COEUR d'ALENE - It can be humbling to be in the company of this year's winning class of the North Idaho Business Journal's 30 Under 40.

Almost all 27 winners this year attended Tuesday night's award ceremony at The Cellar downtown. The winners were chosen by judges Steve Griffitts of Jobs Plus, Daniel Klocko of Kootenai Health and Eve Knudtsen of Knudtsen Chevrolet.

How's this for getting a lot done early in your career? Crystal Kubista is both the current elementary principal at Ramsey Magnet School of Science and co-owner of Franklin's Hoagies on Fourth Street.

"I know that the community is full of all kinds of wonderful people, so to be selected for this award is a huge honor," Kubista said after the ceremony. Don't look for big egos among these big-time doers.

Amy Evans, a current Coeur d'Alene city councilwoman and a director of development at the Idaho Youth Ranch, was another young leader honored.

"I do think it's really important to recognize younger professionals; I wouldn't say we're the youngest," Evans said. She said the recognition encourages other young professionals to move up and contribute to their communities, serve and give back.

The accomplishments of people like Jason Gray, another winner, are equally impressive. Gray is an associate attorney at Black Law, who graduated magna cum laude from Gonzaga University law school.

In his career, he already has worked at the U.S. Attorney's Office and as a deputy attorney general.

Brenda Zosel, the current vice president of finance and accounting at Pita Pit USA, is another great example of getting a lot done in a short amount of time.

Zosel was born in Vietnam and was adopted as an infant by a family in Wisconsin. She went on to graduate with a bachelor's degree in accounting from Metropolitan State University.

She moved to Coeur d'Alene and has a been an important part of the rapidly-growing Pita Pit for the past eight-and-a-half years.

The enthusiasm for North Idaho was a consistent sentiment among the winners, which bodes well for the community's future.

Brad Leggat, an insurance agent at Farmers Insurance Group, said winning the award means a lot to him because of his love for Coeur d'Alene.

"I feel very fortunate to be able to live here, to be able to raise my family here, and to be able to make a living here," Leggat said. "I spend a lot of time at work, I spend a lot of time trying to give back to the community."

He said he hopes to make Coeur d'Alene a better place.

"Being amongst this group of distinguished people is an absolute honor," Leggat said.

The 2014 class also includes: Ryan Arnold, Paul Banducci, Andrea Barlow, Casey Brazil, Katherine Coyle, Jesse Delavan, Dane Dugan, Collin Furukawa, Matthew Higgins, Stacy Hudson, Matthew Hutchinson, Josh Jaeger, Tanden Launder, Sarah McCracken, Jennifer Morsell, Erik Olson, Nicole Preece, Robert Scully, Cody Spencer, Brittany Stockstill, Ben Tran and Tiffinay Walker.