No. 14
Department of Energy
- 2017 — Recognition as one of just 13 “Partners in Better Buildings” through the Better Buildings Alliance’s Interior Lighting Campaign
- 2018 — Recognition for achieving the Better Buildings Challenge by becoming approximately 20% more energy-efficient
Environmental Protection Agency
- 2014 — Special Recognition Award honoring CA’s promotion of community energy efficiency and sustainability through ENERGY STAR
- 2018 — ENERGY STAR Certificate of Recognition for CA’s integration of energy management practices into daily operations and its promotion of energy efficiency in the community
- 2019 — ENERGY STAR Award for Excellence for important contributions to energy efficiency
Governor’s Crime Prevention Awards
- 2018: Certificate of Merit for an Outstanding Crime Prevention Program: CheckMates Chess Club at CA’s Youth and Teen Center (alongside the Howard County Police Department)
Healthy Howard’s Healthy Workplaces
- 2013: Gold Level
Howard County NAACP Youth Council
- 2015 — Community Servant Award, Safire Windley, program coordinator for CA’s Youth and Teen Center
Howard Magazine’s “Best of Howard County,” 2019
- Best Golf Course: Hobbit’s Glen Golf Club
- Honorable Mention, Alternative Wellness Center: Haven on the Lake
- Honorable Mention, Gym: Columbia Athletic Club
- Honorable Mention, Gym: Columbia Gym
- Honorable Mention, Personal Trainer: Bonnie Pace
- Honorable Mention, Pool for Kids: Hopewell Mini-WaterPark
- Honorable Mention, Pool for Kids: River Hill Pool
Howard Magazine’s “Best of Howard County,” 2018
- Best Personal Trainer: Bonnie Pace
- Best Pool for Kids: Swansfield Mini-WaterPark
- Honorable Mention, Golf Course:
- Honorable Mention, Gym: Columbia Gym
- Honorable Mention, Gym: Supreme Sports Club
- Honorable Mention, Kids’ Activity: Columbia SportsPark
- Honorable Mention, Kids’ Activity: SplashDown
- Honorable Mention, Pool for Kids: River Hill Pool
Howard Magazine’s “Best of Howard County,” 2017
- Best Golf Course: Hobbit’s Glen Golf Club
- Best Pool for Kids: Swansfield Mini-WaterPark
- Best Personal Trainer: Bonnie Pace
- Honorable Mention, Gym: Columbia Gym
- Honorable Mention, Gym: Supreme Sports Club
- Honorable Mention, Kids’ Activity: Columbia SportsPark
- Honorable Mention, Kids’ Activity: SplashDown
- Honorable Mention, Pool for Kids: River Hill Pool
Howard Magazine’s “Best of Howard County,” 2016
- Best Golf Course: Hobbit’s Glen Golf Club
- Best Gym: Supreme Sports Club
- Best Pool for Kids: Swansfield Mini-WaterPark
- Best Personal Trainer: Bonnie Pace
- Honorable Mention, Gym: Columbia Gym
- Honorable Mention, Kids’ Activity: Columbia SportsPark
- Honorable Mention, Kids’ Activity: SplashDown
- Honorable Mention, Pool for Kids: River Hill Pool
Howard Magazine’s “Best of Howard County,” 2015
- Best Golf Course: Hobbit’s Glen Golf Club
- Best Gym: Columbia Gym
- Best Pool for Kids: Swansfield Mini-WaterPark
- Best Workout Class: BodyPump at Columbia Association
- Honorable Mention, First Date: Columbia Lakefront
- Honorable Mention, Gym: Supreme Sports Club
- Honorable Mention, Kids’ Activity: Columbia SportsPark
- Honorable Mention, Kids’ Activity: SplashDown
- Honorable Mention, Personal Trainer: Bonnie Pace (Columbia Gym)
- Honorable Mention, Place to Enjoy the Arts: Columbia Art Center
- Honorable Mention, Pool for Kids: River Hill Pool
Howard Magazine’s “Best of Howard County,” 2014
- Best Personal Trainer: Bonnie Pace (Columbia Gym)
- Honorable Mention, Kids Activity: SplashDown
- Honorable Mention, Kids Activity: Columbia SportsPark
- Honorable Mention, Place to Enjoy the Arts: Columbia Art Center
- Honorable Mention, Golf Course: Hobbit’s Glen Golf Club
- Honorable Mention, Gym: Columbia Gym
- Honorable Mention, Gym: Supreme Sports Club
- Honorable Mention, Pool for Kids: River Hill Pool
- Honorable Mention, Pool for Kids: Swansfield Mini-WaterPark
- Honorable Mention, Workout Class: BodyPump at Columbia Gym
- Honorable Mention, Workout Class: BodyPump at Supreme Sports Club
- Honorable Mention, First Date: Columbia Lakefront
Maryland PLANT Community Awards Program
- 2018 — Bronze award: “In recognition of your enthusiasm and hard work in planting and caring for trees in your local urban and community forests.”
Mid-Atlantic Club Management Association (MACMA)
- 2018 — Award of Excellence for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Kids Programming: Tennis Whizz
Moody’s issuer ratings
- 2015 — aa1
North American Lake Management Society
- 2018 — Lake Management Success Stories Award for work to improve the water quality and habitat in the Middle Patuxent and Little Patuxent watersheds
Preservation Howard County
- 2015 — Preservationist of the Year, Barbara Kellner, director of CA’s Columbia Archives
Telly Awards
- Bronze award for Columbia Matters, Information Category, 2011
- Bronze award for Columbia Matters, Entertainment Category, 2011
United States Tennis Association
- 2015 — innovation award for tennis programming
- 2015 — finalist, organization of the year
- 2018 — winner, USTA Facility Awards, for Long Reach Tennis Club
Howard County
Country Living’s Best Small Town Main Streets in America
- 2017 — Ellicott City
Library of the Year
- 2013, Howard County Library System
Niche.com’s Best School Systems
- 2014, Howard County Public School System
- 2017-18, Howard County Public School System
SmartAsset’s Happiest Places in America
- 2018, No. 10
Sports Illustrated’s Good Sports Communities of the Year
- 2005, winner out of all of Maryland
24/7 Wall St.’s Best Counties to Live In
- 2017, No. 5
- 2018, No. 7
U.S. News and World Report’s Healthiest Communities
- 2018, No. 20
- 2019, No. 10