Davis was given the national award at the 40th Annual Murphy Awards for her work in the Sunnyvale community as a strong female business leader and mentor and as an active member of the community.

"I knew it was a great award, but I did not know what an honor it was to receive it," Davis said.

The ATHENA Award started in Lansing, Michigan in 1982, as a way to honor women in the Chamber of Commerce. It has since honored some 4,000 women and men in the United States, Canada, Russia, China and the United Arab Emirates.

In Sunnyvale, the award has been given to a distinguished list of women, including Vorreiter and Sunnyvale Community Services Executive Director Nancy Tivol and Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Suzi Blackman.

Davis has won several recognition awards for her business sense. After 9-11, when business all but stopped in the valley, Davis pulled together business executives to brainstorm ways to survive the downturn.

She won an award for excellence in small business in 2004 when her company received the Silicon Valley/San Jose Chamber of Commerce Hank Tedesco Small Business Excellence Award. The National Associations of Women Business Owners recognized her as Silicon Valley Member of the Year in 1999 and as Women Business Owner of the year. She was honored last year as the first recipient of the Dick Kreuz Women's Advocate of the Year Award from the Silicon Valley Business Journal. This award was in part for advancement of women business ownership at the state or local government level. At that same time Davis was named one of the top 50 businesswomen in Silicon Valley.

Davis has worked with several past winners through Rotary, and over the many years her company--DBC Real Estate Services--was located in the Town and Country Village before moving to San Jose to reduce costs after the "dot-bomb."

Her small company was able to survive the worst times by cutting back its operations and as the economy has begun to swing back up, DBC has grown with it.

The company now has four branches. The DBC Commercial Group handles the sale and leasing of office, research and industrial buildings and the DBC Financial Group handles commercial, apartment and residential loans for buildings. The other two branches are investment groups--DBC Residential Investment and DBC Investment, which focuses primarily on educating and training investors and finding properties to invest in.

Davis has stayed active in Rotary. She says much of her community and volunteer work is done through them because it's an easy way to stay involved when busy at work.

"I need to spend more time with my Rotary; I really like the group; they're good people," she said.

Davis doesn't have a lot of time to give because she estimates she puts in some 70 hours a week at the company she helped found in the mid-90s.

"I spend a lot of time at work, but I'm always having a good time," Davis said. "It's not work because I love it."

With such little time to spare, she said Rotary has given her an outlet to give back. Rotary runs programs in town and around the world--by partnering with international Rotary Clubs--and so she says work done here in Sunnyvale can help people around the globe.

Most recently, Rotary Clubs from around the world were involved in rushing aid to India and Southern Asia after the devastating Dec. 26 tsunamis.

Rotary also supports the area's homeless by offering food and care at the Sunnyvale National Guard Armory, a cause that Davis said she always focuses on.

"Whatever I can do or donate--particularly for the armory--I'll go ahead and help with," Davis said.

She is also involved in the Industry Council for Small Business Development, a local organization that networks businesses of all sizes. It helps large businesses find necessary services and gives small businesses a shot at large contracts and professional ties.

Like many small business owners in the council, Davis has closely watched the economy in the past few years and is ready for it to turn around so she and other business leaders like her can really begin to show their talents.

"Everything you hear about the economy is bad. But we see it directly and, [though] it may not be as robust as before, it's coming back. And now it's the small and mid-size companies that are driving the economy," Davis said.